Facts checked · CopilotKit, nanoMuse and twelve smaller repos · open source
OpenMuse vs MausBot
Fifteen GitHub repos call themselves OpenMuse. The two that matter, CopilotKit's template and nanoMuse, compared with MausBot on licence, models and approvals.
OpenMuse is a name fifteen GitHub projects took after Meta's Muse launched. CopilotKit's OpenMuse (4,209 stars, MIT) is a phone-first template that needs CopilotKit's hosted Intelligence service and cannot drive your own computer. nanoMuse (267 stars, GPL) ships installers and screen-driven hands but calls itself a preview. MausBot is the open source Muse alternative that is a team of bots on any model, Apache 2.0, with no vendor service.
What OpenMuse is
Meta's Muse arrived on September 8, 2026 as a single proactive agent in a secure VM. CopilotKit's OpenMuse followed on September 22 with a launch tweet seen 1.15 million times: an Expo app for iOS, Android and web over a self-hosted Hono server, a Playwright browser worker and a no-network Linux container, on OpenAI, Anthropic or Google keys. Every deployment needs a CopilotKit Intelligence key, which the README says is a separate service outside the MIT licence, and the agent works in its own browser rather than on your computer. nanoMuse, from a team behind nanomuse.cn, is the most product-like: forty releases since September 25 with an APK, a Mac DMG, a Windows EXE, Linux builds and TestFlight, screenshot-driven hands on Android and desktop, Sentinel approvals, eighteen model providers plus Ollama and ChatGPT, Claude and Kimi plan sign-in, and a GPL-3.0 licence. Digger's and chyroc's open-muse have no licence file.
Launched: September 11 (Digger), September 22 (CopilotKit), September 25 (nanoMuse), 2026. Sources: CopilotKit/openmuse on GitHub; nano-muse/nanoMuse on GitHub; CopilotKit openmuse issue #73: make Intelligence optional; Show HN: nanoMuse.
Why people compare OpenMuse with MausBot
- CopilotKit's OpenMuse is one agent that reads pages while you do the interactive work; an open issue asks for it to click, type and fill forms, and it cannot operate your Mac or Windows apps at all.
- It needs a CopilotKit Intelligence key in every mode, with full-capture telemetry to PostHog by default, and ships no app binaries.
- nanoMuse is version 0.1.x with about three releases a day, its roadmap says the hands fail on grounding, its desktop builds are unsigned, and it is GPL rather than Apache.
- Two of the named projects, Digger's and chyroc's, have no licence at all, and chyroc's is a client for a Chinese cloud's managed-agent API.
- Single agent, every one of them: Muse's shape is one assistant, and the clones copied it. None puts a Claude bot and a Codex bot in one room.
OpenMuse vs MausBot
The OpenMuse 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.
| OpenMuse | MausBot | |
|---|---|---|
| License, stars | CopilotKit: MIT, 4,209, plus a required hosted service. nanoMuse: GPL-3.0, 267. Digger and chyroc: none | Apache 2.0, about 4.2k |
| Shape | One agent: a phone app over your server; or an agent per device with a relay | A team of bots in a desktop chat app; iOS and Android companions |
| Models | OpenAI, Anthropic, Google keys (CopilotKit); 18 providers, Ollama, and ChatGPT, Claude, Kimi plans (nanoMuse) | Claude, Codex, Grok, and other CLIs, chosen per bot; switch mid-conversation |
| Controls your own computer | No (CopilotKit); screen-driven hands on Android and desktop, admittedly unreliable (nanoMuse) | Yes: the claude, codex and grok CLIs on your machine, plus a browser; or a cloud desktop per bot |
| Before a shell command runs | Stored review for every external write (CopilotKit); a stop before deleting, sending or paying (nanoMuse) | Allow / Deny cards for shell commands and file edits; answer cards for questions |
| Agents | One, with delegated tasks; or one per device | As many bots as you like, in group rooms |
| Where it runs | Your server plus CopilotKit's cloud; or inside each device, with a relay in China or self-hosted | Your own machine; or a cloud desktop per bot |
| Platforms | iOS, Android, web from source (CopilotKit); APK, DMG, EXE, Linux, TestFlight (nanoMuse) | macOS, Windows, Ubuntu; iOS and Android companions |
| Installers | None (CopilotKit); unsigned builds (nanoMuse) | Signed installers; App Store and Play Store apps |
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 OpenMuse still does better
- CopilotKit OpenMuse: a real phone-native UI with rich cards for email, browser previews, PDFs and plans, a durable task engine with signed receipts for every external write, and the largest community.
- nanoMuse: installers on five platforms, GUI hands on the phone screen as well as the desktop, approvals routed to the device in your hand, zero telemetry, a free first run and a written paper.
- chyroc's Open Muse: native Mac computer use of your own apps with an allow once, this chat or always ladder and app and folder blocklists, plus Apple Health and Calendar.
Other OpenMuse alternatives
The other open-source clones first, then the big agent apps, each with its own comparison page:
- Open Dots by Composio, Anil Matcha, CopilotKit: OpenAI launched dots on September 29, 2026 for ChatGPT Pro and Business Premium.
- OpenBot by CopilotKit: OpenBot (6,182 stars, 841 forks, MIT) is the most-starred of the open source Grok Bot clones.
- Rakazo by Inbox Zero Inc. (Elie Steinbock): Rakazo (3,418 stars, 599 forks, Apache 2.0) was created two days after Grok Bot launched and is the closest of the clones to MausBot in shape: persistent bots with their own memory, routines and group channels, each on a model you choose through the Pi harness, including Claude Pro or Max and ChatGPT Plus or Pro sign-in, API keys, and Ollama.
- OpenInstinct by Merit Systems, Maria Gorskikh (Maritime) and others: Instinct opened its invite-only beta on August 26, 2026 and raised at a $10 billion valuation a month later.
Frequently asked questions
- Is there an open source Meta Muse?
- Several projects claim it. CopilotKit's OpenMuse is MIT but depends on CopilotKit's hosted Intelligence service; nanoMuse is GPL-3.0 and fully self-hostable; Digger's and chyroc's have no licence. MausBot is Apache 2.0 and runs with no vendor service.
- Which OpenMuse is the real one?
- There is no official one; Meta did not open-source Muse. CopilotKit's is the most-starred, nanoMuse ships the most installers, and twelve smaller repos use the name. Unrelated projects called OpenMuse cover a text-to-image model, an EEG headband and music tools.
- Does OpenMuse control my computer like Muse's Mac app?
- CopilotKit's does not: it drives its own browser and a Linux container on your server. nanoMuse and chyroc's Open Muse do, by screenshots, on desktop. MausBot bots run the Claude, Codex and Grok CLIs on your own machine, so file edits and shell commands happen where you sit, behind an approval card.
- Can I run OpenMuse on my ChatGPT or Claude plan?
- nanoMuse can, by plan sign-in. CopilotKit's OpenMuse is API keys only. MausBot runs bots on the claude and codex CLIs with your existing logins.