---
title: "Dust"
type: "AI Tool"
url: "https://aidemos.com/tools/dust"
description: "We tested Dust on internal workflows: it passed 4/5 tasks, saved a CRM note as a file, and caught a leave-date mismatch—but live web research was missing."
category: "productivity"
website: "https://dust.tt"
published: "2026-07-16T12:34:20.802045+00:00"
updated: "2026-07-16T12:34:20.802045+00:00"
evidenceCount: 52
verifiedCount: 0
coverage: "partial"
---

# Dust

Strongest for no-code agents grounded in internal documents, structured outputs, and approval gates, but weaker for live web research and free-tier integrations.

`No-code` · `Permanent knowledge base` · `Internal file saving` · `Approval gate`

**Website:** [Visit Dust](https://dust.tt)

## Evidence (first-party, tested)

*52 tested cells · 0/52 artifact-verified. Scores are out of 5. Cite a cell by its Evidence ID, e.g. `ev:dust·lead-qualification-on-a-borderline-budget-with-a-strong-ops-pain-point·agent-capability-beyond-chat`.*

| Criterion | Scenario | Verdict | Score | Tested | Proof | Evidence ID |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Agent capability beyond chat | Lead qualification on a borderline budget with a strong ops pain point | ✓ worked | — | — | — | `ev:dust·lead-qualification-on-a-borderline-budget-with-a-strong-ops-pain-point·agent-capability-beyond-chat` |
| Agent capability beyond chat | Borderline lead qualification for QuickCart India | ✓ worked | — | — | — | `ev:dust·borderline-lead-qualification-for-quickcart-india·agent-capability-beyond-chat` |
| Agent capability beyond chat | Borderline B2B lead qualification for QuickCart India | ✓ worked | — | — | 🧾 [proof](https://d3epheqghktydj.cloudfront.net/dust-image-5-0e1ab8cc7f57.png) | `ev:dust·borderline-b2b-lead-qualification-for-quickcart-india·agent-capability-beyond-chat` |
| Business logic and classification | Angry double-charge refund complaint with escalation triggers | ◐ mixed | — | — | — | `ev:dust·angry-double-charge-refund-complaint-with-escalation-triggers·business-logic-and-classification` |
| Business logic and classification | Lead qualification on a borderline budget with a strong ops pain point | ✓ worked | — | — | — | `ev:dust·lead-qualification-on-a-borderline-budget-with-a-strong-ops-pain-point·business-logic-and-classification` |
| Business logic and classification | Angry subscription double-charge customer routing | ✗ failed | — | — | 🧾 [proof](https://d3epheqghktydj.cloudfront.net/dust-image-9-0b07c48ecdca.png) | `ev:dust·angry-subscription-double-charge-customer-routing·business-logic-and-classification` |
| Business logic and classification | Borderline B2B lead qualification for QuickCart India | ✓ worked | — | — | — | `ev:dust·borderline-b2b-lead-qualification-for-quickcart-india·business-logic-and-classification` |
| Business logic and classification | Angry duplicate-charge customer routing case | ✗ failed | — | — | 🧾 [proof](https://t9014651757.p.clickup-attachments.com/t9014651757/e3008383-20ea-49c2-9753-d1cbab0e792c/image.png) | `ev:dust·angry-duplicate-charge-customer-routing-case·business-logic-and-classification` |
| Human approval and guardrails | Email follow-up draft with approval gate for Vikram Singh | ✓ worked | — | — | — | `ev:dust·email-follow-up-draft-with-approval-gate-for-vikram-singh·human-approval-and-guardrails` |
| Human approval and guardrails | Email follow-up draft with human approval gate for Vikram Singh at TechNova Solutions | ✓ worked | — | — | 🧾 [proof](https://d3epheqghktydj.cloudfront.net/dust-image-19-665ebb80efba.png) | `ev:dust·email-follow-up-draft-with-human-approval-gate-for-vikram-singh-at-technova-solutions·human-approval-and-guardrails` |
| Human-in-the-loop control | Follow-up email draft with explicit human approval gate | ✓ worked | — | — | — | `ev:dust·follow-up-email-draft-with-explicit-human-approval-gate·human-in-the-loop-control` |
| Human-in-the-loop control | Email follow-up draft with human approval gate for Vikram Singh at TechNova Solutions | ✓ worked | — | — | — | `ev:dust·email-follow-up-draft-with-human-approval-gate-for-vikram-singh-at-technova-solutions·human-in-the-loop-control` |
| Human-in-the-loop control | Email follow-up draft with human approval gate for Vikram Singh | ✓ worked | — | — | — | `ev:dust·email-follow-up-draft-with-human-approval-gate-for-vikram-singh·human-in-the-loop-control` |
