A new wave of artificial intelligence assistants is quietly reshaping how people manage their daily lives - not through yet another app competing for space on a home screen, but through the messaging platforms people already use every day. These agents work over SMS, iMessage, WhatsApp, Telegram, and similar services, responding to plain-language requests the same way a friend or colleague might. They can remember previous conversations, connect to third-party apps and services, and carry out tasks on a user's behalf - from scheduling appointments and booking restaurants to researching travel and sending emails.

The category has attracted significant investor attention. Instinct, one of the most prominent names in the space, recently closed a $1 billion funding round that put its valuation at $10 billion. But Instinct is far from alone. Dozens of startups are now competing for a share of this emerging market, each with its own angle - whether that is family organization, travel planning, content creation, or enterprise productivity. Below is a comprehensive look at the most notable AI agents currently operating inside your text messages.

Ask Proxy

Ask Proxy positions itself around a concept it describes as thinking "like a woman" - meaning the service is built to anticipate user needs proactively, rather than simply waiting to respond. The assistant operates like a conversational contact you can text for anything from gift recommendations and event planning to weekend activity ideas. Users can ask it to add dates to a calendar, set reminders, or help work through everyday decisions. It also accepts photos - send it a picture of an empty table, for example, and it can offer suggestions for setting it up ahead of a dinner party.

What separates Ask Proxy from a standard chatbot is its outreach capability. The service can initiate contact when it detects something a user might have overlooked, or when it identifies a restaurant, activity, or experience that may be of interest. There is also a business-facing version aimed at helping employees work more efficiently while keeping personal data off company infrastructure.

The personal plan costs $1 per day. Business pricing begins at $15 per employee per month for large organizations and $23 per employee per month for smaller teams with fewer than 49 employees. Ask Proxy operates over standard SMS - users can get started by texting "start" to 820-732-2625.

Caddy

Caddy is built around the idea that a lot of useful information already exists across a person's phone - it just never gets acted on. The assistant lives inside iMessage for iPhone users and RCS for Android users, removing the need for a separate application or dedicated inbox.

Caddy connects to a user's calendars and messaging threads, scanning for items that may require follow-up. An email containing an appointment, or a friend's message with a shopping list, can both be captured and converted into calendar entries, reminders, or tracked tasks. It can also conduct research on a user's behalf. Caddy entered public beta in April 2026.

Comma

Comma is designed to handle tasks across both professional and personal contexts, and it is built to carry those tasks through from start to finish rather than simply providing suggestions. The assistant monitors its own progress and determines when a task has been completed, surfacing results for user review whenever a decision or approval is required. It also sends proactive notifications and recommends next steps.

Comma can operate across a user's browser, computer files, and local applications, while remaining accessible remotely through messaging platforms including Signal, Telegram, and WeChat. It retains memory and context across devices and conversations, and can deliver daily briefings, flag urgent items, and summarize recorded calls. Comma is free to use and open source.

Fambot

Fambot describes itself as an AI-powered chief of staff for families. It is designed to pull together the many overlapping responsibilities of family life - school communications, sports schedules, meal planning, shared calendars, and routine household tasks - and turn them into a coherent, organized plan.

The service works through both a dedicated app and text messaging, and is available on iOS, Android, and the web. Each evening, Fambot automatically sends a summary of the following day's schedule, including upcoming events, to-do items, and specific details such as uniform requirements or items that need to be packed. Parents can respond directly to those messages to ask questions, check on details, or update their calendar.

Fambot currently integrates with Gmail, Google Calendar, Outlook, and WhatsApp, with Apple Calendar support planned for a future update. The company launched in beta in early September 2026 and has raised $3.5 million in pre-seed funding. The service is free during the beta period, with plans to eventually charge a fee comparable to a standard streaming subscription.

Folk

Folk is an AI assistant accessible through iMessage, WhatsApp, and Telegram. It can retain personal context over time, manage reminders, research topics, track flights, handle email, and complete real-world tasks such as making restaurant reservations.

One notable technical detail is that Folk runs on its own private cloud computer. This allows it to execute code and carry out multi-step tasks rather than simply generating conversational responses. Folk launched its beta in May 2026. It is available for free, with a Pro subscription at $8.33 per month for users who want unlimited background tasks.

Instinct

Instinct first drew widespread attention after raising $350 million at a $2.5 billion valuation. In September 2026, it followed that with a $1 billion round that pushed its valuation to $10 billion, making it one of the most heavily funded AI agent companies in the current market.

The assistant is designed to take action rather than just answer questions. Users can communicate with it by text or voice and connect it to the apps and services they already use, including email, calendar, and Google Workspace. According to the company, early users have put Instinct to work on everything from planning trips and buying groceries to booking tickets and canceling unwanted subscriptions.

