Poke
The Interaction Company of California (Cognition) · Poke: Proactive AI Assistant You Text for Email, Calendar, and Reminders
Poke is a personal AI assistant that you text like a contact over Apple Messages, RCS, WhatsApp, or Telegram. It connects to Gmail or Outlook, your calendar, and apps such as Notion, Linear, and GitHub to triage email, schedule meetings, set reminders, and run automations, and on the paid Pro and Ultra plans it messages you first when something needs attention. It suits busy individuals who want an assistant in their texts rather than another app to open.
Best for
Busy individuals, founders, and developers who live in their messaging apps and want an assistant that watches Gmail or Outlook, their calendar, and personal or work apps, and texts them first when something needs attention
Not ideal for
Teams that need shared workspaces and admin controls, people on iCloud or Yahoo Mail, anyone who wants a self-hosted or open-source assistant, and people who want a free plan that texts them first, since proactive updates start on Pro
Who it's for
Individuals who want a proactive personal assistant inside their messaging app, plus developers who extend it with MCP servers, Recipes, and the Poke API
Capabilities
- Works as a contact in Apple Messages, RCS, Telegram, or WhatsApp (where available); you pick the channel in settings and text or send voice messages
- Reads, searches, drafts, and sends email across Gmail and Outlook, including replies with attachments, plus Gmail label management
- Checks availability, creates and manages calendar events (including recurring ones), and syncs contacts for Google and Microsoft accounts
- Proactive updates on Pro and Ultra: uses your connected services and its memory to text you first about important emails, due tasks, and automation results
- Reminders and background automations that run on a schedule, such as a daily summary of assigned Linear issues (real-time background automations on Pro and Ultra)
- Recipes: one-tap bundles that connect a service such as Notion, Linear, Todoist, Asana, GitHub, Sentry, Vercel, Netlify, Supabase, Ramp, Webflow, or Oura and set a starting behavior
- Custom integrations from any MCP server via the web app or the poke CLI, including a tunnel for local MCP servers
- Poke API: send instructions into your Poke conversation from scripts, webhooks, browser extensions, or CI jobs with a key created in Kitchen
- Kitchen for developers to build, publish, and share Recipes; published Recipes are eligible for payouts based on MCP usage by the people who install them
- Extras such as web search, tables and charts from data or screenshots, LaTeX PDFs, a poke.com email address, and simple personal websites Poke builds and publishes
- Poke Human on the Ultra plan: dispatches real-world tasks like restaurant reservations, phone calls, orders, and rides to a human operator
Limitations
- Email, calendar, and contact support covers Gmail and Outlook only; Poke's FAQ says there are no immediate plans for iCloud or Yahoo Mail
- Proactive updates, real-time background automations, and frontier models require Pro ($19/month); the Free plan has a small allowance and switches to a lighter mode once it is used
- Usage allowances for Free and Pro are not published in numbers, and the Ultra pricing pages do not state how many credits the plan includes
- WhatsApp availability has depended on region: in February 2026 Poke said WhatsApp was temporarily unavailable outside Italy and Brazil and offered Telegram instead, and its release notes have not posted an update since
- Poke's privacy notice lists training its AI models among the uses of personal data; data from users who select Maximum Privacy is excluded
- An account supports one phone number, and changing it means emailing support
- Poke Human is included only with Ultra ($199/month), and real-world expenses are deducted from your credit balance
- Built for individuals: no team workspaces, admin controls, or self-hosted deployment are documented
- Poke's release notes warn that it can make mistakes and is not qualified to give medical, financial, or legal advice
Use cases
- Getting a text when an important email lands so you no longer need to check the inbox
- Texting Poke to find a free slot and put a meeting on your Google or Outlook calendar
- Setting reminders and recurring check-ins by text or voice message while away from a laptop
- Receiving a morning summary of assigned Linear issues and due Todoist tasks
- Having a failed CI deploy trigger Poke through the API to open a ticket and notify you
- Asking Poke on Ultra to have a human book a restaurant table or make a phone call
Our take
Poke's advantage is placement: it sits in your texts, and it messages you first, which suits people who want the inbox and calendar watched for them rather than another chat window to visit. Recipes and MCP support give it more reach than most consumer assistants, and developers can wire it into their own tools. The limits are the Gmail and Outlook requirement, the need for Pro before it texts you first or runs real-time automations, allowances that are not published in numbers, and a privacy setting you have to change if you do not want your data used for training. Self-hosters will prefer OpenClaw, and teams will want a work-focused assistant with admin controls.