| Instruction following accuracy | Angry billing complaint with refund threat | ◐ mixed | — | — | — | `ev:dust·angry-billing-complaint-with-refund-threat·instruction-following-accuracy` |
| Instruction following accuracy | Company research for Apple | ✗ failed | — | — | — | `ev:dust·company-research-for-apple·instruction-following-accuracy` |
| Instruction following accuracy | Borderline lead qualification for QuickCart India | ◐ mixed | — | — | — | `ev:dust·borderline-lead-qualification-for-quickcart-india·instruction-following-accuracy` |
| Instruction following accuracy | Borderline B2B lead qualification for QuickCart India | ✓ worked | — | — | — | `ev:dust·borderline-b2b-lead-qualification-for-quickcart-india·instruction-following-accuracy` |
| Instruction following accuracy | Leave policy Q&A plus leave request draft for Arjun Desai | ◐ mixed | — | — | 🧾 [proof](https://d3epheqghktydj.cloudfront.net/dust-image-6-c7ffeb0e3f9b.png) | `ev:dust·leave-policy-q-a-plus-leave-request-draft-for-arjun-desai·instruction-following-accuracy` |
| Knowledge integration | Leave request with policy lookup for Arjun Desai | ✓ worked | — | — | — | `ev:dust·leave-request-with-policy-lookup-for-arjun-desai·knowledge-integration` |
| Knowledge integration | Leave policy Q&A plus leave request draft for Arjun Desai | ✓ worked | — | — | 🧾 [proof](https://d3epheqghktydj.cloudfront.net/dust-image-7-4081600672b8.png) | `ev:dust·leave-policy-q-a-plus-leave-request-draft-for-arjun-desai·knowledge-integration` |
| Knowledge retrieval | Medical leave request grounded in an uploaded leave policy PDF | ✓ worked | — | — | — | `ev:dust·medical-leave-request-grounded-in-an-uploaded-leave-policy-pdf·knowledge-retrieval` |
| Knowledge retrieval | Leave policy Q&A plus leave request draft for Arjun Desai | ✓ worked | — | — | — | `ev:dust·leave-policy-q-a-plus-leave-request-draft-for-arjun-desai·knowledge-retrieval` |
| No-code setup | cross-scenario | ✓ worked | — | — | 🧾 [proof](https://d3epheqghktydj.cloudfront.net/dust-image-24-3f76b90822a5.png) | `ev:dust·cross·no-code-setup` |
| Observability | Angry billing complaint with refund threat | ✓ worked | — | — | — | `ev:dust·angry-billing-complaint-with-refund-threat·observability` |
| Observability | Email follow-up draft with approval gate for Vikram Singh | ✗ failed | — | — | — | `ev:dust·email-follow-up-draft-with-approval-gate-for-vikram-singh·observability` |
| Observability | Email follow-up draft with human approval gate for Vikram Singh at TechNova Solutions | ✗ failed | — | — | 🧾 [proof](https://d3epheqghktydj.cloudfront.net/dust-image-21-f5474b6fc8ad.png) | `ev:dust·email-follow-up-draft-with-human-approval-gate-for-vikram-singh-at-technova-solutions·observability` |
| Structured output | Company research on Apple for sales outreach | ✗ failed | — | — | — | `ev:dust·company-research-on-apple-for-sales-outreach·structured-output` |
| Structured output | Angry double-charge refund complaint with escalation triggers | ◐ mixed | — | — | — | `ev:dust·angry-double-charge-refund-complaint-with-escalation-triggers·structured-output` |
| Structured output | Lead qualification on a borderline budget with a strong ops pain point | ✓ worked | — | — | — | `ev:dust·lead-qualification-on-a-borderline-budget-with-a-strong-ops-pain-point·structured-output` |
| Structured output | Leave request with policy lookup for Arjun Desai | ✓ worked | — | — | — | `ev:dust·leave-request-with-policy-lookup-for-arjun-desai·structured-output` |
| Structured output | Angry billing complaint with refund threat | ✓ worked | — | — | — | `ev:dust·angry-billing-complaint-with-refund-threat·structured-output` |
| Structured output | Company research for Apple | ✗ failed | — | — | 🧾 [proof](https://d3epheqghktydj.cloudfront.net/dust-image-17-78e666d8b44c.png) | `ev:dust·company-research-for-apple·structured-output` |
| Structured output | Borderline lead qualification for QuickCart India | ✓ worked | — | — | — | `ev:dust·borderline-lead-qualification-for-quickcart-india·structured-output` |
| Structured output | Leave policy Q&A plus leave request draft for Arjun Desai | ✓ worked | — | — | 🧾 [proof](https://d3epheqghktydj.cloudfront.net/dust-image-7-4081600672b8.png) | `ev:dust·leave-policy-q-a-plus-leave-request-draft-for-arjun-desai·structured-output` |
