Claude Duet: Anthropic's always-on agent launches as a preview with a waitlist

What's going on

On October 21, Anthropic unveiled Claude Duet, a personal AI agent. After Meta, OpenAI and other providers, Anthropic is the next AI lab with an "always-on" agent. Instead of waiting for you to type a question, Duet works in the background, reaches out on its own and gets tasks done even when your phone and laptop are off. Duet is currently a research preview, available only through a waitlist for Pro and Max subscribers in the US. It has its own app for Android and iOS, and according to reports it also runs on the web through Claude.ai.

How Duet works

Duet runs on its own virtual machine in the cloud, meaning a computer that isn't yours. It has a dedicated browser that it uses to surf the web and work through tasks, and it uses all the apps you've connected to your Claude account. Because the work happens there, it keeps going when you close the app. According to Yahoo Tech, the agent is based on Claude Opus 5.5.

Its proactivity builds on the data in your Claude account: according to Yahoo Tech, memories, skills and connectors are available from the first message. You can send tasks by typing or as a voice message. Anthropic sums up the difference like this:

The Claude app waits for you to open a chat, and you work on something together with Claude. Claude Duet comes to you. It tells you every morning what needs your attention, takes tasks by message and gets in touch when one is done or needs your approval.

To conserve your usage limit, Duet checks connected accounts only every few hours, "because constant checking would use up your plan's limit much faster." According to Engadget, one reason for the preview is also to gather feedback on how often the agent should message users.

What Duet can do

• Daily briefing: Based on your email and calendar, Duet delivers a short morning overview of tasks that need attention right away, along with the steps required.
• Delegating: Schedule meetings, create forecasts, build web apps. Anthropic's examples: a weekly revenue and cash-flow dashboard for business owners, or flagging new research papers for scientists.
• Following up: Over the course of the day, Duet sends progress updates and picks up text or voice threads that have been left hanging.
• Connectors: Over 6,000 connectors and plugins, such as Gmail, Slack, QuickBooks, Stripe, LinkedIn and DocuSign. With these, Duet can answer messages, keep an eye on unpaid invoices, edit job postings or prepare contracts.

Security and approvals

According to Anthropic, Duet asks for confirmation before sending a message, making a payment, signing or deleting anything, and shows you exactly what it plans to do first. Reports say the agent can make payments you approve (example: a $640 permit fee), but can't move money between accounts or trade securities, even with approval. According to Yahoo Tech and TechTarget, Duet automatically refuses highly sensitive data such as credit card numbers or ID numbers. TechTarget cites a dedicated classifier for this. According to Anthropic, logins happen inside its own cloud computer "so sensitive details stay private." HackerNoon sees this as similar to, but not the same promise as, Meta's claim that Muse never sees passwords. Shattered.io points out that confirmation dialogs only help if users actually read them.

Pricing, availability and limitations

Duet is included at no extra cost in Pro ($20/month) and Max during the preview, but it shares its usage allowance with Claude apps such as Code and Cowork. Anthropic stresses that details may change. Team and Enterprise customers aren't included yet, and there's no date. To join the waitlist, you give your name, company, email and phone system (Android/iPhone), and briefly describe the work you want to hand off.

Preview limitations according to Yahoo Tech: you can't choose the model, you can't watch the agent in the browser or take it over, and the Microsoft 365 connector is missing.

How it compares to the competition

The developer behind the HackerNoon comparison stresses that he only tested Grok Bot himself. He compared Duet, Muse and Dots based on their documentation.

Engadget points out that this makes Duet far cheaper to access than OpenAI's Dots, which costs at least $100 a month (there is now also a $500 tier). According to HackerNoon, cloud computers and approval tiers are now standard. The differences lie in where you live, which subscriptions you already have and how much of the agent's computer you're allowed to operate yourself.

Our take

Duet is Anthropic's entry into a field that has shifted from chatbots to always-running agents in just a few weeks. Its strengths are the integration with existing Claude accounts and the low entry price. What remains open is how useful Duet really is within the allowance of a $20 plan. Engadget couldn't try it, and most sources rely on Anthropic's own statements. Its usefulness also depends on how much of your digital life you're willing to entrust to Anthropic, and for some people the privacy trade-off is too big. Outside the US, Duet stays out of reach for now, and the lack of a view into the agent's browser is also a drawback compared with Grok Bot. The figure of 6,000 connectors comes from the vendor and the press. According to Shattered.io, some details (such as the project channels) rest only on media reports.