In September 2026, Instinct began assigning users dedicated email addresses for their AI assistants. The purpose is to allow the agent to create and manage accounts on a user's behalf without cluttering the user's personal inbox. The agent can use its own address to sign up for services, contact businesses, follow up on outstanding requests, and handle tasks that require an active email account. This level of autonomy has, however, prompted questions around privacy and security. The company has also begun rolling out support for placing phone calls. Instinct remains in private beta.

Iris

Iris is powered by the Hermes Agent framework and is built to let users delegate tasks directly through iMessage. Users connect the apps they rely on and hand over a task with a plain-language message. The agent then works through the required steps, retaining relevant context from previous conversations so users do not need to repeat themselves. Iris is also designed to follow up proactively, rather than waiting for the user to check in.

Martin

Martin is a general-purpose personal assistant reachable through SMS, phone calls, WhatsApp, email, Slack, and a dedicated iOS app. It can manage calendars, email, reminders, tasks, notes, and communications, and it can act on a user's behalf by sending messages or placing phone calls. Martin also provides daily summaries highlighting what needs attention. Subscriptions start at $21 per month, placing it at the higher end of the pricing range for this category.

Maverick

Maverick describes itself as an AI companion that lives inside a user's text messages, functioning as a personal assistant for everyday tasks. It can fix typos, cancel subscriptions, schedule meetings from voice notes, and help group chats coordinate on a shared date or plan. A notable design choice is that Maverick requests explicit permission from the user before taking any action on their behalf.

The platform supports hundreds of integrations, including Discord, Gmail, and Slack, allowing it to connect with the tools users already rely on. Maverick is currently in beta and free to use on iMessage. A Pro tier is available for approximately 27 euros per month (roughly $30.25 USD), which includes 500 tasks per month, up to 20 connected apps, scheduled tasks, and persistent memory.

Miso

Miso applies the personal-assistant model specifically to travel. It operates through iMessage and combines AI-driven trip planning with access to a dedicated human travel team. Users can arrange flights through messaging, and Miso factors in their travel preferences, loyalty program points, and other priorities when making suggestions. The service also keeps travelers informed with trip details, real-time flight updates, and personalized recommendations throughout their journey.

Ohai

Ohai is a family-focused assistant designed to help households manage the ongoing flow of information and tasks that comes with everyday family life. Users can send messages, forward emails, or make voice requests, and the assistant converts them into organized schedules, reminders, and action plans. It can also coordinate calendars, household chores, and meal planning across multiple family members.

Ohai includes a free basic option and offers tiered subscription plans based on family size, starting at $9.99 per month.

Ollie

Ollie takes a similar approach to other family-oriented agents, built on the premise that families already possess the information they need - it is just scattered across school messages, shared calendars, task lists, and group chats. Ollie is designed to consolidate those sources and keep them synchronized, surfacing relevant information to users through text messages. It can manage calendars, emails, reminders, tasks, and other household details.

A key differentiator for Ollie is its security posture. The company says Ollie is among the first mainstream family-focused AI assistants to achieve SOC 2 compliance, a widely recognized security standard. Launched in June 2026, Ollie offers a free tier as well as paid plans starting at $25 per month for 150 messages. A higher-tier plan at $100 per month supports up to 1,000 messages.

Orbits

Orbits is another household-focused AI assistant that works through both a dedicated app and text messaging. It can bring together calendars, to-do lists, and conversations while also executing tasks directly - including searching the web, making purchases, booking restaurants, changing appointments, and requesting quotes for home services.

Beyond basic household coordination, Orbits can remind family members about chores, communicate with external service providers, and help manage responsibilities that extend beyond the immediate household. The company counts Andreessen Horowitz's a16z Speedrun fund, N49P, and Garage Capital among its investors.

Pally

Pally is designed to feel like a conversation with a trusted contact rather than a formal productivity tool. Users give it access to the apps they already depend on, and it connects information spread across services such as WhatsApp, Gmail, calendars, and Google Drive. The assistant helps users track plans, receipts, important dates, files, and other details that tend to get buried across multiple platforms. A free plan is available. Pally works over iMessage, RCS, and Telegram.

Poke

Poke launched in March 2026 as a general-purpose text-based assistant capable of handling tasks related to calendars, planning, health and fitness, smart-home controls, photos, and other everyday activities.

The service gained broader attention in June 2026 when Apple approved Poke as the first AI agent on the Apple Messages for Business platform - a significant milestone in the text-based AI category. The following month, its parent company, The Interaction Company of California, was acquired by AI coding startup Cognition in a deal valued in the low nine figures.

