7 Best Duckbill Alternatives in 2026 (Ranked & Compared)
Duckbill (getduckbill.com, $33M raised from Forerunner, Greycroft, and others) is a personal-concierge service that blends AI with trained human assistants. An AI named “Bill” takes your request and asks clarifying questions, then routes it to US-based, background-checked human “copilots” who actually do the work — booking appointments, paying and disputing bills, calling airlines for refunds, researching vendors, planning trips, and running errands. It’s pitched as an “executive assistant for your personal life.”
The human touch is real, and for phone-call-heavy errands it’s genuinely useful. But the model comes with trade-offs that send people looking. Here are seven Duckbill alternatives, starting with the closest fit for people who want instant, autonomous help connected to their own accounts.
Why people look for Duckbill alternatives
- It’s expensive and credit-metered. Plans start at $99/month for roughly 8 task credits, with Household at ~$169/month and a VIP tier around $449/month. Complex tasks burn multiple credits, so a few real requests can drain a month’s allotment fast.
- It’s not instant. Because humans do the work, turnaround is usually within a day but can stretch to a couple of days for complex tasks — fine for “dispute this bill,” frustrating for “reply to this now.”
- No account integration. Duckbill works by forwarded emails and screenshots. It doesn’t connect to your inbox or calendar, so it can’t autonomously act inside your accounts the way an AI agent does.
- No dedicated assistant. Tasks are pooled across a team of copilots, so the personalization can erode over time — there’s no single assistant that learns exactly how you work.
1. Carly
Duckbill routes your tasks to humans; Carly does them itself, instantly. Carly is an AI agent platform you email like a colleague. Each agent has its own name and real email address and connects directly to your tools, so it acts the moment you ask — no credit budget, no waiting on a human queue, and the same agent every time, building memory of how you work.
Where Duckbill relies on humans forwarding and calling, Carly works inside your actual accounts: Gmail or Outlook, your calendar, Google Drive, and 200+ integrations across CRM, project management, messaging, and accounting. And because each agent has its own email, it can be client-facing — emailing your customers, vendors, and leads directly, not just handling personal errands.
What makes it different from Duckbill: speed, integration, and ownership. Carly finishes tasks autonomously inside your tools in seconds, where Duckbill queues them to a rotating human team that can take a day or two and never touches your accounts.
The pricing model is also different. Carly runs on visible workflows: any deterministic step runs free and unlimited, and you only pay when a step uses AI — starting at $35/month, with no per-task credits to ration.
Best for: People who want a personal assistant that acts instantly and connects to their actual accounts and tools.
Pricing: Free, unlimited Zapier-style workflows; AI agents from $35/month.
2. Poke
Text-message AI assistant from The Interaction Company that connects Gmail or Outlook and handles email, calendar, and “recipes” over iMessage, SMS, Telegram, or WhatsApp.
What makes it different from Duckbill: Poke is instant and AI-only, integrated with your inbox — but it’s personal, won’t email outside your contacts, and doesn’t make real-world phone calls the way Duckbill’s humans do. See Poke alternatives.
Best for: People who want fast, AI-driven help with email and calendar.
Pricing: Consumer subscription.
3. Martin
iOS-first AI assistant (trymartin.com) that manages email, calendar, and reminders by voice and text, and can make calls on your behalf.
What makes it different from Duckbill: Martin is AI-only and instant, connected to Gmail and Outlook, rather than a human concierge — closer to a personal chief of staff than an errand service. See Martin alternatives.
Best for: iPhone users who want an instant personal assistant.
Pricing: Consumer subscription.
4. Ohai
Consumer “life assistant” (ohai.ai) aimed at busy households and families — scheduling, reminders, and family logistics over chat. The closest audience match to Duckbill’s “personal life admin” pitch.
What makes it different from Duckbill: Ohai is AI-driven and subscription-based rather than credit-metered human help, and it connects to a household’s calendar. See Ohai alternatives.
Best for: Parents and households managing family logistics.
