The 6 Best Poke Alternatives in 2026
Poke proved that people want an assistant living in a text thread, not in yet another app. You message a number and something on the other end reads your email, runs your calendar and gets things done. It was the first outside AI assistant Apple approved for iMessage business chat, and it works. But Poke is iMessage-first and its useful tiers are paid, and a lot changed in 2026: it was acquired by Cognition (the team behind the Devin coding agent), and on the main independent assistant benchmark it now sits mid-pack while newer entrants pull ahead. If any of that sent you looking, here are the strongest Poke alternatives in 2026 and who each one really fits.
TL;DR
- Your messaging lives on WhatsApp and the wider Meta apps, and you want the deepest memory: eden.
- You want maximum autonomy and will trade data for it: Instinct.
- You want a coach that keeps you accountable, not an intern: Tomo.
- You already live in X and want it there: Grok Bot.
- Your work runs through email: Town.
- You are technical and want to self-host: OpenClaw.
Why people look for a Poke alternative
- Where it lives. Poke is iMessage-first, with SMS and Telegram, and WhatsApp only in some countries. If your life and the people you message run on WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger or Threads, that is a real limit, since most of the world outside the US messages on WhatsApp.
- New ownership. Poke was acquired by Cognition (makers of the Devin coding agent) in 2026. It keeps running as a standalone product for now and is expected to move onto Cognition's own models over time, so its roadmap is no longer its own.
- Where it ranks. On the main independent assistant benchmark, Poke now scores mid-pack and rates highest on personality rather than on getting tasks done, while several newer assistants rank well above it.
- Price at the top. Poke is Free Forever at entry, Pro at $19 a month and Ultra at $199 a month, with pay-as-you-go on top. The capable tiers are paid.
Poke is a strong product and none of this is a knock on it. It just means the best alternative depends on where you message and what you want the assistant to be.
The alternatives at a glance
| Tool | Lives in | Best for | Price shape |
|---|---|---|---|
| eden | WhatsApp, Telegram, iMessage and Meta apps, worldwide | Global messaging, memory and prediction | Free in beta |
| Instinct | Text, plus phone calls | Maximum autonomy | Waitlist, paid |
| Tomo | iMessage and iOS | Accountability and habits | $19.99/mo |
| Grok Bot | Own apps + Slack | Power users on xAI/Cursor plans | ~$300/mo tier |
| Town | Email, Slack, WhatsApp, Telegram | Work and team handoff | Free tier + paid |
| OpenClaw | Self-hosted | Technical users | Open source |
Price shapes show how each one bills, not a live quote. Check each vendor for current numbers.
1. eden, for global reach, memory and prediction
eden lives in the same place Poke does, the chat apps you already use, and does the same kind of work: booking, research, inbox cleanup and multi-step jobs. What sets it apart is a stack of things that landed in 2026. It runs natively on WhatsApp and Telegram, as well as iMessage, worldwide and in both directions, and it can read and reply to your incoming messages or answer on your behalf. It gives every user a dedicated private VM, their own encrypted, isolated environment. And it treats memory as the product: an effectively infinite context window, one memory across every app, with a timeline, a map of your people and projects, and sources for what it learned.
On top of that memory sits what eden calls the world's first predictive intelligence algorithm: it anticipates the things you would want handled and gets ahead of them, rather than only reacting when you ask. It navigates the web far more capably than before, can control your on-device apps with data that never leaves the device, and can make phone calls on your behalf, including a friendly onboarding call that learns how you work. Purchases run through a credentials vault encrypted by eden's partners at 1Password, gated by a spend limit and an approval page, so you stay in control of every charge. eden does not train on your data, it is free to use in beta, and while in beta it adds no transaction fees on purchases made through it.
Best for: people whose messaging runs across WhatsApp, Telegram and the Meta apps, who want worldwide reach, the deepest memory of the group, and an assistant that acts before they ask. Trade-off: it is in beta and invite-only right now, so you may join a waitlist.
2. Instinct, for maximum autonomy
Instinct went viral by being aggressive about doing things for you, and the market has rewarded it: it raised a $1B round at a reported $10B valuation in 2026 with a tiny team, and has started adding phone calls and dedicated email addresses. For some people that momentum and autonomy are the appeal. The trade it asks for is data: its terms allow your information to be used for model training, and it acts on your card to buy and book more independently. If you are comfortable with that, it is worth a look. If you are not, it is the clearest example on this list of the opposite bet from eden on privacy.
Best for: people who want the most hands-off automation and accept the data trade. Trade-off: it trains on your data and transacts on your card, and it is invite-only.
3. Tomo, for accountability
Tomo is a different job from Poke. It leans more coach than intern: it tracks habits and goals, keeps budgets and streaks, and checks in proactively, though it will also handle some tasks like calendar, email and web lookups, and it is happy to sit in a group chat. It runs on iMessage and an iOS app, with no Android or WhatsApp, and it is paid, at $19.99 a month. If your problem is not "I have too much busywork" but "I do not follow through," Tomo is aimed at you.
Best for: people who want motivation and accountability, on Apple devices. Trade-off: it is iMessage and iOS only, and skews toward coaching over doing.
