Anthropic has opened a research preview of Claude Duet, an always-on assistant that reads across your email and calendar each morning, drafts the first replies and keeps working in the cloud after you close the app. UAE, Saudi and Egyptian users can’t try it yet, though. According to Anthropic’s help page, access needs a Pro or Max plan, a Claude account in the US and an invitation from a waitlist.
9to5Mac reports that Duet is Anthropic’s answer to OpenAI’s Dots and Meta’s Muse. In a post on X, the company described it as an app where Claude “works as a proactive agent” that completes tasks, keeps working when you step away and checks with you before it acts on your behalf.
How Claude Duet works
Duet differs from the regular Claude app in who starts the conversation. You message it like a person, by text or voice, in one persistent thread, with separate channels for different topics that share the same memory. Each morning it scans your email and calendar, picks what most needs you and can start the first steps. Through the day it sends updates and follows up on threads that have gone quiet. According to VentureBeat, those background checks happen every few hours rather than continuously.
Bigger jobs go through the same chat. Anthropic says you describe what you need and Duet works out which apps to use and how much effort the job takes. Finished work, such as a research brief, financial model, slide deck or dashboard, lands in a Make tab as files you can edit. A separate Tasks tab tracks what’s in progress, and only you can mark a task as complete. Duet runs on Claude Opus 5.5 and you can’t pick a different model. It reuses the memories, skills and connectors from your Claude account, and can search past chats unless you switch that setting off.
Anthropic’s product page says Duet works with more than 6,000 connectors and plugins, including Gmail, Google Calendar, Slack, QuickBooks, HubSpot and Docusign. For sites without a connector, it uses its own browser in the cloud. It can also check Stripe for unpaid invoices and draft reminders, and pay for purchases you approve through Stripe’s Link or Shopify’s Shop Pay using one-time cards.
Approvals and limits
Anthropic says Duet is designed to ask before it sends a message, makes a payment, signs a document or deletes anything. Some actions are off-limits even with your approval, including trading securities and moving money between accounts. It doesn’t make phone calls or send texts to other people, and Microsoft 365 isn’t supported yet. Anthropic also warns that the preview can misread a thread, misjudge urgency or miss something that arrives between checks.
Pricing is simple, but usage isn’t. Duet is included in Pro and Max at no extra charge during the preview. It draws on the same five-hour and weekly limits as the rest of Claude, and background work counts, so you may hit those limits sooner than with chat alone. Anthropic is offering one full limit reset to people admitted to the preview, available until 30 November 2026. VentureBeat lists Pro at USD 20 a month and Max from USD 100.
Muse and Dots got there first
CNBC reports that Meta’s Muse launched last month and climbed to the top of Apple’s App Store. OpenAI introduced Dots, its “always-on agents”, at its developer conference weeks later. VentureBeat cites Sensor Tower estimates of 10.9 million Muse downloads since its 8 September debut, which shows how quickly people have taken to agents that act rather than answer. It’s the same race we covered when ChatGPT’s lead started shrinking, only now the contest is over who can be trusted to do the work.
The three differ most on audience and price, according to VentureBeat’s comparison (US pricing, in USD):
| Agent | Who can use it | Entry price |
|---|---|---|
| Claude Duet | US Pro and Max subscribers, by waitlist | Included in Pro (USD 20 a month) |
| Meta Muse | Via Meta’s app or WhatsApp | Free entry point |
| OpenAI Dots | Pro and Business Premium subscribers, plus an admin-enabled Enterprise beta | USD 100 minimum for an individual Pro plan |
Anthropic is also the narrowest launch of the three. 9to5Google notes that Duet isn’t widely available yet. Team and Enterprise plans are excluded for now, although Anthropic says it plans to bring Duet to them later.
What it means for the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt
Nothing changes for readers in the region today. Anthropic’s help page limits the preview to the US and gives no date for other markets, and access is tied to the email address you give the waitlist. We haven’t seen UAE, Saudi or Egyptian pricing or availability for Duet, so we can’t say whether regional Pro and Max subscribers will be invited once it expands. If Duet matters to your work, the practical step is to keep an eye on Anthropic’s product page for market updates.
Can I use Claude Duet in the UAE, Saudi Arabia or Egypt?
Not yet. Anthropic says the research preview is available in the US only and needs a Pro or Max plan, a Claude account in the US and a waitlist invitation. It hasn’t announced when other markets will be added.
Does Claude Duet cost extra?
No, not during the preview. It’s included in Pro and Max, but its background checks and larger tasks count toward your existing five-hour and weekly usage limits, so you may reach them sooner than with chat alone.
How is Claude Duet different from the regular Claude app?
Anthropic says the Claude app waits for you to open a chat, while Duet comes to you with a morning brief, takes tasks by message and reaches out when something needs approval. It shares your account’s memory, skills and connectors, but runs as a separate app on iOS and Android and on claude.ai.
