7 Best Howie Alternatives in 2026 (Ranked & Compared)
Howie (howie.com) is an AI scheduling assistant with its own email address and phone number. You CC Howie on a thread — or text it — and it handles the back-and-forth of booking a meeting: checks your availability, proposes times, replies to the other party, sends the invite, and follows up if someone goes quiet. You configure rules for meeting types, preferred times, buffers, travel time, and VIP handling, and it applies them automatically. Backed by a $6M round from Sequoia and Andreessen Horowitz, it launched publicly in 2025 with 1,000+ paying customers scheduling 5,000+ meetings a week.
It’s a clean, well-funded tool — but the focus is also its limit. Here are seven Howie alternatives worth comparing, starting with the closest match for people who want scheduling and a real assistant around it.
Why people look for Howie alternatives
- No Outlook or Microsoft 365. Howie is Gmail and Google Calendar only; Outlook is listed as “coming,” not available. For anyone on Microsoft 365 it’s a non-starter.
- It only schedules. Howie books meetings well, but it won’t triage your inbox, draft non-scheduling replies, run research, or update your other tools. The moment your need is broader than “find a time,” you’re back to doing it yourself.
- Thin integrations. The connected surface is essentially Google Calendar plus Zoom for meeting links. There’s no broader app ecosystem.
- Premium pricing adds up. The standard plan is around $25/month, but the premium tier (which adds things like white-labeling the assistant to your brand) runs about $95/month — steep for an individual who only needs scheduling.
1. Carly
Carly schedules meetings like Howie — and then keeps going. It’s an AI agent platform you email like a colleague, and each agent gets its own real email address. You can CC an agent on a thread to book a meeting exactly the way you’d CC Howie: it checks your calendar, proposes times, replies to the guest directly, and sends the invite. The difference is that the same agent also runs the rest of your work — drafting replies, chasing follow-ups, researching attendees, and updating your tools across 200+ integrations including CRM (HubSpot, Salesforce), Slack, Google Drive, and the full Outlook / Microsoft 365 stack.
What makes it different from Howie: breadth and provider support. Howie is Gmail-only and does one job; Carly works on Gmail and Outlook and treats scheduling as one task among many. You don’t have to bolt a separate email assistant onto your scheduler.
The pricing model is also different. Carly runs on visible workflows: any deterministic step — watching a calendar, routing an invite, posting to Slack — runs free and unlimited because there’s no AI step. You only pay when a step uses AI to write or decide, and those AI agent features start at $35/month. Howie meters a flat subscription whether you book one meeting or fifty.
Best for: People who want hands-off scheduling and a real assistant for everything around it — on Gmail or Outlook.
Pricing: Free, unlimited Zapier-style workflows; AI agents from $35/month.
2. Clara
AI scheduling assistant (claralabs.com) you CC to coordinate meetings. Clara is the original “CC the assistant” scheduler, with a polished, natural-language email style that reads like a real person handling your calendar back-and-forth.
What makes it different from Howie: Clara is more established and supports a wider range of email setups, but it’s strictly scheduling-only and priced for teams and professionals rather than individuals. See Clara alternatives.
Best for: Teams that want a premium, scheduling-only email assistant with a human-like tone.
Pricing: From around $99/month.
3. Martin
iOS-first AI assistant (trymartin.com) that schedules via CC and also manages email, calendar, reminders, and wake-up calls through voice and text.
What makes it different from Howie: Martin schedules, but as part of a broader personal-assistant role, and it supports Gmail and Outlook. It’s consumer-friendly and voice-first rather than a dedicated scheduling product. See Martin alternatives.
Best for: iPhone users who want scheduling plus a general personal assistant.
Pricing: Consumer subscription.
4. Lindy
AI executive assistant that schedules meetings, triages your inbox, and drafts replies in your voice, reaching you over iMessage. Connects to 100+ apps.
