Claude Duet is Anthropic’s proactive agent app, opened as a research preview on 21 October 2026. It messages you first about what needs attention. It works on its own cloud computer while you are away, and asks before sensitive actions such as paying or deleting.
It is included in Claude Pro and Max at no extra cost, but only in the US and only by waitlist. Its closest rival is Meta’s Muse, which passed 10 million US downloads in its first 40 days and gained a small-business version on 29 September.
The answer in brief
- What it is: a separate Claude app for iOS, Android and claude.ai, built around Claude Opus 5.5. It tells you what needs a decision and works through tasks in the background.
- Who can use it: US Pro and Max subscribers with a waitlist invitation. Team and Enterprise plans are not included yet.
- What it costs: nothing extra during the preview, though its background checks draw on your plan’s usage limits.
- Approvals: Duet asks before sensitive actions, though a direct request from you counts as consent. Some actions, such as trading securities, are refused even with your approval.
- Against Meta Muse: Muse is free to start, works in WhatsApp and reported 10.9 million downloads in 40 days. Duet draws on Claude’s connector catalogue, and no standing rule can approve a payment.
- Early reviews: Every’s Dan Shipper called it “the first personal agent I’d call a pro tool”. Claire Vo found it polished but not proactive enough.
- In the UK: as of 23 October 2026, neither Duet nor Muse is available. Grok Bot is, and OpenAI’s dots are rolling out on Business Premium plans.
What is Claude Duet?
Claude Duet is a version of Claude that contacts you first. Anthropic’s help article describes it as Claude “that you message the way you’d message a person”. It is aimed at professionals and small business owners with “more on their plates than they can track”.
It runs on Claude Opus 5.5. It checks your email, calendar and connected tools, and tells you when something needs a decision. You can also hand it larger jobs, such as a sales forecast or a small web app.
It starts with what Claude already knows about you. Memory, skills and connected apps carry over from your Claude account, and it can search your past Claude chats outside projects.
Claude Cowork runs multi-step jobs you hand it or schedule, and Anthropic is folding it into the main Claude app on Pro and Max. Duet adds the first move: it checks your accounts and starts follow-ups itself. For now it is a separate app, and Anthropic says early users will shape how it fits with the rest of Claude.
How does Duet work day to day?
Each morning Duet sends a short brief drawn from your email and calendar, and may start the first steps, such as drafting replies. Through the day it messages you when a task finishes, a decision is needed or a thread goes quiet.
You talk to it in one ongoing thread, by typing or by voice message. Separate channels for other topics share the same memory. A Tasks tab tracks work in progress and flags anything waiting on you.
Finished files, such as a financial model or a slide deck, appear in a Make tab. Duet can suggest a task is done, but only you can mark it complete.
The work runs on a cloud computer with its own browser, so your laptop and phone can be off. Duet reaches your tools through connectors and plugins, and uses its browser where there is no connector.
Anthropic says Duet can use more than 6,000 connectors and plugins. The Claude Marketplace page itself lists 1,007 connectors and 342 plugins, so the larger figure may be counted differently.
Anthropic’s examples include chasing unpaid invoices in QuickBooks or Stripe, running payroll in Gusto and sending agreements through Docusign. For marketers, its list includes HubSpot follow-ups, Canva campaigns and Shopify stores.
Anthropic staff use it themselves. Boris Cherny, who leads Claude Code, talks through his to-do list with Duet on walks. Property broker Jess Provencher, an outside tester, had it flag a viewing booked on the wrong day without being asked.
Duet checks your accounts every few hours, because constant checking would drain your plan’s limits. Something urgent can arrive between checks, so keep a calendar alert for any deadline you cannot miss.
What will Duet do without asking?
Duet reads and drafts on its own. Before a sensitive action, such as a sensitive message, a payment or a deletion, it shows the action, the destination and the content. Then it waits for your approval, according to Anthropic’s safety guidance.
Your own request counts as consent, so asking it to message your dentist generally needs no extra approval. A “don’t ask me again” rule never covers paying or sending money, deleting an order or creating an account. Anthropic says it is still adjusting how often Duet asks.
If you cannot answer at once, it finishes the rest of the task and brings the approval back later.
Some actions are refused even with your approval: trading securities, moving money between accounts and accessing someone else’s account. It cannot phone or text other people either.
Anthropic lists five safeguards:
- Credentials stay out of reach. Logins are handled the way Claude Managed Agents handle them, so the model never directly sees your passwords or sign-in tokens.
- Actions are screened. Anthropic says Duet’s actions are approved by the auto mode classifier it uses in Claude Code.
- A leak classifier checks every message. Anthropic says it and a safety system prompt are designed to refuse card numbers and government ID. Health and personal finance details go out only with your explicit approval.
