{ "data": { "a": { "slug": "openai-dots", "name": "Dots", "vendor": "OpenAI", "vendorUrl": "https://chatgpt.com", "kind": "platform", "category": "personal-assistants", "summary": "Dots is OpenAI's always-on agent inside ChatGPT, in beta. Each dot has a cloud computer and browser, keeps notes, works between conversations across connected apps, and answers in ChatGPT, by voice call, Slack and Teams.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-dots", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-dots.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-dots.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openai-dots.json", "license": "Proprietary hosted service. The governing terms were not read", "transports": [], "packages": [], "auth": "mixed", "authNotes": "A person signs in to ChatGPT on an eligible plan and creates a dot in the mobile app, desktop app or a desktop browser. No API key or other credential for outside programs was found. Apps are reached through plugins connected to the ChatGPT account, each with its own connected account and allowed actions. Website logins go through a private form to the cloud browser outside the conversation, sessions last until sign-out or expiry, and reusing a saved login needs confirmation. A local computer is connected with Allow access and removed with Revoke access. Where tokens and saved passwords are stored is not stated (https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/dots/computers-and-apps; https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/dots/getting-started).", "pricing": "paid", "pricingNotes": "Included with ChatGPT Pro at $100, $200 or $500 a month, Business Premium (price not found on the pages read) and Enterprise through sales. Conversations with a dot do not count towards ChatGPT usage limits. Tasks it starts in ChatGPT Work or Codex count towards those limits. The plan includes an allowance for deeper work with no figure given, extended for the first month after launch. No free tier or trial for dots was found (https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/dots#access; https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/pricing, checked 2026-10-12).", "priceSummary": "$100 / mo", "where": "local", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the Dots docs, the admin guide or the pricing page (checked 2026-10-12).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": null, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-12" }, "docsUrl": "https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/dots", "llmsTxt": "https://learn.chatgpt.com/llms.txt", "capabilities": [ "assistant.proactive", "assistant.accounts", "assistant.memory", "assistant.messaging" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "closed-source", "beta", "chatgpt", "slack", "teams", "voice", "cloud-browser", "approvals", "paid", "llms-txt" ], "lastRelease": "2026-10-09", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 28.3, "grade": "F", "agentReady": false, "rank": 973, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 986, "categoryRank": 17, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 22, "maintenance": 38, "payments": 10, "reliability": 3, "schema": 41, "security": 58, "transparency": 31 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "low", "date": "2026-10-12" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "Actions that affect accounts or share information pass an automatic review, and custom rules can require approval or a hand-off. Dots is a beta on Pro plans from $100 a month, and no status page, terms, privacy policy or way to delete individual saved notes was found in the pages we could read.", "bestFor": "A ChatGPT Pro or Enterprise user who wants ongoing work tracked across mail, documents, code and Slack with approval before sends.", "strengths": [ "An automatic review checks each action that could affect accounts or share information against instructions, permissions and custom rules before it runs", "Custom rules have four settings, from acting without asking to handing the step to the owner, and app permissions can allow reading mail without sending", "Proactive research uses tools that cannot send messages, change app content or control a browser or computer, per the docs", "Website passwords are entered in a private form outside the conversation, and reusing a saved login needs the owner's confirmation", "Six docs pages with Markdown twins listed in llms.txt, and a dated release note for dots on 9 October 2026" ], "weaknesses": [ "Beta. The admin setting is labelled Use dots (Beta), access is rolling out gradually, and Teams access is an invite-only alpha", "No way to view or delete individual saved notes is documented. The admin guide's link to reset options lands on the section for deleting the whole dot", "Custom rules are described as instructions the dot tries to follow and can get wrong, and an authorised write can run without a prompt where policy allows", "Pro consumer accounts in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland are excluded, and the plan's allowance for deeper work has no published figure", "No status page, service terms or privacy policy is linked from the Dots docs, and openai.com and help.openai.com refused our reader", "No API, MCP endpoint or other documented way for an outside