Novastart: Infinite Canvas OS for AI Agents

Novastart calls itself an infinite canvas OS, and honestly, my first reaction was a raised eyebrow. A startup sent it to Technwz in late October, so I wanted to see whether it holds up. I looked into the company, the pricing, and the web demo.

Here’s the thing. I only tested part of it. The browser demo works, but the AI agents and the real apps live in the installed version, which I haven’t run. I’ll mark clearly what I saw and what the company claims.

What Is Novastart and How Does the Infinite Canvas OS Work?

Novastart is a bootstrapped startup from Manhattan Beach, California, founded in January 2025. Its product is an operating system where the screen becomes one endless, zoomable canvas. Every app opens as a window on that canvas, and you pan and zoom to move between them. The company says it is pre-revenue. Thomas Fraher is the co-founder and CTO, and Nick Fraher is the other co-founder.

Think of a whiteboard that also runs Chrome, Word and Excel. That’s the pitch in a nutshell. Instead of juggling tabs, you place each app somewhere on the canvas and zoom out to see everything at once. Sure, the idea isn’t brand new, since people have tried zoomable interfaces since the 1960s. But Novastart adds a modern twist: AI agents that get their own cursors on the canvas.

Those agents are the part worth watching. They click, type and work in windows next to you. It’s a good example of agentic AI moving out of the chat box and onto the desktop itself.

What Did I See in the Novastart Web Demo?

The web demo runs in your browser with no install and no sign-up. It asks for a wide window first. On a narrow screen it just tells you to make the window bigger.

Once it loaded, I got a blank dotted canvas with a dock at the bottom. An App Center menu lists apps like Chrome, Gmail, Slack, Claude, ChatGPT, Word, Excel, Notion, Figma and GitHub. I opened Chrome and dragged its window around. Scrolling zoomed the canvas under the pointer. It felt a little fast, to be honest, but it responded on time and stayed smooth with two windows open.

Then I hit the limit of the preview. Clicking Excel showed a notice that Excel opens on the installed system. The demo’s Chrome window would not load Google, though Wikipedia did open inside it. So treat the demo as a canvas preview, not a working computer.

Does Novastart Really Work With AI Agents?

I can’t say yet. The demo’s title reads “Five agents, five windows, one sheet.” The task on screen is to find five New York food influencers and invite each to a tasting at a new bagel shop in Williamsburg. A side panel shows a main agent bringing in four helpers, one window each. The pages those agents browse look like mockups. The page also says agents click and type on the installed system, and that Start shows a demo. In other words, what plays in the browser is a demo, not the live agents.

Novastart says agents work live in the full app. I haven’t tested that, so I won’t vouch for it. If agents matter to you, try that part yourself before you commit.

Agents also cost money. They are pay-per-use at $0.02 per use, with credits starting at $25, and that applies to every plan, including Free. Novastart confirmed that ten is the cap on agents at once. The homepage talks up that number, but it doesn’t make the extra cost obvious. That surprised me. It’s not a dealbreaker, but it belongs in your buying decision.

How Much Does Novastart Cost?

Novastart has three plans: Free, Pro at $10 a month, and Team at $20 per user each month. Every plan opens the same apps.

• Free: You get one folder, two canvases and four windows per canvas. That’s enough to try the idea, not enough to work in. Team collaboration isn’t included.
• Pro: It costs $10 a month and gives you unlimited folders, canvases and windows. It doesn’t include team collaboration.
• Team: It costs $20 per user per month and is the only plan with team collaboration. It also gives you unlimited folders, canvases and windows. Novastart confirmed the price is per user, so a team of five pays $100 a month. Budget for that before you add everyone.
• Agent credits: Agents cost $0.02 per use, with credits starting at $25, on every plan.

The installed app runs the full Novastart OS inside a window, so your own desktop stays as it is. Close the window and you’re back. It needs Windows 10 or 11 or a Mac with an Intel chip, plus 8 GB of RAM, about 32 GB of disk space and hardware virtualization turned on. The page admits to a little lag since it’s a computer running inside your computer. There’s also a full OS install that replaces your system, so don’t try that one on your main machine. Novastart confirmed that this install replaces your current system.

What About the Laptops and Smart Whiteboards?

Novastart also sells hardware. Listings put its laptops at $350 to $775 for 14, 15, and 17-inch models, and its smart whiteboards at $1,200 to $2,400 for 75, 90, and 100-inch screens. Each ships with Novastart OS preinstalled.

The company says it designs the devices and a manufacturing partner builds them. It won’t name that partner. Novastart also told us that Marketplace Distributors LLC is the company behind the product, including the hardware. Novastart confirmed those details to us. I’d still keep them attributed, since I haven’t verified them independently.

That mix is common among gadget startups. A small team writes the software and leans on a contract manufacturer for the boxes. It can work. But support, warranty and long-term updates would be my first questions. A pre-revenue company selling $2,400 whiteboards also deserves a bit of caution, so I’d read the return policy before ordering anything.

How Does Novastart Compare With Figma and Miro?

Novastart isn’t the only company putting AI agents on a canvas. Two bigger names are already there, and they take a different route.

Figma

Figma launched its own agent on the design canvas in May 2026. You describe what you want in plain language, and you can run several agents at once next to human teammates.

Miro

Miro added AI Sidekicks as part of its Intelligent Canvas back in 2024. They sit on boards like extra team members in roles such as product leader or agile coach.

Both of those tools are mature and live in the browser. Novastart is trying something bigger: make the canvas the operating system, not an app inside one. That’s a bolder bet. It’s also a riskier one, because you have to switch your computer or buy new hardware to try the full version.

Should You Try Novastart or Wait?

Try the web demo. It takes five minutes and costs nothing. If the canvas idea clicks for you, test the installed app next. It runs in a window, so your own desktop stays as it is.

Wait if you need agents you can trust today. Wait too, if you work on an Apple Silicon Mac, since the app asks for an Intel chip. Novastart says Apple Silicon support is planned within a year.

Would I want a canvas as my whole OS? Honestly, I don’t know. The demo felt fine, and I like zooming out to see everything at once. But I spend most of my day in a browser, and I’m not sure a new OS beats a good tab setup. Maybe the agents change that. I’ll update this post if a live agent demo shows up.

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