- Prompt injection defences. Duet reads email and web pages written by strangers, and Anthropic admits no defence is perfect. That is one reason sensitive actions need your approval.
- Outside testing. Red teams and an external firm penetration tested Duet before launch, and it is covered by Anthropic’s public bug bounty.
Purchases go through Stripe’s Link wallet or Shopify’s Shop Pay. Each one needs your approval in the wallet and uses a one-time card that works only for that purchase.
Is Claude Duet like Meta Muse?
Yes in design, though they differ on price, reach and approval settings. Both run on their own cloud computer, keep working after you close the app and keep passwords away from the model. Meta’s introduction to Muse explains its design, and our Meta Muse guide tracks where it is available.
The gap in audience has narrowed. Muse launched on 8 September as a consumer agent. On 29 September Meta added Muse for Small Business, with connectors for QuickBooks, Stripe, Shopify, Slack, Klaviyo and Meta ad accounts.
If the table extends beyond the screen, scroll sideways to view all columns.
| Detail | Claude Duet | Meta Muse |
|---|---|---|
| Launched | Claude DuetResearch preview, 21 October 2026 | Meta Muse8 September 2026; small-business version 29 September 2026 |
| Access | Claude DuetUS Claude Pro and Max subscribers, by waitlist | Meta MuseAdults in the US and Canada; Japan from 23 October 2026 |
| Price | Claude DuetIncluded in Pro (US$20 a month) and Max (from US$100) | Meta MuseFree with a weekly usage limit; Power US$20 a month; Maximum US$100 a month (shown as Max on Meta’s UK help page) |
| Model | Claude DuetClaude Opus 5.5 | Meta MuseMuse Spark at launch; Meta says Muse Wonder will roll out, to subscribers first |
| Where you use it | Claude DuetiOS, Android, claude.ai | Meta MuseiOS, Android, Mac, muse.ai, WhatsApp; Meta’s Japan launch names iOS, Android and muse.ai |
| Business connectors | Claude DuetMore than 6,000 connectors and plugins, says Anthropic; the marketplace page lists 1,007 connectors and 342 plugins | Meta Muse15 named apps plus Facebook Pages, Instagram professional accounts and Meta ad accounts; custom connectors |
| Approvals | Claude DuetSensitive actions such as payments and deletions; your own request counts as consent; no standing approval for payments; refuses securities trading and moving money between accounts | Meta MuseEvery purchase; other actions follow your settings, which can be set to Always allow per connector |
| Security design | Claude DuetCredentials kept from the model; action and leak classifiers | Meta MuseIsolated cloud VM with a separate Sentinel agent; a secure credential store keeps passwords from the model |
| Traction | Claude DuetNone given at launch | Meta Muse10.9 million downloads (10.2 million in the US) in 40 days; 2.5 million daily users on 16 October |
Sources: Anthropic’s announcement, help article and safety guidance; Meta’s Muse for Small Business announcement and help pages on subscriptions and approvals; TechCrunch on its first 40 days, citing Sensor Tower.
Price and reach: Muse is free to start and works in WhatsApp
Many people can use Muse without a new app, because it also works inside WhatsApp. It passed 10 million US downloads within 40 days, the twelfth app to do so since Sensor Tower began tracking in October 2015. Meta helped it along: Muse took 39% of Meta’s US advertising spend in October to 20 October, according to 9to5Mac.
Duet needs a paid Claude plan and a waitlist invitation, and runs in its own mobile app or on claude.ai.
Compare usage as well as the monthly price. Duet spends your existing Claude allowance. Muse’s paid plans give 500 million Muse tokens a week on Power and 3 billion on Maximum.
Business tools: Duet draws on Claude’s connector catalogue
Claude’s marketplace lists 1,007 connectors, though some work with limits in Duet. Meta’s announcement names 15 business apps for Muse as examples, plus Meta’s own accounts and custom connectors. Duet also starts with your Claude memory and skills.
Muse has one advantage marketers will notice. It links directly to Facebook Pages, Instagram professional analytics and Meta ad accounts, which Anthropic does not name among Duet’s examples.
Approvals: both ask before paying, with exceptions elsewhere
Muse always asks before a purchase. For other actions you set the rule per connector, and “Always allow” lets it act without asking again. Meta says many of these checks run outside the AI model.
Duet treats your own request as consent and allows standing rules for some actions. No standing rule covers paying, sending money, deleting an order or creating an account. It refuses some financial actions even with your approval.
Both companies report outside scrutiny. Anthropic says an external firm penetration tested Duet.
Muse has already had a public flaw: security firm Claroc found more than 6,800 shared Muse pages through public DNS records. Meta said on 22 October that it had fixed the issue, The Next Web reported.
