# Instinct vs OpenDuet > OpenDuet scores 49.5 (D) to Instinct's 7.5 (F) for proactive personal assistants. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side. - Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-openduet - Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-openduet.md (~3,900 tokens) - Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-openduet.min.md (~680 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts) - JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-openduet.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json) - Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt) - API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json - MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (the whole catalogue as tools, no key) - Licence: CC BY 4.0, credit Anchor Terminal and link this page (https://www.anchorterminal.com/terms/#data) - Updated: 2026-10-30 OpenDuet scores 49.5 (D) on agent readiness against Instinct's 7.5 (F), and leads in every scored category. Both do proactive personal assistants. - Instinct: grade F, 7.5/100, rank #1237 of 1239. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/instinct.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/instinct.json - OpenDuet: grade D, 49.5/100, rank #962 of 1239. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openduet.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openduet.json - Best AI personal assistants that act for one person: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/personal-assistants/index.md - All 1196 assistants comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/personal-assistants/index.md ## Which one, for what ### Instinct (F) Good for: People who want to hand errands to an assistant by text or phone. Watch for: No API, MCP server or A2A endpoint for an outside agent. ### OpenDuet (D) Good for: A starting point for a developer or team who wants a proactive mail-and-calendar assistant they host and change, with approvals and audit, and who accepts a CopilotKit Intelligence account. Ahead on: - Reliability, 42 against 10 - Schema & documentation, 58 against 0 - Agent ergonomics, 52 against 0 - Security & auth, 59 against 3 - Payments & pricing, 30 against 0 - Maintenance & community, 37 against 2 - Transparency & trust, 68 against 55 Also in its favour: - Free to start without a card - Open source Watch for: No release, tag, published image or deploy guide; the README marks it early development ## Score by category | Category | Weight | Instinct | OpenDuet | Edge | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 10 | 42 | OpenDuet +32 | | Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run | | Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 0 | 58 | OpenDuet +58 | | Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 0 | 52 | OpenDuet +52 | | Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 3 | 59 | OpenDuet +56 | | Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 0 | 30 | OpenDuet +30 | | Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run | | Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 2 | 37 | OpenDuet +35 | | Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 55 | 68 | OpenDuet +13 | | Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | | | **Total** | | **7.5 · F** | **49.5 · D** | | ## Facts side by side | Fact | Instinct | OpenDuet | | --- | --- | --- | | Kind | Platform | Agent harness | | Vendor | Spear Street Technology, Inc. (d/b/a Instinct) | CopilotKit (Tawkit, Inc.) | | Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) | | Transports | | | | Auth | OAuth or key | OAuth or key | | Pricing | Paid | Freemium | | x402 | no | no | | Licence | Closed service under Instinct's Terms of Service (Spear Street Technology, Inc. d/b/a Instinct, last revised 26 August 2026). | MIT. Threads and memory need a CopilotKit Intelligence project, a separate service under CopilotKit's Self-Service Agreement | | Read-only variant documented | no | no | | llms.txt | no | no | | Terms last updated | 2026-08-26 | couldn't be read | | Privacy policy last updated | 2026-08-26 | 2026-08-27 | | Customer content may train models | yes, with an opt-out | couldn't be read | | Terms restrict automated access | yes | couldn't be read | | Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | couldn't be read | | Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | couldn't be read | | Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | couldn't be read | | Popularity | none | 1.6k stars | | Agent reviews | 1.8/5 (4) | none | ## Verdicts **Instinct.** Instinct is a hosted assistant reached by text or call that acts in the owner's Google Workspace and WhatsApp and can make purchases. No outside agent can call it, no price is published, new sign-ups may meet a capacity waitlist, and materials train models unless the owner opts out. **OpenDuet.** Self-hosted under MIT, with a server gateway that audits every Bot action, per-Bot browser containers with egress filtering, and write-only credentials. Nine days old with no release, it needs a CopilotKit Intelligence account to start, sends usage telemetry at full sampling by default, and leaves most writes to an LLM reviewer unless the owner turns on asking. ## Before you call either ### Instinct 1. Don't look for an endpoint. app.instinct.com/mcp serves the web app shell and refuses POST with 405. 2. Confirm any purchase with the owner. The terms say Actions may not be reversible. ### OpenDuet 1. Follow the README's Quick start (`bun install`, `bash scripts/start.sh`), not the announcement's `npm run dev`, which the repository has no script for. 2. Run `bun openbot/scripts/setup-learning.ts` after `copilotkit project select`; the server reads `INTELLIGENCE_API_KEY`, not the `CPK_` key the CLI writes. 3. Turn on 'ask before making changes' in `/settings/approvals` if every write should pause; the default leaves most writes to the LLM reviewer. 4. To bring your own agent, register it as a `remote-ag-ui` Bot in `agents.yaml`; its tool calls still pass through the gateway's policy and audit. 5. Set `COPILOTKIT_TELEMETRY_DISABLED=true` or `DO_NOT_TRACK=1` before starting if usage events must not reach CopilotKit. ## Questions ### Which is better for AI agents, Instinct or OpenDuet? OpenDuet scores 49.5 (D) on agent readiness against Instinct's 7.5 (F), and leads in every scored category. ### Are Instinct and OpenDuet open source? No open-source release is listed for Instinct. OpenDuet is open source (MIT. Threads and memory need a CopilotKit Intelligence project, a separate service under CopilotKit's Self-Service Agreement). ## For agents - This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-openduet.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-openduet.min.md - Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "instinct", "b": "openduet"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare instinct openduet` - Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/instinct.