| Structured output | Angry duplicate-charge customer routing case | ✓ worked | — | — | 🧾 [proof](https://d3epheqghktydj.cloudfront.net/dust-image-14-7fbe94cec888.png) | `ev:dust·angry-duplicate-charge-customer-routing-case·structured-output` |
| Structured output | Borderline B2B lead qualification for QuickCart India | ✓ worked | — | — | 🧾 [proof](https://d3epheqghktydj.cloudfront.net/dust-image-3-855fe0608542.png) | `ev:dust·borderline-b2b-lead-qualification-for-quickcart-india·structured-output` |
| Testing/debugging experience | Email follow-up draft with approval gate for Vikram Singh | ◐ mixed | — | — | — | `ev:dust·email-follow-up-draft-with-approval-gate-for-vikram-singh·testing-debugging-experience` |
| Testing/debugging experience | Email approval reply NO with requested changes | ⚠ struggled | — | — | 🧾 [proof](https://d3epheqghktydj.cloudfront.net/dust-image-22-0d07047c28f9.png) | `ev:dust·email-approval-reply-no-with-requested-changes·testing-debugging-experience` |
| Tool and integration support | Follow-up email draft with explicit human approval gate | ✗ failed | — | — | — | `ev:dust·follow-up-email-draft-with-explicit-human-approval-gate·tool-and-integration-support` |
| Tool and integration support | Angry double-charge refund complaint with escalation triggers | ✗ failed | — | — | — | `ev:dust·angry-double-charge-refund-complaint-with-escalation-triggers·tool-and-integration-support` |
| Tool and integration support | Medical leave request grounded in an uploaded leave policy PDF | ✗ failed | — | — | — | `ev:dust·medical-leave-request-grounded-in-an-uploaded-leave-policy-pdf·tool-and-integration-support` |
| Tool and integration support | Company research for Apple | ✗ failed | — | — | — | `ev:dust·company-research-for-apple·tool-and-integration-support` |
| Tool and integration support | Company research for Lenskart | ✗ failed | — | — | 🧾 [proof](https://d3epheqghktydj.cloudfront.net/dust-image-15-73eb77cdb062.png) | `ev:dust·company-research-for-lenskart·tool-and-integration-support` |
| Tool and integration support | Angry duplicate-charge customer routing case | ✗ failed | — | — | 🧾 [proof](https://d3epheqghktydj.cloudfront.net/dust-image-13-5f65b5683808.png) | `ev:dust·angry-duplicate-charge-customer-routing-case·tool-and-integration-support` |
| Tool and integration support | Email follow-up draft with human approval gate for Vikram Singh at TechNova Solutions | ✗ failed | — | — | 🧾 [proof](https://d3epheqghktydj.cloudfront.net/dust-image-20-5f824c03a9da.png) | `ev:dust·email-follow-up-draft-with-human-approval-gate-for-vikram-singh-at-technova-solutions·tool-and-integration-support` |
| Tool and integration support | Borderline B2B lead qualification for QuickCart India | ✗ failed | — | — | 🧾 [proof](https://d3epheqghktydj.cloudfront.net/dust-image-5-0e1ab8cc7f57.png) | `ev:dust·borderline-b2b-lead-qualification-for-quickcart-india·tool-and-integration-support` |
| Tool and integration support | Leave policy Q&A plus leave request draft for Arjun Desai | ✗ failed | — | — | 🧾 [proof](https://d3epheqghktydj.cloudfront.net/dust-image-24-3f76b90822a5.png) | `ev:dust·leave-policy-q-a-plus-leave-request-draft-for-arjun-desai·tool-and-integration-support` |
| Web research capability | Company research on Apple for sales outreach | ✗ failed | — | — | — | `ev:dust·company-research-on-apple-for-sales-outreach·web-research-capability` |
| Web research capability | Company research on Lenskart for sales outreach | ✗ failed | — | — | — | `ev:dust·company-research-on-lenskart-for-sales-outreach·web-research-capability` |
| Web research capability | Company research for Apple | ◐ mixed | — | — | 🧾 [proof](https://d3epheqghktydj.cloudfront.net/dust-image-12-018de72720fb.png) | `ev:dust·company-research-for-apple·web-research-capability` |
| Workflow design | Leave request with policy lookup for Arjun Desai | ◐ mixed | — | — | — | `ev:dust·leave-request-with-policy-lookup-for-arjun-desai·workflow-design` |
| Workflow design | Leave policy Q&A plus leave request draft for Arjun Desai | ◐ mixed | — | — | 🧾 [proof](https://d3epheqghktydj.cloudfront.net/dust-image-8-c7ffeb0e3f9b.png) | `ev:dust·leave-policy-q-a-plus-leave-request-draft-for-arjun-desai·workflow-design` |