Who can use Claude Duet, and what does it cost?
US Claude Pro and Max subscribers can use Duet at no extra cost, once the waitlist admits them. Pro is US$20 a month billed monthly and Max starts at US$100 (Anthropic pricing; US list prices, excluding tax).
Team and Enterprise plans are excluded for now, though Anthropic plans to add them. Anthropic has not announced a Duet API.
Duet draws on the same five-hour and weekly limits as the rest of Claude, at the same rate as chat. Its morning brief and background checks count too, and bigger jobs take more turns.
Heavy Claude Code users will reach their limits sooner. Anthropic gives each person it admits one full limit reset, usable until 30 November 2026.
How do you join the Claude Duet waitlist?
Sign up on the product page with the email address on your Claude account. Access is tied to that address. A mismatch with your Claude login, or with the Apple or Google account on your phone, can stop an invitation working.
Invitations go out in waves, with no promised date.
Can UK businesses use Claude Duet?
Not yet. Duet is US-only during the research preview, and Anthropic has given no date for other countries.
Muse has no UK date either. Meta launched it in Japan on 23 October, its first market outside North America.
UK teams can try three agents of the same kind, though dots are still rolling out:
- Claude Cowork: included in paid Claude plans, and now being folded into the main Claude app on Pro and Max. New tasks on Pro and Max run in the cloud. It runs the jobs you give it or schedule, without Duet’s check-ins.
- Grok Bot: the agent from SpaceXSI (formerly SpaceXAI) and Cursor. New customers get it with The X Subscription Premium at US$30 a month or above. You can watch and take over its browser, but all your Bots share one computer and its logins. Cursor’s help pages confirm it can route tasks to Claude Opus 5.5, the model behind Duet. Our Grok Bot guide covers it in detail.
- OpenAI’s dots: agents that run on GPT-6 Astra. Personal Pro plans exclude the UK. Business Premium seats (US$125 per user a month, or US$100 billed annually) and Enterprise are rolling out worldwide. Our DevDay recap has the details.
What do early reviewers say?
The first hands-on reviews praise the design and are mixed on daily use.
Dan Shipper of Every tested Duet for about two weeks with early access, and says Anthropic had no input on his review. He called it “the first personal agent I’d call a pro tool”. He also found its email drafts weaker than those from OpenAI’s dot, and its scheduled runs could not reach custom connectors.
Claire Vo, host of How I AI, called it “the most polished agent launch I’ve seen” in an episode for Lenny’s Newsletter. The episode’s title sums up her verdict: “Claude Duet is beautiful. I still forgot to use it.”
She found it not proactive enough, slowed by latency, and held back by having no desktop app or shared use.
Is Claude Duet safe for client data?
Treat it as a consumer product for now. Duet runs only on Pro and Max, where Anthropic’s pricing page labels model training as opt-out. Its privacy centre says chats are used to improve Claude if you allow it.
Conversations flagged for safety review, and feedback you send, follow separate rules. Team and Enterprise plans have no training on your content by default, but Duet is not offered on them. So check the training setting before you connect a client’s inbox.
Anthropic’s announcement, help article and safety guidance do not say where Duet’s cloud computer runs. Settle where data is processed, and any international transfer, under UK GDPR before client personal data goes near it.
On Muse, Meta’s privacy help says the training setting is on when you first use it. Meta also says Muse does not share your conversations with its ad systems.
Disconnecting an app stops Duet reaching it from then on. What it already learned stays until you reset its memory in the app’s settings.
What are Claude Duet’s limits?
Anthropic names its own weak spots. Duet can misjudge what is urgent and is weaker at personal errands, and you cannot watch or take over its browser. Its announcement and help article add four more:
- You cannot choose the model; it runs on Opus 5.5 and decides how much effort a job needs.
- It cannot see your local files or all your Claude projects, and it can read your Claude work but not change it.
- Microsoft 365 is not supported yet, which limits Duet for workflows that rely on mail and files held there.
- Some connectors, Slack included, work with limits.
Meta built Muse around personal errands as well as business work, so try it there if you can reach it.
Is Claude Duet worth joining the waitlist for?
Yes, if you pay for Claude Pro or Max, live in the US and run a small business or a crowded working day. It costs nothing extra, it starts with your Claude context, and its approval rules are published, though Anthropic is still adjusting them.
Give it one job first, such as meeting preparation, and watch how much of your weekly allowance the background checks use. Check the model training setting before any client data goes in.
UK teams cannot join yet. Trial Cowork or Grok Bot on one workflow now, so you know what to measure when Duet arrives.
If you want help choosing that workflow and judging the results, see our AI adoption services.