What makes it different from Howie: Lindy folds scheduling into a larger inbox-assistant role and supports both Gmail and Outlook. The trade-off is that Lindy drafts and waits for your approval rather than finishing autonomously, and heavier use pushes you up its tiers. See Lindy alternatives.
Best for: People who want scheduling bundled into a proactive inbox assistant.
Pricing: Free tier; paid from $49.99/month.
5. 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 Howie: Poke schedules from chat across both providers, but it’s a personal assistant that won’t email people outside your contacts — so it can’t run a guest-facing scheduling thread the way Howie or Carly can. See Poke alternatives.
Best for: Individuals who want a personal text assistant that also helps with calendar.
Pricing: Consumer subscription.
6. Town
AI workspace assistant (town.com, $55M a16z Series A) with its own @town.com address that executes across 50+ tools and ships pre-built routines like morning briefings.
What makes it different from Howie: Town is broader than scheduling and gives the assistant its own address — but, like Howie, it’s Google-only, no Outlook. See Town alternatives.
Best for: Google users who want routines plus light scheduling.
Pricing: Tiered; consumer to team.
7. Caddy
Proactive iMessage assistant (caddy.app, YC-backed) that watches your calendar, email, and chats and can book and RSVP on your behalf.
What makes it different from Howie: Caddy is a broader generalist than a dedicated scheduler, drafting in your voice and taking actions across email and calendar — though its integration set is still small and pricing isn’t yet public. See Caddy alternatives.
Best for: People who want a proactive assistant that also handles scheduling.
Pricing: Free to start; no public tiers yet.
Howie Alternatives Compared
| Tool | Schedules via CC | Email Provider | Beyond Scheduling | Client-Facing | Pricing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carly | Yes | Gmail + Outlook | Yes (full assistant) | Yes | Workflows free; AI from $35/mo |
| Howie | Yes | Google only | No | Scheduling only | ~$25–95/mo |
| Clara | Yes | Gmail + others | No | Scheduling only | ~$99/mo+ |
| Martin | Yes | Gmail + Outlook | Yes | No | Consumer |
| Lindy | Yes | Gmail + Outlook | Yes | Drafts only | Free; $49.99/mo+ |
| Poke | Light | Gmail + Outlook | Yes | No (contacts only) | Consumer |
| Town | Light | Google only | Yes (routines) | Light | Tiered |
Pricing at a glance
| Tool | Entry price | Top tier | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carly | $35/mo (AI) | — | Deterministic workflows free; pay only for AI steps |
| Howie | ~$25/mo | ~$95/mo | Flat subscription |
| Clara | ~$99/mo | Higher team tiers | Per-seat subscription |
| Lindy | Free | $199.99/mo | Metered tasks/credits |
FAQ
What’s the best Howie alternative that supports Outlook? Carly. It schedules over both Gmail and Outlook / Microsoft 365, while Howie is Google-only. Martin and Lindy also support Outlook.
Which Howie alternative does more than scheduling? Carly. It handles email triage, replies, research, follow-ups, and multi-step workflows across 200+ tools — meeting booking is just one of the things it does. Howie is scheduling-only.
Is there a cheaper Howie alternative? Carly’s AI features start at $35/month, and any deterministic workflow runs free and unlimited — versus Howie’s ~$95/month premium plan. Lindy has a free tier but meters tasks.
Can an alternative still email guests on the scheduling thread? Yes — each Carly agent has its own email address and can be CC’d to coordinate directly with the other party, send the invite, and follow up, exactly like Howie. Clara does the same; personal assistants like Poke do not.
Does Howie work with Microsoft 365? Not currently — Howie supports Gmail and Google Calendar only, with Outlook described as on the roadmap. If you’re on Microsoft 365 today, choose Carly, Martin, or Lindy.
What’s the closest tool to Howie’s “CC to schedule” model? Clara is the closest scheduling-only match. Carly supports the same CC-to-schedule flow but adds full assistant capabilities and Outlook support.
More: Best AI personal assistants · Best AI agent platforms · Best AI email agents · Clara alternatives · Martin alternatives · Lindy alternatives
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