program to message a dot was found" ], "agentNotes": [ "Say what may be sent. Asking a dot to draft replies does not permit sending them, and an action outside a stated scope needs another decision", "Stop three things separately. Pause stops the main task only, delegated tasks stop in Activity and recurring tasks in Scheduled, and completed actions are not undone", "Connect each thing separately. A messaging channel grants no access to an inbox, an app or a computer", "Sign out of websites and disconnect apps yourself when removing access. Revoking dots access or disconnecting an app does not delete information already obtained", "Keep the connected computer online with the ChatGPT app open for local work. Only one personal computer can be connected at a time" ], "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": 28.3 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 22, "maintenance": 38, "payments": 10, "reliability": 3, "schema": 41, "security": 58, "transparency": 26 }, "provenanceScore": 36 }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/assistant.proactive", "tool": "https://letme.dev/openai-dots" }, "area": "frameworks", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "Pro 100", "unit": "month", "usd": 100, "note": "ChatGPT Pro plan, includes dots with an allowance for deeper work that has no published figure" }, { "item": "Pro 200", "unit": "month", "usd": 200, "note": "ChatGPT Pro plan" }, { "item": "Pro 500", "unit": "month", "usd": 500, "note": "ChatGPT Pro plan" } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "", "domain": "chatgpt.com", "domainRegistered": "2022-11-30", "endpointOnVendorDomain": null, "terms": "", "privacy": "", "statusPage": "", "changelog": "https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/whats-new", "securityTxt": "unknown", "checked": "2026-10-12", "notes": [ "No page we read names the legal entity or the documents that govern Dots. The docs footer links https://openai.com/policies, which answered 403 to our reader, so `terms` and `privacy` are left out. OpenAI's other listings here link https://openai.com/policies/services-agreement/ and https://openai.com/policies/privacy-policy/. Neither was read today, and whether the consumer Terms of Use govern Pro accounts was not established.", "No status page is linked from the Dots docs, the admin guide, the pricing page or the release notes we read.", "learn.chatgpt.com/.well-known/security.txt answered 404. chatgpt.com is closed to Anthropic agents by its robots.txt and openai.com answered 403 on the one page requested, so neither host's security.txt was requested.", "The .com registry's RDAP record gives 30 November 2022 as the registration date of chatgpt.com, registrar MarkMonitor Inc.", "learn.chatgpt.com/robots.txt answered 200 and allows every path. help.openai.com/robots.txt allows the article paths, and four linked articles answered 403 with a JavaScript check. cdn.openai.com/robots.txt answered 404." ], "score": 36 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-dots.json" }, "answer": "PicoClaw scores 46.1 (D) on agent readiness against Dots's 28.3 (F), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Dots leads on security \u0026 auth and maintenance \u0026 community.", "b": { "slug": "picoclaw", "name": "PicoClaw", "vendor": "Sipeed", "vendorUrl": "https://picoclaw.io", "kind": "harness", "category": "personal-assistants", "summary": "PicoClaw is an open-source personal AI assistant from Sipeed, a single Go binary for small Linux boards, desktops and Android, reached through chat apps. Its last commit on the main branch was on 19 August 2026.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/picoclaw", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/picoclaw.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/picoclaw.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/picoclaw.json", "repo": "https://github.com/sipeed/picoclaw", "license": "MIT", "transports": [], "packages": [ { "registry": "oci", "name": "docker.io/sipeed/picoclaw" }, { "registry": "oci", "name": "ghcr.io/sipeed/picoclaw" } ], "auth": "none", "authNotes": "No account with Sipeed. The owner supplies model provider keys, chat bot tokens and search keys, kept in `~/.picoclaw/.security.yml`. The web launcher asks for a password set on first run, stored as a bcrypt hash. Each channel's `allow_from` list decides who may talk to the assistant, and an empty list admits everyone.", "pricing": "free", "pricingNotes": "Free under the MIT licence, with nothing to buy from the project. The owner pays their model provider by usage, or nothing with a local model through Ollama or vLLM. Search keys are optional, and DuckDuckGo search needs none.", "priceSummary": "Free · OSS", "where": "local", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the README, docs or source (checked 2026-10-12).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": 30000, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-12" }, "docsUrl": "https://docs.picoclaw.io", "capabilities": [ "assistant.proactive", "assistant.messaging", "assistant.memory", "assistant.self-hosted", "agent.mcp-client" ], "tags": [ "open-source", "self-hosted", "local", "free", "no-card", "go", "docker", "pre-1.0" ], "lastRelease": "2026-07-03", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 46.1, "grade": "D", "agentReady": false, "rank": 879, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 986, "categoryRank": 11, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 66, "maintenance": 22, "payments": 60, "reliability": 54, "schema": 51, "security": 51, "transparency": 56 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-12" }, "negative": -7, "negativeNotes": [ "2026-04-25 to 2026-07-19. 