Facts checked · Inbox Zero Inc. (Elie Steinbock) · open source
Rakazo vs MausBot
Rakazo is Inbox Zero's open source Grok Bot: web, desktop and mobile clients on one self-hosted API. MausBot is the one that installs in a minute. Compared.
Rakazo, launched by Elie Steinbock of Inbox Zero on August 13, 2026, is an Apache 2.0 Grok Bot alternative: web, desktop and mobile clients over one self-hosted API with Postgres, a worker and a Docker desktop per bot. MausBot is the open source Grok Bot with no server to run: a desktop app of bots on your own machine, with signed installers and store phone apps.
What Rakazo is
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. Bots get a computer from Docker, E2B, Daytona, CreateOS, Box or your own Mac, with approvals and an audit log. It is in beta: the last tagged desktop release is 0.1.6 from September 8, with a Mac DMG and a Linux AppImage and no Windows build, and the desktop app needs Docker to run the stack. Hosted Rakazo is a waitlist.
Launched: August 13, 2026, two days after Grok Bot. Sources: elie222/rakazo on GitHub; rakazo.com; shortlisted.tools review of Rakazo.
Why people compare Rakazo with MausBot
- It is a server first: Postgres, a job worker, Better Auth and a Chromium desktop container per bot, which a review measured at 2 GB and 2 CPUs per active bot. The desktop app installs that stack through Docker.
- No Windows build in any release; the Windows build is skipped unless a signing certificate is configured.
- The last tagged release is a month old while main moves daily, so the installer and the code have drifted.
- 169 of its commits are by an AI agent account, and the founder's own article is titled how I built an open source Grok Bot in a day.
- Mobile is a build-from-source Expo app with no store listing.
Rakazo vs MausBot
The Rakazo 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.
| Rakazo | MausBot | |
|---|---|---|
| License, stars | Apache 2.0, 3,418 | Apache 2.0, about 4.2k |
| Shape | One self-hosted API with web, Electron and Expo clients; Docker required | A desktop chat app with no server; iOS and Android companions |
| Models | Claude, ChatGPT, SuperGrok, Copilot sign-in; API keys; Ollama, LM Studio; per bot, via Pi | Claude, Codex, Grok, and other CLIs, chosen per bot; switch mid-conversation |
| Before a shell command runs | Approval rules you set per bot; an audit log you own | Allow / Deny cards for shell commands and file edits; answer cards for questions |
| Agents | Persistent bots with peers, subagents and group channels | As many bots as you like, in group rooms |
| Where it runs | Docker on your machine by default, or E2B, Daytona, CreateOS, Box, or your Mac | Your own machine; or a cloud desktop per bot |
| Platforms | macOS DMG and Linux AppImage; no Windows release; mobile from source | macOS, Windows, Ubuntu; iOS and Android companions |
| Setup | Docker Desktop plus a published-images install script, or the desktop app that runs it | Download, sign in with your CLI, meet a bot |
| Always on | Yes, if you host the stack | Bots on a cloud computer, or all your bots on a Cloud plan from $29 a month |
| Hosted plan | Waitlist | Cloud plans from $29 a month, today |
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 Rakazo still does better
- Three first-party surfaces, web, desktop and mobile, on one API, plus Slack, WhatsApp, Telegram and iMessage bridges and a voice mode.
- The widest provider matrix of any clone: Claude, ChatGPT, SuperGrok and Copilot subscriptions, API keys, OpenRouter, Bedrock, Ollama and LM Studio, swappable per bot.
- Pluggable sandboxes with shared Team computers and isolated Private ones, and per-site encrypted logins the model never sees.
- A written vision that no hosted vendor becomes a hidden dependency, which it keeps.
Other Rakazo 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.
- OpenMuse by CopilotKit, nanoMuse and twelve smaller repos: Meta's Muse arrived on September 8, 2026 as a single proactive agent in a secure VM.
- 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 Rakazo open source?
- Yes, Apache 2.0, the same licence as MausBot. One bundled tool source, Treg, is usage-metered and needs a written agreement for hosted resale.
- Does Rakazo run on Windows?
- Not as a desktop app: no release has a Windows asset, and the build is skipped without a signing certificate. You can run the server stack on Windows with Docker and use the web client. MausBot ships a native Windows installer.
- Can I use my Claude or ChatGPT plan in Rakazo?
- Yes, through the Pi harness, and in MausBot through the claude and codex CLIs. Both avoid per-token API billing.
- Rakazo or MausBot?
- Rakazo if you want to host one server that several surfaces and messaging bridges connect to, and you run Docker happily. MausBot if you want the Grok Bot shape as an app you install in a minute, with phone apps from the stores and a Cloud plan when the laptop is closed.