TurnstoneHow to switch from Grok Bot: move your Bots, Skills and Routines (2026)
How to switch from Grok Bot in 2026: connect Grok Bot to Turnstone and have your Bots move themselves, with their memories, Skills and Routines.
The fastest way to switch from Grok Bot is to let Grok Bot do the moving. Connect Turnstone to Grok Bot as an MCP server, then ask your Bots to recreate themselves as Turnstone Agents and send each new Agent everything they know.
People are leaving Grok Bot for a few reasons. Since October 12, 2026 it comes with The X Subscription on Premium ($30 a month) and up, and the Free and $8 Plus plans don't include it. It also has no model picker, so you can't choose which AI does the work. We make Turnstone, a free, model-agnostic Grok Bot alternative that runs on the AI subscriptions you already have, and we built it so your Bots can move themselves. This guide shows that way first, then the manual way, which works for any alternative. Everything was checked on October 28, 2026.
How do I move my Grok Bots to Turnstone?
Most of a Grok Bot's setup lives in chat, not on a settings page. xAI's docs say "to change what a Bot does, tell it in chat," and "There is no memory screen for a personal Bot. Ask in chat instead." That makes copying it out by hand slow. But it also means the Bot itself knows its job, its memories, its Skills and its Routines best. So you hand the move to the Bot.
Two things make this work. Turnstone has an MCP server that lets another AI create and run your Turnstone Agents. And Grok Bot's docs say "A Bot can also add an MCP server that isn't in the catalog, by URL."
- Install Turnstone on your Mac and sign in with the AI plan you want your Agents to use: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, Cursor, OpenRouter, Ollama or your own API key.
- Copy your Turnstone MCP link. In Turnstone, open Settings, then MCP and webhooks, and copy the MCP link.
- Give the link to Grok Bot. In a chat with one of your Bots, paste the link and ask it to add Turnstone as an MCP server. You can also add it at grok.com/connectors under New Connector, then Custom.
- Sign in and allow. Grok Bot opens a Turnstone sign-in. Use the same Turnstone account that's signed in on your Mac, and allow the connection.
- Ask your Bot to move your Bots. Paste something like the prompt below.
- Watch the Agents appear. Each new Agent shows up in Turnstone with its name and job, and gets a first message from Grok Bot with everything it needs.
- Check each Agent. Open its memory and correct anything that's off, reconnect its apps, and pick its model.
Here's a prompt you can paste into your Bot:
Using the Turnstone MCP, recreate every one of my Bots as a Turnstone Agent.
For each Bot, create an Agent with the same name and job. Then send that
Agent one message with everything it needs: its standing instructions,
everything it remembers about me, its dated work log, the full text of every
Skill it uses, every Routine it runs with its trigger, schedule and what it
does, and the apps and accounts it works with. Ask it to set up each Routine
as a Schedule. Tell me when every Agent has its message.
If a Bot can't see the others' setup, run the same prompt in each Bot and ask it to move only itself. The connection is shared by every Bot on your account, so you only add it once.
What moves and what doesn't
Turnstone only gets what your Bot writes in its messages, so ask it to be thorough. Here is how each part lands.
| In Grok Bot | In Turnstone |
|---|---|
| A Bot | An Agent, with the same name and job, and its own model |
| What the Bot remembers | Sent to the Agent and saved in one shared memory of your people, projects and decisions, which you can open and correct |
| Skills | Sent as full text, and set up as Skills |
| Routines | Sent with their triggers and timing, and set up as Schedules |
| Connected apps from "Connect apps" | 60+ apps built in (like Gmail, Outlook, Slack, Notion, LinkedIn, iMessage and WhatsApp), any website through its own browser, the apps on your Mac, and connectors you add. You sign in again |
| The model, picked for you with no model picker | Your choice of ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, Cursor, OpenRouter, Ollama or your own key |
| Email from a Routine waits as a draft | Agents write and send email, Slack messages and iMessages from your own accounts |
| A Cursor-hosted cloud computer | Your Mac today. Turnstone Cloud is coming soon |
| Usage from a weekly pool | Your own AI plan's limits |
A few things never move, in any tool. Logins stay behind. Grok Bot keeps credentials in its Vault, 1Password or Secure Form, and app tokens on Cursor's connector backend, so you sign in to your apps again in Turnstone. Files on Grok Bot's shared computer stay there too, so download anything you want to keep.
Turnstone runs your Agents on your Mac, so Turnstone needs to be open and signed in while Grok Bot sends the work.
One warning about memory. Grok Bot's docs say a Bot "decides on its own when something is worth keeping. It doesn't ask first." A Builder.io reviewer wrote that memory was rewritten in places she couldn't see. So read what each new Agent received and fix what's wrong. In Turnstone you can open the memory and correct it.
Can I import a single Grok Bot from a link?
Yes, for Bots published on the Grok Bot Marketplace. Paste a public link like x.ai/bot/marketplace/bots/... into Turnstone. It imports the Bot's published memories, which are its instructions, into an Agent, then shows you the Bot's Skills, Routines and connected apps so you choose which to set up. Those are set up again after you review them, and no credentials transfer. Private Grok Bot links can't be imported this way, so for your own Bots, the MCP move above is the better path. OpenBot and MausBot can also import Grok Bots from their x.ai links.
What should I save from Grok Bot before I leave?
