# GAIA (slim)

> GAIA is a personal AI assistant from The Experience Company for email, calendar, todos and scheduled workflows. It runs as a hosted service at heygaia.io with messaging bots, and its source is published for noncommercial self-hosting.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/gaia.md (~9,200 tokens) · this version ~2,180 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/gaia.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/gaia
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · Updated: 2026-10-12

**D · 49.5/100 · rank #813 of 986 · #10 in Personal assistants · not agent-ready · confidence medium**


Assessment: GAIA's source is public, so its approval gate, memory store and token handling can be read. Three approval modes and per-tool overrides exist, but the default mode in the source runs every action unasked, which the privacy policy and release notes do not say. Pro costs $30 a month and self-hosting is limited to noncommercial use.

## Facts

- Kind: Platform · vendor: The Experience Company · category: Personal assistants · legal entity: The Experience Company, Inc. · provenance 70/100
- Packages: npm `@heygaia/cli`
- Auth: OAuth · pricing: Paid · x402: no · licence: PolyForm-Noncommercial-1.0.0
- Probe metrics: not measured yet (probes haven't run)
- Where it runs: Hosted at heygaia.io, which the README recommends, or self-hosted with Docker through `@heygaia/cli` (web, FastAPI backend, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Redis, ChromaDB, RabbitMQ and JuiceFS). Self-hosting is for noncommercial use and business use needs an enterprise licence (https://github.com/theexperiencecompany/gaia; https://docs.heygaia.io/self-hosting/overview)
- Channels: Web, desktop app (beta) and mobile app (beta), plus iMessage (Pro plan), WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack and Discord bots on one account, and voice calls (https://github.com/theexperiencecompany/gaia)
- Acts without asking: Connecting Gmail or Calendar starts scheduled jobs with no setup. The README says the daily inbox job saves reply drafts and never sends. Approval modes are Allow always, Always ask and Auto, with per-tool overrides. The source default is `always_allow` (https://github.com/theexperiencecompany/gaia/blob/master/apps/api/app/models/hil_models.py; https://github.com/theexperiencecompany/gaia/blob/master/apps/web/src/features/settings/components/HilApprovalMode.tsx)
- Gated actions: In Always ask and Auto, a curated list per integration is gated. For Gmail it is send, send draft, reply, forward, delete message or thread, batch delete, and removing a label or filter. Tools from custom MCP servers are classed by a model once, and a server's `destructiveHint` can add a gate but not remove one (https://github.com/theexperiencecompany/gaia/blob/master/apps/api/app/constants/hil_destructive_tools.py; https://github.com/theexperiencecompany/gaia/blob/master/apps/api/app/services/hil/classification.py)
- Accounts and credentials: 40 integration definitions in the source and a claim of 50 or more on the site. Built-in ones such as Gmail connect by OAuth through Composio, and Gmail asks for `gmail.modify`. Custom MCP server tokens are Fernet-encrypted in PostgreSQL. Disconnecting revokes access, per the docs (https://github.com/theexperiencecompany/gaia/blob/master/apps/api/app/config/oauth_config.py; https://github.com/theexperiencecompany/gaia/blob/master/apps/api/app/services/mcp/mcp_token_store.py)
- Memory: Facts, a daily journal, four documents (`user.md`, `memory.md`, `people.md`, `agenda.md`) and a graph, learned from conversations without being asked. Stored in PostgreSQL, with ChromaDB for retrieval and Markdown copies on JuiceFS. Each item can be edited or deleted and Clear all removes everything. The README lists 50 saved memories on Free (https://docs.heygaia.io/guides/memory; https://github.com/theexperiencecompany/gaia/blob/master/ARCHITECTURE.md)
- Model providers: The hosted service picks the models. The privacy policy says message content, files and data from connected accounts are shared with third-party model providers, which it does not name. The source calls models through OpenRouter and Google Gemini, and the 26 August 2026 notes name DeepSeek V4 Flash as the default (https://heygaia.io/privacy; https://github.com/theexperiencecompany/gaia/blob/master/apps/api/app/agents/llm/client.py)
- Price: Pro $30 a month on the pricing page. The README adds Free at $0 and Enterprise by contact, while the pricing page FAQ says GAIA is a paid product. Self-hosting is free for noncommercial use, plus model usage (https://heygaia.io/pricing; https://github.com/theexperiencecompany/gaia)
- Advisories: None published on the repository on 12 October 2026. SECURITY.md asks for reports by email and promises a reply within 48 hours (https://github.com/theexperiencecompany/gaia/security/advisories; https://github.com/theexperiencecompany/gaia/blob/master/.github/SECURITY.md)
- Prices: Pro $30 per month (plan)

