# nanobot vs Orchid

> nanobot scores 62.4 (B) to Orchid's 20.2 (F) for assistants reached by message. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-orchid-ai
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-orchid-ai.md (~3,400 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-orchid-ai.min.md (~580 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-orchid-ai.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
- Updated: 2026-10-13

nanobot scores 62.4 (B) on agent readiness against Orchid's 20.2 (F), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Orchid leads on transparency & trust. Both do assistants reached by message.

- nanobot: grade B, 62.4/100, rank #446 of 1010. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/nanobot.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/nanobot.json
- Orchid: grade F, 20.2/100, rank #992 of 1010. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/orchid-ai.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/orchid-ai.json
- Best AI personal assistants that act for one person: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/personal-assistants/index.md
- All 834 assistants comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/personal-assistants/index.md

## Which one, for what

### nanobot (B)

Good for: A technical owner who wants an assistant on their own machine across many chat apps, with file-based memory and a free choice of model.

Ahead on:
- Reliability, 70 against 50
- Schema & documentation, 77 against 10
- Agent ergonomics, 74 against 0
- Security & auth, 63 against 0
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 10
- Maintenance & community, 82 against 24

Also in its favour:
- No key needed to call it
- Open source

Watch for: No per-action approval was found in the docs or source. The agent sends messages, runs shell commands and edits files without asking

### Orchid (F)

Good for: A founder or operator who wants Gmail and calendar triage by text with approval before anything leaves.

Ahead on:
- Transparency & trust, 60 against 48

Also in its favour:
- No incidents deducted, where nanobot loses 6 points for them

Watch for: No API, MCP server or A2A endpoint for an outside agent.


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | nanobot | Orchid | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 70 | 50 | nanobot +20 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 77 | 10 | nanobot +67 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 74 | 0 | nanobot +74 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 63 | 0 | nanobot +63 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 60 | 10 | nanobot +50 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 82 | 24 | nanobot +58 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 48 | 60 | Orchid +12 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -6 | 0 | |
| **Total** | | **62.4 · B** | **20.2 · F** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | nanobot | Orchid |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | Agent harness | Platform |
| Vendor | HKUDS | Zero Email, Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports |  |  |
| Auth | None | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Free | Paid |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | MIT | Closed service under Orchid's Terms of Service (Zero Email, Inc., last updated 16 January 2026). |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-09-15 | none |
| Terms last updated | no document linked |  |
| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked |  |
| Customer content may train models |  |  |
| Terms restrict automated access |  |  |
| Terms restrict benchmarking |  |  |
| Terms or service can change without notice |  |  |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver |  |  |
| Popularity | 49k stars | none |

## Verdicts

**nanobot.** nanobot runs on the owner's machine under the MIT licence, with no telemetry found in its source and memory kept as files the owner can read and restore. No per-action approval step was found, and the shell sandbox and workspace restriction are off by default. Five security advisories were published between March and September 2026, all with fixes.

**Orchid.** Orchid is a paid executive assistant over iMessage, SMS and Telegram that holds drafts and calendar holds until the owner approves, with a public status page and a named subprocessor list. No outside agent can call it, there's no free tier, and its privacy policy allows training a personal model while its blog says it never trains.

## Before you call either

### nanobot

1. Set `tools.restrictToWorkspace` to true and `tools.exec.sandbox` to `bwrap` or `seatbelt` before giving it real accounts. Both are off by default
2. Run 0.3.0 or later. Earlier versions carry the published SSRF flaw in web fetch (GHSA-vc5v-6vwm-wf9m)
3. Keep `allowFrom` narrow on every channel and never set `["*"]` on Email, which has no pairing
4. Write secrets as `${VAR}` references in `~/.nanobot/config.json`. Plain values are stored in clear text
5. Use `nanobot -m "..."` for a one-shot run, and keep `nanobot gateway` running for channels, schedules and heartbeat

### Orchid

1. Don't plan to call Orchid from another agent. It answers only the owner's iMessage, SMS and Telegram threads.
2. Check status.orchid.ai before telling the owner Orchid is down. The 7 August incident moved it to a new number.
3. Tell the owner that drafts and holds wait for their approval unless they widen it.

