dots vs Instinct: which AI assistant to text
Instinct lives in an iMessage thread, is reached by invitation, publishes no price and describes no step where it stops to ask. dots lives in ChatGPT, Slack and Teams, comes inside a $100-a-month plan and publishes the rules for when it asks. The thread you use and how much you want decided for you settle it.
dots is for
Somebody whose day runs through ChatGPT, Slack or Teams and who wants to set the rules for what the agent may do alone.
Instinct is for
Somebody on an iPhone with an invitation who wants the agent in the Messages thread they already use and is content for it to act first.
OpenAI's always-on agents, each with its own cloud computer, reached in ChatGPT, Slack and Teams
- Posted doing a job
- 0
- public posts, each on the listing
- Of those, went wrong
- 0
- nothing posted yet
- Posts for it, against it
- 0 / 0
- nothing posted yet
A general agent that acts before asking, and is criticised for exactly that
- Posted doing a job
- 23
- public posts, each on the listing
- Of those, went wrong
- 4
- fewer is better; people post successes
- Posts for it, against it
- 5 / 9
- of 16 public posts about it; the rest mixed or neither
dots and Instinct, side by side
They differ on getting in, price, trust and who runs it; a dot marks each row where they do.
| dots | Instinct | |
|---|---|---|
| Getting in | ||
| Where do you text it? | Slack, Web, Voice. | iMessage, Voice. |
| How do you start? | Create an account. | Invite only. |
| Does it work on Android? | Yes, over Slack, Web. | No; iMessage only. |
| Is there an app to install? | Optional app: an app exists but is not how you start. | Optional app: an app exists but is not how you start. |
| Who starts the conversation? | Messages you first. | Acts without asking. |
| Price | ||
| What does it cost? | From $100 a month. | Not published. |
| Trust | ||
| Does it train on my messages? | Qualified statement. | Yes, with opt-out. |
| What does it hold to log in for me? | Holds a surrogate, never the secret for connected accounts; a security contact is published. | Holds your password for connected accounts; no security contact published. |
| What happens to my messages? | Who carries them is not published. | Who carries them is not published. |
| Does it publish about its security? | Yes, a page of its own. its page | Nothing published. |
| Can it phone people? | It does not call. | It calls; who speaks is not stated. |
| Who runs it | ||
| Who is behind it? | OpenAI. | Spear Street Technology, Inc., San Francisco; funded. |
| How is it funded? | Not checked yet. | $1.35B total. A $1B Series C at a $10B valuation from investors including Sequoia Capital, Benchmark and Coatue, confirmed by the company on 28 September 2026, a month after $350M at a $2.5B valuation that included a $250M Series B co-led by Index Ventures and Benchmark. Still in private beta. |
| What it can do, on its own pages | ||
| Writing code | Yes | Not stated |
| Calendar and scheduling | Not stated | Yes |
| Bookings and reservations | Not stated | Yes |
| Travel | Not stated | Yes |
| Phone calls | Not stated | Yes |
| Calls people for you | Not stated | Yes |
| Talks to other people's agents | Not stated | Yes |
| Both | Email, Payments, Web research, Task management, Persistent memory, Documents. | |
What people got dots and Instinct to do
23 public posts of either agent doing a specific thing for somebody, counted by the job; each is on the listing with the post behind it.
| Job | dots | Instinct |
|---|---|---|
| Something you are owed | 0 | 8 |
| Research | 0 | 6 |
| Booking | 0 | 4 |
| Reminders and follow-up | 0 | 2 |
| Group coordination | 0 | 1 |
| Your inbox | 0 | 1 |
| Buying | 0 | 1 |
Instinct
What people say dots and Instinct saved or got back
Every dollar figure somebody attached to a post about either agent. The figures are theirs, unverified, and never added up here.
dots
Instinct
- $2,182got backunclaimed property owed to him, claims filedInstinct
- $245.46got backa Blue Cross Blue Shield settlement paid as a virtual Visa, issued in May and never activatedInstinct
- $120saveda year off a Verizon bill, plus $58 backInstinct
- $54saveda Groupon for a dental checkup, in a backlog of admin clearedInstinct
What separates dots and Instinct
Both run on a computer of their own, keep working when you are not talking to them, and message you first. Instinct opened by invitation in August 2026 and dots launched on 29 September. They differ on almost every row this directory records.
Where it reaches you
Instinct is a contact in iMessage, and you can call it. dots lives in ChatGPT on desktop, web and mobile, in Slack and Microsoft Teams, and on a voice call; OpenAI says texting is coming next without naming a channel.
How you get in
Instinct is a waitlist or an invitation from a member. dots is a ChatGPT Pro or Business Premium plan in an eligible market, or an Enterprise workspace whose admin has switched it on.
What it costs
dots is included in Pro, from $100 a month, with more dots and more work per dot to be sold later. Instinct names no price: its terms have a paid-services section with fees charged to a card, and its founder has described a cut of what users buy through it.
What it holds when you connect an account
Instinct's policy says you may give it your username and password for third-party accounts so it can sign in for you. dots signs in with saved passwords from an encrypted credential service that never passes them to the model.
What it asks before acting
Instinct's terms appoint it as your agent to enter into transactions for you, say its actions may not be reversible, and describe no confirmation step. dots asks before any purchase with a saved card, confirms deleting data, running unknown software and granting new security access every time, hands password changes and money transfers back to you, and lets you write rules that require approval or block an action.
Who trains on your messages
Instinct trains on what you send unless you opt out in its settings. dots splits by plan: business workspaces are not used by default, personal plans follow ChatGPT's "Improve the model for everyone" setting, and background research is not trained on directly.
Talking to other agents
Instinct's agent coordinates with the agents of people you name, and files pass between them. OpenAI describes teams of dots working together as something it envisions, and specialist dots for companies are in pilots.
Who is behind it
Instinct is Spear Street Technology, which confirmed a $1 billion round at a $10 billion valuation on 28 September 2026. dots is OpenAI's.
What people say about dots and Instinct
dots
Instinct
“Out of the 456 people who asked for Instinct, only 31 posted about using it in the days that followed.”
“We're still deep in unlocking personal superpowers via AI, long phase of tool before network”
“Instinct added usage caps. It's over.”
The same products, against others
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