Dust vs Runbear
We give Dust a 3.0 GPA and Runbear a 3.2, out of 4.0. Runbear grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on value for money, features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Dust
Platform for building AI agents on your company's knowledge
Runbear
Shared AI agents for teams, deployed in Slack and Microsoft Teams
How we grade them
| 3.0GPADustVery good | 3.2GPARunbearVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | BPro is $24 a seat each month billed yearly, or $30 monthly, with 8,000 credits per seat. That's about typical here, and no model is locked to a dearer plan. Max is $120 a seat for heavy users. Credits don't roll over, and prices exclude VAT. | BTeam is $99 a month for 20,000 credits and 5 builders, with 20% off for paying yearly. That's well above what a solo agent costs, but it isn't per seat, so the whole team shares one plan. Spread over five or more people it's about typical. For two, it's dear. |
| Free plan and trial | CThere's a Free seat, but it's 500 credits for the life of the seat, with no monthly refill. Use them up and you're asked to upgrade. So it's a trial without a clock, not a plan you could stay on. | BNew organizations start on a Free plan for Slack and Microsoft Teams. But the credit allowance isn't published, and agents pause when it runs out, so we can't tell you how far it goes. Some organizations are offered a 14-day Team trial too. |
| Features | AAgents that answer from your company's Slack, Notion, Google Drive, GitHub, Salesforce and Zendesk, each on the model you choose. They run on schedules and triggers, permissions are split by team, and Frames turn answers into shared dashboards. The self-serve plan stops at 3 data connectors. | AAgents answer mentions and direct messages, grounded in documents synced from Notion, Confluence, Google Drive and SharePoint. They act through MCP servers covering 2,000+ tools, with approvals if you want them, and run on a schedule, a webhook or an app event. An Inbox Agent drafts replies for you to review. |
| Ease of use | BPeople mention an agent in Slack or open the Chrome sidebar, which is about as easy as asking a colleague. Someone still has to connect the data and build the agents first. There's no rating on record to go by, so a B. | BFor the team it's as easy as an @mention in a chat they already use. Building an agent is done in a web dashboard: instructions, knowledge sources and tools. There's no rating on record to go by, so a B. |
| Platforms and integrations | BA web app, Slack and a Chrome extension. It works with Zapier, Make, n8n and Power Automate, and there's a developer API. The listing has no phone or desktop app. | BIt runs inside Slack, Microsoft Teams and Discord, with HubSpot and Zendesk on Business, and is set up in a web dashboard. There's no desktop or phone app of its own. A REST API and a chat widget put agents in your own product. |
| Best for | company agents that know your own docs and chats | shared agents inside Slack or Microsoft Teams |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Dust and Runbear. How we grade
Where they differ
- Dust starts at $24 per seat / month, billed yearly (Pro). Runbear starts at $99 per month, billed monthly (Team; 20% less billed yearly).
- Runbear has a free plan. Dust does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only Dust lists a browser extension.
- Dust also covers AI search.
- Runbear also covers no-code.
At a glance
| Dust | Runbear | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $24 per seat / month, billed yearly (Pro) | $99 per month, billed monthly (Team; 20% less billed yearly) |
| Free plan | None | New organizations start on a Free plan for Slack and Microsoft Teams with a limited credit allowance, the size of which is not published. Agents pause when it runs out. |
| Free trial | Free seat with a one-time 500 credits for the lifetime of the seat and no time limit | 14-day Team trial, when offered, for organizations that have never had a paid plan |
| Web | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | Dust | Runbear, Inc. |
| Price read from | dust.tt | runbear.io |
| Checked | Oct 5, 2026 | Oct 9, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Dust
- Companies that want agents grounded in internal knowledge
- Teams that mix light and heavy users on different seat types
- Organizations that need US or EU data residency
Runbear
- Teams that want shared agents inside Slack or Microsoft Teams
- Support, sales and HR questions answered from company documents
- Companies that prefer usage-based pricing to per-seat fees
Worth knowing
Dust
- The Free seat is a one-time allowance of 500 credits, not a monthly quota; once it is used, free users are prompted to request an upgrade.
- The self-serve Business plan covers teams of up to 100 and is limited to 3 data source connectors, 5 remote MCP servers and 5 spaces.
