Tab AI (tab.bot): The $300M Agent That Lives in Your Texts
Tab is an AI agent you text in iMessage or WhatsApp, and it does the job instead of explaining how: it calls the doctor’s office, books the flight, and pays the invoice once you approve the total. It lives at tab.bot, was built by Brennan Erbz, Stafford Schlitt and Ammar Amdani, and came out of stealth on October 6, 2026, at a $300 million valuation, per TechCrunch.
It is not Cursor’s Tab autocomplete, and it is not the AI pendant Avi Schiffmann announced as Tab and later launched as Friend. This Tab is a contact in your phone.
What Tab does from a text thread
You text Tab like a capable friend: book me a flight, call the hotel and move my reservation, turn this PDF into a spreadsheet. Photos, screenshots, PDFs and videos work too. It asks when something is unclear, sends short updates, and brings the result back to the thread, even if you leave.
Behind the messages, Tab has its own phone number, computer and browser:
- Phone calls. It calls hotels, restaurants, vendors and doctor’s offices, waits on hold for up to an hour, and reports back.
- Websites. It logs in with accounts you save, fills forms, and fetches a bill from behind a login.
- Group chats. Each group you add it to gets its own Tab. Money and passwords move to your private thread.
- Files. It makes spreadsheets, PDFs, images and video, and can publish a web page on a tab.bot address.
- Reminders and recurring checks. It tracks deliveries and runs checks you set, so it does not only work when you text it.
One Google sign-in connects Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Contacts and Tasks, and the terms also name Slack, GitHub and Linear. We found no mention of Outlook or Microsoft 365. To import your address book, Tab asks for your Apple ID login and the six-digit code Apple sends.
How Tab spends your money
Before Tab buys anything, it shows you the item, the total and who gets paid. Nothing is charged until you say yes. Then it pays and sends the receipt to the thread.
You add a card through a private link that expires in 10 minutes, never in the chat. Tab’s security page says its main systems keep only the card’s label, brand and last four digits, and release the full number only for the exact purchase you approved. If the cart or total changes, Tab stops instead of retrying. “Your card lives in a vault Tab itself never sees,” Amdani told TechCrunch.
Two caveats from the terms: wallet and checkout are a “limited beta” not every user has, and Tab is not the seller, so returns and disputes are yours.
Who built Tab, and the $300 million
Erbz’s X bio lists Snap, Y Combinator’s Winter 2020 batch, and Hashletes, a company he built and sold. He and Schlitt co-founded Flik, an AI platform for making films, ads and music, unveiled in April 2026. Amdani is the third co-founder and Tab’s voice in the TechCrunch story. The company behind Tab is Terrasoft, Inc.
The three started on Tab earlier this year. TechCrunch lists SV Angel and Valar Ventures among the investors. Tab declined to say how much it raised and has shared no user numbers. Flik’s creative workspace now also carries the Tab name, with its own paid plans; those prices are not for the texting agent.
Tab pricing and how to get in
Tab has no published price. There is no pricing page, and the terms say joining the waitlist does not guarantee “access, timing, pricing, or availability.”
To join, enter your name and mobile number at tab.bot, then send Tab one text in iMessage or WhatsApp to verify. You can add the other app later. Friends who join through your link move you up the waitlist, and neither of you sees the other’s number.
What Tab’s terms and privacy policy say
Both documents are dated September 2, 2026.
- Training. Amdani told TechCrunch, “Your data is never used to train AI.” The privacy policy does not say so in writing. It says Tab does not sell your data, and the terms license your content to “provide, secure, maintain, and improve the service.”
- Retention. No fixed period, only “as long as reasonably needed.”
- Calls. Tab may identify itself and the reason for the call, and records only when that is switched on and consent rules are met.
- Liability. Capped at the greater of $100 or what you paid in the prior 12 months. There is no arbitration clause.
- Age. 18 or older.
What early testers report
Tab is too new for a track record. Public reports come from early testers, many reshared by Erbz. One called it the fastest of the texting agents he had tried, Instinct and Fo included, and said it asked before each purchase. A day later he said Tab phoned a doctor’s office to cancel an appointment when the online link failed.
No independent review exists yet. Tab’s changelog offers one candid note: “Almost everyone told us the same thing: too many words.”
Tab vs Instinct, Poke, Fo and Hark Pro
| Price | Where you reach it | What stands out | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tab | No price yet, waitlist | iMessage, WhatsApp | Own number, computer and wallet |
| Instinct | Free, invite only | iMessage, WhatsApp, phone | Valued at $10B; trains on data unless you opt out |
| Poke | Free; $19 and $199/mo | Messages, WhatsApp, Telegram | Owned by Cognition |
| Wajo’s Fo | Free tier; Pro on request | Email, text, Slack, phone, web | Human assistants take the hard calls |
| Hark Pro | Free; $20 and $100/mo | Web, iOS, Android | No-training policy, no phone calls yet |
Tab’s pitch against Instinct is trust: an approval before every purchase and a stated no-training promise. For the wider field, see our Tab alternatives.
Where Carly fits
Tab is built for life admin: the flight, the hotel, the replacement part. If your to-do list is your inbox, calendar and clients, Carly is built for that job:
- It lives in your Gmail or Outlook. Carly drafts replies in your voice and sends them from your own address.
- It runs your real calendar. It finds times, sends invites and moves meetings.
- It starts on its own. Carly workflows run when an email lands from a specific sender, a lead form comes in, a meeting ends, or Monday morning arrives.
- It works for a team. Agents you build run workflows for your whole team. For a business line, Carly Phone adds a voice agent that answers calls and texts back the ones you miss.
- You can text it too. Reach Carly by text message, on the web, by email, through the Carly plugin in ChatGPT, or the Carly connector in Claude.
Carly connects to thousands of apps, including HubSpot, Salesforce, Slack and Google Drive. Free Zapier-style workflows; AI agents from $35/month. Get started.
FAQ
What is Tab AI?
Tab, at tab.bot, is an AI agent you text in iMessage or WhatsApp. It has its own phone number, computer and wallet, so it can make calls, use websites and buy things you approve. It launched October 6, 2026.
How much does Tab cost?
No price is published. Tab is in private beta, and its terms say the waitlist does not guarantee future pricing.
How do I get Tab?
Sign up at tab.bot with your mobile number, then send Tab one text in iMessage or WhatsApp. Friends who join through your link move you up the waitlist.
Is this the same Tab as the AI pendant?
No. Avi Schiffmann’s pendant, announced as Tab, became Friend, and Cursor’s Tab is code autocomplete. Tab at tab.bot is a texting agent from Terrasoft, Inc.
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