Arlo alternative

Arlo is an AI you text. Same job family as us.

They pitch one AI colleague for the whole workspace, reachable in iMessage and SMS, WhatsApp, Slack, Microsoft Teams, and on live phone calls. Their focus is governed team work: approvals before anything goes out, an audit trace on every run, and shared company memory. We are the personal public US and Canada number you can text today with 50 free messages, no account, reminders that arrive as texts, any-topic daily briefs, /mode personas, and real /connect for Gmail, Google Calendar, Docs, Sheets, and Outlook.

This is not a ChatGPT comparison. That post is already written: Why Use AI Chat SMS When You Can Just Use ChatGPT?.

We already compared Instinct, Homer, Dunnit, Pally, Poke, Sidekicks, Martin, TwoThumbs, Olly, Sarai, Tomo, Caddy, Iris, and Boba. Provider pages cover Sendblue and Twilio. Arlo's own site names Poke and Martin as its nearest text-first neighbors, and we have pages on both. Arlo is the next Direct page.

What Arlo says

From arlo.sh: one AI colleague for the workspace. Their tagline is "Just Ask. Consider it done." It works inside the tools a team already uses, with no separate app.

Channels: iMessage and SMS (you text a public number like a contact), WhatsApp, Slack, Microsoft Teams, and live phone calls. Their site says Arlo places outbound calls and answers inbound ones, then drops a summary in your thread.

Price: credits, not seats. A new texting account starts with $25 in credits (10,000), and connecting Slack grants the workspace $100 (40,000). No card, and granted credits never expire.

Paid use starts with a $20 a month subscription that adds 10% bonus credits, at a flat 400 credits per $1. Subscriber top-ups start at $50, and purchased credits roll over for 12 months.

Tools: Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, Slack, Notion, Linear, GitHub, HubSpot, Salesforce, and 3,000+ more through a shared connector layer. For apps with no API, you sign in once through a secure browser session and Arlo clicks and reads like you would.

Governance: it reads, researches, and drafts on its own, but every send and every write to a connected tool waits for approval. Every run keeps a full audit trace. Admin policy, roles, SSO, and audit export are available on request.

Memory and routines: a shared company brain sorted into what's yours, your team's, and the company's. One morning briefing of what changed. Reminders, recurring roundups, and reusable skills for multi-step work.

This is Arlo at arlo.sh. Their site says plainly that it is not the Arlo home security camera brand.

What you get if you text us

Text (305) 588-2170, a public number for the US and Canada. Native Messages. No app.

Fifty free messages. No account or card to start. No waitlist.

On iPhone and Mac you get real iMessage blue bubbles. Android and other phones get SMS or RCS through the carrier.

Reminders arrive as texts. Daily briefings on any topic you pick. Long-term memory across conversations.

Web search, /image, personas with /mode, bookmarks with /save, photo analysis, and quick actions like /weather, /math, and /translate.

Connect Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Outlook. Text /connect gmail or /connect calendar, or just ask. You get an OAuth link you control.

We answer when you text. We don't place calls, make bookings, or operate a computer.

After the free messages, Unlimited is $15 a month (100 a day, 2,000 a month fair use), or pay-as-you-go packs from $10.

If you want the product explanation, You can text an AI agent now and Your AI texting assistant are already written. Calendar setup is Google Calendar Just Met Your Texts.

Side by side

Where Arlo wins

Governed team work. If a company wants one AI colleague across Slack, Teams, iMessage, and WhatsApp, with approval gates on every send, a full audit trace, and memory the whole team shares, that is what they built. They also bring 3,000+ tools, a browser fallback for apps with no API, and real phone calls in both directions. Credit pricing with no seats also suits operators who want one agent working across the workspace.

Where we win

A personal assistant for one person, built around the text thread. Text a published number and you are set up, with no workspace to connect and no credits to track. Fifty free messages to start, then a flat $15 a month for unlimited.

The features are shaped for texting: reminders that come back as texts, any-topic daily briefs, /mode personas, /image, bookmarks, and real Gmail, Google Calendar, Docs, Sheets, and Outlook on /connect. It is your assistant for the day, in the Messages app you already live in.

Which one you want

Want one governed AI colleague for your team, working across Slack, Teams, and your tools, with approvals, audit trails, and phone calls? That is Arlo.

Want a personal assistant on a public number you can text today on iPhone and Android, with 50 free messages, reminders, any-topic briefs, Gmail and Calendar, Docs and Sheets, and one flat price? That is us.

Text it today

No download. No waitlist. No account.

Text (305) 588-2170. Fifty free messages. US and Canada. Standard message rates apply.