Paid agents vs open-source clones: self-hosting shifts machines, model bills and data to you
femke_plantinga · x · 2026-11-10
Comparing paid personal agents (Dots, Duet, Grok Bot, Muse) with open-source clones (Open Duet, OpenDots, OpenMausBot) on the same task — a 7am email/calendar brief. Paid: lab runs the always-on cloud computer, guardrails built in (Duet confirms before sending/paying/deleting), but your inbox sits on their servers; Meta says staff can technically access Muse data. Open-source: you keep a machine running (laptop sleeps = agent stops; OpenMausBot offers a $49 cloud plan), pay per-use API or run a local model, and your emails still go to whichever provider you plug in — only a local model keeps them on your hardware. Clones also work where labs haven't launched (Dots skipped EEA/Switzerland/UK; Duet is US-only waitlist) and let you pick the model. No side-by-side quality test yet.
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