The best AI assistants you can text in 2026
Texting is the easiest way to use an AI assistant: no app to learn, no password, just a message like you'd send a friend. "Can you find a dentist near me who takes my insurance and book a cleaning for next week?"
But what happens after you hit send differs a lot. Some assistants set a reminder and answer questions. Some read your inbox and calendar. A few go out and do the job: email the business, fill in the form, chase the reply, then text you when it's done. Here's how the ones you can text compare.
The list
Your Own AI Assistant · Best for getting the job done by text
You text it (iMessage or SMS) or email it, the way you'd ask a person. It has its own email address that anyone can write to and its own cloud computer with a web browser, so it can do the job itself: look things up, fill in forms, open accounts, deal with support pages, and phone a business when that's quicker.
It keeps working after you put your phone down. Ask it to get three quotes for the fence and it emails the companies, waits, chases the slow one, and texts you the comparison. It keeps notes about you between jobs and can follow up at a time you set.
Good for: Errands that take days: quotes, refunds, bookings, forms, follow-ups.
Watch out for: Plans start at $99 a month after the free trial (no card, up to $250 of use or 14 days), and plain SMS from some Android phones has been less reliable than iMessage.
Price: Free trial (no card); then from $99 a month
Poke · Best free texting assistant
Poke lives in Apple Messages, WhatsApp and Telegram, and most of its features are free. It connects to Gmail or Outlook, Google Calendar, Notion and Todoist, sets reminders from a text or voice message, and reaches out first when something needs you.
Paid plans ($19 and $199 a month) add stronger models, background automations and Poke Human, where people help with real-world tasks.
Good for: Reminders, calendar and inbox help from the texting app you already use.
Watch out for: No email address or computer of its own on the pages we checked, and iCloud and Yahoo Mail aren't supported.
Price: Free: $0; Pro: $19/month; Ultra: $199/month
Instinct · Closest rival for errands
Instinct is a personal assistant you text or call. It orders groceries, books trains, sends flowers and handles returns, and since September 2026 you can claim an email address for it that it uses to contact businesses and follow up.
TechCrunch reports partnerships with 1Password, to sign in to your accounts, and Stripe, to pay for bookings and purchases.
Good for: People who want errands done, including paying, and are fine giving wide account access.
Watch out for: No published price, and by default its terms allow your materials to be used for AI training unless you opt out.
Price: Not published: not published
Martin · Best for calendar and email by text or call
Martin manages your calendar, email, to-dos and reminders. You reach it by SMS, WhatsApp, phone call, email, Slack or its iOS app, and it can connect up to 5 Gmail and 5 Outlook accounts.
It sends email briefings, drafts and replies to mail, does wake-up calls, and can text and call other people for you. Basic is $35 a month and Pro $49, with a 7-day free trial.
Good for: Busy people juggling several inboxes who like voice and phone calls.
Watch out for: No email address of its own, and the Basic plan handles only 2 tasks at a time.
Price: Basic: $35/month ($21/month billed yearly); Pro: $49/month ($30/month billed yearly)
Lindy · Best for work teams
Lindy is a work assistant you can text (iMessage on iPhone, SMS on any phone), call, or @mention in Slack. It connects to more than 1,500 apps and does things like answering leads, chasing invoices and taking meeting notes, and it can drive a browser where an app has no connection.
Team is $49.99 per active user a month, after $50 of free credits for 7 days.
Good for: Small teams who want one assistant across Slack, phone and texts.
Watch out for: Credits per job range from 2 to 2,500, so monthly costs are hard to predict, and work pauses when the pool runs out.
Price: Free: $0; Team: $49.99 per active user per month; Enterprise: Custom
Howie · Best for scheduling by text
Howie is a scheduler. CC it on an email or text it over iMessage or SMS, and it finds a time, handles the back-and-forth, follows up when people go quiet and sends the invite.
It starts at $25 a month with $25 of free credits.
Good for: People with lots of outside meetings.
Watch out for: It's mainly a scheduler, and its page lists Google Calendar but doesn't say Outlook.
Price: Team: from $25/month; Custom assistant email (add-on): +$20/month; Enterprise: Custom
Genspark · Best on WhatsApp, Telegram and Signal
Genspark Claw is a personal assistant you chat with on WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Teams, Signal and others. Each Claw gets its own email address and can run around the clock on its own cloud computer.
Genspark can also phone businesses for you (Call For Me, on Plus and up).