Who should use it
Individuals on Gmail or Outlook who want proactive help with email, scheduling, and reminders from their phone, people who already track tasks in apps like Notion, Linear, or Todoist, and developers who want to connect their own MCP servers or trigger an assistant from scripts.
Who should skip it
Teams that need shared workspaces and admin controls, users on iCloud or Yahoo Mail, people who want to self-host or choose their own model, and anyone uncomfortable granting a hosted service access to their inbox.
Strengths
- Lives in the messaging app you already use, so there is no new app to learn
- On Pro and Ultra, texts you first about important email, due tasks, and automation results
- Recipes make connecting apps a one-tap step, and any MCP server can be added
- Free plan with no credit card required
- Developer hooks: MCP, a CLI, the Poke API, and publishable Recipes
Weaknesses
- Only Gmail and Outlook are supported for email and calendar
- Proactive updates, background automations, and frontier models need the $19 Pro plan
- Usage allowances are not published in numbers
- Data may be used for model training unless you choose Maximum Privacy
- No team, admin, or self-hosted options are documented
Poke pricing
Free
$0
- No credit card required
- Connect your apps, email, and calendar
- Small usage allowance that refills automatically, then a lighter mode
- Proactive updates not included
Pro
$19
Billed monthly
- Proactive updates
- Frontier models for complex tasks
- Real-time automations running in the background
- Higher rate limits on a rolling allowance
- Priority support
Ultra
$199
Billed monthly
- Frontier models on every action
- Monthly credit pool (1 credit = $1 of usage) with pay-as-you-go top-ups and auto-reload
- Poke Human for real-world tasks
- Highest rate limits and highest-priority support
Free tier limits: Free includes a small usage allowance for light everyday use. When it runs out, Poke keeps responding in a lighter mode until the allowance refills automatically. Exact amounts are not published.
Note: Pro's allowance refills on a rolling basis, and heavier work waits until reset once it is used up. Ultra's included credits reset each monthly billing cycle and do not carry over; if they run out, Poke continues at the Pro experience or you can buy more credits. Poke Human expenses, such as rides or orders, are charged at cost with no markup and deducted from your credit balance. The pricing page also offers yearly billing.
Technical specs
Modalities
Text, Voice messages, Images
API pricing
The Poke API sends messages into your own Poke conversation using a key created in Kitchen; no separate API pricing is published
Where Poke excels
Inbox triage without opening email
With Gmail or Outlook connected and a Pro or Ultra plan, Poke can text you when something important arrives and draft or send a reply from the same thread, so you only open the inbox when you need to.
Scheduling by text
Asking Poke to find time with someone next week lets it check your calendar and create the event without switching apps.
Developer alerts that turn into actions
A CI job or webhook can call the Poke API on failure, and Poke can create a ticket in a connected tool and text you the details.
Poke vs. competitors
Poke vs. OpenClaw
OpenClaw is a free, open-source assistant you run yourself and connect to your own model, reachable through 20+ messaging channels. Poke is a hosted service: you sign up, connect Gmail or Outlook, and text it, with no server or API keys to manage, but you cannot self-host it or choose the model.
Poke vs. Lindy
Lindy is an AI teammate built around work: Slack threads, Gmail, meeting calls, and 1,000+ business app integrations, with iMessage as one channel. Poke is personal-first and lives entirely in your messaging app, with a free plan and Recipes for personal and developer apps.
Poke vs. Gemini Spark
Gemini Spark is Google's always-on agent for Gmail, Drive, Calendar, and other Google apps, bundled with Google AI Pro and Ultra subscriptions. Poke works over text messages, supports both Gmail and Outlook, has a free plan, and is not tied to a Google subscription.
Poke vs. Fo
Fo focuses on errands that involve other people, calling businesses and paying from its own phone number, email address, and cards. Poke is an everyday assistant for your own email, calendar, and apps, and covers real-world errands only through Poke Human on the Ultra plan.
Frequently asked questions
What is Poke?
Poke is a personal AI assistant from The Interaction Company of California that you message over Apple Messages, RCS, WhatsApp, or Telegram. It connects to your email, calendar, and other apps to manage email, schedule meetings, set reminders, search the web, and run automations, and it texts you first when something needs your attention.
How much does Poke cost?
