Claude Duet: free on Pro and Max, US-only for now

What is Claude Duet?

Claude Duet is an agent app from Anthropic that reaches out to you first. An agent is an AI that works through several steps on its own instead of answering one prompt at a time. Anthropic opened Duet as a research preview, an early test release, on October 21, 2026.

Regular Claude waits for you to type something. Duet flips that: it watches the apps you connect, flags anything that needs a decision, carries on with tasks when you step out, and pauses for your OK before doing anything in your name.

Anthropic aimed it at busy professionals and small business owners juggling more than they can keep track of. (Related: What Is Claude AI? Free Plan, Models, vs ChatGPT)

A separate app that carries over your Claude setup

During the preview, Duet ships as its own app rather than a mode inside the main Claude app. You can get it on iOS and Android, or open it on claude.ai in a browser.

Setup is light because Duet signs in with your Claude account. The memory, skills and connected apps you already use in Claude are there from the first message. You talk to it by typing or by voice in a single running thread, and you can open extra channels for separate topics that still share the same memory.

It runs on Claude Opus 5.5 with no model choice

Duet always uses Claude Opus 5.5, and there is no setting to pick a different model. It also decides on its own how much effort each job deserves.

Anthropic points to judgment as the feature that matters most: knowing what to bring to you, what can wait, and when to check in before acting. That judgment comes from Opus 5.5. (Related: Claude Opus 5.5 pricing, benchmarks, API changes)

What Claude Duet does during the day

Duet's day breaks down into four jobs: a morning summary, regular check-ins, background tasks and work inside your business apps. All four run through the apps you have connected to Claude.

A morning brief from your email and calendar

Every morning, Duet reads your connected inbox and calendar and sends a short rundown of what matters most that day. It can also get a head start, for example by drafting replies for you to look over.

During the day it posts progress on the jobs it is running and nudges threads that have gone quiet. One early tester, Jess, said Duet caught a property showing she had put on her calendar for the wrong day, without being asked.

Check-ins every few hours, messages only when needed

Duet looks through your connected accounts every few hours and only messages you when something needs your attention. Anthropic spaced the checks out on purpose, since constant scanning would drain your plan's usage much faster.

You can tell Duet which topics you want to hear about and how often. Anthropic says it is still tuning when Duet decides to speak up, based on tester feedback.

Background work on its own cloud computer

Duet runs on a virtual machine with its own browser, so your laptop and phone can stay off. A virtual machine is a computer that lives in the cloud rather than on your desk. Closing the app does not stop a job in progress.

You describe a task in a short message, and Duet picks the apps and steps. Larger results come back as files in the Make tab: research briefs, financial models, slide decks and dashboards. The Tasks tab lists what is in progress and what is waiting on you, and only you can mark a task as done.

Over 6,000 connectors for business apps

Duet can draw on more than 6,000 connectors and plugins from the Claude Marketplace. A connector is an add-on that links Claude to another app. Anthropic gives seven examples.

For sites without a connector, Duet uses its cloud browser. It can also buy things through Link, Stripe's digital wallet, or Shop Pay from Shopify. It asks before every purchase and pays with a single-use card, so your actual card number never reaches the store.

Actions Claude Duet won't take without your approval

Duet does the reading, drafting and prep on its own, then stops before anything that leaves your accounts. Everything it does sorts into three tiers.

Sending, paying, signing and deleting wait for you

For those four actions, Duet shows you exactly what it plans to do and holds until you say yes. If you are busy, it finishes everything else in the task and comes back with the approval later.

When it hands you a number or a summary, it names the email, file or spreadsheet the figure came from. You can disconnect any app whenever you like, and Duet loses access to it from that moment.

Trading securities and moving money are off-limits

Some actions are blocked even when you approve them: trading securities, moving money between accounts and getting into another person's account. No setting turns these on.

Credentials and card numbers stay out of reach

Duet handles credentials the same way Claude Managed Agents do, so it never sees your passwords or sign-in tokens directly. When a site asks for a password, you enter it in a separate form on your device, and it goes to the browser without passing through your chat.

Each action is screened by the same auto mode classifier that guards Claude Code, a separate model that blocks steps you did not ask for. A second, dedicated classifier refuses requests to share credit card numbers or government ID, and health or personal finance details go out only when you explicitly say so. (Related: Claude Code Auto Mode Is Now the Default Setting)

Emails and web pages can hide instructions meant to steer an agent off course. Duet is built to treat that content as information, not orders, but Anthropic admits no defense is perfect. That gap is part of why the high-stakes actions need your sign-off.

