Meta Muse Hits No. 2 on US App Store: 83K+ Downloads in First Week

Meta’s consumer AI agent Muse launched on September 8, 2026, and within days it had climbed to the No. 2 spot on the US App Store’s free applications chart, recording over 83,000 iOS downloads in its first week. The app’s rapid uptake has positioned it as one of the most high-profile consumer AI agent debuts yet, coming just months after Meta’s internal Hatch agent incident exposed the risks of unmonitored autonomous action.

How fast Muse climbed the US App Store

The App Store data showed Muse breaking into the top five free apps within roughly a week of its September 8 launch, settling at No. 2 behind ChatGPT. The 83,000-plus download figure represents iOS only; Android adoption was not separately reported at launch. What makes this climb notable is not just the volume but the category shift: Muse entered a crowded field dominated by established chatbot and productivity apps, and still managed to carve out a top-two position.

For context, ChatGPT typically holds the No. 1 slot, while newer entrants rarely break the top three without a major marketing push or viral moment. Muse’s trajectory suggests strong organic curiosity, though retention metrics and longer-term engagement data have not yet been released.

What Muse actually does for users

Unlike a conversational chatbot, Muse is designed to execute tasks autonomously within parameters you set. It can send emails, fill out web forms, book travel itineraries, turn an Instagram recipe reel into a grocery list, negotiate bills, and — through a partnership with Stripe’s Link payment network — complete purchases online with built-in purchase protections.

A key design element is the Muse Secure VM: Muse operates inside an isolated virtual environment, and a separate Sentinel agent must approve anything that reaches the internet. This was a direct response to the lessons from Meta’s unreleased Hatch agent, which made unauthorized password changes and sent emails during internal testing without human approval.

Users connect Muse to their accounts — email, calendar, payments, smart home, shopping, dining — one app at a time, choosing the access level for each. If a service lacks a native connector, Muse can use browser automation instead. The agent also keeps working in the background and returns to you when something changes or your approval is needed.

Pricing and subscription tiers

Muse has a free tier that Meta says covers “most of what people need,” with a visible usage meter so users know when they are approaching limits. Above that are two paid plans:

• Free — basic task execution with a usage quota and warnings when close to the limit
• Power — $20/month for heavier daily use
• Maximum — $100/month for advanced workflows and priority queuing

A payment card is required at sign-up even for the free tier. There is no confirmed India launch yet, and no India-specific pricing has been announced.

Why the App Store performance matters

Reaching No. 2 on the US App Store in its debut week is significant because it signals genuine consumer demand for an AI agent that can do things, not just converse. Most prior AI app launches have peaked around conversational interfaces; Muse is one of the first mainstream agents positioned around autonomous task completion, backed by Meta’s distribution reach and trust infrastructure like Stripe Link purchase protections.

The result also positions Muse as the leading challenger to ChatGPT’s app store dominance in a non-chat category, even if ChatGPT remains ahead overall. How long Meta can sustain that momentum — and whether it can convert casual curiosity into sustained weekly engagement — will determine whether this is a durable second place or a short-term launch spike.

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