Nova vs Muse by Meta

Muse is an agent from Meta that works in the cloud on a computer of its own, even while your phone is in your pocket. Muse follows goals over days, browses, fills in forms, and shops for you. You reach Muse on your phone, on the Mac, and in WhatsApp. Nova sits on your Mac desktop and works with you right there: with events and mail, files and notes, in meetings, and in the apps you already use. Anything that changes something, Nova shows you first as a card. And Nova has no cloud of its own that stores your day.

What Muse is

Muse is Meta’s personal AI agent. You write to Muse the way you message a person, in the Muse app on your phone and Mac or right in WhatsApp. Every Muse gets its own name and avatar. Muse has its own Linux computer in the cloud, the “Muse Secure VM”, with a file system, a terminal, and a full browser. There Muse searches the web, fills in forms, books, and buys. You can step in at any time.

Give Muse a goal and Muse turns it into a plan and keeps working on it in the background, even when the app is closed. A “Goals” tab shows what Muse is tracking, and an “Ideas” tab brings suggestions. Muse reaches out on its own when something new matters. Through connectors, Muse links to mail, calendar, Instagram, and other services. If a tool is missing, Muse builds it. Muse also creates documents, PDFs, web pages, dashboards, and images.

Logins are kept in a separate vault the agent can’t read. When shopping, a one-time card number is created for each purchase. You approve important steps such as sending an email or buying something beforehand, and a log shows everything Muse has done and still plans to do. Muse is free with a usage limit. If you need more, you take out a subscription.

What Nova is

Nova sits on your Mac desktop, over the work you already have open. You talk to Nova or type in the mini chat. Nova is not one more chat window. Nova helps where you are already working:

Everyday tasks. Events in Apple Calendar, reminders, mail drafts in Apple Mail or Outlook, iMessage or Teams messages as drafts, timers, weather, and web research. In the morning, a short overview of the day if you want it. Plus daily and weekly goals.
Files. Find “the PDF from Tuesday evening”, summarize documents, analyze spreadsheets, rename or move files, or clean up a folder. Nothing gets overwritten.
Knowledge. Nova searches your notes, Apple Notes, and earlier conversations. With your topic collections, Nova answers only from what is in them. Nova also reads Obsidian and Dropbox, if you want.
Screen and Mac. Nova explains what is on the screen, points at the right button, and guides you step by step. Nova types text into the open app, arranges windows, adjusts brightness, sound, music, and Hue lights, and tells you how storage and battery are doing.
Meetings. Nova takes notes in a meeting, turns them into minutes with your to-dos, and later finds what was said in an old meeting.
Your tools. Nova reads Notion, Linear, Todoist, and ClickUp and creates tasks after you confirm. In Asana, Nova reads tasks and changes or comments on them after you confirm. Nova reads Slack, Jira, Trello, Discord, and Airtable.
Own windows. Health with a coach, work time, subscriptions, moments, and your screen history, all on your Mac. Screen history and Mac history are off by default.

Anything that changes something, Nova puts in front of you as a card. Nothing is saved until you confirm.

Where Muse goes further

Muse keeps working when you’re away. Muse runs in the cloud, on a schedule and when something happens, even at night and when the app is closed. Nova works as long as your Mac is running.
Muse handles whole tasks itself. Muse browses, fills in forms, books, and shops, with a one-time card number and your approval before the purchase. Nova doesn’t shop and doesn’t click by itself. Nova shows, you click.
Goals over days and weeks. Muse breaks a goal into a plan, tracks it in the “Goals” tab, and brings its own ideas. Nova knows daily and weekly goals and, if you want, speaks up before events, but doesn’t pursue goals on its own over weeks.
Everywhere with you. Muse is on your phone, on the Mac, and in WhatsApp. Nova runs only on Macs with Apple silicon.
Its own tools and content. If Muse is missing a tool, Muse writes the code for it. Muse also builds web pages, dashboards, and images. Nova isn’t a coding tool and doesn’t create images.
Start for free. Muse is free with a usage limit. You can try Nova for seven days, after that you need a license.

