Updated 23 October 2026. Anthropic opened a waitlist for Claude Duet, its new proactive agent app, on 21 October, and this guide covers who can get it, what it costs and what it cannot do yet.
Claude Duet is Anthropic's new agent app: you message it like a colleague, it works in the apps you connect, and it checks with you before it sends, pays, signs or deletes anything. Anthropic opened it as a research preview on 21 October 2026. As of 23 October 2026, only Claude Pro and Max subscribers in the US can get it, through a waitlist, and invitations go out in waves.
There is no extra charge during the preview. Duet is included in Pro, which costs $20 a month or $17 a month billed annually, and in Max, which starts at $100 a month, and it shares the usage limits of the rest of Claude. Anthropic has not given a date for other countries and says Team and Enterprise plans will get it later. Below: how to join, what Duet can and cannot do, and how it compares with OpenAI's dots and Meta's Muse.
Claude Duet at a glance
From Anthropic's announcement, product page and help center guide, checked on 23 October 2026:
| Question | Answer as of 23 October 2026 |
|---|---|
| What it is | A proactive agent app that sends a morning brief, works on tasks in the background and asks before consequential actions |
| Status | Research preview, opened on 21 October 2026 |
| Who can get it | Claude Pro and Max subscribers with a US Claude account and a waitlist invitation |
| Not available on | Free, Team and Enterprise plans, or outside the US |
| Price | Included in Pro and Max at no extra cost during the preview |
| Where it runs | A standalone app for iOS and Android, and claude.ai on a computer |
| Model | Claude Opus 5.5; you cannot choose another model |
| Apps it can use | The connectors you set up in Claude, such as Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Drive, Slack, QuickBooks, HubSpot, Docusign and Calendly |
| Payments | Purchases you approve, through Link by Stripe or Shop Pay, each with a one-time card |
| Usage limits | Shares your plan's five-hour and weekly limits, and its background checks count too |
How to join the Claude Duet waitlist
Anthropic's help center describes six steps:
- Go to the Claude Duet product page and choose "Join the waitlist".
- Add your name and email. If you already use Claude, give the email on your Claude account.
- Pick your Claude plan and your phone type, iPhone or Android. You can also say what you do and which work you would hand over first.
- Submit the form. Anthropic is adding people gradually and emails you when your turn comes.
- Open the invitation on your phone, signed in to the Apple or Google account that uses the same email, and follow the setup steps.
- Open Claude Duet and sign in with your Claude account. The app can take a few minutes to appear.
Why you might not have access yet
- Invitations go out in waves, so joining does not guarantee a date.
- Duet is US only during the research preview.
- Team and Enterprise plans are not included yet.
- The waitlist email does not match your Claude account, or the Apple or Google account on your phone.
When is the Claude Duet release date for everyone?
There is no public date yet. As of 23 October 2026, Anthropic's help center says Duet is US only for the research preview, that Team and Enterprise plans will get it later and that features can change during the preview. Outside the US there is no official way in for now, so treat any third-party launch date as a guess.
What Claude Duet can do
Duet starts with the memory, skills and connectors already in your Claude account, and it works on its own cloud computer, so it keeps going after you close the app. Anthropic describes these jobs:
- A morning brief. Each morning it reviews your email and calendar, picks what most needs you and can start the first steps, such as drafting replies for you to review.
- Check-ins during the day. It checks your connected accounts every few hours and messages you when something needs attention. You can tell it what you want to hear about and how often.
- Larger jobs. Describe the result you want and it works out which apps to use. Research briefs, financial models, slide decks and dashboards come back as files in the Make tab, and the Tasks tab shows what is still in progress.
- Websites without a connector. It uses its own browser in the cloud.
- Business apps. Anthropic says Duet can use more than 6,000 connectors and plugins in the Claude Marketplace, for jobs such as chasing unpaid invoices in QuickBooks or Stripe and preparing payroll in Gusto.
