{ "data": { "a": { "slug": "instinct", "name": "Instinct", "vendor": "Spear Street Technology, Inc.", "vendorUrl": "https://instinct.com", "kind": "platform", "category": "personal-assistants", "summary": "Hosted personal assistant from Spear Street Technology, Inc., trading as Instinct, that a person texts or calls. It acts in connected accounts such as Google Workspace and on websites, including purchases and bookings.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/instinct", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/instinct.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/instinct.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/instinct.json", "license": "Proprietary service under Instinct's Terms of Service, which grant personal use only", "transports": [], "packages": [], "auth": "mixed", "authNotes": "A person signs in at app.instinct.com with a phone number and a one-time passcode sent by text. The terms also allow an account linked to Apple, Facebook or Google. Google Workspace is connected through Google's APIs and can be revoked in settings or by asking the assistant. The owner may also give the assistant usernames and passwords for other sites. No API key, token or other credential for a program was found (https://instinct.com/legal/sms-terms.html; https://instinct.com/terms; https://instinct.com/privacy-policy).", "pricing": "paid", "pricingNotes": "No price is published. The terms say fees may apply to certain functions, are charged in US dollars to a card through a payment processor and are non-refundable. Whether any use is free was not established, and sign-up may put a person on a waiting list (https://instinct.com/terms, section 4; https://instinct.com/legal/sms-terms.html, checked 2026-10-12).", "priceSummary": "Paid", "where": "local", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 on the home page, terms or privacy policy, and no API was found (checked 2026-10-12).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": null, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-12" }, "capabilities": [ "assistant.proactive", "assistant.messaging", "assistant.accounts", "assistant.memory" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "closed-source", "sms", "voice-call", "google-workspace", "computer-use", "waitlist", "no-public-pricing", "no-api", "security-txt", "trains-on-data-by-default" ], "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 11.4, "grade": "F", "agentReady": false, "rank": 984, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 986, "categoryRank": 20, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 5, "maintenance": 3, "payments": 0, "reliability": 5, "schema": 3, "security": 25, "transparency": 51 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "low", "date": "2026-10-12" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "The terms and privacy policy are specific about connected accounts, model training and the risks of autonomous actions, and security.txt is valid. No price, documentation, status page, changelog or programmatic interface is published, and customer content trains AI models unless the owner opts out.", "bestFor": "A consumer assistant for one adult who wants errands done by text or phone call, such as bill disputes, gifts, groceries, appointments and travel, and who accepts that it acts and spends as their agent.", "strengths": [ "The privacy policy lists the Google Workspace products accessed and says that data is not used to train or improve AI models", "Training on customer content has an opt-out at app.instinct.com/settings, and material placed in the Vault is excluded from training", "Indexed data from connected services can be deleted at app.instinct.com/workspace, and Google access revoked in settings or by asking the assistant", "security.txt is valid until 18 February 2027 and names a contact address", "The privacy policy states the risks of unintended payments, unintended messages and misleading instructions from third parties" ], "weaknesses": [ "No price is published. The terms say fees may apply to certain functions, are charged in US dollars and are non-refundable", "No documentation, API, MCP server, status page or changelog was found on instinct.com", "Customer content trains the vendor's AI models by default, and content flagged for safety review may be used after an opt-out", "The terms appoint the assistant as the owner's agent to make purchases and accept third-party terms, and leave responsibility for every action with the owner", "The owner may hand over usernames, passwords and card details. Where they are stored is not stated", "The terms forbid bots, scrapers and benchmarking, and limit the service to personal use" ], "agentNotes": [ "Do not plan on calling Instinct from a program. No API, MCP server or key was found, and the terms forbid automation software and benchmarking", "A person signs in at app.instinct.com with a phone number and a one-time code by text, and may wait for a place when the service is at capacity", "Tell the owner to opt out of model training at app.instinct.com/settings before connecting mail or files, since training is on by default", "Disconnecting an account does not delete what was indexed from it. Delete that data at app.instinct.com/workspace", "Treat