Even if your Bots move themselves, keep your own copy. If you're moving to a tool without an MCP server, this is how you'd move by hand.
| What to save | Where it lives in Grok Bot | How to save it |
|---|---|---|
| The Bot's job and instructions | Inside the Bot. No settings page | Ask the Bot to write out its job and standing instructions. Copy them into a doc |
| What the Bot remembers | Each Bot keeps "stable preferences, important facts, and summaries" plus "a dated log of what it has worked on with you" | Ask "What do you remember about me?" and ask for its work log. Save both |
| Skills | Reusable instructions shared across all your Bots | Ask for the full text of every Skill, not just the names |
| Routines | A schedule or an event trigger for one Bot. Up to 50 per Bot | Write down the Bot, the trigger or time, and what each Routine does |
| Routine results | Only the 20 latest run records are kept | Copy any recent results you still need |
| Connected apps | Connectors you added through "Connect apps", shared by every Bot | List each app and which account it uses |
| Files | One cloud computer shared by all your Bots | Download anything you made or saved there |
| The Bot's email address | One agent email address per account, which you can't rename or delete | If people email it, tell them where to reach you instead |
A prompt you can paste into each Bot to get it all in writing:
Write out, in plain text: your name and job, your standing instructions,
everything you remember about me, your dated work log, the full text of
every Skill you use, and every Routine you run with its trigger, schedule
and what it does. List the apps you use and which account each one is.
How do I move to a Grok Bot alternative by hand?
These steps work for any tool. Our Grok Bot alternatives guide compares the options if you haven't picked one.
- Choose where you're going. Check which AI it runs on, where it runs, and whether it keeps working with your laptop closed. Grok Bot's docs say "Routines run in the cloud while your laptop is closed," so a local app may behave differently.
- Save everything first. Use the checklist and the prompt above, Bot by Bot.
- Move or rebuild each Bot. If your new tool has an MCP server, let your Bots move themselves as above. Otherwise import from a public link if you can, or start a new agent and paste in its saved job, instructions and memories.
- Reconnect your apps. Logins never move with an import. Grok Bot keeps credentials in its Vault, 1Password or Secure Form, and app tokens on Cursor's connector backend. You'll sign in again in the new tool.
- Recreate Routines one at a time. Start with the one you rely on most. Grok Bot Routines can start on a schedule or from Slack, GitHub, Linear, Sentry, PagerDuty, email or webhook events. Check how your new tool handles each kind before you depend on it.
- Run each new routine once while you watch. Make sure it does what the old one did before you switch the old one off.
- Pause your Grok Bot Routines. This matters. The FAQ says "Closing the app, laptop, or phone does not stop a background turn or routine." Routines draw from your weekly usage even when they have nothing to report. One reviewer wrote that her "16 shiny new bots burned $100," mostly on Bots "waking up, thinking it over, and deciding they had nothing to tell me."
- Clean up the shared computer. Grok Bot's FAQ says deleting a Bot can leave its files and logins on the shared computer. Remove those too.
- Then change your plan. On The X Subscription, Premium also gives you SuperGrok, Cursor Pro and X Premium+, so check whether you still want those before you downgrade. On a legacy paid Cursor plan, Grok Bot comes with the plan.
What you give up
Be honest with yourself about this part. Grok Bot runs in the cloud, so Routines keep going with your laptop closed. Turnstone runs on your Mac today, and Cloud, the iPhone app and the web app are coming soon. Turnstone has no Windows, Linux or Android app. Grok Bot also has things like "Teach a task," where you record up to 10 minutes of browser work and get a draft Skill. If those matter most to you, staying might be the right call. Our Turnstone vs Grok Bot page goes through every difference, and our Grok Bot pricing guide shows what each plan costs.
Questions
What's the fastest way to move from Grok Bot to Turnstone? Add Turnstone's MCP link to Grok Bot, then ask your Bot to recreate each of your Bots as a Turnstone Agent and send each one its instructions, memories, Skills and Routines. Your Bots do the copying for you.
Where do I find the Turnstone MCP link? In Turnstone on your Mac, open Settings, then MCP and webhooks. Copy the link there and paste it into a chat with your Grok Bot, or add it at grok.com/connectors as a custom connector.
Does Turnstone need to be open while Grok Bot moves my Bots? Yes. Your Agents run on your Mac, so keep Turnstone open and signed in with the same account you used to connect Grok Bot.
How do I get my Bot's memory out of Grok Bot? Ask the Bot in chat. Grok Bot's docs say there is no memory screen for a personal Bot. With the MCP move, the Bot sends its memories straight to its new Agent. Either way, read them and keep your own copy.
Do my Skills and Routines move over? They move as text your Bot sends, and the new Agent sets them up as Skills and Schedules. Check each Schedule once before you rely on it. Logins and app connections never move, so you sign in again.
Will my Grok Bot Routines stop when I close the app? No. Grok Bot's FAQ says closing the app, laptop or phone does not stop a background turn or routine. Pause each Routine in Grok Bot once its replacement is working.
Can I keep using Grok after I switch? In Turnstone, yes. Grok is one of the AI options, alongside ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Cursor, OpenRouter, Ollama and your own API key. You pick the model for each Agent.
Sources
- Bots and what a Bot remembers, xAI docs (checked October 28, 2026)
- Grok Bot FAQ, xAI docs (checked October 28, 2026)
- Skills, routines and automations, xAI docs (checked October 28, 2026)
- Computer and apps, xAI docs (checked October 28, 2026)
- Grok Bot and The X Subscription, xAI docs (checked October 28, 2026)
- Grok Bot plans and billing, Cursor Help (checked October 28, 2026)
- Introducing The X Subscription, xAI (checked October 28, 2026)
- Grok Bot Marketplace (checked October 27, 2026)
- Grok Bot Marketplace explained, twitterapi.io (checked October 27, 2026)
- GrokBot is amazing. Here's why I stopped using it, Builder.io (checked October 27, 2026)
- OpenBot on GitHub (README, Grok Bot import) (checked October 27, 2026)
- OpenMausBot team sharing and Grok Bot import doc (checked October 27, 2026)