- Past context. It can search your earlier Duet chats and your Claude chats outside projects. Turn off "Search and reference chats" under Settings, Memory, to stop that.
For more tasks worth handing to software, see our list of AI automation ideas for small business.
What Claude Duet cannot do yet
- You cannot choose the model, which is Claude Opus 5.5, and you cannot watch or take over its browser.
- It checks your accounts at set intervals, so something urgent can arrive between checks.
- It cannot see all of your projects or the files on your computer. It can read your work in Claude but cannot change it.
- It does not make phone calls or text other people. It can send email from accounts you connected, with your approval.
- Some connectors, such as Slack, work with limits, and Microsoft 365 is not available yet.
- Some actions are off-limits even with your approval: trading securities, moving money between accounts and accessing someone else's account.
- Personal errands, such as booking tickets, are weaker than work tasks, and Duet can misread a thread or misjudge what is urgent.
Is Claude Duet free? Price and usage limits
Duet is not part of the Free plan. During the research preview it comes with Pro and Max at no extra cost. As of 23 October 2026, Anthropic's pricing page lists:
| Plan | Price as of 23 October 2026 | Claude Duet |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Not included |
| Pro | $20 a month, or $17 a month billed annually ($200 up front) | Included, by waitlist, US only |
| Max | From $100 a month, with 5x or 20x the usage of Pro | Included, by waitlist, US only |
| Team and Enterprise | Priced per seat | Not yet |
The real cost is usage. Duet draws on the same five-hour session and weekly limits as your Claude chats, and its background work, such as the morning brief and check-ins, counts too. Bigger jobs take more model turns, and the help center warns that you may hit your limits sooner than with chat alone. To soften the start, everyone admitted to the preview gets one full reset of both limits, which can be used until 30 November 2026.
Is Claude Duet safe to connect to email and payments?
Anthropic built the preview around approvals. Duet reads, drafts and prepares work on its own, but before it sends a message, makes a payment, signs a document or deletes anything, it shows you the action and waits. If you cannot approve right away, it finishes the rest of the task and brings the approval back later. Other safeguards Anthropic lists:
- Credential handling follows the design of Claude Managed Agents, so Duet never directly sees your passwords or sign-in tokens. When a site asks for a password, you type it into a separate form on your device.
- Actions pass Anthropic's auto mode classifier, and a new classifier is designed to refuse sharing card numbers or government ID. Health and personal finance details go out only when you explicitly ask.
- Red teams and an outside firm tested it, and it is covered by Anthropic's public bug bounty program.
Two cautions. Duet reads text written by other people, and the help center says no defense against prompt injection is perfect, so read every draft before you confirm it. And disconnecting an app stops future access, but Duet keeps what it remembered from earlier conversations. If staff want to connect work accounts to a personal agent, agree the rules first; our AI policy template is a starting point.
Claude Duet vs OpenAI dots vs Meta Muse
TechCrunch reported that Duet is aimed at rival agents such as Meta's Muse and OpenAI's dots. Here is how the three compare on what each company has published, as of 23 October 2026:
| Item | Claude Duet | OpenAI dots | Meta Muse |
|---|---|---|---|
| Launched | 21 October 2026, research preview | 29 September 2026 | 8 September 2026 |
| Model | Claude Opus 5.5 | GPT-6 Astra | Muse Spark |
| Who can use it | US Pro and Max subscribers, by waitlist | Pro and Business Premium users in eligible markets; a beta for Enterprise, Edu and Healthcare that admins switch on | Rolling out in the US |
| Price | Included in Pro and Max during the preview | First dot included in Pro or Business Premium | Free for most uses, with paid subscription plans |
| Where you talk to it | Duet app on iOS and Android, and claude.ai | ChatGPT on desktop, web and mobile, plus Slack and Teams | Muse app, muse.ai and WhatsApp |
| Usage limits | Counts against your Claude limits | Chats with your dot do not count against ChatGPT limits; Codex and ChatGPT Work tasks do | Not stated in Meta's announcement |
| Can you watch it work? | Not yet | Yes, you can open its cloud computer | It shows an audit trail of what it did and plans to do |
| Before risky actions | Asks before sending, paying, signing or deleting | Auto-review plus your Custom Rules; background research uses read-only tools | Asks before sending email or buying; a separate Sentinel agent approves what goes out to the internet |
In short, Duet is the work-first choice for US Claude subscribers, dots suit teams already in ChatGPT, Slack or Teams, and Muse is the consumer option with a free tier. No head-to-head tests exist yet, so compare them on the apps you need connected.