purchases and bookings as final. The terms say actions may not be reversible and that confirmation controls are not guaranteed" ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "low", "grade": "F", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 11.4 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 5, "maintenance": 3, "payments": 0, "reliability": 5, "schema": 3, "security": 25, "transparency": 30 }, "provenanceScore": 72 }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/assistant.proactive", "tool": "https://letme.dev/instinct" }, "area": "frameworks", "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Spear Street Technology, Inc. d/b/a Instinct", "domain": "instinct.com", "domainRegistered": "1997-05-20", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://instinct.com/terms", "privacy": "https://instinct.com/privacy-policy", "statusPage": "", "changelog": "", "securityTxt": "valid", "checked": "2026-10-12", "notes": [ "The Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, both last revised 26 August 2026, name Spear Street Technology, Inc. d/b/a Instinct. No postal address is given on the pages read. The terms are governed by California law with San Francisco courts.", "The terms cover the website, its subdomains and the apps, so they govern the assistant itself and are not website-only terms. An Acceptable Use Policy (20 August 2026), SMS/Text Messaging Terms (17 August 2026) and an SMS/Text Messaging Privacy Statement (6 July 2026) supplement them.", "instinct.com/.well-known/security.txt gives Contact support@instinct.com, Expires 2027-02-18 and a Canonical line. It has no Policy line.", "RDAP at Verisign gives a registration date of 1997-05-20 for instinct.com, NameCheap, Inc. as registrar and a last change on 2 September 2026. The domain is older than the product's 2026 legal documents, so its age says little about the vendor.", "No status page and no changelog are linked from the home page, the terms or the privacy policy.", "The sign-in and the web app are at app.instinct.com, on the vendor's domain. The home page gives comms[at]instinct[dot]com as a contact." ], "score": 72 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/instinct.json" }, "answer": "ZeroClaw scores 70.2 (BB) on agent readiness against Instinct's 11.4 (F), and leads in every scored category.", "b": { "slug": "zeroclaw", "name": "ZeroClaw", "vendor": "ZeroClaw Labs", "vendorUrl": "https://www.zeroclaw.com", "kind": "harness", "category": "personal-assistants", "summary": "Open-source personal AI assistant from ZeroClaw Labs, shipped as one Rust binary the owner runs. It answers on chat, email and voice channels, calls tools and MCP servers, and keeps memory in local SQLite.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/zeroclaw", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/zeroclaw.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/zeroclaw.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/zeroclaw.json", "repo": "https://github.com/zeroclaw-labs/zeroclaw", "license": "MIT OR Apache-2.0", "transports": [], "packages": [ { "registry": "oci", "name": "ghcr.io/zeroclaw-labs/zeroclaw" } ], "auth": "none", "authNotes": "No account with the vendor. Model keys, bot tokens and mail passwords go in `~/.zeroclaw/config.toml` as encrypted secret fields, set through `zeroclaw config set`, the dashboard or the terminal UI. OpenAI Codex and Claude subscription tokens are accepted in place of API keys. Gateway clients pair first and then send `Authorization: Bearer \u003ctoken\u003e`, with token hashes kept in config (https://github.com/zeroclaw-labs/zeroclaw/blob/master/docs/book/src/security/authentication.md).", "pricing": "free", "pricingNotes": "Free under MIT or Apache-2.0, with no subscription and no hosted seat (https://www.zeroclaw.com/). The owner pays the model provider, or nothing with a local model. ZeroRouter, the vendor's hosted beta model gateway, is optional and its prices were not read (checked 2026-10-12).", "priceSummary": "Free · OSS", "where": "local", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the docs or the source at commit 6c0b1f9 (checked 2026-10-12).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": 32965, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-12" }, "docsUrl": "https://docs.zeroclaw.com/master/en/introduction.html", "llmsTxt": "https://www.zeroclaw.com/llms.txt", "capabilities": [ "assistant.proactive", "assistant.messaging", "assistant.memory", "assistant.self-hosted", "assistant.accounts", "agent.mcp-client" ], "tags": [ "open-source", "self-hosted", "local", "free", "no-card", "rust", "mit", "apache-2.0", "pre-1.0", "no-telemetry", "mcp-client", "approvals", "acp", "docker", "llms-txt" ], "lastRelease": "2026-09-05", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 70.2, "grade": "BB", "agentReady": true, "rank": 161, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 986, "categoryRank": 1, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 72, "maintenance": 80, "payments": 60, "reliability": 74, "schema": 82, "security": 76, "transparency": 64 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-12" }, "negative": -3, "negativeNotes": [ "2026-09-05. GHSA-93f6-34w8-5g98 (high), an unvalidated `wasm_path` let `zeroclaw plugin install` write an attacker-controlled file outside the plugins directory in 0.8.4 and earlier. Fixed in 0.8.5 and published the same day, inside six months, -2. https://github.com/zeroclaw-labs/zeroclaw/security/advisories/GHSA-93f6-34w8-5g98", "2026-04-01. The project lead wrote that a maintainer's AI automation merged pull requests that should not have gone through and that GitHub took enforcement action on the organisation. Disclosed, the maintainer removed and merge access tightened, over six months old, -1. https://www.zeroclaw.com/blog/community-and-stability" ], "verdict": "Supervised autonomy is the default, so tools outside a short read-only list wait for the owner's approval, and secrets are encrypted in the config file. The docs state that command execution is not written to an audit log, and the project publishes no privacy policy or terms.", "bestFor": "One person who wants an assistant on their own hardware that answers on Telegram, Discord, Matrix or email, asks before it writes or runs commands, and works with a local model.", "strengths": [ "Supervised mode is the default. Tools outside an eleven-item read-only and fetch list prompt the owner, and an unanswered prompt is a denial after 120 seconds", "Approval prompts arrive on the channel in use, and `approval_route` can send them to a separate approver channel that denies when unreachable", "Channel secrets and provider keys are encrypted with ChaCha20-Poly1305 in `config.toml`, with the key in `.secret_key` at mode 0600", "An empty peer set denies every inbound sender, and the gateway binds 127.0.0.1 with pairing required by default", "Three tagged releases in the 90 days to 12 October 2026, each with a Breaking Changes section, and CI passing on master on 11 October" ], "weaknesses": [ "The docs state that command execution is not audited. `[security.audit]` records certificate events only, and tool receipts are opt-in and not durable", "No privacy policy, terms or security.txt on zeroclaw.com, and the home page links none", "`web_fetch`, `web_search_tool` and `browser_open` run without approval by default, and sandboxed tools keep full network egress", "GHSA-93f6-34w8-5g98 (high) let a plugin install write outside the plugins directory in 0.8.4 and earlier, fixed in 0.8.5 on 5 September 2026", "Version 0.8.5 is pre-1.0, patch releases carry breaking changes, and 576 issues and 384 pull requests were open on 12 October 2026" ], "agentNotes": [ "Keep `[risk_profiles.\u003calias\u003e] level = \"supervised\"`. `full` runs every tool not listed in `always_ask`, and the YOLO preset removes the sandbox and path rules too", "Add sending and account tools such as `send_via`, `google_workspace` and `http_request` to `always_ask` so a session-level Always grant cannot skip the prompt", "List senders in `[peer_groups.\u003cname\u003e] external_peers`. `[\"*\"]` accepts anyone on that channel", "Set `[web_fetch].allowed_domains` and `[http_request].allowed_domains`. Fetches run unprompted and the OS sandbox does not block egress", "Run one-shot tasks with `zeroclaw agent -a \u003calias\u003e -m \"\u003ctask\u003e\"`. A cron or webhook turn has no prompt, so shell calls fall to the command policy" ], "metrics": { "kind": "local", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "BB", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 70.2 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 72, "maintenance": 80, "payments": 60, "reliability": 74, "schema": 82, "security": 76, "transparency": 74 }, "provenanceScore": 53 }, "connect": { "install": "curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/zeroclaw-labs/zeroclaw/master/install.sh | sh # or: brew install zeroclaw", "headless": { "command": "zeroclaw agent -a \u003calias\u003e -m \"$TASK\"", "setup": "zeroclaw quickstart" } }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/assistant.proactive", "tool": "https://letme.dev/zeroclaw" }, "area": "frameworks", "provenance": { "legalEntity": "ZeroClaw Labs", "domain": "zeroclaw.com", "domainRegistered": "2026-03-02", "endpointOnVendorDomain": null, "terms": "", "privacy": "", "statusPage": "", "changelog": "https://github.com/zeroclaw-labs/zeroclaw/releases", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-10-12", "notes": [ "The NOTICE file reads Copyright 2025 ZeroClaw Labs and the blog signs posts as CEO, ZeroClaw Labs. No company form, registration or address was found on the site or in the repository.", "The home page of www.zeroclaw.com links no terms and no privacy policy, so both fields are empty and the MIT or Apache-2.0 licence stands in.", "www.zeroclaw.com/.well-known/security.txt answered 404 on 12 October 2026. SECURITY.md asks for GitHub private vulnerability reporting and the README gives security@zeroclaw.dev.", "RDAP gives zeroclaw.com a registration date of 2026-03-02, registrar Atom.com Domains LLC. The repository was created on 13 February 2026.", "There is no hosted endpoint for the assistant. A gateway answers on its owner's own host." ], "score": 53 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/zeroclaw.json" }, "facts": [ { "a": "Platform", "b": "Agent harness", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "Spear Street Technology, Inc.", "b": "ZeroClaw