Best Dot Alternative in 2026
The companion is gone. The habit can stay.
Dot users lost more than an app: they lost a daily habit and a memory of past conversations. The shutdown taught the real lesson, which is to rebuild on ground nobody can pull away. People searching for a Dot alternative want the companionship back plus a guarantee it cannot vanish again, which is exactly what source-available gives.
Why people look for Dot alternatives
- −Dot shut down in October 2025, so the app no longer works at all
- −Closed product meant users got no vote and no export path
- −Companion-only: it chatted but never touched email or tasks
- −iPhone-only with no web, desktop, or messaging presence
- −All memory lived on their servers and left with them
How well does GAIA replace Dot?
Honest fit score based on feature overlap
4/5
What GAIA replaces from Dot
- ✔Daily check-in chats you had with Dot
- ✔Remembering context across conversations
- ✔Keeping track of what you mentioned in passing
- ✔The companion habit Dot built
GAIA vs Dot: Feature Comparison
| Feature | GAIA | Dot |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Switch to an assistant that is actively developed and source-available | Closed iOS companion app, shut down October 2025 |
| Memory | Memory that drives drafts, schedules, and tasks across every connected tool | Remembered past chats, could only talk about them |
| What it does | Emails drafted, events scheduled, tasks managed, and workflows run daily | Conversation only, no tool connections |
| Platforms | Web, desktop, and mobile plus WhatsApp and Telegram for the same chat habit | iPhone only |
| Data control | Docker self-hosting keeps your data yours, shutdown-proof by design | One company's servers, gone when they decided |
| Setup | Sign up, connect Gmail and Calendar, and delegate in minutes | Nothing, it no longer works |
Where GAIA goes further
- +Living, actively developed product with a public roadmap
- +Memory that spans conversations and all connected tools
- +Acts on memory: drafts, schedules, and manages tasks
- +Source-available and self-hostable, shutdown-proof by design
- +Deep integrations across your tools
How to migrate from Dot to GAIA
- 1Write down what you used Dot for most: chats, memory, routine
- 2Sign up for GAIA and tell it about yourself in one message
- 3Connect Gmail and Calendar so memory has tools to work with
- 4Rebuild your daily Dot check-in as a GAIA briefing
Frequently Asked Questions
More Alternatives to Consider
Guides in the Docs
Want a side-by-side feature comparison? See GAIA vs Dot →
