Poke vs Martin: Which Texts-You Assistant in 2026?
Both of these are the same genre of product with a different front door. Poke (poke.com, from The Interaction Company of California) is a messaging-first personal assistant you chat with over iMessage, SMS, Telegram, or WhatsApp, and it was the first AI agent Apple approved for its Messages for Business platform. Martin (trymartin.com, a “your AI like Jarvis” assistant) does the same email-and-calendar job but adds a voice channel: you can call it, it can call you with a morning wake-up briefing, and it can place calls on your behalf. The one distinction that decides it is the channel: Poke lives entirely in text, Martin adds the phone. Name whether you actually want to talk to your assistant out loud, and the choice gets easy. If you are also weighing other options, see Poke alternatives and Martin alternatives.
The One-Sentence Answer
Use Poke if you want a text-only assistant that lives in your messaging apps and has a free tier; use Martin if you want to also call your assistant and have it make phone calls for you.
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Dimension | Poke | Martin |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Messaging-first AI personal assistant | ”Jarvis-style” AI assistant with voice calls |
| Maker | The Interaction Company of California | Martin (trymartin.com, YC-backed) |
| Core job | Email, calendar, and background “automations” over chat | Email, calendar, tasks, plus phone-call actions |
| How you reach it | iMessage, SMS, Telegram, WhatsApp | Text, email, and phone call |
| Signature feature | First Apple-approved iMessage AI agent | Wake-up calls, CC-to-schedule, calls on your behalf |
| Pricing (2026) | Free tier; Pro $19/mo; Ultra $199/mo | Basic ~$21/mo billed yearly ($35 monthly); Pro ~$30/mo yearly ($49 monthly) |
| Free option | Free plan, no card required | 7-day free trial only |
| Best fit | People who want an assistant inside their texts | People who want to talk to their assistant by voice |
When to Use Poke
- You want to reach your assistant the way you already text friends, across iMessage, SMS, Telegram, or WhatsApp.
- You want to try it without paying, since Poke has a free forever tier.
- You are on iPhone and value that Poke is the first AI agent Apple cleared for Messages for Business.
- You want background “automations” (Poke calls them recipes) that fire without you asking each time.
- You are managing your own personal life, not client-facing work.
Poke is the pick when the messaging interface itself is the appeal and you would rather never open another app.
When to Use Martin
- You want to actually call your assistant and talk to it, not just type.
- You want a phone wake-up call that reads you the weather and your day, Iron Man style.
- You want it to place calls on your behalf, or to CC it on an email thread so it schedules for you.
- You want it woven across inbox, calendar, SMS, WhatsApp, and Slack from one assistant.
- You are willing to skip a free tier (Martin offers a trial, not a free plan) for the voice capability.
Martin is the pick when voice is the point: a second brain you can ring, and one that can ring other people for you.
The Channel Is the Real Trade-Off
Strip away the marketing and these two do a very similar job: connect your inbox and calendar, then help from a conversational surface. The decision comes down to how you want to reach the assistant. Poke commits fully to text, which makes it frictionless if your phone is already your command center. Martin adds voice, which unlocks things text cannot do, like a spoken wake-up call or dialing a restaurant to change a reservation. Pick Poke if typing is enough; pick Martin if you want to talk.
There is a shared limit worth naming, though. Both are built to assist you: they draft, nudge, remind, and keep you in the loop, and in practice both keep you inside your own contacts rather than running outward-facing work end to end. Nobody on either side is autonomously replying to your client, booking with your vendor, and updating your CRM without you in the middle. If that finished-on-its-own outcome is what you actually want, a different kind of tool fits: Carly is an AI assistant whose agents each have their own email address, so they reply to people, book meetings, send follow-ups, and update your CRM directly across Gmail or Outlook and 200+ integrations, set up by describing what you want in plain English. That is a separate job from either Poke or Martin, so it is worth knowing which one you are shopping for.
Quick Reference
| Your situation | Pick |
|---|---|
| I want an assistant inside my texts | Poke |
| I want to try it free first | Poke |
| I want to call my assistant and have it call others | Martin |
| I want a spoken morning wake-up briefing | Martin |
| I want it across inbox, SMS, WhatsApp, and Slack | Martin |
| I want the outward work actually finished on its own | Neither, see Carly |
FAQ
Is Poke or Martin better for iPhone users? Both work on iPhone. Poke leans hardest into iMessage and was the first AI agent Apple approved for Messages for Business, so it feels the most native to texting. Martin works over text too but its differentiator is voice, so choose it if you want to call your assistant rather than only message it.
Can Martin really make phone calls for me? Yes, Martin is designed to place calls on your behalf and to call you, for example with a wake-up briefing. That voice channel is its main advantage over Poke, which is text-only. Treat any specific call as something you may still want to confirm, since outbound calling depends on the task.
How much do they cost in 2026? Poke has a free tier, a Pro plan at $19/month, and an Ultra plan at $199/month with pay-as-you-go usage on top. Martin has no free plan but offers a trial, with Basic around $21/month billed yearly and Pro around $30/month billed yearly (higher on monthly billing).
What if I want the work done for me, not just drafted or reminded? Both Poke and Martin keep you in the loop and mostly inside your own contacts. If you want an assistant that emails people, books meetings, and updates records on its own, that is a different category, closer to what Carly does.
Related: Poke alternatives · Martin alternatives · Lindy vs Poke
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