OpenAI Dots vs Agentastic: Ongoing Work and Local Context

OpenAI’s official documentation calls the product dots and an individual agent your dot. A dot coordinates ongoing responsibilities between conversations. Agentastic is worth evaluating when you want to start with selected context and tools inside your Mac workflow.

Checked October 23, 2026. We compare official documentation with Agentastic’s implementation. We have not benchmarked the products or tested a signed-in dots account.

What is a dot?

The official overview describes a cloud agent you can reach in ChatGPT, Slack, Teams or a call. It has its own computer and can bring back results or ask for decisions. This is more specific than treating “Dot” as a speculative new model name.

A messaging connection is not automatically permission to read your inbox or control a computer. OpenAI separates contact methods, app plugins and local computer access in its connection guide.

Availability and limits

OpenAI’s overview lists gradual access for Pro 100, Pro 200 and Pro 500 users over 18 outside the EEA, UK and Switzerland, plus worldwide rollouts for Business Premium and Enterprise. Enterprise requires an administrator to enable it. Eligibility does not mean immediate access.

The overview says conversations with a dot do not count toward ChatGPT usage limits, while delegated Work and Codex tasks use their respective limits. It describes an allowance for deeper work, not unlimited execution. Confirm the allowance and price presented to your account. We have not inferred a separate dots subscription price.

Side by side

Dots references: tasks and memory, computers and apps, and controls. Agentastic references: scheduler, agents and memory.

Local access is an explicit connection

A dot can connect one personal computer at a time. That computer must remain online with the ChatGPT app open. Its cloud browser has separate sessions. Connecting a computer is not the same as connecting a plugin. OpenAI connection guide.

Agentastic’s Mac workflow begins with the launcher context controls. Add the selection, files or other context needed for the job. Local scheduled tasks depend on the daemon. Neither product’s cloud capability establishes that your local computer remains available after shutdown.

Trial workflow: keep a project brief current

Choose a project with a small number of sources and a clear owner. Ask the agent to track changes in deadlines, list unresolved decisions and prepare an updated brief. Specify that sending the brief or changing shared records needs review.

For a dot, inspect which delegated tasks were created and where they run. For Agentastic, use a project memory file for stable instructions and add the current source files to the task. Keep changing facts attached to evidence rather than relying on remembered summaries.

Check a changed deadline, an unavailable source and a stale document. A useful result should identify the newest evidence and show what could not be verified. This is an evaluation method, not a test outcome.

Review and stop controls

OpenAI’s control guide distinguishes pausing the dot, stopping delegated work and canceling schedules. A pause does not cancel every background task. It also describes automatic action review and optional custom rules. Instructions do not override built-in safeguards.

For workplaces, consult the dots admin guide: workspace controls can restrict capabilities beyond what a personal setup suggests. For Agentastic, inspect task permissions and disable an unwanted recurring schedule separately from stopping an individual conversation.

Which fits your work?

Try dots if you have eligible access and want ongoing coordination around your ChatGPT and connected workspace. Consider Agentastic when the task begins in a Mac app and you want to choose its local context and model setup. Its memory guide also explains why Mac files should not be assumed to sync automatically to every client.

Compare Duet, Muse and the full shortlist. Check Agentastic’s access and plans before deciding.