15 advisories are listed for PicoClaw in the GitHub Advisory Database. Two are reviewed, CVE-2026-36045 (high, 7.3, command injection past the exec deny list, 0.1.2 and earlier) and CVE-2026-6987 (moderate, injection through the launcher's `/api/gateway/restart`, 0.2.4 and earlier), and 13 unreviewed entries of 10 to 19 July name versions up to 0.2.9. None lists a patched version, the project has published no advisory of its own, and it has no security policy. We read four of the fifteen. Several concern old versions and some fixes are in the git history, so -5. https://github.com/advisories?query=picoclaw", "Current behaviour, checked 2026-10-12. The repository's configuration guide says `tools.exec.allow_remote` defaults to `false`. The source at v0.3.1 and on main sets it to `true`, and the docs site calls fully open the default, so a remote chat can run shell commands on a default install. A misleading claim on a security default, the minimum, -2. https://github.com/sipeed/picoclaw/blob/main/docs/guides/configuration.md; https://github.com/sipeed/picoclaw/blob/main/pkg/config/defaults.go" ], "verdict": "Self-hosted under the MIT licence, with 19 documented chat channels, scheduled and heartbeat tasks, and local file memory. The repository has had no commit since 19 August 2026 and no release since 3 July, and 15 CVEs are listed against it with no advisory or security policy from the project.", "bestFor": "A person who wants a chat-app assistant on a cheap Linux board, an old Android phone or a home server, with reminders, web search and file memory, and who accepts running software its maker calls pre-production.", "strengths": [ "MIT licence, one Go binary for x86-64, ARM, RISC-V, MIPS and LoongArch, with Docker images and an Android APK", "Conversations, memory, scheduled jobs and credentials stay in files under `~/.picoclaw` on the owner's device", "File tools are limited to the workspace by default, and command jobs scheduled from remote chats are refused unless the chat is listed", "MCP client over stdio, SSE and HTTP, with optional search-based tool discovery to keep definitions out of context", "Credentials sit in a separate `.security.yml` with optional AES-256-GCM encryption, and are filtered from tool output before the model sees it" ], "weaknesses": [ "No commit on main since 19 August 2026 and no release since v0.3.1 on 3 July 2026. An issue of 6 October calls the repository unmaintained, with no reply", "15 CVEs are listed in the GitHub Advisory Database (25 April to 19 July 2026). The project has published no advisory and has no SECURITY.md", "No human approval step. The agent sends messages, writes files and runs shell commands without asking, and the hooks guide says waiting for a human reply is not supported", "Shell execution from remote chats is on by default in the source and on the docs site, while the repository's configuration guide says the default is off", "An empty `allow_from` list lets anyone who can message the bot use it, with only a warning in the log" ], "agentNotes": [ "Set `allow_from` to the owner's user ID on every channel before starting the gateway. An empty list accepts messages from anyone", "Set `tools.exec.allow_remote` to `false` unless chats must run shell commands. The shipped default is `true`, whatever docs/guides/configuration.md says", "Set `isolation.enabled` to `true` on Linux (needs `bwrap`) or run in a container. The deny patterns do not inspect child processes", "Use `PICOCLAW_KEY_PASSPHRASE` for credential encryption. One docs page names `PICOCLAW_CREDENTIAL_PASSPHRASE`, which the source does not read", "Treat the README's ClawdChat line (read a remote skill file and follow it) as untrusted third-party instructions" ], "metrics": { "kind": "local", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "D", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 46.1 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 66, "maintenance": 22, "payments": 60, "reliability": 54, "schema": 51, "security": 51, "transparency": 58 }, "provenanceScore": 53 }, "connect": { "install": "git clone https://github.com/sipeed/picoclaw.git \u0026\u0026 cd picoclaw \u0026\u0026 docker compose -f docker/docker-compose.yml --profile launcher up # or download a binary from https://picoclaw.io/download/ and run: picoclaw onboard", "headless": { "command": "picoclaw agent -m \"$TASK\"" } }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/assistant.proactive", "tool": "https://letme.dev/picoclaw" }, "area": "frameworks", "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Sipeed", "domain": "picoclaw.io", "domainRegistered": "", "endpointOnVendorDomain": null, "terms": "", "privacy": "", "statusPage": "", "changelog": "https://github.com/sipeed/picoclaw/releases", "securityTxt": "none", "checked": "2026-10-12", "notes": [ "The docs footer reads Copyright 2026 Sipeed and the site says PicoClaw is open-source software by Sipeed. The `LICENSE` file