- Scores: Reliability 67, Performance pending, Schema & documentation 51, Agent ergonomics 54, Security & auth 54, Payments & pricing 20, Task success pending, Maintenance & community 78, Transparency & trust 60 · negative events -5 · total over the 7 assessed categories
- Why: Reliability, Graded as the hosted service at heygaia.io, which the README recommends, with the hosted lines. · Schema & documentation, GAIA has no public API, so this is read on what a person or an agent can learn about the product from its docs and source. · Agent ergonomics, Read on what the owner has to supply and manage. · Security & auth, Sign-in runs through WorkOS and integrations connect by OAuth on the provider's consent screen, with custom MCP tokens Fernet-encrypted in P… · Payments & pricing, Scored on the hosted service. · Maintenance & community, The last tagged releases are `api-v0.24.0`, `web-v0.25.0` and `desktop-v0.7.1` of 14 September 2026, 28 days before this check (30). · Transparency & trust, The full source is public under PolyForm Noncommercial 1.0.0, which is not an OSI licence and bars business use without an enterprise licenc…
- Sources: 25, open questions: 10, both in the full twin
- Capabilities: assistant.proactive, assistant.messaging, assistant.accounts, assistant.memory, assistant.self-hosted, agent.mcp-client
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/gaia.json
- Verify (for the vendor): the badge `https://www.anchorterminal.com/badges/gaia.svg` or a link to https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/gaia from a page on heygaia.io or one of its subdomains, or the README of github.com/theexperiencecompany/gaia, then `POST https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/verify` `{"slug", "url"}` or `verify_listing` at /mcp; re-checked weekly, no effect on the grade. Snippets in the full twin.

## Before you call it

1. Set Settings > Approvals to Always ask or Auto before connecting mail. The default in the source runs every action, including send and delete, without asking.
2. Expect no public API on the hosted service. The backend turns off its OpenAPI document in production, so reach GAIA through its apps, bots or CLI.
3. Check the plan before relying on the hosted service. The README and docs describe a Free plan, and the pricing page says GAIA is a paid product.
4. For self-hosting, prepare Docker, Node.js 20, a WorkOS account and a model key first, and confirm the use is noncommercial under the licence.
5. Add outside tools as MCP servers by URL on the Integrations page. GAIA asks before adding a server in every approval mode.

## Connect

```bash
npm install -g @heygaia/cli && gaia init   # choose Self-Host (Docker), then open http://localhost:3000
```

## Similar tools

| Tool | Grade | Score | Shared capabilities | Slim |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| ZeroClaw | BB | 70.2 | assistant.proactive, assistant.messaging, assistant.memory, assistant.self-hosted, assistant.accounts, agent.mcp-client | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/zeroclaw.min.md |
| NanoClaw | B | 68.3 | assistant.proactive, assistant.messaging, assistant.memory, assistant.self-hosted, agent.mcp-client, assistant.accounts | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/nanoclaw.min.md |
| Hermes Agent | B | 67.9 | assistant.proactive, assistant.messaging, assistant.accounts, assistant.memory, assistant.self-hosted, agent.mcp-client | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/hermes-agent.min.md |
| OpenClaw | B | 67.1 | assistant.proactive, assistant.messaging, assistant.accounts, assistant.memory, assistant.self-hosted, agent.mcp-client | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openclaw.min.md |
| IronClaw | B | 66.7 | assistant.proactive, assistant.messaging, assistant.accounts, assistant.memory, assistant.self-hosted, agent.mcp-client | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/ironclaw.min.md |


## Panel reviews (0, desk reviews from public material, no calls made)