Poke alternative
Poke is a personal assistant you text. Same job family as us. Available today.
They run life across Apple Messages, WhatsApp, Telegram, and RCS with Recipes and (on Ultra) Poke Human. We are the public US and Canada number you can text today with 50 free messages.
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, and Pally. Provider pages cover Sendblue and Twilio. Poke is the next Direct page.
What Poke says
From poke.com: a proactive AI assistant on Apple Messages, WhatsApp, Telegram, and more. Built by The Interaction Company of California. Docs say available worldwide.
You sign up, then message Poke through Apple Messages, Telegram, WhatsApp, or RCS. We are not going to publish any of their phone numbers. Link poke.com. Keep the logo.
Built-in help on their docs includes email management, calendar (schedule meetings and check availability), reminders, web search, and integrations. Homepage and FAQ market Gmail (search, draft, send, labels), Outlook inboxes and calendars, Notion, Oura, GitHub, Linear, Recipes, Poke Kitchen, and MCP for custom builds.
Pricing from poke.com/pricing: Free at $0 a month forever with no credit card required, connect apps, and email and calendar. Pro at $19 a month with frontier models for complex tasks, real-time background automations, higher rate limits, and priority support. Ultra at $199 a month with frontier models on every action, highest rate limits, highest-priority support, pay-as-you-go beyond credits, and Poke Human.
Poke Human on Ultra (FAQ) dispatches real-world tasks to a real person: restaurant reservations, phone calls, placing orders, booking rides. Expenses at cost from credit balance.
Their homepage may also note New Poke is joining Cognition. That is a company note only. We are not inventing merger product claims.
What you get if you text us
A public number. (305) 588-2170. US and Canada. Native Messages. No app. Fifty free messages. No account or card to start.
On iPhone and Mac you get real iMessage blue bubbles. Android and other phones get SMS or RCS through the carrier.
Remind me Thursday at 10am to renew the domain
Got it. I'll text you Thursday at 10:00 AM to renew the domain.
Brief me on AI news every weekday at 8
Set. Weekday AI news brief at 8:00 AM.
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. 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 do not ship WhatsApp or Telegram as first-class channels. We do not book rides, place orders, or make outbound calls for you. We do not offer Poke Human-style human operators.
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
| AI Chat SMS | Poke | |
|---|---|---|
| Availability | Today. Public number (305) 588-2170. US and Canada. | Today. Sign up at poke.com. Docs: worldwide. Message via Apple Messages, Telegram, WhatsApp, or RCS. |
| Price | 50 free messages. No card to start. Then unlimited at $15/month, or pay as you go from $10. | Free forever (usage-limited). Pro $19/mo. Ultra $199/mo (+ pay-as-you-go credits). |
| Product | Built-for-you personal AI assistant in Messages. | Multi-channel personal assistant with Recipes, automations, and (Ultra) Poke Human. |
| Channels | Native Messages: iMessage on iPhone, SMS/RCS on Android. One public number. | Apple Messages, WhatsApp, Telegram, RCS (their docs). |
| Reminders | Yes. They arrive as texts. | Yes. Create and manage reminders from chat (docs + homepage). |
| Memory | Yes. Long-term across conversations. | Yes. Homepage/docs reference memory used for proactive help. |
| Briefings | Yes. Daily briefs on any topic you pick. | Proactive updates and automations marketed. Not the same any-topic daily briefing product we ship. |
| Gmail | Yes. /connect gmail. | Yes. Full Gmail support on FAQ (search, draft, send, labels). |
| Google Calendar | Yes. /connect calendar. | Yes. Calendar connect on Free; schedule / availability on docs. Outlook calendars too. |
| Docs, Sheets, Outlook | Yes. Same /connect list. | Outlook yes. Google Docs/Sheets not the same published consumer connect story. Notion is their published docs surface. |
| Integrations / Recipes | Focused /connect list above. | Broader: Notion, Oura, GitHub, Linear, Recipes, Poke Kitchen, MCP. |
| Real-world human tasks | No. We do not book rides, place orders, or make outbound calls for you. | Poke Human on Ultra (FAQ). |
| Image gen / personas | Yes. /image and /mode. | Not published the same way on pricing/docs as consumer /image + /mode. |
| Start friction | Text the public number. 50 free. | Sign up, then message on a supported channel (docs). |
Where Poke wins
Multi-channel messaging (WhatsApp and Telegram too), proactive Recipes, broader integrations, and Ultra’s Poke Human for real-world tasks. If that is the job, they built more of it.
Where we win
Clear 50 free messages and $15 unlimited. A public US and Canada number with no signup maze to start texting. Any-topic daily briefs, personas, and /image in one consumer thread. Gmail, Calendar, Docs, Sheets, and Outlook on /connect.
Which one you want
Want a multi-channel life OS with Recipes and optional human operators? That is Poke.
Want a broad assistant on a public number you can text today with 50 free messages? That is us.
Text it today
No download.
Text (305) 588-2170. Fifty free messages. US and Canada. Standard message rates apply.
Ready to text your AI?
No app to download. Text us to start — one tap opens Messages with our number. 50 free messages to start.
Text (305) 588-2170
US & Canada only. Standard message rates apply.