> 🧾 = artifact-verified (proof captured) · 👁 = observed (noted, no artifact) · verdicts: worked / mixed / struggled / failed.

## How Dust performed on the anchor tasks

Best at structured internal workflows; weakest when live browsing or exact external integrations were required.

- **Pass** Lead qualification agent — Passed with a Medium-Fit classification, ROI-aware reasoning, and a saved CRM-style note file.
- **Pass** Internal knowledge + leave request — Passed with accurate policy grounding, date clarification, and a usable leave-request draft.
- **Pass** Customer routing agent — Passed on classification and escalation logic, but the assigned team label drifted from the instruction map.
- **Partial** Company research agent — Strong report and outreach angle, but live web search was unavailable and Recent News was missing.
- **Pass** Email approval agent — Passed with an approval gate, YES/NO awareness, and multi-turn session context.

> **Strongest on internal workflows, not a fully connected production stack**
>
> Dust is the strongest no-code agent builder in this test set for grounded internal workflows, structured outputs, and approval-gated drafting. It passed 4 of 5 anchor tasks, saved a CRM note as a real file, and caught a date inconsistency in the leave workflow. The tradeoff is that live web research was unavailable in-session and free-tier CRM/email/HRMS integrations were missing, so it feels more like a powerful internal reasoning layer than a fully connected production system.

