Claude Duet vs Cicada
Claude Duet is Anthropic's proactive agent, a research preview by waitlist for Claude subscribers in the US, in its own app. Cicada is open to sign up in any country, and its agents are in your iMessage and WhatsApp chats, group chats included, as well as Slack, email and your meetings.
Pick Cicada if you want to start today, wherever you are, text your agent on iMessage or WhatsApp, and give your whole team agents that work together. Pick Claude Duet if you're in the US, pay for Claude Pro, Max or Ultra, get in off the waitlist and want one proactive agent running Opus 5.5.
What Cicada does that Claude Duet doesn't.
No waitlist, any country
Sign up for Cicada today, wherever you are, with 300 free credits. Duet is a research preview for Claude Pro, Max and Ultra subscribers in the US, with invitations going out from a waitlist in waves.
In your texts and your group chats
Text Cicada on iMessage or WhatsApp, or add it to the group with your clients, where it keeps every message and file anyone posts and reminds people of what they promised by a deadline. You message Duet in its own app or on claude.ai.
A team, not one account
Duet works from one personal Claude account and isn't on Team or Enterprise plans yet. In Cicada every person gets their own agents, a coordinator splits big jobs between specialists, and teammates' agents check with each other.
Watch it work, and take over
Cicada's browser signs in with logins from your vault, and you can watch it and take control at any point. Anthropic says you can't watch Duet's cloud browser or take it over.
- What it is
- Anthropic's proactive agent in its own app: a morning brief, then a check of your apps every few hours. Made by Anthropic.
- Where it works
- Its own app on iOS and Android, and claude.ai on the web
- What it costs
- Included in Claude Pro ($20 a month), Max ($100) and Ultra ($200), sharing their usage limits; US only, by waitlist
- Worth knowing
- US-only waitlist, you message it in its own app rather than your texts, and it isn't on Team or Enterprise plans yet.
Checked against Claude Duet's own pages on 31 October 2026. See every Claude Duet alternative.
A team of agents for a team of people.
Claude Duet works from your personal Claude account, and Anthropic says Team and Enterprise plans come later. Cicada's agents already work as a team.
Agents for every person
Each person in your workspace gets their own agents. The apps the team shares are connected once; personal ones, like your inbox, stay under your own login.
A coordinator and specialists
A big job is split between specialists that work at the same time, and you get one answer back from the agent you asked.
Agents that work together
Teammates' agents know what each other covers, use each other's fresh figures and check with each other through the apps you share, never through anyone's private notes. Ask yours to message someone who uses Cicada, at your company or another, and their answer comes back to you.
Know-how the whole team shares
What one agent learns about the business, every agent in the workspace knows, and a skill one agent proves is shared with the rest.
Cicada and Claude Duet, feature by feature.
| Feature | Cicada | Claude Duet |
|---|---|---|
| Agents across your team | Every person gets their own agents, a coordinator running specialists, and they work together across the team | One Duet per personal Claude account; Team and Enterprise plans aren't included yet |
| Where you use it | iMessage, WhatsApp, Slack, email and a web app | Its own app on iOS and Android, and claude.ai on the web |
| Text it from your phone's messages | Yes, iMessage and WhatsApp, including group chats | No, you message it in the Duet app |
| Works on its own | Schedules, app events and proactive checks | A morning brief, then a check of your apps every few hours |
| Joins your meetings | Yes, Meet, Zoom, Teams and Webex, notes by text | Not that we could find; it can set meetings up |
| Connected apps | 1,000+, plus any MCP server | 6,000+ connectors and plugins; Slack with limits, Microsoft 365 not yet |
| Its own computer | Its own browser with logins from your vault, which you can watch and take over | Its own cloud computer and browser, which you can't watch or take over yet |
| Permissions | Per app: Full, Ask first or Read-only, plus the autonomy level you set | Asks before sending, paying, signing or deleting; never trades or moves money |
| Choose the model | Lite, Standard or Genius, per agent | Opus 5.5 only; Duet sets its own effort |
| Where it's available | Open to sign up | US only, by waitlist, on Pro, Max and Ultra |
| Price | 300 free credits to start with a card at sign-up, then $25 for 200 credits when you run low, or plans from $99 a month. Credits are shared across the workspace and roll over. | Included in Claude Pro ($20 a month), Max ($100) and Ultra ($200), sharing their usage limits |
Claude Duet details checked against its own site and docs on 31 October 2026. Products change fast; see the sources below.
A team, not one assistant
Duet keeps one thread for one person, built on their own Claude account. In Cicada every person in the workspace gets agents, a coordinator hands parts of a big job to specialists, and teammates' agents check with each other through the apps you share, never through anyone's private notes.
In the chats you already use
Duet lives in its own app and on claude.ai. Cicada is in iMessage and WhatsApp, one-to-one and in group chats where it speaks when someone names it, as well as Slack and email, so nobody on the team installs anything new.
You can watch it work
Duet's cloud browser can't be watched or taken over yet, and signing in with saved logins is coming. Cicada's browser signs in with logins from your vault, and you can watch it and take control at any point. It also joins your Meet, Zoom, Teams and Webex calls and texts you the notes.
Where Cicada is stronger
- Every person on the team gets their own agents, and they work together.
- A coordinator splits big jobs between specialists that work at the same time.
- What one agent learns about the business, every agent in the workspace knows.
- You text it on iMessage or WhatsApp, including in group chats.
- A notetaker that joins your meetings and texts you the notes.
- Open to sign up today, outside the US too, with no waitlist.
Choose Cicada if you want to start today, in any country, with agents for your whole team in iMessage, WhatsApp and Slack that join your meetings.
Where Claude Duet fits
- Opus 5.5 on every task, included in a $20 Claude Pro plan.
- 6,000+ connectors and plugins, with your Claude memory, skills and apps carried over.
- It can buy things for you through Link and Shop Pay, with a one-time card for each purchase.
Claude Duet may suit you if you're in the US, already pay for Claude Pro, Max or Ultra, and want one proactive assistant for your own inbox and calendar.
Or use both. They work well together. Add Cicada as a connector in Claude to search what your agents know, send one of them a job, or save what Claude knows about you into Cicada. Anthropic says Duet uses the connectors you set up in Claude.
Claude Duet vs Cicada, answered.
Is Cicada an alternative to Claude Duet?
For a team, yes. Duet is one proactive agent per person, in its own app; Cicada gives every person agents that work together, in iMessage, WhatsApp, Slack and email, and joins your meetings. Many people use Claude and Cicada side by side.
Can I text Claude Duet from iMessage or WhatsApp?
Not as of October 2026: you message Duet in its own app or on claude.ai, and Anthropic says it doesn't make calls or send texts to other people. Cicada works in iMessage and WhatsApp, one-to-one and in group chats.
Who can use Claude Duet?
It's a research preview, by waitlist, for Claude Pro, Max and Ultra subscribers in the US. Team and Enterprise plans aren't included yet. Cicada is open to sign up and free to start with 300 credits.
Does Claude Duet join meetings?
Anthropic's pages describe Duet setting meetings up and briefing you on your calendar, not a notetaker. Cicada joins Meet, Zoom, Teams and Webex calls and texts you the notes.
How is it different from the Claude app?
Duet is a separate app built to reach out first: a morning brief, regular checks of your apps, and work on its own cloud computer. For how Cicada compares with Claude itself, see Cicada vs Claude.
Sources, checked 31 October 2026
- Introducing Claude Duet (Anthropic, 21 Oct 2026)
- Claude Duet product page
- Get started with Claude Duet
- Claude pricing
Spotted something out of date? Tell us at support@cicadalabs.io and we'll fix it.
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