When a custom AI agent is the better choice
Duet is a personal assistant for one subscriber. A business often needs something else:
- A shared job, not a personal one. A support inbox or month-end invoice chasing belongs to a team, with logs and a named owner. An AI email inbox assistant built for a shared inbox fits that better.
- Places and plans Duet does not cover. Outside the US, on Team or Enterprise plans, or on Microsoft 365, Duet is not an option today.
- Fixed rules and data limits. If an action must follow the same steps every time, or customer data must stay in one region or system, a workflow you control is easier to audit. Our guides to AI agents for business and how to build an AI agent explain the choices, and our MCP explainer covers how agents connect to business tools.
A sensible test for a US small business: let one owner try Duet for two weeks on low-risk work, such as the morning brief and draft replies, and note which tasks it handles well. That list becomes the specification for any shared automation you build later. If you want help scoping an agent inside your own systems, tell us what you need.
Claude Duet FAQ
Is Claude Duet free?
No. Claude Duet is not part of the Free plan. During the research preview it is included at no extra cost with Claude Pro and Max. As of 23 October 2026, Pro costs $20 a month, or $17 a month billed annually, and Max starts at $100 a month. Duet uses your plan's existing usage limits, and its background checks count against them, so heavy use can reach those limits sooner than chat alone.
Is Claude Duet available outside the US?
Not yet. As of 23 October 2026, Anthropic's help center says Claude Duet is available in the US only during the research preview, and you need a US Claude account plus an invitation from the waitlist. Anthropic has not published a date for the UK, the EU or any other country, so watch its announcements for changes.
Can I use Claude Duet on a Team or Enterprise plan?
Not yet. The research preview is limited to individual Pro and Max subscribers. Anthropic's help center says Duet is not available on Team or Enterprise plans and that it plans to bring it to those plans later, without giving a date. Businesses that need a shared agent now should look at tools built for team workflows, with admin controls and logs.
What AI model does Claude Duet use?
Claude Duet runs on Claude Opus 5.5, and during the research preview you cannot switch it to another model such as Sonnet or Haiku. Duet decides how much effort each job needs. Larger jobs, such as a financial model or a slide deck, take more model turns and background work, which uses more of your plan's usage limits.
Does Claude Duet work with Outlook and Microsoft 365?
Not yet. Anthropic's help center says Microsoft 365 is not available in Claude Duet during the research preview, and that some connectors, such as Slack, work with limits. Duet uses the connectors you set up in Claude, such as Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Drive, QuickBooks and HubSpot, and its own cloud browser for other websites.
How is Claude Duet different from the Claude app?
The Claude app waits for you to start a chat. Claude Duet comes to you first: it sends a morning brief, checks your connected accounts every few hours, works in the background on its own cloud computer and messages you when something needs a decision. It is a separate app for now, but it uses the memory, skills and connectors from your Claude account.
Sources
- Anthropic: Introducing Claude Duet (21 October 2026)
- Claude Duet product page
- Claude Help Center: Get started with Claude Duet
- Claude pricing
- TechCrunch: Claude Duet app is Anthropic's bet on agents (22 October 2026)
- OpenAI: Introducing dots (29 September 2026)
- Meta: Introducing Muse (8 September 2026)
- Hacker News: Claude Duet launch discussion (21 October 2026)
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