ChatGPT works on what you ask. The Machine reads every message, within about an hour.
ChatGPT with connectors works on what you ask it, or on what a scheduled task searches for. The Machine reads every new message in every account you connect, one by one, within about an hour, with nothing to set up or ask. When one needs you, it becomes a card, ready to approve. Connected sources have collection limits and noise filters; large backlogs take more than one pass. Private by design.
Coverage depends on the sources you connect, their collection limits and your noise filters. Collected signals stay queued for review; large backlogs can take more than one review.
Your ChatGPT setup: works on it when you ask, or when a scheduled task searches for it.
The Machine: reads it within about an hour, notes the deadline, and reminds you the morning it’s due.
Your ChatGPT setup: tracks it when you ask, or when a task you set looks for promises.
The Machine: keeps it by default, with things others promised you, and brings it back on Friday.
Your ChatGPT setup: a scheduled task can sum up what it finds.
The Machine: one card, the reply drafted in your voice. It learns what you dismiss.
Both work from your messages. ChatGPT starts from a request or a schedule; The Machine starts from each new message.
Built your own? You’ll recognize it. A scheduled routine and a few notes can get close. Here the reading is code, not a prompt: every new message is pulled and checkpointed, and stays queued until a review has judged it. Finished and kept up, also for people who’ll never wire up a connector.
Why pay on top of your ChatGPT plan? The €25 a month, excl. VAT, pays for your own always-on server, a reader that goes through every new message within about an hour, and your dashboard and cards. Not for more AI. Sign in with ChatGPT and The Machine runs on your plan, so there’s no second model bill. Its reviews count toward your plan’s usage. Or run it yourself, free.
Looking at OpenAI’s own agent instead? See The Machine vs Dots.
Based on their public information as of 22 October 2026: Scheduled tasks, Connected apps, Memory, ChatGPT Plus, ChatGPT Pro plans. Something changed? Tell us.
And beyond reading everything
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A card as it reaches your phone, ready for your yes. Made-up data, nothing is sent.
Hosted: €25 a month, excl. VAT. 7 days free, cancel any time. Free: try the demo or run it yourself.
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The MachineDemo · nothing is sentAlex asked about the annual plan on Tuesday and hasn’t had a reply. Their trial ends Friday. I can draft a short answer with the numbers.