Is it really free in Malaysia?

Yes. The global free plan drops 100 credits every month plus a daily activity bonus, and sign-up needs no credit card. New users who sign up through my link also get 350 bonus credits.

How is it different from ChatGPT and Claude?

WorkBuddy is a desktop app that works inside your own folders and auto-picks across vendors; ChatGPT runs in OpenAI's cloud sandbox; Claude Code leans developer. They differ in where the work runs, model source, free allowance and how you extend them.

How do I get the 350 bonus credits?

New users just sign up through this link: https://workbuddy.ai/invite?code=LYAUKYVL — terms per the official page.

👋 Hey, I'm Dr. KG Lim

I've been using WorkBuddy like a half-colleague

Q: What is WorkBuddy?

WorkBuddy is Tencent's workplace AI agent. You give it a task and a team of agents behind it plans, does the work and hands you the result — reports, decks, spreadsheets, code, research docs. It can also read and write files inside folders you've allowed.

I'm an AI & digital transformation consultant based in Malaysia. This site is just my running notes on WorkBuddy — not official, and nobody's paying me to write this. Three things I keep coming back to: what it's actually good for, how to stretch the free credits, and how it stacks up against ChatGPT / Claude.

Free download · +350 credits for new users → What is it first

What it is

First off — it's not just a chat box

WorkBuddy calls itself a "full-scene workplace AI workbench." In plain English: you throw it a task, and a whole team of expert agents behind it plans, does the work, and hands you the result — reports, decks, spreadsheets, code, research docs. Unlike chatbots that give you one answer and call it a day, this one feels more like a colleague actually working on your machine.

How I see it

🗂

Reads and writes files right inside folders you've allowed — your work stays on your computer

🤖

100+ built-in skills, picks the right model per task, not locked to one vendor

🔌

Install skills, connect tools; the global version plugs into Slack / Telegram too

⚡

Desktop app or just open it in a browser — no card to sign up

Tencent brought WorkBuddy into Malaysia in 2026 alongside its Johor cloud region, and that's when I started using it. The China version dropped Mar 9; the global version May 28.

Not "here's an answer" — it's "take the job → plan → work → deliver a finished thing"
China build pulls in Hunyuan, DeepSeek, Zhipu GLM, Kimi; the global build picks the model per task
The point of multi-model routing: spend where it's cheap, use the good stuff where it matters, don't get stuck on one vendor's pricing
You give it a sentence, you get a file you can actually use — not a "please fill in the blanks" shell

How I use it

6 things I've actually run through it lately

All of these I tried on the free plan; didn't need Pro for daily work.

🔍

Research → report

Give it an industry plus a question, and it finds sources, analyzes, writes the doc. I mostly just tweak the intro and outro.

📝

Notes → proposal

Dump a messy transcript in, it pulls out the decisions and scope, and drafts the client proposal.

📊

Decks & spreadsheets

What you get is a finished thing you can use, not just an outline for you to fill in.

💻

Quick app from a prompt

One prompt spins up a project, code goes straight to GitHub — no more begging someone to build a small tool.

🧩

Skill marketplace

Install a skill, gain a capability — like grabbing another expert for the team.

🤝

Pairs with CodeBuddy

For real coding, hook up Tencent's CodeBuddy; hand it the plan to execute, same ecosystem.

Versus the others

Where WorkBuddy actually differs from OpenAI and Claude

There are roughly three flavors of agent products now. Figure out which camp WorkBuddy is in, and you'll know if it fits you.

Dimension	Tencent WorkBuddy	OpenAI (ChatGPT agent)	Anthropic (Claude Code)
Where the work runs	Desktop app, reads/writes your own folders	Cloud sandbox on OpenAI's servers	Terminal / API / browser, dev-leaning
Models	Cross-vendor, auto-picked per task	OpenAI only	Claude only
Usable without coding?	Yes just talk to it	Chat product plus an agent mode	Assumes you know terminal/API
Free for daily use?	Yes includes daily activity bonus	Agent mode needs a paid tier	Billed per token, no daily free quota
How you extend it	Skill market / expert mode / MCP	GPTs and connectors	MCP (Model Context Protocol)

💡 My own take: OpenAI's is clean but far from your files; Claude is powerful but leans dev. WorkBuddy is betting on the "local desktop" — an agent sitting on your machine, billed in free daily credits instead of per token.

How to stack free credits

You can run an AI colleague for $0

Global pricing is honestly simple, and the free tier does real work — not a sample.

Download & sign in

Desktop or browser, no card needed.

100 free credits / month

Lands automatically — covers research, docs, decks, code.

Poke it once a day

Open at least one chat daily; next day bonus credits show up — it basically feeds itself.

+350 via my link

Start now, on the free plan

100 credits/mo + daily bonus, +350 for new users.

Free download · +350 credits for new users →

Need more? Pro is $10/mo or $96/yr — 1,000 base + 1,000 bonus credits a month; there's also a 7-day Pro trial with 500 credits. Wait until the free tier genuinely runs dry before upgrading.

📚 Sources

The facts and figures below are from public channels; the interpretation is all mine.

WorkBuddy official global site & pricingworkbuddy.ai
Tencent Cloud Malaysia launch & AI showcase (WorkBuddy, TokenHub)Yahoo Finance, 2026-08-19
WorkBuddy timeline & traffic statsTencent ima WorkBuddy knowledge base
China launch background, model access, Q1 2026 earnings rankingChina Daily Tech, 2026-08-11
IDC enterprise Agent #1, open platform, industry adoptionChina Economic Net, 2026-09-18
Global expansion & retention data36Kr Chuhai
CodeBuddy IDE official sitecodebuddy.ai

Dr. KG Lim

AI & Digital Transformation Consultant · Malaysia

About this site, and me

I'm Dr. KG Lim, an AI & digital transformation consultant mostly running projects in Malaysia. WorkBuddy handles my research, docs, decks, and some of the code — freeing up time for the stuff that actually pays.

This site is just my own sharing: the mistakes I hit, the small tricks for stacking credits, the comparisons across vendors — dumped here, hopefully saving time for other Malaysia folks who want to use AI seriously.

✉️ [email protected] 🌐 www.kglim.com

⚠️

Non-official note: This is my personal sharing. Not affiliated with Tencent, WorkBuddy, or its partners, and doesn't represent any official view. Figures are from public reports (as of Sep 2026) and may change; bonus-credit terms per workbuddy.ai.