Inbox and calendar triage
Check messages, draft replies, find commitments and create or adjust events through a familiar text thread.
Independent tool overview
Poke at a glance
Poke is a proactive personal AI assistant that works through Apple Messages, WhatsApp, Telegram and RCS. After connecting services such as email, calendar and Notion, users can ask it to search, summarize, draft, schedule, remind and trigger multi-step recipes without opening another app. The convenience comes with meaningful authority and privacy risk: Poke can see connected information and may take external actions, so sensitive data, permissions, automations and outgoing messages need deliberate controls.
Visit the official Poke site ↗
- Product type
- Proactive, messaging-native AI assistant
- Messaging channels
- Apple Messages, WhatsApp, Telegram and RCS
- Core connections
- Email, calendar and app integrations
- Free plan
- $0; no card required
- Pro plan
- $19 per month
- Owner
- The Interaction Company, now part of Cognition
- Last reviewed
- August 31, 2026
Overview
What Poke is
Poke behaves more like a contact than a conventional dashboard. Users send text or voice messages, and the assistant can use connected services and its memory to answer or act. Pro adds background automations; developers can build recipes, connect MCP servers or send programmatic messages into the assistant through Poke's API.
The company now offers Free, $19-per-month Pro and $199-per-month Ultra plans. Free keeps responding in a lighter mode after its small allowance is consumed, Pro uses a rolling allowance and degrades for demanding work when exhausted, and Ultra uses non-rollover monthly credits with optional paid top-ups. Exact allowance quantities are visible in the user's subscription page rather than published in the public documentation.
The Interaction Company, which makes Poke, joined Cognition in July 2026. Both companies said Poke would continue operating as before while Cognition's models and infrastructure are integrated. The ownership change makes current privacy, terms, integrations and account controls worth rechecking over time.
Use cases
Who Poke is best for
The strongest fit depends on the job you need the product to complete, not the size of its feature list.
Personal recurring workflows
Set reminders and proactive recipes that monitor connected services and surface relevant updates on a schedule.
Technical users extending an assistant
Connect custom services through Kitchen, MCP servers or an inbound API without building a messaging interface from scratch.
Capabilities
Core Poke features
Messaging-native access
Runs inside supported native messaging channels so users can work by text or voice without a dedicated app workflow.
Email and calendar actions
Searches, summarizes and drafts email, checks availability, schedules meetings and manages reminders after authorization.
Proactive automations
Pro and Ultra can run background recipes and notify the user when connected signals or schedules warrant attention.
Memory and personalization
Uses prior interactions and connected context to tailor suggestions and timing over an ongoing assistant relationship.
Recipes and integrations
Packages repeatable workflows and connections that can be created, adapted and shared through Poke Kitchen.
API and MCP extension
Lets developers send structured triggers to the assistant and connect additional tools, with the assistant retaining access to its authorized services.
Poke Human
Ultra can escalate selected real-world tasks such as reservations, calls, orders or rides to a person; expenses are charged at cost according to release notes.
Process
How the Poke workflow works
Step 1
Start with read-only access
Connect one low-risk account and test search, summary and reminders before authorizing sending, editing, purchasing or broader integrations.
Step 2
Define approval boundaries
Require confirmation before every external message, booking, purchase, calendar change, deletion or action involving another person.
Step 3
Build narrow recipes
Limit each automation to a clear trigger, approved data source, expected action, frequency cap and recipient or destination.
Step 4
Inspect proactive output
Check alerts, drafts and proposed actions for hallucinated context, outdated information, wrong recipients, duplicate events and overconfident priority judgments.
Step 5
Audit and revoke
Review connected accounts, API keys, MCP servers, memory, message channels, automations, usage and paid top-ups regularly; remove anything no longer needed.
Cost
Poke pricing and free plan
Poke publishes three monthly plans. Public pages do not state exact Free or Pro allowance quantities; the account subscription page shows current usage and resets. Ultra credits equal $1 of model usage, expire at each monthly reset and can be supplemented with paid top-ups or auto-reload.
Free
$0/month
Light daily use with all core Poke access and no credit card requirement.
- Connect email, calendar and other supported apps
- Small unpublished usage allowance
- Continues in a lighter mode after the allowance
- Allowance refills automatically
Pro
$19/month
Heavier everyday use with frontier models and proactive background work.