Good for: People who live in WhatsApp or Telegram and want a 24/7 assistant.
Watch out for: Not iMessage, per its help page, and the always-on cloud computer is a separate subscription with no price on its help page.
Price: Free: $0; Plus: $24.99/month ($19.99/month billed $239.99 a year); Pro: $249.99/month ($199.99/month billed $2,399.99 a year)
Muse · Newest errand agent in WhatsApp (US only)
Muse, from Meta, is a personal agent you can use inside WhatsApp chats in the US, as well as in its own app. It works on its own cloud computer with a full browser, keeps your logins in a store it can't read, and asks before sending email or buying.
It's free with a usage limit; TechCrunch reports paid tiers at $20 and $100 a month, which Meta's own pages don't list.
Good for: US WhatsApp users who want errands handled with strong card safeguards.
Watch out for: US only, no email address of its own yet (Meta says one is coming), and Amazon has blocked it from shopping on Amazon.com.
Price: Free: $0; Power: $20/month (reported); Maximum: $100/month (reported)
The top picks side by side
| Your Own AI Assistant | Poke | Instinct | Martin | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | A personal AI assistant with its own email address and its own computer: you text or email it a job, it does the work and writes back. | A personal AI assistant that lives in your text messages and connects to your email, calendar and apps. | A personal AI assistant you text or call, which then does errands and tasks for you. | A personal AI assistant you text, call or email to manage your calendar, inbox, to-dos and reminders. |
| Price | Free trial (no card); then from $99 a month | Free: $0; Pro: $19/month; Ultra: $199/month | Not published: not published | Basic: $35/month ($21/month billed yearly); Pro: $49/month ($30/month billed yearly) |
| Free to try | Free trial, no card: up to $250 of use or 14 days | Free plan (most features) | No price published; the terms say some features cost money | 7-day free trial |
| Does the task itself | Yes on its own computer and browser, end to end | partly acts in your connected apps and runs automations; real-world tasks go through Poke Human on paid plans | yes it books, orders, signs up and contacts businesses for you | partly schedules, emails, texts and calls people for you; not shown doing tasks on other websites |
| Its own email address | Yes its own address people can write to | no it works with your own Gmail or Outlook (no Poke address found on the pages we checked) | yes each user can claim an address for the assistant (since Sept 2026) | no you forward emails to it from your own registered address |
| You can text it | Yes you text it like a person | yes Apple Messages, WhatsApp and Telegram | yes you text or call it | yes SMS and WhatsApp |
| Its own computer and browser | Yes its own cloud computer with a browser | no not described on the pages we checked | partly its home page says it can use a phone and computer the way you do; it does not say how | no |
| Remembers you | Keeps notes about you and your jobs between conversations | Keeps memories about you and uses them with your apps to help at the right time | Its home page says it learns what you are working on and what matters to you; its Vault keeps materials you add | Keeps notes and to-dos; its docs don't describe longer-term memory |
| Where it lives | Text (iMessage, SMS) and email; no app to install | Apple Messages, WhatsApp, Telegram; settings on poke.com | text messages and phone calls; web workspace at app.instinct.com | SMS, phone calls, WhatsApp, email, Slack, iOS app, web |
How we chose
We asked the same questions of every assistant you can text. Once you send the message, does it do the job itself, or hand you a list of steps? Can other people reach it, at an email address of its own, while it waits for a reply? Does it keep going for days, chasing and reminding, without you checking in? And what does it really cost after the trial?
We took every price and feature from the maker's own pages (and, where noted, TechCrunch's reporting) and dated them. We left out assistants we couldn't text over SMS, iMessage or a common messaging app.
Questions people ask
- Is there a free AI assistant I can text?
- Yes. Poke's free plan covers most of its features over Apple Messages, WhatsApp and Telegram. Our assistant has a free trial with no card, up to $250 of use or 14 days.
- Can a texting assistant actually do things, or just remind me?
- Some only remind and answer. Our assistant and Instinct go out and do errands: they have email addresses of their own and contact businesses for you. Our assistant also has its own computer and can phone a business.
- Do these work on Android?
- Most work by SMS on any phone. Poke and Genspark Claw also work in WhatsApp and Telegram. Plain SMS to our assistant from some Android phones has been less reliable than iMessage; email always works.
Updated 2026-11-08. Every product fact is from the maker's own pages, linked on each tool's page.
Want an assistant that does the job, not just the draft?
Our pick gets its own email address and its own computer. You text it the job; it does the work and texts you back.
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