Rene

Rene is positioned as an AI personal assistant that aims to function as a user's most useful contact rather than a conventional productivity agent. It is text-based and converts natural-language conversations into tasks, reminders, summaries, and follow-up actions. Rene maintains context across conversations, allowing it to remember details from earlier exchanges and surface relevant information when it becomes useful again.

Beyond task management, Rene includes a built-in browser, can write and execute code, shop on a user's behalf, and create presentations and images. It is currently available through iMessage, Telegram, and WhatsApp.

Skye

Skye takes a somewhat different approach from most agents in this space. Rather than waiting for a user to open an app or send a message, Skye functions as what the company calls an "agentic homescreen" for the iPhone. It analyzes information from connected services and surfaces what it considers relevant through contextual cards, suggestions, and daily briefings - all without requiring the user to initiate a request.

The assistant can generate audio briefings, prepare background information ahead of scheduled meetings, surface timely reminders, and identify potentially useful content. Skye's developer, Signull Labs, raised approximately $3.6 million in seed funding in 2025. The product entered private testing and beta in April 2026, and no public release date has been announced.

Stanley

Stanley is built for content creators rather than general personal productivity. Available through iMessage, Telegram, and the web, it acts as an AI head of content - helping users generate ideas, turn those ideas into publishable posts, and maintain a consistent publishing schedule over time.

Stanley can connect to a user's Instagram account, using that activity as context to suggest relevant content ideas. Users can also send voice notes, which Stanley converts into scripts, captions, and other social media assets. The platform includes a content calendar and can schedule posts directly, with the broader goal of making content creation a more automated and continuous process rather than something that requires deliberate planning sessions.

Szn

Szn is built around a single conversation thread through which users can coordinate tasks and follow-ups. Users can send text messages, voice notes, photos, or forwarded emails, and the assistant takes action on their behalf - including making phone calls, sending emails, and managing ongoing follow-ups. According to the company's website, Szn has served more than 7,500 businesses across 16 countries, completed over 10,000 jobs, and handled 95 hours of calls.

Tab

Tab allows users to delegate everyday tasks through the messaging platforms they already use. Requests can be sent via iMessage or WhatsApp and range from ordering groceries to sourcing birthday gift ideas, with Tab handling the execution on the user's behalf. The company emerged from stealth in early October with a reported valuation of $300 million. Its investor base includes SV Angel, Valar Ventures, and American Spirit.

Tomo

Tomo's primary distinction from other iMessage-based assistants is its ability to participate in group conversations rather than functioning solely as a private, one-on-one assistant. This makes it potentially useful for coordinating with multiple people at once - whether for scheduling, accountability, or shared planning.

Like other agents in the category, Tomo is designed to help with goal-setting, scheduling, and everyday organization. It can send reminders, search the web, work with calendars and email, watch videos, and edit photos. The basic plan starts at $19.99 per month.

Town

Town is oriented toward professional rather than personal use. It provides users with a "Townie" - an AI assistant designed to learn how a particular user works and take over recurring professional tasks. It integrates with email, calendars, documents, Slack, and other workplace platforms. In June 2026, Town raised a $55 million Series A round led by Andreessen Horowitz and Forerunner.

Underdog

Underdog takes a privacy-first approach that sets it apart from virtually every other agent in this roundup. Rather than routing data through cloud servers, the model runs entirely on the user's own device, meaning personal information never leaves hardware the user already owns. The company launched an invite-only beta in early October 2026, with initial support for Mac and Windows computers. Versions for Linux, iPhone, and Android are planned for future releases. The company intends to offer the app for free at launch and has stated it will not include advertising.

Wajo

Wajo's first consumer-facing agent is called Fo. It can call businesses, send emails, join group chats, make bookings and purchases, and coordinate with other people to complete tasks on a user's behalf. A defining aspect of Wajo's approach is that Fo has its own distinct identity: the agent comes with its own email address, phone number, and payment card, allowing it to interact with businesses and services without requiring users to share their personal credentials.

When Fo encounters a task it cannot complete on its own, Wajo says it can bring in a human assistant to take over and finish the job - a hybrid model that combines AI automation with human backup. Fo launched publicly in September 2026 with a free tier. Users with heavier workloads or the need for custom agents can access those capabilities through a paid Pro offering.

Taken together, these services represent a meaningful shift in how AI is being delivered to everyday users. Rather than requiring new habits or new interfaces, they meet people where they already spend time - inside the messaging apps already open on their phones. Whether the category ultimately consolidates around a handful of dominant players or remains fragmented across dozens of specialized tools remains to be seen, but the pace of activity suggests the text-based AI agent market is still in its earliest stages.