Poke has a free plan with no credit card required and a small usage allowance. Pro costs $19 a month and adds proactive updates, frontier models, real-time background automations, higher rate limits, and priority support. Ultra costs $199 a month, runs frontier models on every action, includes a monthly pool of credits (1 credit equals $1 of usage) with pay-as-you-go top-ups, and includes Poke Human.
Which messaging apps does Poke work with?
Poke's docs list Apple Messages, Telegram, WhatsApp, and RCS, and you choose the channel in your messaging settings. WhatsApp availability has varied by region: in February 2026 Poke said it was temporarily unavailable outside Italy and Brazil and offered Telegram as an alternative, so check the messaging settings for what is offered where you live.
Which email and calendar accounts can Poke connect to?
Poke fully supports Gmail and Outlook inboxes, calendars, and contact sync. Its FAQ says there are no immediate plans to support other providers such as iCloud or Yahoo Mail.
Can developers extend Poke?
Yes. You can connect any MCP server from the web app or with the poke CLI, including local servers through a tunnel, build and publish Recipes in the Kitchen, and send instructions to your Poke from scripts, webhooks, or CI with the Poke API.
Does Poke use my data to train AI models?
Poke's privacy notice lists training its AI models among the uses of personal data and says data from users who select Maximum Privacy will not be used for model training.
Who owns Poke?
Poke is made by The Interaction Company of California, which joined Cognition, the maker of Devin, in July 2026. Poke and Cognition both say the product continues to work as before.
Integrations & fit
Alternatives to consider
OpenClaw Foundation
Technical users who want a private, self-hosted AI assistant they fully control, running through their own messaging apps and model of choice
Free
Lindy
Individual professionals and small teams who want an AI assistant that works across their actual email, calendar, and CRM without building explicit automation flows
Paid
Heavy users of Gmail, Drive, and Calendar on personal AI Pro or Ultra accounts who want inbox, file, and scheduling chores delegated to a standing agent
PaidAbout Poke
Poke does not ask you to open a separate app. You sign up on poke.com, connect a Gmail or Outlook account, and from then on Poke is a contact in your messaging app: Apple Messages, RCS, WhatsApp, or Telegram, chosen in settings. You text or send a voice message, and it reads, searches, and drafts email, checks your availability and books meetings, sets reminders, searches the web, and works with the apps you connect. What sets it apart from a chatbot is that, on the Pro and Ultra plans, it starts conversations: using your connected services and its memory, it texts you when an important email arrives, a task is due, or an automation finds something, so you can stop checking the inbox yourself. Integrations come as Recipes, one-tap bundles that connect a service (Notion, Linear, Todoist, Asana, GitHub, Sentry, Vercel, Ramp, Oura, and others) and give Poke a starting behavior such as a morning summary of assigned Linear issues. Developers can connect any MCP server from the web app or the poke CLI, publish their own Recipes from the Kitchen and earn payouts from the MCP usage of people who install them, and trigger Poke from scripts, webhooks, or CI through the Poke API. Recent additions let Poke build and publish a simple personal website, give you a poke.com email address, and, on the Ultra plan, hand real-world tasks such as reservations or phone calls to a human operator through Poke Human. Poke is made by The Interaction Company of California, which joined Cognition, the maker of Devin, in July 2026; both say the product works as before. The tradeoffs: email and calendar support covers Gmail and Outlook only, proactive updates, real-time background automations, and frontier models need the $19 Pro plan, usage allowances are not published in numbers, WhatsApp availability has depended on region, and the privacy notice allows personal data to be used for model training unless you select Maximum Privacy. It fits individuals who want proactive help across email, calendar, and personal apps from their phone, and fits less well for teams that need admin controls or anyone who wants to self-host.
Updates from Poke
The Interaction Company of California, the maker of Poke, joined Cognition, the maker of Devin. Poke says the product works exactly as before, and Cognition says its models and infrastructure will make Poke faster and more reliable over time.
Poke can bring in a real person for tasks such as restaurant reservations, phone calls, orders, and rides. Poke Human is included with Ultra, and real-world expenses are charged at cost.
Poke added the $199/month Ultra plan with frontier models on every action and pay-as-you-go usage, and Poke can now build and publish personal websites.
Poke became available on Apple Messages, which it describes as the first and only AI product verified on the platform.
Poke opened to everyone without a waitlist and introduced Recipes for setting up integrations and automations and sharing them with others.
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