Claude Duet vs OpenAI dots vs Meta Muse vs Gemini agent: AI Agents and Email (2026)

The short version: five AI agents from the big labs now work in your email, and each makes different trade-offs:

• Claude Duet (Anthropic, October 21): reads your inbox, drafts replies and sends only with your approval. US only, Pro and Max, waitlist.
• OpenAI dots (September 29): always-on agents in ChatGPT, governed by Custom Rules. Pro outside the UK, EEA and Switzerland, or Business Premium in every supported region.
• Meta Muse (September 8): free for most of what people need, with paid plans; asks before sending email; own address announced. US and Canada only.
• Gemini agent (Google, October 8): coworker agents get their own @agents email address. Early access for Google Workspace and Gemini Enterprise customers.
• Grok Bot (August 11, beta): teams of bots that work across apps and inboxes, on SuperGrok and some Cursor plans.

None of them is described as working a team's shared address like support@. That is the job Varley, Drag's AI, is built for, so it is on this page too. Varley is our product, so weigh it accordingly.

Everything here comes from each vendor's own announcements and help pages, checked on October 22, 2026, and we say where a fact comes only from press reports. These products change weekly, so we will keep this page updated.

At a glance: six AI agents and email

Varley leads the table for one structural reason: on what each vendor has published, it's the only one of the six built to work a team's shared address rather than one person's account. It is Drag's AI, our product.

Pricing comparison: what each agent costs (October 2026)

All prices are in US dollars, as published on October 22, 2026, unless we say they are reported.

Varley (Drag): an AI agent built for a shared inbox

Varley is Drag's AI, and Drag is our product. It isn't a personal agent: it works the shared Gmail inbox your team already answers from, like support@, so every customer email gets an owner and nothing falls between two people.

What it does with email:

• Drafts and tags every email on the shared inbox, and answers from your help center and docs.
• Acts in your tools when you approve, such as Stripe, Slack and HubSpot, from the Copilot panel.
• Resolves conversations on its own in Agent mode on Pro. Every resolution carries a confidence score, nothing ships below the threshold you set, and anything uncertain goes to a named teammate with the context attached.
• Lets your other AI work the same inbox. On Pro, Drag's connector lets Claude and ChatGPT read and act on your Drag boards, so a personal agent can help with the team's queue without owning it.

Best for: teams that answer customers from one Gmail address and want AI on the queue today, in the UK and EU as well as the US. Not for: your own personal errands, calendar and shopping. That is what the agents below are built for.

Claude Duet: Anthropic's proactive agent

Claude Duet is a separate app where Claude comes to you with what needs your attention, works in the background on its own cloud computer, and waits for your approval before anything consequential.

• Email: it checks your connected accounts every few hours, sends a morning brief, drafts replies and follows up on quiet threads. "With your approval, it can send emails from the accounts you've connected." Microsoft 365 isn't available yet.
• Approvals: before it sends a message, makes a payment, signs a document or deletes anything, it shows you exactly what it's about to do and waits.
• Connectors: it uses the connectors on your Claude account, and Anthropic says it can use more than 6,000 connectors and plugins.
• Who: Pro and Max in the US, by waitlist. "It isn't available on Team or Enterprise plans yet."

Best for: professionals and small business owners in the US who already use Claude and want a morning brief and drafted replies. Our full guide to Claude Duet and email covers setup and approvals in depth.

OpenAI dots: always-on agents in ChatGPT

A dot is an AI agent you set up once in ChatGPT and give goals, running on its own cloud computer and connecting to more than 4,000 apps through ChatGPT's plugins.

• Email: "You can connect your personal email account so your dot can use it for your tasks," says OpenAI's getting started guide. Before a dot sends email, auto-review checks the recipient and message (OpenAI's dots safety FAQ).
• Approvals: Custom Rules set each kind of action to act without asking, act if pre-approved, ask first, or hand off to you. Approving one message doesn't give a dot ongoing permission to contact people.
• Own address: "At launch, you cannot give your dot its own standalone email address."
• Who: ChatGPT Pro outside the EEA, Switzerland and the UK; Business Premium in all supported regions; Enterprise, Edu and Healthcare in beta when an admin turns it on. Since an October 9 update, you can also create a dot in the ChatGPT mobile app.