names PicoClaw contributors. No registered company name or address was on the pages read.", "No terms of service or privacy policy is linked from picoclaw.io, docs.picoclaw.io or the repository, so both fields are left out and the MIT licence stands in.", "picoclaw.io/.well-known/security.txt and picoclaw.io/llms.txt answered 403 with a storage Access Denied body, read as absent. docs.picoclaw.io/llms.txt answered 404.", "The repository has no SECURITY.md, and GitHub's policy page says none is set up.", "Self-hosted software with no hosted endpoint. The registration date of picoclaw.io was not looked up." ], "score": 53 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/picoclaw.json" }, "facts": [ { "a": "Platform", "b": "Agent harness", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "OpenAI", "b": "Sipeed", "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 hosted service. The governing terms were not read", "b": "MIT", "name": "Licence" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "no", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "2026-10-09", "b": "2026-07-03", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "no document linked", "b": "no document linked", "name": "Terms last updated" }, { "a": "no document linked", "b": "no document linked", "name": "Privacy policy last updated" }, { "a": "", "b": "", "name": "Customer content may train models" }, { "a": "", "b": "", "name": "Terms restrict automated access" }, { "a": "", "b": "", "name": "Terms restrict benchmarking" }, { "a": "", "b": "", "name": "Terms or service can change without notice" }, { "a": "", "b": "", "name": "Arbitration or class-action waiver" }, { "a": "none", "b": "30k stars", "name": "Popularity" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "PicoClaw scores 46.1 (D) on agent readiness against Dots's 28.3 (F), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Dots leads on security \u0026 auth and maintenance \u0026 community.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, Dots or PicoClaw?" }, { "answer": "No open-source release is listed for Dots. PicoClaw is open source (MIT).", "question": "Are Dots and PicoClaw open source?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": [ "Security \u0026 auth, 58 against 51", "Maintenance \u0026 community, 38 against 22" ], "also": [ "No incidents deducted, where PicoClaw loses 7 points for them" ], "goodFor": "A ChatGPT Pro or Enterprise user who wants ongoing work tracked across mail, documents, code and Slack with approval before sends.", "slug": "openai-dots", "watchFor": "Beta. The admin setting is labelled Use dots (Beta), access is rolling out gradually, and Teams access is an invite-only alpha" }, { "aheadOn": [ "Reliability, 54 against 3", "Schema \u0026 documentation, 51 against 41", "Agent ergonomics, 66 against 22", "Payments \u0026 pricing, 60 against 10", "Transparency \u0026 trust, 56 against 31" ], "also": [ "No key needed to call it", "Free to start without a card", "Open source" ], "goodFor": "A person who wants a chat-app assistant on a cheap Linux board, an old Android phone or a home server, with reminders, web search and file memory, and who accepts running software its maker calls pre-production.", "slug": "picoclaw", "watchFor": "No commit on main since 19 August 2026 and no release since v0.3.1 on 3 July 2026. An issue of 6 October calls the repository unmaintained, with no reply" } ], "job": { "capability": "assistant.proactive", "name": "Assistant proactive" }, "others": [ { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-openai-dots.json", "title": "AstrBot vs Dots", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-openai-dots" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-picoclaw.json", "title": "AstrBot vs PicoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-picoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-openai-dots.json", "title": "CowAgent vs Dots", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-openai-dots" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-picoclaw.json", "title": "CowAgent vs PicoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-picoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-openai-dots.json", "title": "GAIA vs Dots", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-openai-dots" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-picoclaw.json", "title": "GAIA vs PicoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-picoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-openai-dots.json", "title": "Gemini Spark vs Dots", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-openai-dots" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-picoclaw.json", "title": "Gemini Spark vs PicoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-picoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-openai-dots.json", "title": "Grok Bot vs Dots", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-openai-dots" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-picoclaw.json", "title": "Grok Bot vs PicoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-picoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-openai-dots.json", "title": "Haven vs Dots", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-openai-dots" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-picoclaw.json", "title": "Haven