Labs", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "no (local only)", "b": "no (local only)", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "", "b": "", "name": "Transports" }, { "a": "OAuth or key", "b": "None", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Paid", "b": "Free", "name": "Pricing" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "x402" }, { "a": "Proprietary service under Instinct's Terms of Service, which grant personal use only", "b": "MIT OR Apache-2.0", "name": "Licence" }, { "a": "no", "b": "yes", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "no", "b": "yes", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "none", "b": "2026-09-05", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "2026-08-26", "b": "no document linked", "name": "Terms last updated" }, { "a": "2026-08-26", "b": "no document linked", "name": "Privacy policy last updated" }, { "a": "yes, with an opt-out", "b": "", "name": "Customer content may train models" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "", "name": "Terms restrict automated access" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "", "name": "Terms restrict benchmarking" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "", "name": "Terms or service can change without notice" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "", "name": "Arbitration or class-action waiver" }, { "a": "none", "b": "33k stars", "name": "Popularity" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "ZeroClaw scores 70.2 (BB) on agent readiness against Instinct's 11.4 (F), and leads in every scored category.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, Instinct or ZeroClaw?" }, { "answer": "No open-source release is listed for Instinct. ZeroClaw is open source (MIT OR Apache-2.0).", "question": "Are Instinct and ZeroClaw open source?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": null, "also": [ "No incidents deducted, where ZeroClaw loses 3 points for them" ], "goodFor": "A consumer assistant for one adult who wants errands done by text or phone call, such as bill disputes, gifts, groceries, appointments and travel, and who accepts that it acts and spends as their agent.", "slug": "instinct", "watchFor": "No price is published. The terms say fees may apply to certain functions, are charged in US dollars and are non-refundable" }, { "aheadOn": [ "Reliability, 74 against 5", "Schema \u0026 documentation, 82 against 3", "Agent ergonomics, 72 against 5", "Security \u0026 auth, 76 against 25", "Payments \u0026 pricing, 60 against 0", "Maintenance \u0026 community, 80 against 3", "Transparency \u0026 trust, 64 against 51" ], "also": [ "Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better", "No key needed to call it", "Free to start without a card", "Open source" ], "goodFor": "One person who wants an assistant on their own hardware that answers on Telegram, Discord, Matrix or email, asks before it writes or runs commands, and works with a local model.", "slug": "zeroclaw", "watchFor": "The docs state that command execution is not audited. `[security.audit]` records certificate events only, and tool receipts are opt-in and not durable" } ], "job": { "capability": "assistant.proactive", "name": "Assistant proactive" }, "others": [ { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-instinct.json", "title": "AstrBot vs Instinct", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-instinct" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "AstrBot vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-instinct.json", "title": "CowAgent vs Instinct", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-instinct" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "CowAgent vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-instinct.json", "title": "GAIA vs Instinct", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-instinct" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "GAIA vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-instinct.json", "title": "Gemini Spark vs Instinct", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-instinct" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "Gemini Spark vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-instinct.json", "title": "Grok Bot vs Instinct", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-instinct" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "Grok Bot vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-instinct.json", "title": "Haven vs Instinct", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-instinct" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "Haven vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-instinct.json", "title": "Hermes Agent vs Instinct", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-instinct" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "Hermes Agent vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-ironclaw.json", "title": "Instinct vs IronClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-ironclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-leon.json", "title": "Instinct vs Leon", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-leon" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-lindy.json", "title": "Instinct vs