Facts checked · Hark Labs (Brett Adcock)
Hark Pro alternative: MausBot
A Hark Pro alternative that is open source and runs on your own computer: a team of bots on any model, free under Apache 2.0, on Mac, Windows and Ubuntu.
Hark Pro, launched by Brett Adcock's Hark Labs on October 6, 2026, is one assistant on the web, iOS and Android that does errands in its own cloud browser, free with a usage cap and $20 or $100 a month for more. MausBot is the open source Hark Pro alternative: a team of bots on any model, on your own machine, Apache 2.0, with a desktop app and phone apps.
What Hark Pro is
Hark Labs, founded in late 2025 by Figure AI founder Brett Adcock and funded with a $700 million Series A at a $6 billion valuation, calls Hark Pro the operating system for your life and, in its launch post, not a chatbot, not a personal assistant, not an AI agent. It is one assistant in one persistent thread, on the web, iOS and Android, with no desktop app. For every request it spins up a virtual computer in Hark's cloud with a browser, files and a terminal, driven by Handoff, Hark's own computer-use model, and it can run up to six browsers at once. It remembers you, suggests Action Buttons from your inbox, builds Panels over services like Strava and Spotify, runs scheduled tasks, and keeps passwords and cards in a tokenized vault. All features are free; the paid plans buy more usage, with no published numbers. Hardware is promised for 2027.
Launched: October 6, 2026. Sources: Hark: Introducing Hark Pro; Hark: Using Hark Pro; Hark: pricing; TechCrunch: Hark releases an AI personal assistant with a focus on privacy.
Why people look for a Hark Pro alternative
- One assistant, one thread, by design: the help page says no juggling agents, so there is no team, no named bots and no group chat.
- No desktop app and no local control: Hark works in its own cloud browser and cannot touch the files, apps or terminal on your Mac or PC.
- No model choice: no API keys, no Claude or ChatGPT plan sign-in, no local models, and no model picker. Hark prioritises its own models and vetted third parties.
- Usage is a multiplier with no numbers: the free tier is capped, Pro² is 2× and Pro³ is 10×, and Hark publishes no task counts or reset periods.
- Closed and hosted: memory, chats, task logs, browsing history and credentials live on Hark's servers; the Terms forbid reverse engineering and self-hosting does not exist.
- Standing permissions: the Terms let you authorise a category of transactions in advance, after which each purchase proceeds without a fresh confirmation.
- Early and slow on simple jobs: a Gizmodo hands-on found a DoorDash order took several minutes, and the Hacker News launch thread drew three points.
Hark Pro vs MausBot
The Hark Pro column comes from the vendor's own pages and the press cited above, checked on October 8, 2026. Where the vendor has not said, the cell says so.
| Hark Pro | MausBot | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free with a usage cap; Pro² $20 a month for 2× usage; Pro³ $100 for 10×; credits with auto top-up; first 100,000 sign-ups get a paid plan free | Free. Model usage on the Claude, ChatGPT, or Grok account you already have. |
| Models | Hark's own Handoff for the browser, plus vetted third-party models; no picker, no keys, no plan sign-in, no local models | Claude, Codex, Grok, and other CLIs, chosen per bot; switch mid-conversation |
| Agents | One assistant in one persistent thread; no named agents, no group chat | As many bots as you like, in group rooms |
| Where it runs | A virtual computer per request in Hark's cloud, up to six browsers at once; nothing on your machine | Your own machine; or a cloud desktop per bot |
| Where your data lives | Hark's servers: memory, chats, task logs, browsing history, credentials; no training on your content per the privacy policy | ~/.openmausbot on your disk; nothing leaves unless you send it |
| Before it acts | Consent by default and a cancel button; standing permissions let a category of purchases run without asking | Allow / Deny cards for shell commands and file edits; answer cards for questions |
| Platforms | Web, iOS, Android; Slack app; SMS notifications; no desktop app, no API | macOS, Windows, Ubuntu; iOS and Android companions |
| Controls your own computer | No | Yes: the claude, codex and grok CLIs on your machine, plus a browser; or a cloud desktop per bot |
| Voice | Input only; no calls yet | In-app calls on iOS and Android |
| Open source | No; the Terms forbid reverse engineering; no self-hosting | Yes. Apache 2.0, app and harness, on GitHub |
What MausBot is
MausBot is a free, open-source chat app where every contact is an AI bot with its own model, its own computer, and its own connected apps. Bots run on the claude, codex, and grok CLIs installed on your own machine, with your existing logins, so one bot can be on Claude and the next on ChatGPT. Shell commands and file edits surface as Allow / Deny cards before they run, bots share group rooms and hand work to each other, and your data stays in ~/.openmausbot on your disk. It is published on GitHub under Apache 2.0, with iOS and Android companions, and paid Cloud plans from $29 a month keep bots working with the laptop closed.
What Hark Pro still does better
- A purpose-trained computer-use model, Handoff, which Hark says leads the Online-Mind2Web leaderboard, driving a cloud computer with saved logins so web errands run with your machine off.
- Zero setup for a consumer: sign in with Google or Apple, no keys, every feature on the free tier, native iOS and Android apps on day one.
- A proactive layer MausBot does not have: Action Buttons from your inbox, Panels built from a prompt, Specialties that memorise a workflow.
- A tokenized credential and payment vault, a consent-by-default flow with a live cancel button, and a watchable view of the browser.
- $700 million, NVIDIA compute, and about 70 people behind it.
Other Hark Pro alternatives
MausBot is the open-source option. The other agents in this category, each with its own comparison page:
- Bops by Orgo (Organic Intelligence, Inc.): Bops is a macOS app from Nick Vasilescu, co-founder of Orgo, the cloud-computer company.
- Grok Bot by xAI: Grok Bot has been in beta since August 11, 2026.
- Meta Muse by Meta: Muse launched on September 8, 2026 from Meta Superintelligence Labs.
- OpenAI dots by OpenAI: Dots launched at DevDay on September 29, 2026.
Frequently asked questions
- What is Hark Pro?
- Hark Pro is the app from Hark Labs, the company Brett Adcock founded after Figure AI and Archer. Launched October 6, 2026 on the web, iOS and Android, it is one assistant that remembers you and does errands in its own cloud computer with Hark's Handoff computer-use model. The company calls it the operating system for your life and plans hardware in 2027.
- Is Hark Pro free?
- Yes, with a usage cap: every feature is on the free tier. Pro² is $20 a month for twice the usage and Pro³ is $100 for ten times, with credit top-ups. Hark publishes no absolute usage numbers. The first 100,000 sign-ups were promised a paid plan free. MausBot is free with no cap beyond the model plan you already have.
- Is there an open source Hark Pro?
- Not from Hark: it is closed, hosted, and its Terms forbid reverse engineering. MausBot is the open source alternative in the same category, Apache 2.0, with the code on GitHub, and it runs on your own machine rather than in a vendor's cloud.
- Does Hark Pro have a desktop app?
- No. Hark Pro is web, iOS and Android, and its computer is a virtual machine in Hark's cloud. MausBot is a desktop app for macOS, Windows and Ubuntu with iOS and Android companions, and its bots run on your own machine.
- Is hark.dev the same thing?
- No. hark.dev serves nothing as of October 8, 2026. Hark Pro lives at hark.com, and hark.ai redirects there.