Melaya vs Dust
Dust builds compliance-grade AI assistants over your company knowledge; Melaya builds approval-gated agents that act, including on real Android apps, with any cloud or local model.
Dust remains stronger for compliance-certified, org-wide assistants over deeply synced company knowledge. Melaya's edge is agents that act rather than only answer: a real Android phone, your own browser, and a Marketing cockpit, across six connected products with model freedom Dust's cloud-only inference does not offer. Some teams reasonably run both, Dust for internal knowledge, Melaya for gated real-world actions.
Melaya vs Dust, feature by feature
| Capability | Melaya | Dust |
|---|---|---|
| Platform shape | Six connected products: Agents, Assistant, Device Control, Browser Control, MCP Server, Marketing | Instruction-based agents over a continuously synced company knowledge layer, reachable in chat, Slack, API, and MCP |
| Mobile app control | Device Control operates real Android apps through accessibility, no root, on-device approval gate | None. Agents work in the browser, in Slack, and via API and MCP; no mobile device automation as of 2026 |
| Model freedom | 49 providers, BYOK with no tier gate on the free Sandbox, plus local models via Ollama or LM Studio | Choice of leading cloud models (Claude, GPT, Gemini, Mistral); inference runs in Dust's hosted cloud only |
| Company knowledge search | RAG and memory attached per agent, not a company-wide, permissions-synced index | 100+ continuously synced connectors (Slack, Notion, Google Drive, Confluence, Microsoft 365, Salesforce, Zendesk) feeding a maintained knowledge layer, genuinely stronger for internal search |
| Where it runs | Melaya's cloud, or fully local through the runner on your own hardware | Hosted SaaS with EU data residency; the core platform is MIT open source, but the managed product is cloud-only |
| Security and compliance | Approval gates and local execution reduce data exposure; no SOC 2 or HIPAA certification yet | SOC 2 Type II, GDPR with EU data residency, HIPAA-ready options, SSO, SCIM, and audit logs |
| Assistant and browser reach | A general chat Assistant plus Browser Control that drives Chrome, Edge, or Brave on your own machine | Agents work in the browser only through API and MCP integrations, not by directly operating a browser tab you attach |
Where Melaya wins
- Device Control on Android and Browser Control on your own machine reach apps and portals with no API, which Dust's browser-and-Slack-and-MCP model does not cover.
- Six connected products, a Marketing cockpit included, versus one knowledge-assistant platform.
- BYOK with no tier gate and fully local execution through the runner, where Dust's hosted product runs all inference in its own cloud.
- Human-in-the-loop by design across every product, on the canvas and on the device.
Where Dust wins
- You need a compliance-certified, org-wide knowledge assistant: Dust's 100+ continuously synced connectors and SOC 2, GDPR, and HIPAA-ready posture are ahead of Melaya today.
- Your priority is putting an assistant in front of every employee with seat-based rollout, not building agents that take actions.
Melaya vs Dust: frequently asked questions
Is Melaya a good Dust alternative?
If you need agents that act, not just answer, including on a real Android phone or your own browser, yes. If you need a compliance-certified, org-wide knowledge assistant, Dust is ahead today.
Does Dust operate a mobile device or a browser tab directly?
No mobile device automation as of 2026. Dust's agents work in the browser, Slack, API, and MCP, not by directly operating a browser tab you attach the way Melaya's Browser Control does.
How does Melaya's company knowledge search compare to Dust's?
Dust's 100+ continuously synced connectors feeding a maintained, permissions-aware knowledge layer are genuinely stronger for org-wide internal search. Melaya attaches RAG and memory per agent rather than a company-wide synced index.
Does Dust support local or self-hosted inference?
No. Dust is a hosted SaaS platform; the core is MIT open source, but the managed product runs all inference in Dust's own cloud. Melaya runs fully local through the runner.
When should I pick Dust instead of Melaya?
When you need a compliance-certified, org-wide assistant over deeply synced company knowledge, with SOC 2, GDPR, and HIPAA-ready posture, and your priority is putting an assistant in front of every employee rather than building agents that take actions.
See it for yourself
Build an agent in the free tier and compare the experience yourself. No card, no waitlist.