- SCIM provisioning, audit logs, custom data retention and single-tenant deployment require Enterprise.
- Monthly credits reset each billing period without rolling over, and listed prices exclude VAT.
Runbear
- Runbear runs inside Slack, Teams and Discord and is set up in a web dashboard; it has no desktop or mobile app of its own.
- Plan credits reset each billing cycle and do not roll over. Paid plans can allow overage, billed per credit.
- HubSpot and Zendesk channels, bring-your-own key and SAML SSO need Business; SCIM and a HIPAA BAA need Enterprise.
- Team includes 5 builders and Business 10. The Free plan's credit allowance is not published.
Key features
Dust
- Agents with company context
- Agents draw on connected company data from sources such as Slack, Notion, Google Drive, GitHub, Salesforce and Zendesk to answer questions and take action.
- Model choice per agent
- All plans include 20+ models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Mistral and DeepSeek. The model is chosen per agent, and none is locked to a higher plan.
- Schedules and triggers
- Multi-agent workflows can run on a schedule or in response to events. Dust also lists Zapier, Make, n8n and Power Automate as supported automation platforms.
- Spaces and permissions
- Spaces segment data by team, and a two-layer permission model separates what agents can access from who can use them. The Business plan includes 5 spaces.
- Frames
- Frames turn agent output into interactive dashboards, reports and memos that a team can explore and work on together.
- Slack and Chrome extension
- Agents can be mentioned in any Slack channel or messaged directly, and a Chrome extension opens them in a sidebar on any web page.
Runbear
- Named agents in team chat
- Agents such as @Support or @HR answer mentions and direct messages in Slack, Microsoft Teams and Discord. They are shared by the team, with per-user authentication.
- Knowledge sources
- An agent's answers can be grounded in documents synced from Notion, Confluence, Google Drive, Slack, SharePoint and public websites, or in files uploaded directly.
- Tools over MCP
- Agents act and read live data through managed MCP servers covering 2,000+ tools, or through your own MCP server. Tool approvals can require review before an agent uses a tool.
- Triggers
- A configured agent can run without anyone asking: on a schedule, from a webhook, or when an event happens in a connected app such as a new support conversation.
- Inbox Agent
- A personal assistant for each member that watches Slack mentions, Gmail and Google Calendar and prepares draft replies and meeting briefs. It never sends on its own.
- Model choice, API and Web SDK
- Pick Claude, GPT or Gemini per agent, with your own provider key on Business and Enterprise. A REST API and an embeddable chat widget put agents in your own product.
Plans
Dust
Free$0
A Business-plan seat with 500 credits for its lifetime and no monthly refill, meant for occasional users or people trying Dust.
Pro$24
per seat / month, billed yearly; $30 billed monthly
8,000 credits per seat each month on the Business plan, which covers teams of up to 100, with SSO available on request from 5 seats.
Max$120
per seat / month, billed yearly; $150 billed monthly
40,000 credits per seat each month, for people who regularly run complex automations, deep research or tool-heavy workflows.
EnterpriseCustom
Unlimited connectors and MCP servers, workspace-pooled credits, SCIM, audit logs, custom data retention, single-tenant deployment and an SLA.
Runbear
Free$0
Not shown on the pricing page. The docs say new organizations start here, with included credits and Slack and Microsoft Teams channels.
Team$99
per month, billed monthly; yearly billing is 20% less
20,000 credits a month, 5 builders, Slack, Discord and Microsoft Teams, MCP actions and tool integrations, and personal agents.
Business$399
per month, billed monthly; yearly billing is 20% less
100,000 credits a month, 10 builders, HubSpot and Zendesk channels, bring-your-own LLM key, an audit log and SAML SSO.
EnterpriseCustom
Custom credits and builders, priority support SLAs, SCIM provisioning, a signed DPA and a HIPAA BAA on request for eligible customers.
Ways to pay less
Dust
- Annual discount
Save 20% with yearly billing
Dust's pricing page shows a 20% saving on yearly billing: Pro is $24 per seat a month instead of $30, and Max is $120 instead of $150.
Runbear
- Annual discount
20% off with yearly billing
The pricing page marks yearly billing as 20% less than the monthly prices of $99 for Team and $399 for Business.