Lindy", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-lindy" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-nanobot.json", "title": "Instinct vs nanobot", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-nanobot" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-nanoclaw.json", "title": "Instinct vs NanoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-nanoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-openai-dots.json", "title": "Instinct vs Dots", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-openai-dots" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-openclaw.json", "title": "Instinct vs OpenClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-openclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-picoclaw.json", "title": "Instinct vs PicoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-picoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-poke.json", "title": "Instinct vs Poke", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-poke" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-qwenpaw.json", "title": "Instinct vs QwenPaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-qwenpaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-zo-computer.json", "title": "Instinct vs Zo Computer", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-zo-computer" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "IronClaw vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "Leon vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lindy-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "Lindy vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lindy-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "nanobot vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "NanoClaw vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "Dots vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "OpenClaw vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/picoclaw-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "PicoClaw vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/picoclaw-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/poke-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "Poke vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/poke-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/qwenpaw-vs-zeroclaw.json", "title": "QwenPaw vs ZeroClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/qwenpaw-vs-zeroclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/zeroclaw-vs-zo-computer.json", "title": "ZeroClaw vs Zo Computer", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/zeroclaw-vs-zo-computer" } ], "scores": [ { "by": 69, "edge": "zeroclaw", "instinct": 5, "key": "reliability", "name": "Reliability", "weight": 16, "zeroclaw": 74 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 79, "edge": "zeroclaw", "instinct": 3, "key": "schema", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "weight": 13, "zeroclaw": 82 }, { "by": 67, "edge": "zeroclaw", "instinct": 5, "key": "ergonomics", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "weight": 13, "zeroclaw": 72 }, { "by": 51, "edge": "zeroclaw", "instinct": 25, "key": "security", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "weight": 14, "zeroclaw": 76 }, { "by": 60, "edge": "zeroclaw", "instinct": 0, "key": "payments", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "weight": 10, "zeroclaw": 60 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 77, "edge": "zeroclaw", "instinct": 3, "key": "maintenance", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "weight": 7, "zeroclaw": 80 }, { "by": 13, "edge": "zeroclaw", "instinct": 51, "key": "transparency", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "weight": 7, "zeroclaw": 64 } ], "summary": "ZeroClaw scores 70.2 (BB) on agent readiness against Instinct's 11.4 (F), and leads in every scored category. Both do assistant proactive.", "verdicts": { "instinct": "The terms and privacy policy are specific about connected accounts, model training and the risks of autonomous actions, and security.txt is valid. No price, documentation, status page, changelog or programmatic interface is published, and customer content trains AI models unless the owner opts out.", "zeroclaw": "Supervised autonomy is the default, so tools outside a short read-only list wait for the owner's approval, and secrets are encrypted in the config file. The docs state that command execution is not written to an audit log, and the project publishes no privacy policy or terms." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-zeroclaw", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-zeroclaw.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-zeroclaw.md", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-zeroclaw.min.md" }, "markdown": "ZeroClaw scores 70.2 (BB) on agent readiness against Instinct's 11.4 (F), and leads in every scored category. Both do assistant proactive.\n\n- Instinct: grade F, 11.4/100, rank #984 of 986. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/instinct.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/instinct.json\n- ZeroClaw: grade BB, 70.2/100, rank #161 of 986. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/zeroclaw.