Pricing: Consumer subscription.
5. Lindy
AI executive assistant that triages your inbox, drafts replies, schedules meetings, and sends proactive alerts over iMessage. Connects to 100+ apps.
What makes it different from Duckbill: Lindy is an AI assistant wired into your inbox and calendar, not a human-task service — instant, but it drafts and waits for approval rather than calling vendors for you. See Lindy alternatives.
Best for: People who want a proactive AI inbox assistant.
Pricing: Free tier; paid from $49.99/month.
6. Howie
AI scheduling assistant (howie.com, Sequoia/a16z-backed) you CC to book meetings — it coordinates with the other party and sends the invite, instantly.
What makes it different from Duckbill: Howie automates the specific job of scheduling in seconds, where Duckbill would hand it to a human. Howie is Google-only, though, and scheduling-only — Carly does this on Outlook too and far more. See Howie alternatives.
Best for: People who only need meeting scheduling automated.
Pricing: ~$25–95/month.
7. Super
Text-message assistant (getsupers.com) that orders food, books rides, and runs errands using its own email, phone, and apps — no account connection required.
What makes it different from Duckbill: Super automates real-world tasks with AI instead of humans, transacting under its own identity and a pay-as-you-go wallet. It doesn’t connect to your inbox, though — Carly does. See Super alternatives.
Best for: People who want AI to run real-world tasks without granting account access.
Pricing: Pay-as-you-go wallet.
Duckbill Alternatives Compared
| Tool | How It Works | Speed | Connects Your Accounts | Pricing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carly | Autonomous AI agent | Instant | Gmail + Outlook + 200+ | Workflows free; AI from $35/mo |
| Duckbill | AI intake + human doers | Up to ~2 days | No (forward emails) | $99–449/mo (credits) |
| Poke | AI, text-first | Instant | Gmail + Outlook | Consumer |
| Martin | AI, voice + text | Instant | Gmail + Outlook | Consumer |
| Ohai | AI, family logistics | Instant | Gmail | Subscription |
| Lindy | AI, inbox-focused | Instant | Gmail + Outlook | Free; $49.99/mo+ |
| Super | AI, own identity | Instant | Its own accounts | Pay-as-you-go |
Pricing at a glance
| Tool | Entry price | Top tier | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carly | $35/mo (AI) | — | Deterministic workflows free; pay only for AI steps |
| Duckbill | $99/mo (~8 credits) | ~$449/mo (VIP) | Credit-metered human tasks |
| Lindy | Free | $199.99/mo | Metered tasks/credits |
| Howie | ~$25/mo | ~$95/mo | Flat subscription |
FAQ
What’s the best Duckbill alternative that’s instant, not human-queued? Carly. It’s an autonomous AI agent that acts the moment you ask, instead of routing tasks to a human team that can take up to a couple of days.
Which Duckbill alternative connects to my inbox and calendar? Carly connects directly to Gmail, Outlook, your calendar, Drive, and 200+ tools. Duckbill works by forwarded emails and screenshots, with no connected accounts.
Is there a cheaper Duckbill alternative? Carly starts at $35/month with no per-task credits, and deterministic workflows run free — versus Duckbill’s $99/month entry plan that meters roughly 8 tasks.
Can an AI alternative still contact people for me? Yes — each Carly agent has its own email address and can email clients, vendors, and leads on your behalf. The gap is live phone calls: Duckbill’s humans can call an airline or insurer, which a pure AI agent doesn’t do.
Do I lose the “human assistant” benefit by switching? For phone-heavy disputes and calls, yes — that’s Duckbill’s edge. For anything that lives in email, calendar, or your apps, an AI agent like Carly is faster, cheaper, and available 24/7.
Which alternative is best for family and household logistics specifically? Ohai targets that audience most directly, while Carly handles it alongside work tasks across your connected tools.
More: Best AI personal assistants · Best AI agent platforms · Best AI email agents · Poke alternatives · Ohai alternatives · Martin alternatives
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