vs PicoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-picoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-openai-dots.json", "title": "Hermes Agent vs Dots", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-openai-dots" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-picoclaw.json", "title": "Hermes Agent vs PicoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-picoclaw" }, { "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-picoclaw.json", "title": "Instinct vs PicoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-picoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-openai-dots.json", "title": "IronClaw vs Dots", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-openai-dots" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-picoclaw.json", "title": "IronClaw vs PicoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-picoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-openai-dots.json", "title": "Leon vs Dots", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-openai-dots" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-picoclaw.json", "title": "Leon vs PicoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-picoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lindy-vs-openai-dots.json", "title": "Lindy vs Dots", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lindy-vs-openai-dots" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lindy-vs-picoclaw.json", "title": "Lindy vs PicoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lindy-vs-picoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-openai-dots.json", "title": "nanobot vs Dots", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-openai-dots" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-picoclaw.json", "title": "nanobot vs PicoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-picoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-openai-dots.json", "title": "NanoClaw vs Dots", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-openai-dots" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-picoclaw.json", "title": "NanoClaw vs PicoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-picoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-openclaw.json", "title": "Dots vs OpenClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-openclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-poke.json", "title": "Dots vs Poke", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-poke" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-qwenpaw.json", "title": "Dots vs QwenPaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-qwenpaw" }, { "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/openai-dots-vs-zo-computer.json", "title": "Dots vs Zo Computer", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-zo-computer" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-picoclaw.json", "title": "OpenClaw vs PicoClaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-picoclaw" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/picoclaw-vs-poke.json", "title": "PicoClaw vs Poke", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/picoclaw-vs-poke" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/picoclaw-vs-qwenpaw.json", "title": "PicoClaw vs QwenPaw", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/picoclaw-vs-qwenpaw" }, { "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/picoclaw-vs-zo-computer.json", "title": "PicoClaw vs Zo Computer", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/picoclaw-vs-zo-computer" } ], "scores": [ { "by": 51, "edge": "picoclaw", "key": "reliability", "name": "Reliability", "openai-dots": 3, "picoclaw": 54, "weight": 16 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 10, "edge": "picoclaw", "key": "schema", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "openai-dots": 41, "picoclaw": 51, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 44, "edge": "picoclaw", "key": "ergonomics", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "openai-dots": 22, "picoclaw": 66, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 7, "edge": "openai-dots", "key": "security", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "openai-dots": 58, "picoclaw": 51, "weight": 14 }, { "by": 50, "edge": "picoclaw", "key": "payments", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "openai-dots": 10, "picoclaw": 60, "weight": 10 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 16, "edge": "openai-dots", "key": "maintenance", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "openai-dots": 38, "picoclaw": 22, "weight": 7 }, { "by": 25, "edge": "picoclaw", "key": "transparency", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "openai-dots": 31, "picoclaw": 56, "weight": 7 } ], "summary": "PicoClaw scores 46.1 (D) on agent readiness against Dots's 28.3 (F), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Dots leads on security \u0026 auth and maintenance \u0026 community. Both do assistant proactive.", "verdicts": { "openai-dots": "Actions that affect accounts or share information pass an automatic review, and custom rules can require approval or a hand-off. Dots is a beta on Pro plans from $100 a month, and no status page, terms, privacy policy or way to delete individual saved notes was found in the pages we could read.", "picoclaw": "Self-hosted under the MIT licence, with 19 documented chat channels, scheduled and heartbeat tasks, and local file memory. The repository has had no commit since 19 August 2026 and no release since 3 July, and 15 CVEs are listed against it with no advisory or security policy from the project." