vs
Pally vs Poke
The two assistants that live in your texts, and how to choose between them.
If you've decided you want an assistant you can text instead of another app to open, you've probably narrowed it down to Poke or Pally. Good news: both got the big thing right. Poke lives in Apple Messages, WhatsApp, and Telegram, connects to your email, calendar, and 30+ apps, and runs scheduled recipes and background automations. Pally lives in the thread your phone opens most, and in Telegram if that is where you would rather talk. Just text a number, and it pulls your messages, email, calendar, files, tasks, and the web into that one conversation.
The difference is in the feel, and in what happens after you hit send. Texting Pally feels like texting a person, typing indicators, read receipts and all; Poke's Apple Messages channel goes without them. And where Poke is built around chat and automations across your connected apps, Pally is built to finish things: it watches the inboxes you connect, including your own WhatsApp, completes web bookings and purchases you approve, and makes real phone calls for you.
Status: Poke was acquired by Cognition in July 2026. The assistant and its pricing remain live.
The short version
So, Poke or Pally?
The case for Poke
The clean way to choose: if you want to message your assistant over WhatsApp, pick Poke. It treats that app as home, and it's a polished product.
Visit PokeThe case for Pally
Otherwise, pick Pally. The conversation feels more natural, with typing indicators and read receipts where Poke's Apple channel has neither. And Pally goes further after you hit send: it watches your inboxes including your own WhatsApp, it's an assistant that calls people for you, with its own number you can call, and it takes a text like "find me a flight and book it" all the way to booked. Every feature is free, open to everyone now without a waitlist or invitation; Poke's paid tiers add frontier models and more automation headroom.
Feature by feature
What each assistant can actually do.
| Feature | Poke | Pally |
|---|---|---|
| Email triage and alerts | YesEmail and calendar connections start on the free plan. | YesFlags what needs you, summarizes the rest, alerts you in your texts. |
| Calendar and scheduling | YesCalendar connections, scheduling, tasks, and reminders. | YesChecks availability, books and moves events, preps your day. |
| Daily brief | YesScheduled recipes can send you digests. | YesA morning brief across email, calendar, and messages. |
| Native texting feel | PartialApple Messages, but without read receipts or typing indicators. | YesNative texts on iPhone and Android, typing indicators and read receipts included. |
| Your WhatsApp, watched | NoWhatsApp is a place to text Poke, not an inbox it manages for you. | YesConnect your own WhatsApp: catch-ups, alerts, approved replies. |
| Real phone calls | NoVoice notes, not calls made on your behalf. | YesIt calls businesses for you, and it gets its own number you can call. |
| Shopping and checkout | NoPoke works across your connected apps. It doesn't shop or check out for you. | YesFinds it, compares prices, and completes checkout you approve. |
| Travel and flights | Not a focusPoke doesn't find or book flights. | YesFlight search, price watching, flight-day alerts, and check-in. |
| Location reminders | Not a focusReminders tied to places aren't something Poke does. | YesReminders pinned to places, firing when you actually arrive. |
| People memory | PartialPoke remembers context. It doesn't keep a profile of each person in your life. | YesRemembers the people in your life and what matters to them. |
| Free | Free tierAll app connections are free. Paid tiers advertise frontier models and higher automation limits. | YesFree for everyone, with every feature and no waitlist or invitation. One generous usage limit refills continuously through the week. |
Credit where it is due
Where Poke shines.
Genuinely texting-native
Poke isn't a dashboard with notifications bolted on. Messaging is the whole interface, and with WhatsApp and Telegram in the mix, you can reach it from more chat apps than most assistants.
Automations you can see and name
Poke Recipes give repeated requests a visible identity. If you like the feeling of building a little system, scheduling it, and watching it run, Poke makes that genuinely satisfying.
Big backing
Cognition, the company behind the Devin coding agent, acquired Poke in July 2026. The product is live and now has the resources of a much larger AI company behind it.
Different by design
Where Pally is different.
Every Pally feature is free
Pally is free for everyone, with every feature and no waitlist or invitation. Poke has a free plan too, but its paid tiers add frontier models and higher limits for real-time automations. With Pally, daily briefs, inbox alerts, calls, and custom automations are all included.
A contact in WhatsApp, or your WhatsApp handled
You can text Poke from WhatsApp the way you'd text any contact. Pally goes the other direction: connect your own WhatsApp and it catches you up on what you missed, flags what needs you, and drafts replies you approve, right alongside your email and calendar.
Texts that end in phone calls
Pally can call the restaurant, the contractor, or the clinic for you and report back, and it gets its own phone number you can call. Poke's world is voice notes and digital automations. It doesn't pick up the phone.
The open web, not just your apps
Both can act across connected apps. Pally also researches the live web on your behalf, and it completes real bookings and purchases, showing you exactly what it's about to do before it does it.
Telling you versus handling it
Poke is proactive too, and its recipes are a genuinely nice way to make automations feel like yours. The difference is what proactive gets you. Poke tells you what's happening in your apps. Pally picks the loose end up: the message you forgot to answer arrives with a draft, the thing you promised Sam comes back with a plan.
Pricing
Compare the plan, not just the price.
Poke pricing
Poke has a permanent free plan with all app connections. Pro is $19 a month and adds frontier models for complex tasks and higher limits for real-time automations. Ultra is $199 a month, with frontier models for every action, the highest automation limits, and optional pay-as-you-go usage beyond its credits.
Check Poke's latest pricingAs of October 5, 2026
Pally pricing
Pally is free for everyone, with every feature. Open to everyone now, no waitlist or invitation. One generous usage limit refills continuously through the week.
See what's includedQuestions
Pally vs Poke FAQ.
Is Poke cheaper than Pally?+
Pally is free for everyone, with every feature and one generous usage limit that refills continuously through the week. Poke has a free plan, Pro at $19 a month, and Ultra at $199 a month. Paid Poke tiers add frontier models and higher automation limits. Pally includes daily briefs, alerts, calls, and custom automations free, without a waitlist or invitation.
Do Poke and Pally both work without an app?+
Yes. Neither asks you to install anything, and both talk to you over the texts you already use. Pally also connects your own WhatsApp as an inbox it watches for you.
What happened to Poke?+
Cognition, the company behind the Devin coding agent, acquired Poke in July 2026. The product is still live and sold on its own site. Cognition's main business is coding agents, so where Poke goes next is an open question.
So how does Pally make money?+
We plan to, over time, make money from merchants you buy from via Pally. However, we will never let them pay us to promote a less suitable option for you. Your privacy and trust will always come first.