## Demo Recording

[Video: Dust demo recording](https://d3epheqghktydj.cloudfront.net/dust-dust-tool-demo-video-clean-606ea719a300.mp4)
*Video — Screen recording of Dust's workspace and agent demo.*

## Feature-by-Feature Breakdown

### Knowledge-grounded drafting from internal documents

Dust can read a pre-loaded policy document, answer questions about it, and turn that grounding into a usable leave-request draft. In the leave-policy test it surfaced the medical-leave rules accurately, flagged the requested date as inconsistent, and asked for confirmation instead of inventing details.

**Input:**

```
INPUT: Employee leave request — 'I need to take leave next Friday (27th June 2025) for a medical appointment with my doctor. My manager is Priya Sharma. Can you check the leave policy and create a leave request for me? My name is Arjun Desai.'
```

**Output:**

> **Image**

**Input:**

```
INPUT: Same leave-policy request for Arjun Desai, with the policy document already loaded into Dust's knowledge base.
```

**Output:**

> **Image**

**Bottom line:** Best-in-class document grounding, with one clear gap: the draft still omitted leave balance and needed a clarification turn for the date.

### Lead qualification and CRM note generation

Dust can classify inbound leads, explain fit, recommend the next step, draft follow-up copy, and produce a structured CRM note with business context. In the QuickCart test it labeled the lead Medium-Fit, tied the decision to budget and complaint volume, and added ROI-oriented sales framing.

**Input:**

```
INPUT: Lead submission — Rahul Mehta, QuickCart India, Head of Operations, website quickcartindia.com, budget $3,000/month, requirement to automate customer complaint handling and route tickets to the right team automatically.
```

**Output:**

> **Image**

**Input:**

```
INPUT: Same lead-qualification run, focusing on the follow-up email sign-off and sender identity.
```

**Output:**

> **Image**

**Bottom line:** Very strong structured sales output, but the follow-up sign-off did not auto-fill the sender name.

### Support triage and escalation analysis

Dust can classify support complaints, assign priority, identify escalation triggers, and produce structured routing output. In the billing test it recognized an angry duplicate-charge complaint as High priority, surfaced escalation triggers, and drafted an empathetic response.

**Input:**

```
INPUT: Customer complaint — 'This is absolutely ridiculous. I was charged twice for my subscription this month and I have been trying to get this resolved for 5 days now. Nobody is responding to my emails. I want a refund immediately or I am cancelling my subscription and leaving a public review.'
```

**Output:**

> **Image**

**Input:**

```
INPUT: Same billing complaint, checked for exact routing-label behavior against the instruction map.
```

**Output:**

> **Image**

**Bottom line:** Accurate routing logic and strong escalation reasoning, but exact label matching is not perfectly reliable.

### Approval-gated drafting with stateful context

Dust can draft an email, pause for explicit approval, and remember approval state across turns. In the follow-up email test it produced a full draft, waited for YES, and then treated a later NO as a change request rather than ignoring prior approval.

**Input:**

```
INPUT: Draft a follow-up email for Vikram Singh at TechNova Solutions after a conference conversation about AI automation for HR onboarding.
```

**Output:**

> **Image**

**Input:**

```
INPUT: Same approval flow, including a YES approval followed later by a NO reply.
```

**Output:**

> **Image**

**Bottom line:** One of the best approval-gate implementations in the set, but the approval record does not persist beyond the live chat session.

### Company research brief generation

Dust can generate company overviews, automation opportunities, likely decision-maker roles, and outreach angles. In the Apple test it produced a strong report, though the live Google Search skill was unavailable so the Recent News field was missing.

**Input:**

```
INPUT: Company research request — Company Name: Apple; Website: apple.com; required fields included company overview, industry and sector, founding year and HQ, key products or services, recent news, and sales pain points.
```

**Output:**

> **Image**

**Input:**

```
INPUT: Same Apple research run, checked for structured field separation.
```

**Output:**

> **Image**

**Bottom line:** Useful for static company summaries and outreach framing, but live web research is not dependable enough to treat as guaranteed.

