Claude Duet opens as a proactive agent app for US Pro and Max subscribers by waitlist

What Anthropic announced

Anthropic opened a research preview of Claude Duet on 21 October 2026. In its announcement, the company describes a new app in which Claude works as a proactive agent. It comes to the user with what needs attention, completes tasks, keeps working when the user steps away and checks in before acting on the user's behalf. Anthropic says it built Duet for professionals and small business owners and designed it around Claude Opus 5.5.

Each morning Duet sends a short brief on the most important items across connected apps. During the day it checks those apps every few hours and messages the user only when something needs attention. Anthropic says it does not check nonstop because that would use up plan limits much faster. Users talk to it by typing or voice in one ongoing thread.

Who can use it and what it costs

The preview starts with Pro and Max subscribers in the US through a waitlist. Duet is included in those plans and uses the same usage limits as the rest of Claude. Anthropic warns that background checks count toward those limits and that larger jobs, such as a financial model or a deck, need more model turns. On Anthropic's pricing page, Pro costs $20 per month billed monthly or $17 per month with annual billing, and Max starts at $100 per month. The announcement does not include Free, Team or Enterprise plans.

Duet carries over memory, skills and connected apps from the user's Claude account. It has a virtual machine with its own browser, so the user's laptop or phone does not need to stay on. Anthropic says it can use more than 6,000 connectors and plugins in the Claude Marketplace, for jobs such as finding missed Gmail and Slack messages, chasing unpaid invoices in QuickBooks or Stripe, preparing payroll in Gusto and managing a Shopify store. Purchases go through Link, Stripe's digital wallet, with a virtual card and the user's approval.

Safety limits and known gaps

Duet reads, drafts and prepares work on its own, but it shows the exact action and waits for approval before it sends a message, makes a payment, signs a document or deletes anything. Some actions are blocked even with approval, such as trading securities or moving money between accounts. Anthropic says credentials follow the Claude Managed Agents design, so Duet never sees passwords or sign-in tokens directly, and a new classifier rejects requests to share card numbers and government IDs. A follow-up safety post on 23 October gives more detail.

Anthropic calls this an early version. It says Duet may misread a thread or misjudge what is urgent, is weaker at personal errands such as booking tickets, and cannot yet show its browser. For now it lives apart from the main Claude app. Earlier in October, Anthropic made Code Review in Claude Code generally available for coding teams. More app news is under AI Tools.

What to watch next

Anthropic has not given dates for access outside the US, for Team or Enterprise plans, or for the promised 1Password sign-in support and Shopify visual editor. It says feedback from the preview will decide how Duet and the main Claude app work together.

Questions people ask

How much does Claude Duet cost?

There is no separate price. Anthropic says Duet is included in the Pro and Max plans during the research preview and shares their usage limits. Pro is $20 per month billed monthly; Max starts at $100.

Where can I use Claude Duet?

As a standalone app on iOS and Android and on claude.ai. Access starts with US Pro and Max subscribers through a waitlist.

Can Claude Duet spend money without asking?

No. Anthropic says Duet waits for approval before any payment, message, signature or deletion, and it will not trade securities or move money between accounts even with approval.

Sources

1. Introducing Claude Duet (Anthropic (Claude), 21 Oct 2026)
2. Claude Duet Safety, Privacy, and Security (Anthropic (Claude), 23 Oct 2026)
3. Claude pricing (Anthropic, 28 Oct 2026)