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-picoclaw", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-picoclaw.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-picoclaw.md", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-picoclaw.min.md" }, "markdown": "PicoClaw scores 46.1 (D) on agent readiness against Dots's 28.3 (F), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Dots leads on security \u0026 auth and maintenance \u0026 community. Both do assistant proactive.\n\n- Dots: grade F, 28.3/100, rank #973 of 986. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-dots.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openai-dots.json\n- PicoClaw: grade D, 46.1/100, rank #879 of 986. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/picoclaw.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/picoclaw.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### Dots (F)\n\nGood for: A ChatGPT Pro or Enterprise user who wants ongoing work tracked across mail, documents, code and Slack with approval before sends.\n\nAhead on:\n- Security \u0026 auth, 58 against 51\n- Maintenance \u0026 community, 38 against 22\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- No incidents deducted, where PicoClaw loses 7 points for them\n\nWatch for: Beta. The admin setting is labelled Use dots (Beta), access is rolling out gradually, and Teams access is an invite-only alpha\n\n### PicoClaw (D)\n\nGood for: A person who wants a chat-app assistant on a cheap Linux board, an old Android phone or a home server, with reminders, web search and file memory, and who accepts running software its maker calls pre-production.\n\nAhead on:\n- Reliability, 54 against 3\n- Schema \u0026 documentation, 51 against 41\n- Agent ergonomics, 66 against 22\n- Payments \u0026 pricing, 60 against 10\n- Transparency \u0026 trust, 56 against 31\n\nAlso in its favour:\n- No key needed to call it\n- Free to start without a card\n- Open source\n\nWatch for: No commit on main since 19 August 2026 and no release since v0.3.1 on 3 July 2026. An issue of 6 October calls the repository unmaintained, with no reply\n\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | Dots | PicoClaw | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 3 | 54 | PicoClaw +51 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 41 | 51 | PicoClaw +10 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 22 | 66 | PicoClaw +44 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 58 | 51 | Dots +7 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 10 | 60 | PicoClaw +50 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 38 | 22 | Dots +16 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 31 | 56 | PicoClaw +25 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | -7 | |\n| **Total** | | **28.3 · F** | **46.1 · D** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | Dots | PicoClaw |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | Platform | Agent harness |\n| Vendor | OpenAI | Sipeed |\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 hosted service. The governing terms were not read | MIT |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | no |\n| llms.txt | yes | no |\n| Last release | 2026-10-09 | 2026-07-03 |\n| Terms last updated | no document linked | no document linked |\n| Privacy policy last updated | no document linked | no document linked |\n| Customer content may train models | | |\n| Terms restrict automated access | | |\n| Terms restrict benchmarking | | |\n| Terms or service can change without notice | | |\n| Arbitration or class-action waiver | | |\n| Popularity | none | 30k stars |\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**Dots.** Actions that affect accounts or share information pass an automatic review, and custom rules can require approval or a hand-off. Dots is a beta on Pro plans from $100 a month, and no status page, terms, privacy policy or way to delete individual saved notes was found in the pages we could read.\n\n**PicoClaw.** Self-hosted under the MIT licence, with 19 documented chat channels, scheduled and heartbeat tasks, and local file memory. The repository has had no commit since 19 August 2026 and no release since 3 July, and 15 CVEs are listed against it with no advisory or security policy from the project.