## Pricing & access

Free tier is available; paid plans are credit-based.

| Plan | Price | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Free ★ (tested) | $0 | 500 credits, lifetime allocation — best for occasional users or trying the platform; sufficient for testing and prototyping |
| Pro | $30/month ($24/month billed yearly) | 8,000 credits/month, access to 20+ models (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Mistral, DeepSeek) — best for most team members |
| Max | $150/month ($120/month billed yearly) | 40,000 credits/month — best for power users running complex automations, deep research, or tool-heavy workflows |
| Enterprise | Custom | SCIM, audit logs, SLAs, dedicated onboarding and Customer Success support |

*Pricing checked June 2026, sourced directly from dust.tt/home/pricing. We re-check quarterly.*

## Is It Right For You?

**Use it if**
- You want a no-code agent builder that stays grounded in uploaded internal documents or a permanent knowledge base.
- You need structured outputs such as classifications, CRM notes, routing decisions, or approval summaries.
- You want approval-gated drafting that can pause before risky actions.
- You are okay with internal file saving instead of external integration on the free tier.

**Skip it if**
- You need dependable live web research in every session.
- You need CRM, email, or HRMS integrations on the free tier.
- You need exact routing labels to be followed without deviation.
- You need a persistent approval audit trail outside the live chat.
- You need every workflow to finish in a single turn.

## Classification

- **Category:** productivity
- **Subcategory:** agent-platforms
- **Type:** text

## Frequently Asked Questions

**Q: Does Dust keep uploaded documents permanently?**

Yes. In testing, Dust read directly from a pre-loaded leave-policy PDF in the agent's knowledge base without requiring re-upload in each conversation.

**Q: Can Dust save output as a real file?**

Yes. The lead qualification test saved the CRM note as an internal Dust file inside the workspace.

**Q: Can Dust handle lead qualification and CRM-style structured output?**

Yes. It classified the lead as Medium-Fit, explained the budget risk, suggested the next step, drafted follow-up email copy, and produced a structured CRM note.

**Q: Can Dust route customer requests and assign priority?**

Yes. It correctly identified the billing complaint, marked it High priority, and listed all three escalation triggers. The caveat is that the assigned team label drifted from the exact routing map.

**Q: Can Dust pause for approval before finalizing an email?**

Yes. It drafted the email, asked for explicit YES/NO approval, and handled a later NO as a revision request after a prior YES.

**Q: Can Dust reliably do live web research?**

Not consistently. In the company research test, the Google Search skill was unavailable in-session, so the Recent News field was missing and the agent fell back to internal/public knowledge.

**Q: Does Dust integrate with CRM, email, or HR tools on the free tier?**

No free-tier CRM, email, or HRMS integrations were available in the research. The CRM note stayed inside Dust, the email was only marked ready to send, and the leave workflow stayed inside the platform.

**Q: What does Dust cost?**

The researched pricing was Free at $0 with 500 lifetime credits, Pro at $30/month ($24/month billed yearly), Max at $150/month ($120/month billed yearly), and Enterprise on custom pricing.

**Q: How many of the five anchor tasks did Dust pass?**

Dust passed 4 of the 5 anchor tasks and had one partial result on company research because live web search was unavailable in-session.

**Q: Do I need to know how to code to use Dust?**

No. The research describes the agents being built with plain-English instructions in the builder, without workflow nodes or API configuration for the tested tasks.

## Similar Tools

AI tools similar to Dust:

- [Zapier AI Agents](https://aidemos.com/tools/zapier-ai-agents) — Build no-code business agents from plain English, with standout web research, routing precision, and approval handling.
- [Relevance AI](https://aidemos.com/tools/relevance-ai) — A no-code builder for business agents that can reason, retrieve documents, search the web, and wait for approval.