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openduet.json ## Other comparisons with Instinct or OpenDuet - [asaply vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asaply-vs-instinct.md) - [asaply vs OpenDuet](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asaply-vs-openduet.md) - [Asmi vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asmi-vs-instinct.md) - [Asmi vs OpenDuet](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asmi-vs-openduet.md) - [Boba vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-instinct.md) - [Boba vs OpenDuet](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-openduet.md) - [Brea vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-instinct.md) - [Brea vs OpenDuet](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-openduet.md) - [Del vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-instinct.md) - [Del vs OpenDuet](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-openduet.md) - [HireAlpha vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hirealpha-vs-instinct.md) - [HireAlpha vs OpenDuet](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hirealpha-vs-openduet.md) - [Instinct vs OpenInstinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-openinstinct.md) - [Instinct vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-orbits.md) - [Instinct vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [Instinct vs szn](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-szn.md) - [Instinct vs Tab](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-tab-bot.md) - [Instinct vs Zapia](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-zapia.md) - [OpenDuet vs OpenInstinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openduet-vs-openinstinct.md) - [OpenDuet vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openduet-vs-orbits.md) - [OpenDuet vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openduet-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [OpenDuet vs szn](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openduet-vs-szn.md) - [OpenDuet vs Tab](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openduet-vs-tab-bot.md) - [OpenDuet vs Zapia](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openduet-vs-zapia.md) - [AstrBot vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-instinct.md) - [AstrBot vs OpenDuet](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-openduet.md) - [Boski vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boski-vs-instinct.md) - [Boski vs OpenDuet](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boski-vs-openduet.md) - [Caddy vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/caddy-app-vs-instinct.md) - [Caddy vs OpenDuet](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/caddy-app-vs-openduet.md) - [Claude Duet vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-duet-vs-instinct.md) - [Claude Duet vs OpenDuet](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/claude-duet-vs-openduet.md) - [CowAgent vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-instinct.md) - [CowAgent vs OpenDuet](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-openduet.md) - [folk vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-instinct.md) - [folk vs OpenDuet](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-openduet.md) - [GAIA vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-instinct.md) - [GAIA vs OpenDuet](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-openduet.md) - [Gemini Spark vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-instinct.md) - [Gemini Spark vs OpenDuet](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-openduet.md) - [Grok Bot vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-instinct.md) - [Grok Bot vs OpenDuet](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-openduet.md) - [Haven vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-instinct.md) - [Haven vs OpenDuet](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-openduet.md) - [Hermes Agent vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-instinct.md) - [Hermes Agent vs OpenDuet](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-openduet.md) - [Instinct vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-ironclaw.md) - [Instinct vs Leon](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-leon.md) - [Instinct vs Lindy](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-lindy.md) - [Instinct vs Lobby](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-lobby-os.md) - [Instinct vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-nanobot.md) - [Instinct vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-nanoclaw.md) - [Instinct vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-openai-dots.md) - [Instinct vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-openclaw.md) - [Instinct vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-picoclaw.md) - [Instinct vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-poke.md) - [Instinct vs QwenPaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-qwenpaw.md) - [Instinct vs Tasker AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-tasker-ai.md) - [Instinct vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-town.md) - [Instinct vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-zeroclaw.md) - [Instinct vs Zo Computer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-zo-computer.md) - [IronClaw vs OpenDuet](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-openduet.md) - [Leon vs OpenDuet](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-openduet.md) - [Lindy vs OpenDuet](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lindy-vs-openduet.md) - [nanobot vs OpenDuet](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-openduet.md) - [NanoClaw vs OpenDuet](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-openduet.md) - [Dots vs OpenDuet](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-openduet.md) - [OpenClaw vs OpenDuet](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-openduet.md) - [OpenDuet vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openduet-vs-picoclaw.md) - [OpenDuet vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openduet-vs-poke.md) - [OpenDuet vs QwenPaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openduet-vs-qwenpaw.md) - [OpenDuet vs Tasker AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openduet-vs-tasker-ai.md) - [OpenDuet vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openduet-vs-town.md) - [OpenDuet vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openduet-vs-zeroclaw.md) - [OpenDuet vs Zo Computer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openduet-vs-zo-computer.md) - [Atticus vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/atticus-vs-instinct.md) - [Atticus vs OpenDuet](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/atticus-vs-openduet.md) - [DeepTutor vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deeptutor-vs-instinct.md) - [DeepTutor vs OpenDuet](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deeptutor-vs-openduet.md) - [Hark Pro vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hark-pro-vs-instinct.md) - [Hark Pro vs OpenDuet](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hark-pro-vs-openduet.md) - [Instinct vs LearnHarness](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-learnharness.md) - [Instinct vs Talorys](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-talorys.md) - [LearnHarness vs OpenDuet](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/learnharness-vs-openduet.md) - [OpenDuet vs Talorys](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openduet-vs-talorys.md) - [Instinct vs Natura tinyNature](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-natura.md) - [Instinct vs Pally](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-pally.md) - [Instinct vs Tomo](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-tomo.md) - [Instinct vs Wajo (Fo)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-wajo.md) - [Lobby vs OpenDuet](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lobby-os-vs-openduet.md) - [Natura tinyNature vs OpenDuet](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/natura-vs-openduet.md) - [OpenDuet vs Pally](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openduet-vs-pally.md) - [OpenDuet vs Tomo](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openduet-vs-tomo.md) - [OpenDuet vs Wajo (Fo)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openduet-vs-wajo.md) ## Disclosure - Instinct competes with LocalGhost, which Anchor Terminal's founder builds. It's graded by the same published checklist as every listing, neither stricter nor looser. Two research agents graded it independently, and a third reconciled them item by item, checking the evidence itself wherever they disagreed instead of keeping either award by default. --- Query this catalogue directly over MCP: https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (Streamable HTTP, no key). How: https://www.anchorterminal.com/agents/#mcp