Meta Muse AI vs ChatGPT, Claude and Grok: What Makes Meta’s New App Different?

Meta's Muse AI agent briefly overtook ChatGPT to become the top free iOS app in the US on Friday, September 18, 2026, and had crossed 2.5 million total downloads by Monday, September 21 — roughly 1.5 million from Apple's App Store and 1.1 million from Google Play — according to Sensor Tower. Muse, which launched September 8 and runs on Meta's Muse Spark family of models, drew about 400,000 Claude downloads and 200,000 Grok downloads in their respective first 13 days, while ChatGPT remained ahead with about 3.1 million downloads over the same period. Amazon has blocked Muse from its shopping platform citing privacy and security concerns, while Shopify announced a Meta partnership allowing Muse users to complete agentic checkout purchases on participating stores.

Meta’s Muse is making a quick impression among iPhone users in the US, despite being available for only around two weeks. The company’s new AI https://in.mashable.com/tech/113548/nyc-mayor-mamdani-bans-ai-for-students-up-to-class-8-why-is-he-limiting-gen-ai-in-schools agent has climbed high enough on Apple https://in.mashable.com/tech/113924/apple-one-discontinued-in-india-what-changes-for-icloud-apple-tv-and-arcade-users ’s free-app rankings to sit above several well-known AI and consumer apps. Its position also puts it ahead of ChatGPT https://in.mashable.com/tech/113778/create-chatgpt-80s-photo-instagram-trend-heres-how-to-add-disco-era-magic-to-your-selfies , Claude https://in.mashable.com/tech/112247/claude-opus-5-makes-ai-more-affordable-anthropic-says-it-can-match-fable-5 and Grok https://in.mashable.com/tech/112672/grok-imagine-image-20-gets-major-ai-image-editing-upgrade-challenges-gpt-image-2 , while even Meta’s existing Meta AI https://in.mashable.com/tech/113781/what-is-meta-muse-ai-agent-know-features-india-roll-out-of-the-new-personal-ai-assistant app currently ranks below Muse. Meta Muse AI Is Already Beating ChatGPT on iPhone Meta’s Muse AI agent is seeing a rapid rise in downloads shortly after its September 8 launch. According to Sensor Tower , the app briefly moved ahead of ChatGPT https://in.mashable.com/tech/113670/sam-altman-apologises-for-chatgpt-6-astra-launch-chaos-offers-usage-resets-to-users to become the top free iOS https://in.mashable.com/tech/112978/apple-releases-ios-2661-ahead-of-ios-27-what-iphone-users-need-to-know app in the US on Friday. Muse had crossed 2.5 million total downloads by Monday, including roughly 1.5 million from Apple’s App Store and another 1.1 million from Google Play https://in.mashable.com/tech/102720/google-play-best-of-2025-zomatos-district-and-cookierun-topped-the-charts-in-india . @Muse https://x.com/Muse?ref src=twsrc%5Etfw for Mac, rolling out today. 👇 https://t.co/ItWhtxOvJn https://t.co/ItWhtxOvJn September 17, 2026 https://x.com/AIatMeta/status/2100714755568644409?ref src=twsrc%5Etfw Muse Is Growing Faster Than Claude and Grok Muse’s early download numbers also put it ahead of Anthropic https://in.mashable.com/tech/113560/anthropic-announces-claude-fable-51-and-mythos-5-heres-what-they-offer ’s Claude and xAI’s Grok over comparable periods following their launches. Sensor Tower recorded around 400,000 Claude downloads and 200,000 Grok downloads during their respective first 13 days, while Muse had already passed both. ChatGPT, however, remained ahead with about 3.1 million downloads over the same period. Sensor Tower cautioned that differences in the timing of iOS and Android https://in.mashable.com/tech/113926/android-users-on-alert-cert-in-flags-critical-vulnerabilities-affecting-millions-of-phones releases make direct comparisons less straightforward. Meta Wants Muse to Bring AI Agents to Everyone Unlike conventional chatbots, Meta is positioning Muse as an AI agent that can handle tasks on a user’s behalf across the web, including filling forms and managing email. The app runs on Meta’s Muse Spark family of AI models and represents the company’s push to take agentic AI beyond developers and tech enthusiasts. Muse is free to use, while Meta also offers paid plans costing $20 and $100 per month based on usage, creating a potential revenue stream beyond its advertising business. Amazon Blocks Muse as Shopify Embraces AI Shopping Muse’s rapid growth is also raising questions about how AI agents interact with other websites and handle user data. Amazon https://in.mashable.com/tech/114006/amazon-alexa-is-free-in-india-5-things-you-need-to-know-about-the-new-ai-assistant has blocked Muse from accessing its shopping platform, citing privacy and security concerns and alleging that the agent bypasses parts of its shopping experience and may capture customer credentials and account data. Shopify https://in.mashable.com/tech/92378/prove-ai-cant-do-the-job-before-expanding-team-shopify-ceos-memo-on-hiring-divides-the-internet , meanwhile, has taken a different approach and announced a partnership with Meta that will allow Muse users to complete purchases through agentic checkout on participating stores. ALSO SEE: