# How Ownbox works

Updated: 2026-10-18

# How Ownbox works

Gathered on 2026-10-16 from the facts Brian approved for the SEO Machine on this Ownbox, and updated 2026-10-18 with the products' current names. Prices live only at https://www.ownbox.io/#pricing.

## How do I buy an Ownbox? Is there a subscription?

Ownbox Core and Ownbox Pro are each bought once. There is no software subscription, no seat fees and no per-request pricing. For prices, see https://www.ownbox.io/#pricing.

## What do Ownbox Core, Pro and Enterprise include?

- **Ownbox Core**: the Shared AI Business Brain, the Morning Review, and the web dashboard and phone app for up to 3 people, each with their own login.
- **The current offer** (at the time of writing, 2026-10-18): for a limited time, Ownbox Core comes with one add-on machine free, the SEO Machine or the Unified Inbox.
- **Pro** adds:
  - both add-on machines;
  - AI coworkers that work shifts on a schedule and report back;
  - unlimited people;
  - 15 GB in the Shared AI Business Brain (Core has 5 GB);
  - twice the server memory;
  - priority support.
- **Planned for Pro**: single sign-on, roles and permissions you define, and an audit log.
- **Upgrading**: Ownbox Core can be upgraded to Pro from inside the Ownbox, for the difference.
- **Enterprise** adds a dedicated GPU server running an AI model locally, so the business's data never leaves its own hardware.

## What is Managed Support, and can I cancel it?

Managed Support covers:
- hosting;
- every update, installed;
- monitoring;
- daily backups;
- help from the people who built Ownbox.

Every checkout includes the first three months free.

Managed Support can be cancelled anytime. The Ownbox keeps running for 30 days, then moves to the owner's own DigitalOcean account in one click, or Ownbox powers it off and keeps it safe.

## How long does setup take? Do I need to be technical?

After checkout, each Ownbox is built on its own DigitalOcean server, and the owner gets a login by email in about five minutes. There is no server to set up and no terminal.

## What happens if it does not work?

If an Ownbox is not up and running within a day of paying, Ownbox refunds the purchase in full.

## Which AI does Ownbox use? Do I pay for AI twice?

- An Ownbox thinks on the Claude or ChatGPT plan the owner already pays for, signed in from its settings. An API key works too. Gemini and Grok are planned.
- AI calls go to the owner's own AI account, not to Ownbox. Ownbox never bills for AI.
- A cost guard holds a hard monthly ceiling on anything billed per use, such as an API key.

## Who owns my data, and can I leave?

- The owner's AI runs on the owner's account, and the data and the code are the owner's.
- Everything an Ownbox knows lives in one database file on its own server, and everything on it exports in full.
- An Ownbox can be moved to the owner's own DigitalOcean account whenever they want, and it runs there without Ownbox.

## How do people and permissions work?

- Everyone signs in with their own login.
- The owner invites people, decides what each can use, and revokes access. A revoked person is out on their next click.
- Every setting shows who changed it.

## Is it safe to let AI agents work in my business?

- Anything an AI agent wants to do on an Ownbox waits for a person's OK, and every action is logged.
- Nothing the Unified Inbox writes goes out unless the owner has allowed it. A draft waits to be approved, edited or skipped, from the dashboard or the phone.
- An owner can let a channel, such as DMs, answer on its own, and switch that off again at any time.

## How do AI agents connect to an Ownbox?

- Every Ownbox has its own MCP server, locked with a token only the owner holds. Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI and any agent that speaks MCP can read it and use its tools.
- MCP works both ways: an Ownbox connects to the business's other apps, added under Data Sources, so its AI agents can read from them too.

## What is the Shared AI Business Brain?

The Shared AI Business Brain (the Shared Brain for short) is one set of folders and files on the Ownbox that every AI agent reads, so all of them share the same business context. Saves wait for a person's OK. See "The Shared AI Business Brain".

## What is the Morning Review?

The Morning Review shows who to answer first and what happened overnight.

## What are the machines?

- **The groundwork**: every machine starts with 200+ hours of groundwork already done: logins and roles, a phone app, the owner's own AI, an MCP server, security and updates.
- **Adding machines**: a new machine plugs into the Ownbox foundation and gets a dashboard page, a place in the queue and its own tools on the MCP server. One Ownbox runs as many machines as the owner wants.
- **The Unified Inbox**:
  - It pulls every email and direct message a business gets into one queue: Gmail, Instagram and Messenger.
  - For each message, it reads the whole thread and drafts a reply on the owner's own AI account.
  - It searches every conversation, puts overnight messages in the Morning Review, and has its own tools on the MCP server so AI employees can read the inbox.
- **The SEO Machine**:
  - It writes articles that answer customers' questions and publishes them to the business's own website on its own.
  - Each article opens with a short, direct answer, the kind search engines and AI assistants quote, and is marked up for both.
  - Before an article publishes, a hard check blocks words the business never uses, competitor names, and any number it has not approved.
  - It connects Google Search Console with one button.
- **What is coming**: the AI Voice Agent is in development. The Lead Machine, GTM Machine, Reel Machine and YouTube Machine are ideas, not products you can buy.

## Is there a phone app?

Yes. It installs on iPhone and Android from the browser, with notifications on the lock screen and no App Store.

## Which questions has Ownbox already answered in public?

These articles are live on ownbox.io:
- AI Business Machine: https://ownbox.io/articles/ai-business-machine
- What are the best unified inbox apps for a business? https://www.ownbox.io/articles/what-are-the-best-unified-inbox-apps
- How can I get more leads from ChatGPT? https://www.ownbox.io/articles/how-can-i-get-more-leads-from-chatgpt
- Can AI answer my Instagram DMs without sending something I didn't approve? https://www.ownbox.io/articles/can-ai-answer-my-instagram-dms-without-sending-something-i-didn-t-approve
- How much does an AI employee cost a small business? https://www.ownbox.io/articles/how-much-does-an-ai-employee-cost-a-small-business
- Is there a self-hosted AI email assistant a non-developer can run? https://www.ownbox.io/articles/is-there-a-self-hosted-ai-email-assistant-a-non-developer-can-run
- Is there a self-hosted or open-source unified inbox? https://www.ownbox.io/articles/is-there-a-self-hosted-or-open-source-unified-inbox
- What is an MCP server and why would a business owner need one? https://www.ownbox.io/articles/what-is-an-mcp-server-and-why-would-a-business-owner-need-one
- Can I run business AI on my own server without being a developer? https://www.ownbox.io/articles/can-i-run-business-ai-on-my-own-server-without-being-a-developer