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/zeroclaw.json\n- Best AI personal assistants that act for one person: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/personal-assistants/index.md\n- All 190 assistants comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/personal-assistants/index.md\n\n## Which one, for what\n\n### Instinct (F)\n\nGood for: A consumer assistant for one adult who wants errands done by text or phone call, such as bill disputes, gifts, groceries, appointments and travel, and who accepts that it acts and spends as their agent.\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- No incidents deducted, where ZeroClaw loses 3 points for them\n\nWatch for: No price is published. The terms say fees may apply to certain functions, are charged in US dollars and are non-refundable\n\n### ZeroClaw (BB)\n\nGood for: One person who wants an assistant on their own hardware that answers on Telegram, Discord, Matrix or email, asks before it writes or runs commands, and works with a local model.\n\nAhead on:\n- Reliability, 74 against 5\n- Schema \u0026 documentation, 82 against 3\n- Agent ergonomics, 72 against 5\n- Security \u0026 auth, 76 against 25\n- Payments \u0026 pricing, 60 against 0\n- Maintenance \u0026 community, 80 against 3\n- Transparency \u0026 trust, 64 against 51\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- Agent-ready, a grade of BB or better\n- No key needed to call it\n- Free to start without a card\n- Open source\n\nWatch for: The docs state that command execution is not audited. `[security.audit]` records certificate events only, and tool receipts are opt-in and not durable\n\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | Instinct | ZeroClaw | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 5 | 74 | ZeroClaw +69 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 3 | 82 | ZeroClaw +79 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 5 | 72 | ZeroClaw +67 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 25 | 76 | ZeroClaw +51 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 0 | 60 | ZeroClaw +60 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 3 | 80 | ZeroClaw +77 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 51 | 64 | ZeroClaw +13 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -3 | |\n| **Total** | | **11.4 · F** | **70.2 · BB** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | Instinct | ZeroClaw |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | Platform | Agent harness |\n| Vendor | Spear Street Technology, Inc. | ZeroClaw Labs |\n| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |\n| Transports | | |\n| Auth | OAuth or key | None |\n| Pricing | Paid | Free |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| Licence | Proprietary service under Instinct's Terms of Service, which grant personal use only | MIT OR Apache-2.0 |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | yes |\n| llms.txt | no | yes |\n| Last release | none | 2026-09-05 |\n| Terms last updated | 2026-08-26 | no document linked |\n| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-08-26 | no document linked |\n| Customer content may train models | yes, with an opt-out | |\n| Terms restrict automated access | yes | |\n| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | |\n| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | |\n| Arbitration or class-action waiver | yes | |\n| Popularity | none | 33k stars |\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**Instinct.** The terms and privacy policy are specific about connected accounts, model training and the risks of autonomous actions, and security.txt is valid. No price, documentation, status page, changelog or programmatic interface is published, and customer content trains AI models unless the owner opts out.\n\n**ZeroClaw.** Supervised autonomy is the default, so tools outside a short read-only list wait for the owner's approval, and secrets are encrypted in the config file. The docs state that command execution is not written to an audit log, and the project publishes no privacy policy or terms.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### Instinct\n\n1. Do not plan on calling Instinct from a program. No API, MCP server or key was found, and the terms forbid automation software and benchmarking\n2. A person signs in at app.instinct.com with a phone number and a one-time code by text, and may wait for a place when the service is at capacity\n3. Tell the owner to opt out of model training at app.instinct.com/settings before connecting mail or files, since training is on by default\n4. Disconnecting an account does not delete what was indexed from it. Delete that data at app.instinct.com/workspace\n5. Treat purchases and bookings as final. The terms say actions may not be reversible and that confirmation controls are not guaranteed\n\n### ZeroClaw\n\n1. Keep `[risk_profiles.\u003calias\u003e] level = \"supervised\"`. `full` runs every tool not listed in `always_ask`, and the YOLO preset removes the sandbox and path rules too\n2. Add sending and account tools such as `send_via`, `google_workspace` and `http_request` to `always_ask` so a session-level Always grant cannot skip the prompt\n3. List senders in `[peer_groups.