- Frontier models for complex tasks
- Real-time background automations
- Higher rate limits
- Priority support
- Rolling allowance shown in account
Ultra
$199/month
Highest-capacity plan with frontier models on every action and optional overage usage.
- Monthly credit pool; 1 credit equals $1 of usage
- Unused included credits do not roll over
- Paid top-ups and optional auto-reload
- Falls back to Pro after included credits are used
- Poke Human access documented
Pricing checked . Check current pricing at the source ↗
Assessment
Poke strengths and limitations
Where it stands out
- Places email, calendar, reminders and connected-service actions in a channel people already check throughout the day.
- Proactive recipes can surface important work without requiring the user to remember to open an assistant.
- Free access includes core connections and does not stop responding entirely after the allowance is reached.
- Kitchen, MCP and API options support unusually flexible personal integrations for an end-user assistant.
- The service is active after joining Cognition, with both companies promising continuity and infrastructure improvements.
What to consider
- Connecting email, calendar, messaging and other services gives one assistant a broad view of personal and professional life and increases the impact of a mistake or compromised account.
- Poke's terms say the service is not designed for protected health information, government identifiers, GLBA-regulated financial data, children's protected data or similar sensitive information.
- AI can invent facts, misunderstand intent, select the wrong recipient or take an inappropriate action; consequential changes should require explicit human confirmation.
- Free and Pro allowance quantities are not publicly specified, making real capacity and value difficult to compare before account use.
- Ultra's unused included credits expire, and auto-reload or human-executed tasks can create additional charges beyond the subscription.
- Custom recipes, API inputs and MCP servers widen the trust boundary; a malicious or poorly scoped integration can expose data or trigger unwanted actions.
- Poke is not qualified for medical, financial or legal advice and should not autonomously make employment, housing, insurance, education, credit or other high-impact decisions.
Compare
Poke alternatives
The right alternative depends on the specific output, workflow, controls and budget your project requires.
Agents
Openclaw 2.0
Consider OpenClaw 2.0 when open-source deployment and deeper infrastructure control matter more than Poke's managed, messaging-first convenience.
Explore Openclaw 2.0 →Business Operations
ChatGPT
Consider ChatGPT when a broad creation and research workspace is more important than proactive SMS-style automation across connected personal services.
Explore ChatGPT →Questions
Poke FAQs
What does Poke do?
Poke is an AI assistant in Apple Messages, WhatsApp, Telegram and RCS that can work with connected email, calendar and other apps to answer questions, draft, schedule, remind and run automations.
How much does Poke cost?
On August 31, 2026, Poke offered Free at $0, Pro at $19 per month and Ultra at $199 per month. Allowances and paid Ultra overages should be checked in the account subscription page.
What happens when I reach the Poke limit?
Free and Pro continue in a lighter mode until their allowances refill. Ultra falls back to the Pro experience after its included credits are used, unless the user buys credits or enables auto-reload.
Can Poke send email and schedule meetings?
Yes, after the relevant accounts are connected. Start with draft-only or read-only tasks and require confirmation before any message, invitation, change, cancellation or purchase is sent externally.
Is Poke private enough for sensitive information?
Poke publishes privacy protections, but its terms explicitly say the service is not designed for several regulated sensitive-data categories. Minimize connected data and do not send protected health, government-ID, regulated financial or similar sensitive information.
Who owns Poke?
The Interaction Company built Poke and joined Cognition in July 2026. Poke remains active, and the companies said it would continue working as before while Cognition infrastructure is integrated.
Can developers extend Poke?
Yes. Poke Kitchen supports recipes and custom integrations, the product documents MCP connections and its inbound API can send structured messages to the assistant. Protect keys and tightly limit what every integration can access or trigger.
Bottom line
Our Poke verdict
Poke is one of the clearest examples of an AI assistant becoming useful through placement and proactivity rather than a larger chat window. For low-risk inbox, scheduling and reminder work, texting an authorized assistant can remove real friction. That same convenience makes careful setup essential: connect the minimum data, keep external actions behind confirmation, cap automation frequency and spend, and audit every integration as if it were a person with access to your accounts.
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