Claude Duet pricing and usage limits

While the research preview lasts, Duet comes with Pro and Max at no added charge. The trade-off is that it shares your usage limits with the rest of Claude. Usage limits cap how much you can use Claude within a set window of time.

No extra fee on Pro and Max during the preview

You do not pay anything separate for Duet while it is in preview. A Pro or Max plan is required, so free accounts are left out. Anthropic has not said what Duet will cost once the preview ends.

Background work counts toward your limits

Duet draws on the five-hour session limit and the weekly limit at the same rate a normal Claude chat does. The difference is that its unprompted work, like the morning brief and the check-ins, also comes out of that budget.

That means you can hit your cap sooner than you would with chat alone. Big jobs such as a financial model or a slide deck take more model turns and more background work, so they cost more of your allowance. The few-hours gap between check-ins exists for the same reason.

One full limit reset until November 30

When you are let into the preview, you get a single full reset of both your five-hour and weekly limits. You have until November 30, 2026, to use it.

Who can get Claude Duet and how to join the waitlist

Getting Duet means joining a waitlist and waiting for an invite. A waitlist is a queue of people waiting for access, and signing up does not unlock the app right away.

Three requirements for access

You need all three of the following, and missing any one of them keeps you out. People on a free plan or outside the US do not qualify.

• A Pro or Max plan
• A Claude account based in the US
• An invite from the waitlist

Invites roll out in waves, and joining does not lock in a date. Your invite is tied to the email you used to sign up. If that address differs from your Claude account or from the Google or Apple account on your phone, you will not get in, so use the same address everywhere.

How to sign up and get started

Signing up and getting into the app takes six steps. After you accept the invite, the app can take a few minutes to show up.

1. Go to the Claude Duet product page and select "Join the waitlist"
2. Enter your name and email (use your Claude account email if you already have one)
3. Choose iPhone or Android and the Claude plan you are on; you can also describe your work and the first job you would give Duet
4. Select "Submit"
5. When your turn comes, open the invite on your phone and follow the iPhone or Android setup steps
6. Launch Duet and sign in with your Claude account

Not available outside the US or on Team plans yet

For now, Duet is limited to the US, and Team and Enterprise plans cannot use it. Anthropic plans to add those business plans later but has not given a date. It has not said when other countries will get access either.

Claude Duet vs Claude Cowork

The core difference is who kicks off the work. Claude Cowork, also from Anthropic, starts when you give it a goal. Duet keeps an eye on your connected apps between requests and comes to you when it spots something.

Cowork works inside the folders and tools you point it at and hands back documents, decks and spreadsheets for you to review. It shows each file it opens, each tool it uses and each choice it makes, so you can steer it mid-task. Duet offers no such view: you cannot watch its browser, and it cannot open files on your computer.

Cowork can also run scheduled tasks daily, weekly or monthly and keeps going after you close your laptop, so it already covers recurring reports and folder cleanup. What Duet adds is noticing what needs doing before you ask. (Related: Claude in Chrome vs the Cowork built-in browser)

What Claude Duet can't do yet

Anthropic's help center spells out several gaps in the preview. Knowing them up front helps you decide what to hand over.

You can't watch or take over its browser

There is no way to see Duet's cloud browser while it works, and you cannot grab control partway through. Instead of following along step by step as you would in Cowork, you review the result and the approval requests afterward.

No computer files, phone calls or Microsoft 365

Duet cannot open files stored on your computer or see all of your Claude projects. It can read your work in Claude, but it cannot edit it.

It does not place phone calls or text other people, though it can send email from a connected account once you approve. Some connectors are restricted too: Slack works with limits, and Microsoft 365 is not supported yet.

Urgent items can wait until the next check

Because Duet checks your accounts on a schedule, something urgent that lands between two checks may sit until the next one. If your work depends on fast replies, keep another way to catch urgent messages.

Anthropic also warns that this early version can misread a thread or get the urgency of an item wrong, and that personal errands such as booking tickets are a weaker spot. Read drafts and approval requests before you confirm them.

Free to try, but paid for in usage limits

The real price of Claude Duet shows up in your usage meter, not on your bill. Every check-in and morning brief spends from the same pool your chats use, and you control how much by choosing which apps to connect and how often Duet should reach out. If you already lean on Claude chat most days, those two settings decide how much room is left for everything else you do in Claude.

The approval step protects the moment an action leaves your accounts, but misreads and missed urgency happen earlier, when Duet decides what matters. By the time a draft reaches the approval screen, any mistake is already baked in. Comparing the draft with the original email before you approve is the check that approval alone does not provide.