Claude Duet vs OpenAI Dots: Context, Delegation and Access

Claude Duet and OpenAI dots both aim to keep responsibilities moving between conversations. Start with the account that already contains useful context, then inspect where the actual work must run. Dots explicitly documents a separately connected personal computer; Duet’s setup guide describes its own cloud computer. That documented difference matters for a task dependent on local files.

Checked October 23, 2026 using official documentation. This is Agentastic’s editorial comparison, not a speed, quality or safety benchmark.

Compare the coordination layer

Sources: Anthropic’s Duet setup guide, OpenAI’s tasks and memory, computer connections and controls. Official OpenAI documentation uses dots, with a dot for the individual agent; it is not a model name.

Keep a client project current

Suppose an account review depends on emails, shared documents and a spreadsheet stored on your laptop. The first decision is which sources the agent can actually reach. A good summary of the shared documents can still be incomplete if the spreadsheet contains the latest numbers.

Duet is relevant if the necessary context already sits in Claude’s supported connections. Evaluate the morning brief and resulting deliverable together: does the brief identify a decision and does the file preserve the evidence behind it? The October 21 launch description supports this attention-and-follow-through model, not universal access to every business application.

For a dot, inspect the task’s environment. OpenAI documents connecting one personal computer at a time; local steps require that computer online with the ChatGPT app open. The cloud browser has its own sessions and does not inherit your local logins. A cloud-coordinated task can still depend on a local machine. Connection guide.

Background research and authorized work differ

OpenAI distinguishes proactive research from assigned actions: the research tools do not themselves send messages, modify connected apps or control a browser. Assigned recurring work can include authorized actions. Tasks and memory.

That distinction is useful when you want an agent to notice a changed deadline but not notify the client automatically. Duet also describes action review, but its brief and safeguards should be evaluated on their own documented terms. Neither vendor’s description establishes equivalent approvals for every tool.

Rollout is a real constraint

Duet requires a US Pro or Max account and waitlist invitation; its preview shares Claude limits and excludes Team/Enterprise. Dots is gradually rolling out to eligible Pro 100/200/500 adults outside the EEA, UK and Switzerland, and to Business Premium and Enterprise worldwide. Enterprise administrators must enable it. Dots overview, workspace guide.

Conversations with a dot and delegated Work/Codex tasks have different usage treatment. Do not translate that into unlimited work or invent a separate dots price. Compare the allowance shown to your account with Duet’s shared Claude allowance.

Prefer a Duet trial for a Claude-centered brief and project workflow. Prefer a dots trial when ChatGPT context and its documented delegation/local connection model match the job. Read Muse vs dots for a goals-oriented alternative, or use the 21-pair matrix.