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Cua

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Scale computer fleets for computer-use agents

AI Agents
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Tracked since2026
0 reviews tracked

The Bottom Line

Entry price

Free plan available, paid tiers above

Biggest pro

Open-source and self-hostable, giving full control over infrastructure

Biggest con

Cloud service requires booking a call for access, not self-serve

TL;DR - Cua

  • Open-source infrastructure for computer-use AI agents, providing full desktop environments on Linux, Windows, macOS, and Android.
  • Includes Lume for local macOS VMs on Apple Silicon and Cua Cloud for scalable cloud sandboxes.
  • Backed by Y Combinator, with tools like Agent SDK, CLI, VLM Router, Playground, and Cua-Bench for benchmarking.
Pricing: Free plan available
Best for: Growing teams

What is Cua?

Editorial review
Cua provides open-source infrastructure for running AI agents that can see a screen, reason about it, and act. It gives agents full desktop environments on Linux, Windows, macOS, and Android, enabling them to interact with software just like a human would. The platform includes Lume for running native macOS VMs locally on Apple Silicon, and Cua Cloud for scalable cloud sandboxes across all supported operating systems. Built by a team that pioneered Windows Agent Arena at Microsoft, Cua is designed for developers and researchers building computer-use agents. It offers a self-hostable Agent SDK, a CLI, a VLM Router, a Playground, and Cua-Bench for benchmarking. The open-source components (Lume, Agent SDK, Cua-Bench) are MIT-licensed, while Cua Cloud provides managed desktop fleets for production use.
how we evaluateSourcetrycua.com ↗

Pros & Cons

Pros

  • Open-source and self-hostable, giving full control over infrastructure
  • Supports all major desktop operating systems plus Android
  • Built by researchers with deep expertise in computer-use agents (Windows Agent Arena)

Cons

  • Cloud service requires booking a call for access, not self-serve
  • Primarily designed for developers and researchers, not end-users

Key Features

Multi-OS desktop environments for agents (Linux, Windows, macOS, Android)Lume: open-source CLI for running native macOS VMs on Apple SiliconCua Cloud: managed cloud sandboxes for scaling agent fleetsAgent SDK for building and orchestrating computer-use agentsCua-Bench: benchmark suite for evaluating computer-use agents on desktop and mobile tasksVLM Router and Playground for vision-language model integrationCuaBot: multi-player computer-use for coding agentsSelf-hostable, MIT-licensed open-source components

Pricing Plans

Pricing checked Aug 21, 2026

Local

Free

  • Run GUI Docker
  • QEMU
  • Apple VZ sandboxes locally
  • Open-source Cua Sandbox framework on GitHub

Dedicated fleets

Contact us

  • Hosted
  • BYOC
  • On-prem infrastructure
  • More concurrency
Calculate your costView full pricing

Is Cua worth the price?

65/100

Cua's pricing is fair for its niche, with a generous free Local tier that lets developers test GUI Docker, QEMU, and Apple VZ sandboxes at no cost.

The Dedicated fleets tier is opaque with 'Contact us' pricing, which may hide high costs for hosted, BYOC, or on-prem setups, making it best for teams needing scalable, secure computer-use agent infrastructure.

Hidden Costs & Gotchas

No free trial for Dedicated fleets tier

Contact us pricing may require minimum commit

Potential overage fees for extra concurrency

On-prem setup likely incurs hardware costs

No per-seat or usage-based pricing disclosed

How Cua Compares to Competitors

Cua's free Local tier undercuts most proprietary agent frameworks, but its Dedicated fleets pricing is less transparent than competitors like Browserbase or Playwright, which offer clearer usage-based plans. For teams needing self-hosted control, Cua's on-prem option is competitive, though pricier than fully open-source alternatives.

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Cua FAQ

What operating systems does Cua support for agent desktops?

Cua provides full desktop environments on Linux, Windows, macOS, and Android, allowing agents to interact with any application on those platforms.

Can I run Cua locally without using the cloud?

Yes, Cua includes Lume, an open-source CLI for running native macOS VMs locally on Apple Silicon. The Agent SDK and other components are also self-hostable.

What is Lume and how does it relate to Cua?

Lume is an open-source CLI tool for running native macOS virtual machines on Apple Silicon. It was created by Cua's founder and is part of the Cua ecosystem, enabling local macOS desktop environments for agents.

Does Cua support Windows agents?

Yes, Cua supports Windows desktop environments for agents, including a Windows GA release. This was demonstrated in the Windows Agent Arena benchmark.

What is Cua-Bench?

Cua-Bench is a benchmark suite for evaluating computer-use agents on desktop and mobile tasks. It provides standardized metrics to compare agent performance across different operating systems.

Is Cua open source?

Key components like Lume, the Agent SDK, and Cua-Bench are open source under the MIT license. Cua Cloud is a managed service that requires access.

What is CuaBot?

CuaBot is a feature for multi-player computer-use, allowing multiple coding agents to collaborate on the same desktop environment. It was launched at ClawCon.

How does Cua handle multiple agents on the same desktop?

Cua supports multi-agent scenarios through features like CuaBot, which enables multiple agents to share a desktop environment and collaborate on tasks.

Source: trycua.com

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