Verdict
Poke is added like a contact in Messages, WhatsApp, Telegram or RCS, then reads email, sets reminders and sends a morning summary when asked. TechCrunch reports users swapped over 100 million messages with it in three months, and in June 2026 Apple made it the first AI agent on Messages for Business. Paying users in user reviews say it started forgetting automations in mid-2026, and it now belongs to the coding firm Cognition.
Best for
Email and reminder help without installing another app
Skip if
Anyone uneasy about handing an inbox to a chatbot that trains on chats unless told not to
Key facts
- Category
- AI that does tasks for you
- Made by
- The Interaction Company of California (owned by Cognition)
- Based in
- United States
- Launched
- 2025
- Works on
- iPhone, Android, Web
- In the UK
- Yes
- Price from
- $19 a month
- Free plan
- Most features free, including email and calendar connections (poke.com FAQ)
Pricing
| Plan | Price | Billed |
|---|---|---|
| Pro (monthly) | $19 | month |
| Pro (billed yearly) | $16 | month |
| Ultra (monthly) | $199 | month |
| Ultra (billed yearly) | $160 | month |
What it does
- works as an assistant over text messages
- connects to email, calendar and apps such as Notion, GitHub and Linear
- runs automations in the background and sends proactive updates
- builds and publishes a personal website on request
- sends a real person to handle tasks like bookings and calls on the Ultra plan
What people say
Early adopters on X call it the best assistant they have used for email digests and health tracking, but user users said in July 2026 that it began forgetting automations after the Ultra plan launched. There are no store ratings to compare.
“i think @interaction (poke) is by far the best iteration of an AI assistant out there — truly a sub absolutely worth every penny (you can haggle with it and go pretty far)”
Post on X, 7 March 2026 · source
“Every morning at 9am it sends me a short summary of all my daily newsletters.”
Post on X, 25 February 2026 · source
“recently Poke has been forgetting how to do simple automations and basically breaking daily.”
Individual user review, 3 July 2026 · source
“It's been absolutely terrible ever since Ultra came out. It can't remember and it gets tangled up in just conversation.”
Individual user review, 3 July 2026 · source
“Also the tone is super annoying. Calls me “bro” and and says “my bad””
Individual user review, 6 July 2026 · source
Press reviews
- TechCrunch 2026-07-24
Bought by Cognition for its chatty personality; 100 million messages in three months from hundreds of thousands of users, but expensive to run and not yet profitable.
- TechCrunch 2026-10-10
Listed among text-message agents; notable as the first AI agent Apple approved for Messages for Business.
- Observer 2025-09-15
Works like any contact in iMessage or WhatsApp; the open question is whether people outside Silicon Valley want an assistant with no home-screen app.
Privacy
- Trains on your data
- Yes by default; the privacy notice lists training 'our artificial intelligence models' as a use of data, except for users who choose Maximum Privacy
- Opt-out
- Select the Maximum Privacy setting (privacy notice, updated 28 Oct 2025)
- Retention
- Kept 'no longer than reasonably necessary'; account deletion at poke.com/settings/privacy takes up to 24 hours, backups may take longer
- Age limit
- 13+ (privacy notice)
FAQ
Does Poke work in the UK?
Yes. Poke says it is available in all regions worldwide, and its privacy notice includes UK disclosures. WhatsApp access depends on the country.
Is Poke free?
Most features are free. Pro costs $19 a month and Ultra $199 a month, charged in dollars.
Does Poke need an app?
No. It works in Apple Messages, WhatsApp, Telegram and RCS text messaging, after signing up with a phone number at poke.com.
Does Poke read my email?
Only if connected. It supports Gmail and Outlook, and chats are used to train its models unless Maximum Privacy is switched on.
Who owns Poke?
The Interaction Company of California, which the AI coding company Cognition bought in July 2026.
Scores are based on published evidence, not lab tests. How we score.
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