Best for: UK and EU teams already on ChatGPT Business or Enterprise, since Pro doesn't include dots there, and anyone who wants per-action rules. Our guide to OpenAI dots and email has a safe starting setup.

Meta Muse: the mostly free personal agent

Muse is Meta's personal agent, reached in its own app, on the web or inside WhatsApp, and it runs on what Meta calls Muse Secure VM, a dedicated cloud computer for the agent and your data.

• Email: "For things like email, people choose what Muse can do, whether it reads their mail or can also send on their behalf."
• Approvals: "Muse checks with the person before sensitive actions like sending an email or making a purchase," and a separate Sentinel agent must approve anything Muse sends out to the internet.
• Own address: announced at Meta Connect in September ("Muse will have its own email address"), but not live when we checked.
• Who: the US and Canada (Meta, September 29), on iOS, Android and muse.ai, and you can message it in WhatsApp. "It's free for most of what people need, with subscription plans for people who want to do more."

Best for: people in the US or Canada who want a free agent for personal email, errands and shopping, and who live in WhatsApp.

Gemini agent: coworker agents with their own address

Google Cloud's Gemini agent is one agent for work across Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Chat and Calendar, and its coworker agents are the only ones here that get an email address of their own today.

• Email: it works directly inside Gmail. In Google's example, it checks calendars and "starts an email thread to coordinate a time that works, even with external participants."
• Own address: a coworker agent "receives its own Workspace account, including an email address, calendar, Drive, and presence in your company directory," written as @agents.company.com.
• Connections: Google says it connects to "any Model Context Protocol (MCP) server inside or outside your company network."
• Team inboxes: Gmail Help lists Gemini in Gmail among the features delegates can't use, and Google says delegated accounts and shared inboxes are the same thing in Gmail (Google Workspace admin help). Google hasn't said whether a coworker agent can join a shared address.
• Who: early access for Workspace and Gemini Enterprise customers. Google's Gemini Enterprise page says capabilities including delegating multi-step background tasks to Gemini are "currently in early access and will be available to all customers soon."

For personal Google accounts, Google's consumer agent is different: Gemini Task, formerly Gemini Spark, is on Google AI Pro and Ultra outside the UK, EEA, Switzerland and Nigeria, and isn't available on work accounts. Our Gemini agent guide covers coworker agents and shared inboxes in depth.

Best for: companies standardizing on Google Workspace that want each agent under its own identity, with admin and audit controls.

Grok Bot: a team of always-on bots

Grok Bot launched in beta on August 11, 2026, as "your team of always-on agents," from the company behind Grok. Bots have their own computer in the cloud, sign in to the tools you use, and "work across apps, inboxes, and more."

• Email: the launch examples include an operations bot "processing invoices received in Gmail" and a sales bot that "readies an inbox of personalized drafts to approve."
• Approvals: bots "only come back when something needs your approval."
• Teams: Team Bots, in public beta since September 28 for Teams and Enterprise plans, are shared bots a team uses together and can invite into a Slack channel. The announcement doesn't mention shared inboxes or email addresses.
• Who: SuperGrok, SuperGrok Plus and SuperGrok Heavy, and Cursor Pro, Pro+, Ultra and Teams subscribers, on desktop and iOS.

Best for: people who want several bots working in parallel, such as one on the inbox and one on expenses, and Cursor users who already have access.

Which AI agent should handle your email?

