Abacus AI Bot vs Grok Bot, Muse, OpenBot and OpenClaw
Five AI agents that work for you around the clock. How they compare on price, where they run, which models they use and how you talk to them.
This is the year the AI agent moved in. Instead of a chat box you visit, you get a teammate with its own computer that remembers what you told it last week and keeps working after you close the tab. In the last two months xAI shipped Grok Bot and Meta shipped Muse, joining OpenBot, the open source OpenClaw and Abacus AI Bot.
They promise roughly the same thing, but they answer three questions very differently: what it costs, where your agent actually runs, and which AI models it is allowed to use. Here is how they compare.
At a glance
| Abacus AI Bot | Grok Bot | Muse | OpenBot | OpenClaw | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Made by | Abacus.AI | xAI | Meta | Nightly Labs | Open source community |
| Price | Free | With SuperGrok or Cursor, from $20/mo | Free tier, paid from $20/mo | Free, plus your own AI subscriptions | Free, plus your own model keys |
| Runs on | Your computer | xAI’s cloud | Meta’s cloud | Your computer | Your computer or server |
| License | Open source (MIT) | Proprietary | Proprietary | Source available, noncommercial | Open source (MIT) |
| Models | Any: Claude, GPT, Gemini, Grok, DeepSeek, Muse and free models | Grok | Muse Wonder | Claude Code, Codex, Grok CLI, OpenCode | Any, including local models |
| Talk to it from | Desktop, WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord | Desktop, iPhone | Phone, web, Mac, WhatsApp | Desktop | WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord and more |
| Desktop | macOS, Windows, Linux | macOS, Windows | Mac | macOS, Windows, Linux | Any machine that runs Node.js |
| Setup | One installer | Sign in | Sign in (US only) | One installer, plus your CLIs | Terminal |
Abacus AI Bot
Abacus AI Bot is a desktop app for macOS, Windows and Linux. It is free and open source under the MIT license. It runs on your own computer, so it works with your files, browser and terminal directly, and your API keys and credentials never leave your machine.
The biggest difference is choice. You are not locked into one lab’s model: you get 2,000 free Abacus AI credits when you sign up, with no credit card, and you can plug in keys or subscriptions you already pay for or pick from many free models. Switch between Claude, GPT, Gemini, Grok, DeepSeek, Muse and more whenever you like.
- Message it from WhatsApp, Telegram or Discord, and it answers from your computer.
- 100+ connectors and MCP servers, from Gmail and Slack to GitHub, Notion and Stripe.
- Persistent memory, scheduled Bots that run routines on their own, and agents built from templates.
- Writes, runs and debugs code, and opens pull requests.
The trade-off of running locally: it works while your computer is on. Close the lid and it picks up again when you are back.
Best for a free, open source agent that uses any model and lives on your own machine.
Grok Bot
xAI launched Grok Bot in August. Each Bot is an AI teammate with a persistent computer in the cloud, where it keeps files, a browser and the logins you give it, so it keeps working even when your laptop is closed. You can show a Bot how to do a task once and it records the routine, and several Bots can hand work to each other in one thread.
There is no free plan: Grok Bot comes with Cursor (from $20 a month) and SuperGrok (from $30 a month) subscriptions, with a weekly allowance and extra usage billed at token cost. It runs on xAI’s Grok models and is not open source.
Best for an always-on agent in the cloud, if you already pay for SuperGrok or Cursor.
Muse
Meta introduced Muse in September as a personal agent for everyday life: booking travel, shopping, and keeping on top of money and goals. It runs on a private, persistent Linux computer in Meta’s cloud, powered by Meta’s Muse Wonder model. It connects to your email, calendar and Instagram, pays with Stripe Link and Shop Pay, and a separate agent checks its actions before they go out to the internet.
You can reach it from the iOS and Android apps, the web, a Mac app and WhatsApp. There is a free tier with weekly limits and paid plans at $20 and $100 a month. At launch it is only available in the US, and it only uses Meta’s model.
Best for a consumer assistant for errands, shopping and travel, if you are in the US.
OpenBot
OpenBot is a free desktop workspace for macOS, Windows and Linux. Rather than bringing its own agent, it runs coding CLIs you already use, such as Claude Code, Codex and the Grok CLI, side by side, each with its own workspace, queue and context. Channels let several agents work on one task, routines run on a schedule, and everything is stored locally.
Because it drives those CLIs, it uses their logins: you need your own Claude, ChatGPT or Grok subscription or API key. Its source is public under the PolyForm Noncommercial license, which does not allow commercial use without a separate license.
Best for running several coding agents you already pay for from one window.
OpenClaw
OpenClaw, formerly Clawdbot, is the open source project that made personal agents popular. It is MIT-licensed and self-hosted: a Node.js service on your own machine or server that connects to more than 25 messaging platforms, including WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack and Discord. It works with any model, including local ones through Ollama, keeps its memory in plain Markdown files, and has a large library of community skills.
The cost is setup. You install and configure it from a terminal, and keeping it running and secure is up to you.
Best for full control, if you are comfortable running your own server.
Which one should you pick?
If you want an agent in the cloud that never sleeps and you already pay for SuperGrok, Cursor or a Meta plan, Grok Bot and Muse are easy to start with, as long as you are happy with one company’s model. If you want to own the whole stack and do not mind a terminal, OpenClaw is hard to beat.
Abacus AI Bot sits in between: a one-click app that is free and open source, runs on your computer, and lets you use any model, including the ones the others are built on. It takes about a minute to try.
Details come from each product’s website as of September 26, 2026. Pricing and features in this space change quickly, so check the links above for the latest.