chatgpt agent is gone: compare work with a team of bots

the short version

the current comparison: work and dusk bot

status and prices are as of 12 november 2026. old agent-mode message caps are not current work allowances.

check whether the guide you found is about the retired product

openai's agent help article now says agent is no longer available and directs readers to work.¹ an older review about choosing agent mode can still describe something that used to exist. start with the current work instructions when deciding what to buy or how to begin.²

this also changes the alternatives question. you do not have to leave chatgpt simply because agent was retired. work is the first option to evaluate if you want longer tasks there. the dusk versus chatgpt page is useful if you want to stay focused on those two choices.

local files are not a dusk-only feature

openai's work help page documents cloud use on web and mobile and local work through the chatgpt desktop app, including local files, apps and browser.³ it would be misleading to describe work as only a remote browser.

dusk's difference is that each bot is its own helper with one job. a bot has its own job, chats and memory, and can keep several threads. you can switch its ai without losing those chats, files or memory.⁹ a group chat brings several bots together; each retains its own ai and permissions.¹³

try a document brief before a large project: "read these attached planning notes. prepare a decision brief with the options, the evidence in each file and the questions i still need to answer." dusk supports document attachments.¹² check the brief against your notes yourself.

budget shared usage, not old monthly message caps

openai's current docs say work and codex share pricing, credits and usage limits.⁴ do not turn an old agent message cap into a promise about how much work you can do today. openai's pages we read don't give a fixed number of work tasks per plan.

as of 12 november 2026, the documented usd plan figures include plus at $20/month and pro at $100, $200 or $500/month. local prices may differ.⁵⁶ dusk cloud hosting is a separate bill from ai usage, which your provider charges.⁸¹⁰ neither headline price proves which will be cheaper for your workload.

if recurring work is the reason you arrived here, read the chatgpt scheduled tasks guide with the product change in mind. dusk routines on your own computer also need the app running and the computer awake; dusk cloud runs them on time.¹⁴ check your ai provider's current terms before depending on a sign-in for ongoing work.

how we checked

we make dusk bot. we read openai's pages on 12 november 2026 and our own docs. we didn't run the same tasks in both. we left out old agent-mode message caps because they aren't work limits.