8 Best Catch AI Alternatives in 2026 (AI Admin Assistants)
Catch, the AI admin assistant from catchagent.ai, schedules meetings, triages email and places real phone calls for busy executives. It launched publicly on September 2, 2026, with one plan at $99 a month and a 10-day trial.
The reasons people shop around are specific. $99 is a lot for one person who mostly needs email and calendar handled. The product is weeks old, with little independent testing. Its CTO says the company uses anonymized interaction data to further train its models. And it is one fixed assistant (“No set up. No configuration.”) rather than something you shape into several agents.
The quick answer: Carly is the best Catch AI alternative for work email and calendar. It starts on events instead of waiting to be asked, holds several Google and Microsoft accounts at once, and carries each request through to your CRM, task list and files. Free Zapier-style workflows; AI agents from $35/month. Connect your inbox here. If phoning the dentist and the cable company is the whole reason you want Catch, look at Wajo’s Fo or Asmi.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best at | How you reach it | Pricing model | Entry price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carly | Work email, calendar and workflows that start on events | Email, SMS, Slack, dashboard chat, ChatGPT, Claude | Free workflows, paid AI agents | Free workflows; agents from $35/mo |
| Catch | Executive admin plus outbound calls | iMessage, WhatsApp, Slack, email, phone | One plan | $99/mo |
| Lindy | Proactive AI executive assistant | iMessage/SMS, Slack, web | Credits per seat | $29.99/mo |
| Kai (Morgen) | Meetings, inbox and daily plan in one list | Web, Mac, iPhone, Android | One plan per seat | $50/user/mo founding rate |
| Howie | Email scheduling on Google Calendar | CC on a thread, text | Shared credits | $25/mo |
| Fyxer | Inbox sorting and drafts | Inside Gmail or Outlook | Per seat | $30/user/mo |
| Poke | Casual texting assistant | Messages, WhatsApp, Telegram | Tiers | Free; Pro $19/mo |
| Wajo (Fo) | Real-world errands with its own card | Chat, email, text, voice | Credits | Free and $99/mo, waitlist |
| Asmi | Personal chores by phone | iMessage, WhatsApp, phone | Not published | Not published |
1. Carly
Catch’s pitch is that the admin gets done without you. Carly gets there by starting on the event itself. An email lands, a form comes in, a meeting ends, and a workflow runs in the cloud with your laptop shut. When Claire writes to move Thursday’s review, the calendar gets checked, a new time goes back to her, the meeting moves, and the note lands in HubSpot before you have opened the thread.
It is built for people with more than one inbox. Carly holds several Gmail and Outlook accounts at once, shared mailboxes included, and every action reports which account it came from. A founder with a personal address, a company domain and a support alias keeps all three distinct. More in assistants that work with Gmail and Outlook together.
The request does not stop at the reply, either. “Reply, book it, log it in the CRM, open the task and file the attachment” is one instruction, because Carly connects to thousands of apps, from Salesforce and Slack to Asana and Google Drive.
Where Catch is one assistant, Carly lets you build custom agents with their own name, email identity, permissions, files and memory: one for the inbox, one for recruiting, one for client follow-up. You delegate by email, SMS, Slack or dashboard chat, or from inside ChatGPT and Claude with the Carly connector.
Scheduling comes with it. Booking pages and group scheduling are free, with unlimited connected calendars. You configure approval steps before anything sends, and customer data, Google and Microsoft data included, is not used to train AI models. Carly works with the meeting recorder you already use (Fathom, Fireflies, Granola, tl;dv) and acts on the notes it produces.
For phone work, Carly Phone gives a business its own numbers, calling, texting and an AI receptionist. The Carly team sets it up, and it is priced on a short call: book one here.
Best for: email and calendar work that should run without you, across several Google and Microsoft accounts
Pricing: Free Zapier-style workflows; AI agents from $35/month
Limitations: Carly works inside the inbox and calendar you already use, so keep the client you like. A managed Google Workspace or Microsoft tenant may need administrator approval.
2. Lindy
The closest like-for-like swap. Lindy is an AI executive assistant you text over iMessage or SMS, or reach in Slack, that drafts email in your voice, schedules meetings, takes meeting notes and sends daily briefs. The entry plan covers up to two inboxes, and our Lindy AI pricing breakdown explains the credit system.
Best for: the text-your-assistant feel of Catch at a lower entry price
Pricing: Plus $29.99/user/month (3,000 credits), Pro $99.99 (15,000), Max $199.99 (35,000); 7-day free trial
Limitations: Everything runs on credits. When a month’s credits are used up, Lindy pauses credit-using actions until the next cycle unless you move up a plan. More options in Lindy alternatives.
3. Kai
Kai is the AI executive assistant from Morgen, the calendar app. It connects Google and Microsoft email and calendar accounts, several at once, captures Zoom, Google Meet and Teams calls without a bot joining, triages mail with drafted replies, plans your day, and turns what was agreed into one ranked task list.
Best for: meeting-heavy weeks where notes, follow-ups and the calendar should live in one place
Pricing: $50/user/month founding rate (Kai says it launches at $100); the free trial is measured in usage, with no card
Limitations: Replies are drafted and you press Send. Kai says it doesn’t sync with external task tools today, so the task list stays inside Kai. More in Kai AI alternatives.
4. Howie
Howie calls itself an AI calendar secretary. You CC Howie on a thread or text him, and he finds times, sends invites, protects focus time, follows up until the meeting is booked and tells people when you’re running late. It is the most focused scheduler here. See Howie alternatives.