4. Grok Bot, a computer-use agent for power users
Grok Bot is easy to confuse with the @grok chatbot on X, but it is a separate product: xAI's computer-use agent, launched in 2026, that runs in its own desktop and mobile apps and drafts in Slack and email. It is powerful, and it is priced like it, reachable mainly through xAI's top SuperGrok Heavy tier (around $300 a month) or certain Cursor plans, not the cheap X Premium subscription. It is also not a text-it-in-your-chat-apps concierge; it lives in its own apps, not in your WhatsApp or iMessage threads with other people.
Best for: power users already on an xAI or Cursor top tier who want a capable computer-use agent. Trade-off: expensive, and it does not live in your everyday chat apps.
5. Town, for work and teams of agents
Town is the enterprise-leaning pick, and it has had a big year: it became a $1B company in 2026 and now ranks near the top of the independent benchmark. Its assistants, "Townies," each get their own email address and also take requests through Slack, WhatsApp and Telegram, so it is less email-only than it used to be. Its standout is team play: Townies can hand tasks off to each other. Town says it does not use your connected data to train models by default, and it keeps a permanent free plan.
Best for: work, and teams that want assistants coordinating with each other. Trade-off: it is built around how you work more than your personal life, with no memory-plus-prediction layer or ring.
6. OpenClaw, for self-hosting
OpenClaw is the open-source project that proved a lot of this was possible, and it is the pick for technical users who want full control and to run their own stack. The power is real, and so is the cost: you take on the ops, the maintenance and the security yourself. Most people want that capability without the burden, which is the gap productized assistants fill, but if you want to own every layer, OpenClaw is the honest answer.
Best for: engineers who want to self-host and control everything. Trade-off: you own the setup, upkeep and security.
The new heavyweights worth knowing
The biggest change in 2026 is who entered the category. On the main independent benchmark, the top is now held by well-funded newcomers, not the original texting startups. If you are shopping for a Poke alternative, these are worth a look:
- Muse (Meta) currently tops that benchmark. It works as an app and on WhatsApp, plans and acts in its own secure cloud environment, and routes payments so it never sees your card. The trade is whose ecosystem you are in.
- Dots (OpenAI) is built into ChatGPT, with its own cloud computer that works toward goals. Texting is still rolling out, and it is tied to a paid ChatGPT plan.
- Hark, from Figure's founder, is a memory-first assistant that launched as a polished app with a web agent for online tasks. It is an app more than a text-a-friend concierge.
- Pally is the closest pure analog to Poke and eden: no app, just iMessage, RCS and Telegram, with connected apps, a daily brief and automations, plus outbound calls on its top tier.
Where eden differs from this group is the combination: native WhatsApp and Telegram worldwide, one infinite-context memory, a predictive layer that acts before you ask, and a hardware ring you can tap and talk to, all free in beta.
How to choose
Two questions settle most of it. First, where do you message? If your world is iMessage, Poke and the newer texting assistants are at home there. If it is WhatsApp and the Meta apps, eden is built for that, worldwide and in both directions. Second, what do you want it to be: an intern that does the work, a coach that keeps you honest, a work tool, or a stack you host yourself? Pick the shape first, then the home, and the list narrows quickly.
Our perspective
We build eden, so take this with that in mind. Our bet is simple: the assistant you keep is the one that shows up where you already message, worldwide, remembers you well enough to run your day, and gets ahead of what you need. That is why we went wide on reach instead of deep on one platform, gave each person their own dedicated private VM, and built our own infinite-context memory with a predictive layer on top. On privacy we drew hard lines: we do not train on your data, and when eden transacts it does so from a credentials vault encrypted by 1Password, under a spend limit and an approval page you control. If a Poke alternative is what brought you here, those are the trade-offs we would weigh first, whichever one you choose.
Matthieu, eden
Where eden fits
If you want the reach of WhatsApp and the Meta apps, a dedicated private VM, an infinite-context memory that leads the public tests, and a predictive layer that acts before you ask, eden is built for exactly that. You can start with eden, confirm it is free to use, or read the full eden vs Poke comparison if Poke is still your reference point. For the wider field, our ranking of the best AI personal assistants of 2026 lays out the trade-offs, and the security page explains how your data is protected.
FAQ
Is there a free Poke alternative?
Yes. eden is free to use with no subscription while it is in closed beta, and OpenClaw is open source if you self-host. Poke itself has a Free Forever tier, with its more capable Pro and Ultra tiers paid. Decide whether you want free-and-managed, free-and-self-hosted, or a paid tier with a track record.
Which Poke alternative works best on WhatsApp?
eden is the strongest WhatsApp pick. It runs on WhatsApp worldwide and in both directions through an approved Meta business account, alongside Telegram and the other Meta apps. Poke only reaches WhatsApp in some countries and is iMessage-first.
Which one is best for privacy?
If privacy is the priority, look closely at whether a tool trains on your data and how it handles your card. eden does not train on your data, and when it transacts it works from a credentials vault encrypted by 1Password, under a spend limit and an approval page, with each user in their own dedicated private VM. Instinct sits at the other end, trading data and card access for autonomy.
Do these alternatives navigate the web for you?
Most can drive a real browser, which is what lets them work with sites that have no clean built-in connection. eden runs the web inside each user's own dedicated private VM, so your sessions stay signed in and isolated from everyone else's, and its web navigation got a lot stronger in 2026.
Recommended
Meet eden, your Concierge
It books, researches, clears your inbox, and remembers everything across every chat. Free in closed beta.
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