Where Nova is strong

On your Mac, not on someone else’s computer. Muse works on a computer of its own in the cloud. Nova works with your Mac: with the files in Finder, Apple Calendar, Apple Mail, Apple Notes, and the window that’s in front. You don’t have to upload anything for that.
No Nova cloud. Nova doesn’t store your day on a server of its own. When you use a cloud model, that provider’s rules apply. With a local model through Ollama, voice and text stay on the Mac, and Privacy Lock cuts off the cloud with one switch.
You choose the model. Nova works with a key you bring: OpenAI, Anthropic Claude, Google Gemini, Grok, or OpenRouter. Or with a local model that costs nothing. Nova doesn’t sell tokens.
Meetings and work apps. Nova records meetings and turns them into notes with to-dos. In Notion, Asana, Linear, Todoist, and ClickUp, Nova works with you after you confirm.
A card, then your yes. Moving an event, creating a reminder, drafting a mail reply: Nova proposes, you decide. You send an email or message yourself.

Side by side

	Muse	Nova
Where it runs	In Meta’s cloud, on its own Linux computer with a browser	On the Mac desktop, over the work you have open
How you use it	Chat in the Muse app or in WhatsApp	Voice or mini chat
Everyday tasks	Through connectors, for example mail and calendar, plus bookings in the browser	Events, reminders, mail and message drafts, timers, web research. Changes things after you confirm
Works in the background	Yes, even when the app is closed	As long as the Mac is running
Goals	“Goals” tab with a plan, “Ideas” tab, reaches out on its own	Daily and weekly goals, morning overview
Files on the Mac	Works with the files on its own cloud computer	Finds, summarizes, analyzes spreadsheets, renames, and tidies up, after you confirm
Work apps	Connectors from Meta and third parties, plus connectors it builds itself	Notion, Asana, Linear, Todoist, ClickUp, Slack, Jira, Trello, Airtable, Zapier, Make, n8n
Meetings	Not mentioned on the product page	Recording, notes, your own to-dos, search in past meetings
Shopping	Yes, with a one-time card number and approval before the purchase	No
Before anything changes	Approval for important steps such as sending an email or buying, adjustable	Always a card, then your yes
Screen	Muse clicks in its own browser, you can step in	The front window when you ask. Nova shows, you click
Models	Runs at Meta	Your key (OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, Grok, OpenRouter) or local
Your content	At Meta. According to Meta, conversations aren’t shared with its ad systems	No Nova cloud that stores your day. With your own key, the provider’s rules apply
Devices	Phone, Mac, WhatsApp	Mac with Apple silicon (M1 and later)
Price	Free with a usage limit, more with a subscription	Try 7 days, then from CHF 3.30 a month, CHF 23.90 a year, or CHF 39.90 once (launch price). AI costs at the provider, or free locally

Which one fits whom

Muse

Choose Muse if you want an agent to handle whole tasks for you, including shopping and booking, and to keep working on your goals around the clock. Also if you mostly hand things off from your phone or from WhatsApp.

Nova

Choose Nova if you work on the Mac and want help that works right there: with events and mail, files and notes, in meetings, and in the apps you already use. Also if your data should stay on your Mac, if you want to pick the model yourself, and if you want to see every change before it happens.

Using both

The two don’t rule each other out. Muse for what happens on the go and on the web: the booking, the price comparison, the reminder about the school form. Nova for everything that happens on the Mac: the event in Apple Calendar, the file in Finder, the meeting notes, and the task in Asana.

Frequently asked questions

Is Nova a Muse alternative for Mac?

For work on the Mac, yes: events and mail, files, notes, meetings, help on screen, and your work apps. For shopping, booking, and tasks that run around the clock, Muse goes further.

Does Nova keep working in the background like Muse?

Nova runs on your Mac. As long as it’s running, Nova speaks up before events and about unread mail, if you want. Nova has no computer of its own in the cloud that keeps working at night.

Does Nova shop for me?

No. Nova doesn’t shop and doesn’t click on websites by itself. But Nova can show you the way.

Where is my data?

With Nova, on your Mac. Nova has no cloud of its own that stores your day. With a cloud model, that provider’s rules apply. With Muse, the data is at Meta.

Does Nova work without the cloud?

Yes. With a local model through Ollama, voice and text stay on the Mac. Privacy Lock cuts off the cloud with one switch.

Is Nova available on the phone or in WhatsApp?

No. Nova runs only on Macs with Apple silicon, so M1 or later.

What does Nova cost compared with Muse?

At launch, Nova costs CHF 3.30 a month, CHF 23.90 a year, or CHF 39.90 once. On top of that come your AI provider’s costs, unless you use a local model. Muse is free with a usage limit, and there’s a subscription for more.

More comparisons

As of October 28, 2026. Muse changes quickly. Muse details per ai.meta.com/muse, introducing.muse.ai, and the Meta Help Center.