Best for: founders whose admin pain is mostly booking meetings over email
Pricing: Team plan from $25/month for a shared pool of 1,250 credits, with $25 in free credits to start; a white-label assistant email at your domain adds $20/month
Limitations: Howie’s own description names Gmail and Google Calendar, so Outlook-first teams should confirm fit. Credits are shared across the workspace, so heavier scheduling moves you up the scale.
5. Fyxer
Fyxer works inside Gmail or Outlook. It sorts incoming mail into categories, drafts replies in your voice and takes meeting notes. If what you wanted from Catch was really a cleaner inbox, this is the lightest step. See Fyxer alternatives.
Best for: inbox organization and draft replies without changing how you work
Pricing: $30/user/month for one inbox and calendar, $50 for multiple inboxes, attachment reading and the CRM connection, with up to 25% off annually; 7-day free trial
Limitations: The output is labels and drafts, so sending and follow-through stay with you. Anyone with more than one inbox needs the $50 plan.
6. Poke
Poke is a texting assistant you message over Messages, WhatsApp or Telegram. It works your Gmail and runs small automations it calls recipes. Poke is joining Cognition, the company behind Devin. Compare the two in Carly AI vs Poke.
Best for: personal errands and reminders by text, free to start
Pricing: Free; Pro $19/month; Ultra $199/month with pay-as-you-go usage past your credits
Limitations: Frontier models and real-time background automations sit on the paid plans, and the Cognition deal puts the roadmap in new hands. More in Poke alternatives.
7. Wajo (Fo)
Wajo builds action agents, and Fo is the first: an AI operator with its own email address, its own phone number and its own credit card. Fo sits through hold music and phone menus, joins group chats with family or teammates, and books and pays without you handing over card details. Of everything here, it is the nearest match to Catch’s phone calling.
Best for: real-world errands that end in a phone call or a purchase
Pricing: A free tier and a $99/month Pro plan for building your own Fo-like agents (100 tasks a day); jobs spend prepaid, refundable credits
Limitations: Access is an invite-only alpha, and both plans sit behind a waitlist.
8. Asmi
Asmi pitches itself as AI for real-world chores. It calls, texts, emails and chases until the thing is done, whether that is cancelling the gym, disputing a charge or booking the dentist. You hand tasks over on iMessage or WhatsApp, and it works in 50+ languages from one number.
Best for: personal life admin that happens on the phone
Pricing: No plans published on its site
Limitations: Built around personal chores, so a work inbox, calendar and CRM sit outside its pitch.
Which Catch AI alternative fits your week
- Work email and calendar that run on their own, across Google and Microsoft accounts: Carly
- A business phone line with calling, texting and an AI receptionist: Carly Phone, set up with the Carly team
- The text-your-assistant feel for less than $99: Lindy or Poke
- Meeting notes, inbox and daily plan in one list: Kai
- Scheduling only, on Google Calendar: Howie
- A tidier inbox with drafts: Fyxer
- Someone to phone the plumber and the cable company: Wajo’s Fo or Asmi
- Executive admin with travel and outbound calls in one $99 plan: stay with Catch
FAQ
What is Catch AI? Catch is an AI admin assistant for executives, built by a Tel Aviv startup. It schedules meetings, triages email, follows up, and places outbound calls to restaurants, clinics, hotels, airlines and suppliers, then reports back with a summary and full transcript. It can also ring you with a hands-free run-through of the day. You reach it through iMessage, WhatsApp, Slack, email or phone, and sign in with a Google or Microsoft account. Business travel booking runs as a beta for selected customers.
How much does Catch cost? One plan at $99 a month, billed monthly, with a 10-day free trial. A separate scheduling helper called Uta can be CC’d on an email thread for free without an account. Carly offers free Zapier-style workflows; AI agents from $35/month.
Why do people look for a Catch AI alternative? Price comes first: $99 a month is steep for one person who mainly needs email and calendar handled. Catch is also new, and independent testing is thin; one third-party assistant scorecard had tested it on only 2 of its 15 dimensions as of September 14, 2026. Its CTO has said the company uses anonymized interaction data to train models, which matters to privacy-sensitive teams. Customer data at Carly is not used to train AI models.
Who funds Catch? Catch came out of stealth with a $5 million seed round co-led by Entrée Capital and Pitango, with Seedcamp and Factorial Capital participating. It was founded by CEO Nir Sabato, previously an investor at Entrée Capital, and CTO Yoav Ramon.
Can Carly make phone calls like Catch? Carly Phone gives a business its own numbers, calling, texting and an AI receptionist, set up by the Carly team and priced on a short call. Book one here. If the calls you want handed off are personal errands, Wajo’s Fo and Asmi focus on exactly that.
Does Catch work with Outlook? Yes. Catch signs in with Google or Microsoft and connects to Google Calendar and Outlook. If you run both at once, Carly holds several Gmail and Outlook accounts side by side and reports which account each action came from.
Is there a free Catch AI alternative? Poke has a free plan, Howie starts you with $25 in free credits, Kai’s trial needs no card, and Wajo lists a free tier behind its waitlist. Carly runs Zapier-style workflows free, and its AI agents start at $35/month.
What is the best Catch AI alternative for executives? Carly, for executives whose admin lives in email and calendar across several accounts and needs to reach the CRM, tasks and files. Lindy is the nearest like-for-like assistant, and Kai suits meeting-heavy calendars. See our AI executive assistant rankings.
More: Best AI executive assistants · Best AI personal assistants · Lindy alternatives · Best AI agents for productivity
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