Dots, Muse, Cue and Grok Team Bots all offer ongoing assistance, but they are not interchangeable products. Some act for an individual, one emphasizes shared team configuration, and access ranges from staged rollout to invite-only early use. Choose from the job and permission boundary you need, not from a generic claim that an agent can do everything.
Editorial note: Prepared October 1 as a September 30, 2026 dispatch, using the dated announcements cited below. Later product developments are outside this article’s scope.
- 01Compare the exact offeringCue is the new Manus personal-agent app; it is not every feature of Manus 2.0.
- 02Keep access restrictions visibleMarket, plan, beta and invite requirements can determine whether a pilot is possible.
- 03Missing details stay missingUnpublished prices or approval policies cannot support a numerical ranking.
01 — The evidenceFour offerings, five practical questions
We compared vendor announcements dated through September 30 across runtime, app access, approvals, pricing and availability. Sources were checked October 1. This is a documentation comparison, not a hands-on benchmark. A missing detail means the cited material did not establish it, not that the product lacks the feature.
The chronology matters. Dots was announced September 29. Personal Muse launched September 8, followed by separate enterprise and small-business announcements on September 28 and 29. Manus introduced Cue within its September 28 Manus 2.0 announcement. Grok Team Bots entered public beta September 28.
02 — Practical implicationsWhere the work runs and how you reach it
| Offering | Runtime described | Interaction and apps |
|---|---|---|
| OpenAI dots | Own cloud computer and browser. | ChatGPT, Slack, Teams and connected plugins; texting planned. |
| Meta Muse | Dedicated cloud computer and Secure VM. | Muse app or WhatsApp; web, iOS and Android. |
| Cue by Manus | Own computer; exact hosting/isolation unspecified. | Standalone app; each agent has email, phone and wallet. |
| Grok Team Bots | Underlying Grok Bot uses cloud computers. | Shared files, skills, plugins and credentials; Slack support. |
The Manus 2.0 announcement names Cue as a standalone personal-agent app. Do not transfer the broader product’s local-computer or automation claims into Cue without supporting documentation. Likewise, the earlier Grok Bot launch describes the underlying cloud design, while the Team Bots announcement supplies the team access and sharing rules.
Meta’s small-business announcement adds business connections and confirms US and Canada access. That does not turn the separate Enterprise Platform into the same consumer product. Keep the identity and administration requirements of the offering you intend to use.
03 — Practical implicationsWhat the sources say about approvals
| Offering | Published controls | Evidence limit |
|---|---|---|
| Dots | Custom Rules, auto-review and read-only proactive research. | Review consequential outputs; controls are vendor-described. |
| Muse | Sentinel checks, sensitive-action prompts and granular app access. | Small-business post says publishing, sending and spending need approval. |
| Cue | Payments within a user-set budget. | Detailed per-action approval policy not established. |
| Grok Team Bots | Shared team configuration; private individual chats/context. | Dated launch does not establish detailed action-approval enforcement. |
A budget, a permission and an approval are different controls. A budget limits expenditure; a permission determines what a tool can reach; an approval authorizes a particular action or class of actions. An agent may satisfy one condition without satisfying the others. Ask the vendor or inspect current documentation for the exact workflow you intend to run.
Use a harmless pilot to test the boundary that matters. If a task must prepare a message and wait, check that behavior with a test recipient and no sensitive content. Inspect the activity record and the cancellation path. Our permission-default guide explains why a clear instruction should be paired with bounded access.
04 — Practical implicationsPrice and access are not a comparable score
| Offering | Published price treatment | Access at the cutoff |
|---|---|---|
| Dots | First dot included with Pro/Business Premium; Work/Codex allowances still apply. | Eligible markets; enterprise/Edu/Healthcare beta needs admin enablement. |
| Muse | Free for most uses; optional subscriptions, no numeric prices in cited sources. | US and Canada; personal and small-business offerings distinguished. |
| Cue | Free invite-only early access; purchases are separate. | Limited invitations; iOS awaiting App Store review. |
| Grok Team Bots | Teams or Enterprise required; no numeric all-in rate established. | Public beta. |
Do not substitute model API prices for the cost of an agent product. The product may include computer time, tools, subscriptions or different usage allowances. A label such as free early access also does not make purchases performed by an agent free. Record actual accepted-task cost once a controlled trial is available.
The published evidence does not justify a lowest-price winner. It does support a practical eligibility screen: can your account access the product, can it connect the required inputs, and are the permission and review mechanisms sufficient for the task?
05 — Practical implicationsChoose a pilot from the work you need done
Prepare a bounded deliverable
Compare outputs from approved sources and keep external actions behind review.
Use common team context
Check ownership of shared configuration and the privacy of individual work.
Explore a new interaction model
Avoid making an invite-only or beta feature a critical operational dependency.
Pick one task with a fixed input and an observable finish. Compare the quality of the result, the handling of uncertainty and the time spent supervising it. A persistent agent should be evaluated on complete assignments, including interruptions and denied actions, rather than a single impressive demonstration.
Our dots guide provides a first-task contract, and the runtime comparison provides technical boundary questions. The AI transformation service helps teams design such a pilot.
Choose the agent whose boundaries fit the responsibility
Screen for access first, inspect the actual controls second and compare complete task outcomes third. Keep unpublished details visible until you can verify them, and expand the responsibility only after the pilot handles ordinary exceptions well.