Gray vs OpenAI Dots: always-on AI agents compared

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Short answer

Choose Gray if you want a simple, always-on agent you control without a ChatGPT Pro subscription. Choose OpenAI Dots if you're already on ChatGPT Pro or Business Premium and want OpenAI to host an agent with access to thousands of apps.

GrayOpenAI Dots
Launched[x]September 29, 2026, at OpenAI DevDay
Where it runsYour own machine or serverOpenAI's cloud: each Dot has its own cloud computer
ModelAny OpenAI-compatible provider, including local modelsGPT-6 Astra
AppsPlugins from the Hub, plus MCP servers through the official `mcp` plugin4,000+ apps through plugins, with controls over what it may do on its own
Talk to it viaTerminal, headless print mode, and Discord through the official pluginChatGPT, Slack and Microsoft Teams, with texting coming
Model lock-inNone: any OpenAI-compatible provider or a local model[x]
AccessFree (MIT); you pay your model provider. Hosted Voyager plan $77/month, not yet openFirst Dot included with ChatGPT Pro and Business Premium; beta for Enterprise, Edu and Healthcare workspaces, off by default

Is there an alternative to ChatGPT Dots that doesn't need ChatGPT Pro?

Yes. Gray is an always-on AI harness you run on your own machine or server, free and open source, with no ChatGPT subscription required.

Can I use non-OpenAI models with an always-on agent?

Yes. Gray works with any OpenAI-compatible provider, with Anthropic, Google, OpenRouter, DeepSeek, Groq, xAI, Mistral and others built in, and with local models through Ollama; see Providers & models.

When should you choose OpenAI Dots instead?

If you already pay for ChatGPT Pro or Business Premium and want the deepest app integrations with zero setup, Dots is the easy choice.

Sources

Competitor details are taken from the sources above as of the date at the top of this page. Products change quickly — if something here is out of date, open an issue on GitHub.