Best Poke Alternative in 2026
The same texting habit, with more room to work.
Poke got the interface right: talk to an assistant where you already chat. The Interaction Company built something people liked, Apple approved it as the first AI agent on Messages for Business, and Cognition acquired the company in July 2026. People searching for a Poke alternative usually want to keep the texting habit while gaining what a chat thread cannot hold: a full app when the work gets long, workflows they can see and edit, control over memory, and code they can inspect.
Why people look for Poke alternatives
- −Everything happens in a chat thread, with no web or desktop app for longer work
- −A proprietary service whose roadmap changed hands with the Cognition acquisition
- −No way to self-host it or read how your data is handled
- −Little visibility into what it remembers about you
- −It cannot look at your screen or work on your computer
How well does GAIA replace Poke?
Honest fit score based on feature overlap
4/5
What GAIA replaces from Poke
- ✔Poke routines that need a bigger screen to review or edit
- ✔Copying Poke's answers into email, calendar and tasks by hand
- ✔Automations you cannot see or change outside the chat
- ✔Desktop work no chat-only assistant can reach
GAIA vs Poke: Feature Comparison
| Feature | GAIA | Poke |
|---|---|---|
| Core approach | Answers and outcomes: email, calendar, tasks and workflows handled from chat, web or desktop | A text-based assistant from The Interaction Company, acquired by Cognition in July 2026; you reach it in Messages, WhatsApp and Telegram |
| Proactive automation | Workflows on a schedule or triggered by Gmail, Calendar, Slack, GitHub, Linear and more | Proactive nudges from connected email, calendar and apps; background automations on its paid plan |
| Integrations | Gmail, Outlook, Slack, Notion, GitHub, Todoist, Asana, Linear and more, plus custom MCP servers | Gmail, Google Calendar, Outlook, Notion, Linear, GitHub and more, plus custom integrations through MCP and shareable recipes |
| Memory | Preferences and people remembered across every app, visible and editable in settings | Uses memory of past chats; what it stores and how you edit it is not documented publicly |
| Source-available | Source-available with Docker self-hosting, so the assistant cannot be taken away | Proprietary, cloud-only |
| Workflow automation | Multi-step workflows you can see and edit in the app | Recipes and plain-English automations, set up and run inside the chat |
| Where you use it | iMessage, WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Discord, web, and desktop for macOS, Windows and Linux | No app to install; everything happens in Messages, WhatsApp or Telegram |
Where GAIA goes further
- +Texts in iMessage, WhatsApp and Telegram, plus web and desktop apps
- +Workflows triggered by Gmail, Calendar, Slack, GitHub and more
- +Memory you can see, edit and delete
- +A desktop app that can see your screen and use your clipboard
- +Source-available and self-hostable via Docker
How to migrate from Poke to GAIA
- 1List the Poke routines you use most each week
- 2Connect Gmail or Outlook, your calendar and your task tool to GAIA
- 3Rebuild the most-used routine as a GAIA workflow
- 4Link iMessage, WhatsApp or Telegram and text GAIA from then on
Frequently Asked Questions
More Alternatives to Consider
People Also Consider
Guides in the Docs
Want a side-by-side feature comparison? See GAIA vs Poke →