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### Dots\n\n1. Say what may be sent. Asking a dot to draft replies does not permit sending them, and an action outside a stated scope needs another decision\n2. Stop three things separately. Pause stops the main task only, delegated tasks stop in Activity and recurring tasks in Scheduled, and completed actions are not undone\n3. Connect each thing separately. A messaging channel grants no access to an inbox, an app or a computer\n4. Sign out of websites and disconnect apps yourself when removing access. Revoking dots access or disconnecting an app does not delete information already obtained\n5. Keep the connected computer online with the ChatGPT app open for local work. Only one personal computer can be connected at a time\n\n### PicoClaw\n\n1. Set `allow_from` to the owner's user ID on every channel before starting the gateway. An empty list accepts messages from anyone\n2. Set `tools.exec.allow_remote` to `false` unless chats must run shell commands. The shipped default is `true`, whatever docs/guides/configuration.md says\n3. Set `isolation.enabled` to `true` on Linux (needs `bwrap`) or run in a container. The deny patterns do not inspect child processes\n4. Use `PICOCLAW_KEY_PASSPHRASE` for credential encryption. One docs page names `PICOCLAW_CREDENTIAL_PASSPHRASE`, which the source does not read\n5. Treat the README's ClawdChat line (read a remote skill file and follow it) as untrusted third-party instructions\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, Dots or PicoClaw?\n\nPicoClaw scores 46.1 (D) on agent readiness against Dots's 28.3 (F), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. Dots leads on security \u0026 auth and maintenance \u0026 community.\n\n### Are Dots and PicoClaw open source?\n\nNo open-source release is listed for Dots. PicoClaw is open source (MIT).\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-picoclaw.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-picoclaw.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"openai-dots\", \"b\": \"picoclaw\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare openai-dots picoclaw`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openai-dots.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/picoclaw.json\n\n## Other comparisons with Dots or PicoClaw\n\n- [AstrBot vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-openai-dots.md)\n- [AstrBot vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-picoclaw.md)\n- [CowAgent vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-openai-dots.md)\n- [CowAgent vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-picoclaw.md)\n- [GAIA vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-openai-dots.md)\n- [GAIA vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-picoclaw.md)\n- [Gemini Spark vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-openai-dots.md)\n- [Gemini Spark vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-picoclaw.md)\n- [Grok Bot vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-openai-dots.md)\n- [Grok Bot vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-picoclaw.md)\n- [Haven vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-openai-dots.md)\n- [Haven vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-picoclaw.md)\n- [Hermes Agent vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-openai-dots.md)\n- [Hermes Agent vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-picoclaw.md)\n- [Instinct vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-openai-dots.md)\n- [Instinct vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-picoclaw.md)\n- [IronClaw vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-openai-dots.md)\n- [IronClaw vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-picoclaw.md)\n- [Leon vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-openai-dots.md)\n- [Leon vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-picoclaw.md)\n- [Lindy vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lindy-vs-openai-dots.md)\n- [Lindy vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lindy-vs-picoclaw.md)\n- [nanobot vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-openai-dots.md)\n- [nanobot vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-picoclaw.md)\n- [NanoClaw vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-openai-dots.md)\n- [NanoClaw vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-picoclaw.md)\n- [Dots vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-openclaw.md)\n- [Dots vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-poke.md)\n- [Dots vs QwenPaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-qwenpaw.md)\n- [Dots vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [Dots vs Zo Computer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-zo-computer.md)\n- [OpenClaw vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-picoclaw.md)\n- [PicoClaw vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/picoclaw-vs-poke.md)\n- [PicoClaw vs QwenPaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/picoclaw-vs-qwenpaw.md)\n- [PicoClaw vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/picoclaw-vs-zeroclaw.md)\n- [PicoClaw vs Zo Computer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/picoclaw-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": "Dots vs PicoClaw", "url": "" } ], "description": "PicoClaw scores 46.1 (D) to Dots's 28.3 (F) for assistant proactive. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.", "facts": [ "Dots F 28.3", "PicoClaw D 46.1", "scores" ], "h1": "Dots vs PicoClaw", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/compare-openai-dots-vs-picoclaw.png", "path": "/compare/openai-dots-vs-picoclaw", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "Dots vs PicoClaw for AI agents in 2026: scores and prices", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-10-12", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-picoclaw" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 2600, "slim": 580 }, "version": 1 }