Can ChatGPT do tasks on websites for me?

ChatGPT's agent mode can click through some websites, but reviewers found it works best when you watch it, and it stops at logins, bot checks and payments. An assistant with its own computer can keep going after you put your phone down, and asks you only when it needs you.

What kinds of jobs can I hand over?

Things you'd give a capable helper: getting quotes, comparing prices, filling in forms, dealing with support pages, opening accounts, booking, and chasing people for replies over days.

Yes. The free trial needs no card and covers up to $250 of use or 14 days, whichever comes first. After that, plans start at $99 a month.

How to get an AI to actually do a task for you

Ask most AI chat apps to get something done and you get a list of steps to do yourself. This guide explains why, and how to hand the whole job over instead.

Start free Free to try, no card. Ready in about a minute.

Why most AI assistants struggle with this

Chat assistants were built to read and explain. Doing a job on the web is different: you have to click through cookie banners, pop-ups, menus that only open after a tap, and pages that load in pieces. Reviewers who tried the well-known agents found they trip on exactly these things. One review of ChatGPT agent found it fine for supervised research but not for errands left alone: bot checks, login walls and payment steps could derail it, and simple jobs took minutes of trial and error.

Long jobs make it worse. Each step can go a little wrong, and the small slips add up. In the Hacker News discussion of ChatGPT agent's launch, people pointed out that checking the agent's work can take as long as doing the job. A 30-day review of Perplexity's Comet browser called its results wildly inconsistent: good on some sites, stuck in loops on others.

There is a quieter problem too. Most of these tools only work while you sit and watch. Close the tab or put the phone down and the job stops. So the honest answer to "can AI just do this for me?" has usually been: partly, if you babysit it.

What you need

A phone that can text, or an email address. That's it. You don't need to install anything or learn a new app.

It helps to have the details of the job handy before you start: account numbers, dates, names, your budget, and anything you'd tell a person you were handing the job to.

Step by step

Sign up with your email and mobile number
Go to the sign-up page and type in your email address and mobile number. In about a minute your assistant is ready, with its own name and its own email address.
The next screen has one button to start texting it. If you'd rather not text, you can simply email its address.
Describe the job the way you'd brief a person
Please find me three quotes for gutter cleaning in Fairfield, CT for a two-storey house. I'd like it done before the end of the month and I don't want to pay more than $300.
Say what you want done, what a good result looks like and anything that's off the table. Plain words are fine. The more you tell it up front, the fewer questions it has to come back with.
Let it work on its own computer
Your assistant has its own computer and web browser in the cloud. It opens the websites, fills in the contact forms and compares what comes back, the way a person at a desk would.
You can put your phone down. The work carries on, and it texts or emails you when it has something to show or a question.
Answer its questions when they come
Yes, the second one is fine. Weekday mornings only, please.
Sometimes it will need a choice from you, or a code a website sent to your phone. Reply in the same thread like you'd reply to a person.
Say yes before it spends anything
It asks you before it spends money. You get the price and what you're buying, and it waits for your yes.
Check the result
When it reports back, read it over, the same way you'd glance at work from a new helper. If something's off, say so and it will fix it.

Tips from doing this a lot

Give one clear goal per message. "Get three quotes" works better than a long list of loosely related asks.
Say your limits out loud: a budget, a deadline, places or companies to avoid.
Tell it how you'd like to hear back, for example "just text me the best option" or "email me all three with prices".
If a job keeps coming back, say so once ("do this every month") instead of asking again each time.

What it can't do yet

Some websites block automated browsers, or send a code to your phone before they let anyone in. When that happens, it will ask you to pass the code on or sign in once yourself. A few sites won't work at all.

Like any AI it can make mistakes. It asks before spending your money, but check anything important it sends in your name. After the free trial, plans start at $99 a month, which is more than a chat app, because it runs its own computer and does long jobs.

Hand over a job you've been putting off