\u003cname\u003e] external_peers`. `[\"*\"]` accepts anyone on that channel\n4. Set `[web_fetch].allowed_domains` and `[http_request].allowed_domains`. Fetches run unprompted and the OS sandbox does not block egress\n5. Run one-shot tasks with `zeroclaw agent -a \u003calias\u003e -m \"\u003ctask\u003e\"`. A cron or webhook turn has no prompt, so shell calls fall to the command policy\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, Instinct or ZeroClaw?\n\nZeroClaw scores 70.2 (BB) on agent readiness against Instinct's 11.4 (F), and leads in every scored category.\n\n### Are Instinct and ZeroClaw open source?\n\nNo open-source release is listed for Instinct. ZeroClaw is open source (MIT OR Apache-2.0).\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-zeroclaw.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-zeroclaw.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"instinct\", \"b\": \"zeroclaw\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare instinct zeroclaw`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/instinct.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/zeroclaw.json\n\n## Other comparisons with Instinct or ZeroClaw\n\n- [AstrBot vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-instinct.md)\n- [AstrBot vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [CowAgent vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-instinct.md)\n- [CowAgent vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [GAIA vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-instinct.md)\n- [GAIA vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [Gemini Spark vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-instinct.md)\n- [Gemini Spark vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [Grok Bot vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-instinct.md)\n- [Grok Bot vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [Haven vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-instinct.md)\n- [Haven vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [Hermes Agent vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-instinct.md)\n- [Hermes Agent vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [Instinct vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-ironclaw.md)\n- [Instinct vs Leon](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-leon.md)\n- [Instinct vs Lindy](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-lindy.md)\n- [Instinct vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-nanobot.md)\n- [Instinct vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-nanoclaw.md)\n- [Instinct vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-openai-dots.md)\n- [Instinct vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-openclaw.md)\n- [Instinct vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-picoclaw.md)\n- [Instinct vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-poke.md)\n- [Instinct vs QwenPaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-qwenpaw.md)\n- [Instinct vs Zo Computer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-zo-computer.md)\n- [IronClaw vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [Leon vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [Lindy vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lindy-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [nanobot vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [NanoClaw vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [Dots vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [OpenClaw vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [PicoClaw vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/picoclaw-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [Poke vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/poke-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [QwenPaw vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/qwenpaw-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [ZeroClaw vs Zo Computer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/zeroclaw-vs-zo-computer.md)\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-10-12", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "method": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/", "methodology": "0.4", "openapi": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/openapi.json", "preview": false, "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run" }, "page": { "breadcrumbs": [ { "name": "Home", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/" }, { "name": "Compare", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/" }, { "name": "Instinct vs ZeroClaw", "url": "" } ], "description": "ZeroClaw scores 70.2 (BB) to Instinct's 11.4 (F) for assistant proactive. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.", "facts": [ "Instinct F 11.4", "ZeroClaw BB 70.2", "scores" ], "h1": "Instinct vs ZeroClaw", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/compare-instinct-vs-zeroclaw.png", "path": "/compare/instinct-vs-zeroclaw", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "Instinct vs ZeroClaw for AI agents in 2026: scores and prices", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-10-12", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-zeroclaw" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 2650, "slim": 730 }, "version": 1 }