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, nanobot or Orchid?

nanobot scores 62.4 (B) on agent readiness against Orchid's 20.2 (F), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Orchid leads on transparency & trust.

### Are nanobot and Orchid open source?

nanobot is open source (MIT). No open-source release is listed for Orchid.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-orchid-ai.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-orchid-ai.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "nanobot", "b": "orchid-ai"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare nanobot orchid-ai`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/nanobot.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/orchid-ai.json

## Other comparisons with nanobot or Orchid

- [asaply vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asaply-vs-nanobot.md)
- [asaply vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asaply-vs-orchid-ai.md)
- [Asmi vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asmi-vs-nanobot.md)
- [Asmi vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asmi-vs-orchid-ai.md)
- [AstrBot vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-orchid-ai.md)
- [Boba vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-nanobot.md)
- [Boba vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-orchid-ai.md)
- [Boski vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boski-vs-orchid-ai.md)
- [Brea vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-nanobot.md)
- [Brea vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-orchid-ai.md)
- [Caddy vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/caddy-app-vs-orchid-ai.md)
- [CowAgent vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-orchid-ai.md)
- [Del vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-nanobot.md)
- [Del vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-orchid-ai.md)
- [folk vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-orchid-ai.md)
- [GAIA vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-orchid-ai.md)
- [Grok Bot vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-orchid-ai.md)
- [Haven vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-orchid-ai.md)
- [Hermes Agent vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-orchid-ai.md)
- [HireAlpha vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hirealpha-vs-nanobot.md)
- [HireAlpha vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hirealpha-vs-orchid-ai.md)
- [Instinct vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-orchid-ai.md)
- [IronClaw vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-orchid-ai.md)
- [Lindy vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lindy-vs-orchid-ai.md)
- [nanobot vs OpenInstinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-openinstinct.md)
- [nanobot vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-orbits.md)
- [nanobot vs szn](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-szn.md)
- [nanobot vs Tab](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-tab-bot.md)
- [nanobot vs Zapia](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-zapia.md)
- [NanoClaw vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-orchid-ai.md)
- [Dots vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-orchid-ai.md)
- [OpenClaw vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-orchid-ai.md)
- [OpenInstinct vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-orchid-ai.md)
- [Orbits vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orbits-vs-orchid-ai.md)
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- [Orchid vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orchid-ai-vs-picoclaw.md)
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- [Orchid vs szn](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orchid-ai-vs-szn.md)
- [Orchid vs Tab](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orchid-ai-vs-tab-bot.md)
- [Orchid vs Tomo](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orchid-ai-vs-tomo.md)
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- [Grok Bot vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-nanobot.md)
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- [Hermes Agent vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-nanobot.md)
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- [nanobot vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-picoclaw.md)
- [nanobot vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-poke.md)
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- [nanobot vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-town.md)
- [nanobot vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-zeroclaw.md)
- [nanobot vs Zo Computer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-zo-computer.md)
- [Gemini Spark vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-orchid-ai.md)
- [Leon vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-orchid-ai.md)
- [nanobot vs Natura tinyNature](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-natura.md)
- [nanobot vs Pally](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-pally.md)
- [nanobot vs Tomo](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-tomo.md)
- [nanobot vs Wajo (Fo)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-wajo.md)
- [Natura tinyNature vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/natura-vs-orchid-ai.md)
- [Orchid vs Wajo (Fo)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orchid-ai-vs-wajo.md)
- [nanobot vs Talorys](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-talorys.md)
- [Orchid vs Talorys](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orchid-ai-vs-talorys.md)

## Disclosure

- Orchid 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.