Novastart
VerifiedSummary
Novastart is an infinite canvas operating system, run as a windowed app on Windows or an Intel Mac or installed on a PC of its own. Apps, teammates and OpenAI computer-use agents share one canvas, each agent with its own cursor and window.
- From
- Freethen $10/month
- Free tier
- YesFree plan opens all apps but is limited to 1 folder, 2 canvases and 4 windows; AI agent use is billed separately at $0.02 per use from credits bought in amounts of $25 or more, and Team Collaboration is not included.
What it does
- Done-for-you service
- NoThis is software a buyer installs and runs themselves, as an app on an existing machine or as an OS on a PC; no build or run service is offered.
Two ways to run Novastart. The app runs it in a window on the computer you have. Novastart OS installs on a PC of its own for the full experience.
novastart.com/install
How much it does unattended
- Runs autonomously
- YesAgent mode acts until the job is done without a human in the loop, and the vendor explicitly answers that babysitting is not required.
Do I have to babysit it? No. Look in when you like, and it can ask you a question.
novastart.com/ai-agents - Multi-agent
- YesA lead agent splits a job and recruits up to ten helpers, each with its own window and cursor, reporting back into the lead's chat.
The lead recruits a helper for each task, from one to ten. Three is the default, and you set the cap
novastart.com/blog/one-agent-recruits-a… - Agent permissions
- YesFour modes set how far an agent may go, from answering off a screenshot to acting in apps, and a plain click takes any window back mid-run.
Agent Acts. Clicks and types in your apps until done.
novastart.com/ai-agents
Which models it runs on
- Claude
- NoThe vendor's own answer to what agents run on names OpenAI computer-use models only, with no Anthropic option offered on any plan.
What does it run on? OpenAI's computer-use models, with your own OpenAI API key.
novastart.com/ai-agents - GPT
- YesAgents run on OpenAI's computer-use models, driven by the buyer's own OpenAI API key rather than vendor-supplied inference.
What does it run on? OpenAI's computer-use models, with your own OpenAI API key.
novastart.com/ai-agents - Open models
- NoThe single stated model dependency is OpenAI's computer-use models; no open-weight or local model option is described anywhere on the site.
Agents run on OpenAI's computer-use models.
novastart.com/security - Model choice
- NoThe vendor fixes the model family to OpenAI computer-use models; the buyer supplies the key but is not offered a choice of provider.
Agents run on OpenAI's computer-use models. The seats, the cursors and the rule of one agent per window are Novastart's
novastart.com/blog/one-agent-recruits-a…
Where you use it
- In your editor
- NoNovastart is itself a desktop environment; the only two ways to run it are a windowed app or an OS install, not an editor extension.
Two ways to run Novastart. The app runs it in a window on the computer you have. Novastart OS installs on a PC of its own
novastart.com/install - In a browser
- NoThe product ships as a local app or an OS install; the in-browser page is a simulation of the canvas, not a hosted workspace.
A working Novastart in your browser. Open Chrome windows on the infinite canvas, search the web, zoom and drag, and see where AI agents and Team live.
novastart.com/try
Whose machine it runs on
- Self-hosted
- YesEverything runs on the buyer's own machine by design, with canvases never copied to a vendor server and sharing streaming peer to peer.
There is no copy of your canvases on a Novastart server, so there is nothing of yours on our side to lose.
novastart.com/security - Open source
- PartlyThe agent-building SDK is stated to be open in three languages, but the OS and app themselves are distributed as binaries with no source offer.
If you want to build your own, the Open Virtual Input SDK is open and comes in Python, JavaScript and Rust.
novastart.com/blog/an-agent-you-can-wat…
What it costs to run
- How it meters
- YesTwo meters at once: a flat per-month plan price, plus agent usage billed at two cents per use from prepaid credit blocks.
Agents are available on every plan and paid per use. Each use costs $0.02, drawn from credits you buy in amounts of $25 or more.
novastart.com/pricing - Free tier
- YesA standing Free plan opens every app with no call, limited to one folder, two canvases and four windows per canvas.
Limited to 1 folder, 2 canvases, 4 windows
novastart.com/pricing - API access
- PartlyNo product REST API is documented; the published programmatic route is an SDK for building your own agent that gets a cursor on the canvas.
Build your own agent with the Open Virtual Input SDK, in Python, JavaScript or Rust.
novastart.com/ai-agents - Bring your own key
- YesInference is the buyer's own: agents run on the customer's OpenAI API key, so model spend sits outside the plan price.
OpenAI's computer-use models, with your own OpenAI API key.
novastart.com/ai-agents
Buying it for a team
- A company can buy it
- PartlyA Team plan at twenty dollars a month exists for shared canvases, but no organisation purchasing, invoicing or enterprise tier is published.
Team Collaboration | No | No | Included
novastart.com/pricing - Admin controls
- PartlySharing has two roles and only editors can write, and a user caps helper counts per run, but no administrator policy over what agents may do is published.
Only members can listen, only editors can write. Streams go machine to machine.
novastart.com/team-collaboration - Audit log
- PartlyEvery agent run is logged locally with steps, clicks and screenshots, but this is an on-device run log, not an administrative audit trail for an organisation.
every run is logged on your machine, with its steps, clicks and screenshots, so you can audit what an agent did
novastart.com/security
What happens to your code
- Opt out of training
- PartlyCanvas contents stay local and only the screenshots and instructions a job needs reach OpenAI, but no training opt-out control or no-training commitment is published.
the screenshots and instructions for that job go to the model provider; nothing else on your canvas is sent
novastart.com/security - Data residency
- PartlyWork sits on the buyer's own machine, while the account and website data the vendor holds is processed in the United States with no region choice offered.
Your information may be processed in the United States, which has different privacy laws from your country
novastart.com/privacy - Getting out
- PartlyA whole workspace exports as a single .novastart file and data copies can be requested, but nothing states whether unused agent credits expire.
Save a whole workspace as one `.novastart` file and pass that on.
novastart.com/blog/private-by-default - Certifications
- PartlyThe vendor explicitly declines to claim any certification or completed audit, while describing GDPR, UK and California rights handling in its privacy policy.
We do not claim a certification or an audit we have not completed; what follows is what we do today.
novastart.com/security
Checked · How we check
Sources and updates
Sources on novastart.com10
Updates1
- Capabilities · Free tier · Price · Terms