Claude Duet

0:00 Claude Duet is a separate app in which Claude acts as a proactive agent: it checks your connected apps, tells you what needs attention, carries out tasks while you are away and waits for your approval before it sends, pays, signs or deletes anything (Introducing Claude Duet, Oct 21, 2026). Anthropic released it as a research preview on Oct 21, 2026, by waitlist, for US users on the Pro, Max and Ultra plans, built around Claude Opus 5.5. It is aimed at professionals and small business owners. Anthropic itself warns that this early version may misread a thread or misjudge what is urgent. The nearest rivals are OpenAI's dots, always-on agents with their own cloud computer on ChatGPT Pro and Business Premium, and Google's Gemini Spark, a personal agent in beta for AI Ultra subscribers in the US (ChatGPT release notes, read Nov 6, 2026; Gemini Apps release notes, read Nov 6, 2026).

Learn more: Dots on chatgpt.vi.ki and Gemini on ai.vi.ki

Quick facts

What Claude Duet does

0:24 Duet works for you without waiting to be asked. Anthropic describes three jobs (Introducing Claude Duet, Oct 21, 2026):

1. A morning brief: a short summary of what matters across your connected apps.
2. Watching: it monitors those apps and messages you only when something needs you.
3. Doing: tasks from scheduling a meeting to building a dashboard, a sales or financial forecast, a prototype or a small web app.

You talk to it in one ongoing thread, typed or by voice, and it notifies you when a task is done or needs review. It carries over your Memory, Skills and connected apps from your Claude account, and works with more than 6,000 connectors and plugins in the Claude Marketplace, Gmail, Slack, QuickBooks, Stripe, HubSpot and Shopify among them (see Connectors).

It can buy things with Stripe's Link wallet, which uses a virtual card and needs your confirmation, and check out with Shop Pay. Anthropic lists sign-in through saved 1Password logins and a visual Shopify storefront editor as coming soon.

Its own cloud computer

Duet runs on a virtual machine with its own browser, so your phone or laptop does not need to stay on (Introducing Claude Duet). That is the main difference from asking the regular Claude app: Duet keeps going between your messages and comes back to you, while the app answers when you write. Duet lives in its own app, separate from the main Claude app, although the two share memory and skills.

Plans, region and waitlist

On launch day the release notes listed Duet for Pro and Max (release notes, Oct 21, 2026). The product page, read later, says Pro, Max and Ultra in the US (Claude Duet, read Nov 6, 2026). The two agree once you know that Ultra was split out of Max around Oct 30, 2026; Anthropic notes that earlier mentions of Max include both plans (Claude Cowork and chat come together for Enterprise, editor's note). Team and Enterprise are not included yet.

To get in, join the waitlist on the Claude Duet page; Anthropic emails you when it is ready for your account. Prices for the plans are on Claude Plans and Pricing.

Usage limits

Duet has no separate price during the preview: it draws on the same usage limits as the rest of Claude. Its background checks count against them, and bigger tasks take more model turns. To save usage it checks your connected accounts every few hours rather than continuously (Introducing Claude Duet, Oct 21, 2026).

Safety and approvals

0:44 Before Duet sends a message, makes a payment, signs a document or deletes anything, it shows you the action and waits for your OK. Some actions are refused even with approval, such as trading securities and moving money between accounts. You can disconnect any app at any time (Introducing Claude Duet, Oct 21, 2026).

Anthropic says Duet never sees your passwords or sign-in tokens directly, using a credential design modeled on Managed Agents; an auto mode classifier screens its actions; and its defenses against prompt injection come from Anthropic's browser-use research. A separate classifier refuses the most sensitive data, such as card numbers and government IDs, and health and personal finance details are shared only when you tell it to. Red teams and an outside firm tested it, and it is in Anthropic's public bug bounty. These are Anthropic's descriptions of its own safeguards; no independent audit was published by Nov 6, 2026. An Oct 23, 2026 update said the protections were still being strengthened.

Cautions Anthropic states

Anthropic lists the limits of the preview plainly (Introducing Claude Duet, Oct 21, 2026):

• It may misread a thread or misjudge urgency.
• Personal errands, such as booking tickets, work less well than work tasks.
• It cannot yet show you its browser.
• When it chooses to message you is still being tuned.

Frequently asked questions

What is Claude Duet? Claude Duet is a standalone Anthropic app, in research preview since Oct 21, 2026, in which Claude proactively watches your connected apps, sends a morning brief and does tasks on its own cloud computer, asking before consequential actions.

Is Claude Duet free? Claude Duet costs nothing extra during the preview, but it needs a Claude Pro, Max or Ultra plan and uses that plan's usage limits.

Is Claude Duet available outside the US? Not as of Nov 6, 2026. Claude Duet starts with US users only, through a waitlist.

Is there a Claude Duet app for iPhone and Android? Yes. Claude Duet is a standalone app for iOS and Android, and on a computer it runs in the browser at claude.ai.

Can Claude Duet spend my money? Claude Duet can buy items through Stripe's Link wallet or Shop Pay only after you confirm, and it will not trade securities or move money between accounts even with approval.

How is Claude Duet different from Cowork? Cowork does a task you hand it inside the Claude app; Claude Duet runs in its own app, keeps checking your accounts in the background and comes to you with what needs attention.

Sources

• Introducing Claude Duet, claude.com, Oct 21, 2026
• Claude Duet, claude.com, read Nov 6, 2026
• Release notes, Claude Help Center, read Nov 6, 2026
• Claude Cowork and chat come together for Enterprise, claude.com, Oct 23, 2026
• Introducing Claude Duet, Claude, Oct 21, 2026 (video)
• ChatGPT release notes, OpenAI Help Center, read Nov 6, 2026
• Gemini Apps release notes, Google, read Nov 6, 2026