# Novastart — Infinite-canvas OS where AI agents and teammates work in real apps, each with its own cursor. > Source: The Agents Index — https://theagentsindex.com/novastart (structured, researched, re-verified) > Facts last verified: 2026-10-08 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. | Fact | Value | | --- | --- | | Website | https://novastart.com | | Price | from $10/month | | Free tier | Yes | Free 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** · No — This 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. > — https://novastart.com/install/ · Page meta description and 'Install' hero, 'Two ways to run Novastart.' ## How much it does unattended **Runs autonomously** · Yes — Agent 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. > — https://novastart.com/ai-agents/ · 'Modes and questions' section, first Q&A **Multi-agent** · Yes — A 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 > — https://novastart.com/blog/one-agent-recruits-a-team/ · 'It recruits helpers.' section **Agent permissions** · Yes — Four 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. > — https://novastart.com/ai-agents/ · 'Four modes. Four straight answers.' mode list ## Which models it runs on **Claude** · No — The 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. > — https://novastart.com/ai-agents/ · 'Modes and questions' section, fourth Q&A **GPT** · Yes — Agents 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. > — https://novastart.com/ai-agents/ · 'Modes and questions' section, fourth Q&A **Open models** · No — The 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. > — https://novastart.com/security/ · 'AI Agents.' section of the security page **Model choice** · No — The 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 > — https://novastart.com/blog/one-agent-recruits-a-team/ · 'What it runs on.' section ## Where you use it **In your editor** · No — Novastart 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 > — https://novastart.com/install/ · Install hero, 'Two ways to run Novastart.' **In a browser** · No — The 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. > — https://novastart.com/try/ · Try it out page meta description ## Whose machine it runs on **Self-hosted** · Yes — Everything 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. > — https://novastart.com/security/ · 'Your data stays with you.' section **Open source** · Partly — The 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. > — https://novastart.com/blog/an-agent-you-can-watch/ · 'What it runs on.' section ## What it costs to run **How it meters** · Yes — Two 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. > — https://novastart.com/pricing/ · 'AI Agents.' explainer below the plan table **Free tier** · Yes — A 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 > — https://novastart.com/pricing/ · Plan comparison table, Canvas row, Free column **API access** · Partly — No 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. > — https://novastart.com/ai-agents/ · Closing paragraph under the modes section **Bring your own key** · Yes — Inference 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. > — https://novastart.com/ai-agents/ · 'Modes and questions', 'What does it run on?' answer ## Buying it for a team **A company can buy it** · Partly — A 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 > — https://novastart.com/pricing/ · Plan comparison table, Team Collaboration row **Admin controls** · Partly — Sharing 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. > — https://novastart.com/team-collaboration/ · 'Share and trust' Q&A, 'Is it safe?' answer **Audit log** · Partly — Every 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 > — https://novastart.com/security/ · 'AI Agents.' section of the security page ## What happens to your code **Opt out of training** · Partly — Canvas 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 > — https://novastart.com/security/ · 'AI Agents.' section of the security page **Data residency** · Partly — Work 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 > — https://novastart.com/privacy/ · 'Your choices and rights.', EEA/UK/Switzerland paragraph **Getting out** · Partly — A 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. > — https://novastart.com/blog/private-by-default/ · 'Handing over, not sharing.' section **Certifications** · Partly — The 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. > — https://novastart.com/security/ · 'Our approach.' section ## What changed - 2026-10-08 — Capabilities · Free tier · Price · Terms ## Corrections If you represent Novastart, or anything here is wrong or out of date, send a correction with a source. The operations this site accepts from an agent are listed at https://theagentsindex.com/.well-known/agents.json — that catalogue needs no key to read, and each entry states its own auth.