It depends on whose email it is, and where you are:

• Your own Gmail, in the US, and you already pay for Claude: Claude Duet, once you're off the waitlist. It never sends without your approval.
• Your own email, in the UK or EU: OpenAI dots through ChatGPT Business Premium, or the Enterprise beta, is the clearest route today. Grok Bot states no regional limits, so check in your country.
• A free agent for personal email and errands: Meta Muse, if you're in the US or Canada.
• An agent with its own email address inside your company: a Gemini coworker agent, once your Workspace organization has early access.
• Several bots in parallel across your apps: Grok Bot.
• A team inbox like support@, sales@ or info@: keep it in a shared inbox built for teams, and put AI on the queue there. Varley works the queue itself, and Drag's connector lets Claude or ChatGPT help with the same boards.

Can a personal AI agent work a team's shared inbox?

Not on anything the vendors have published as of October 22, 2026. Each is built around one person's account, or around an agent with its own identity:

• Claude Duet works from the accounts you connect, and Team and Enterprise plans aren't included yet.
• OpenAI dots connect your personal email, and OpenAI's pages don't mention shared mailboxes.
• Meta Muse pages, including the small business version, don't describe shared inboxes.
• Gemini can't be used by delegates of a shared Gmail mailbox, which is how Google's own shared inbox works.
• Grok Bot's Team Bots share skills and a Slack handle, not an inbox.

A shared address needs one owner per conversation, a warning before two people reply to the same customer, response-time targets and hand-offs to a named teammate. Those come from the inbox, not the agent. Our guide to agentic email covers the permission levels to use when you let any agent near one.

Where personal AI agents fit better than Varley

Varley isn't the right choice for everything on this page:

• Your own life and errands. Duet, dots, Muse and Grok Bot work across your personal apps and calendar, and Duet and Muse can make purchases you approve. Varley works a team inbox and the tools around it, not your personal accounts.
• Purchases. Duet and Muse pay through Stripe's Link with one-time cards, and Duet also uses Shop Pay. Varley doesn't shop.
• An agent with its own identity across Google Workspace. Gemini coworker agents have their own account, calendar and Drive, which suits internal work that spans documents and meetings.
• One agent for everything you do. If your inbox is personal and you never share it, a personal agent covers more of your day.

They aren't either/or. A personal agent can write your weekly report or clear your own inbox while the customer conversations stay in Drag, with an owner on every thread.

Frequently asked questions

Which AI agent can send emails for me?

All five can work with email, with different rules. Claude Duet and Meta Muse ask before every send. OpenAI dots follow the Custom Rules you set, with an automatic check of the recipient and message. Google's Gemini agent can start email threads to schedule meetings, and Grok Bot's examples prepare drafts for you to approve.

Is Claude Duet better than OpenAI dots?

They suit different people. Duet always waits for your approval before it sends, deletes, pays or signs, while dots let you set that per action, but Duet is US only on Claude Pro and Max. Dots give you per-action Custom Rules and are available to UK and EU teams through ChatGPT Business Premium. If you already pay for one assistant, start with its agent.

Which personal AI agents work in the UK?

As of October 22, 2026, Claude Duet is US only and Meta Muse is US and Canada. ChatGPT Pro doesn't include dots in the UK, but Business Premium does, and Enterprise workspaces can turn on the beta. xAI states no country limits for Grok Bot, and Google hasn't stated regions for the Gemini agent's early access.

Can an AI agent have its own email address?

Yes, but only one of these does today. Google's Gemini coworker agents get their own Workspace account with an @agents address. Meta has announced an email address for Muse that wasn't live when we checked, and OpenAI says a dot can't have its own standalone address at launch.

Related guides

• Claude Duet and email: who can get it, approvals, and a safe starting setup.
• OpenAI dots and email: Custom Rules and three goals to start with.
• The Gemini agent: coworker agents with their own email address.
• The best AI agents for Gmail: assistants, support agents and the MCP route.
• How to connect a shared inbox to ChatGPT.

Want an AI agent on your team's shared inbox today? Start a 7-day free trial of Drag. Varley is included on Plus and Pro, and no card is needed.