Poke and Drift are the closest pair on this site, because both of them are assistants that you text instead of an app that you have to open. The difference is in what each one is built around. Poke is built around the text thread itself, while Drift is built around your accounts, and texting is one of the ways you reach the same agent that also runs in the web app.
Where Poke is genuinely better. Reach beyond iMessage. Poke only needs a phone number and an email account before it starts texting you. Drift can be as quick on any plan, by adding your number and texting Drift’s own number, but seats on that number are limited, and when it is full, texting Drift means creating your own Photon project, which takes about ten minutes. Poke is also reported to work over more channels than iMessage and to connect Outlook as well as Gmail, while Drift is built around Gmail. If you want an assistant on WhatsApp or Telegram, or one that works in Outlook, Poke is the better fit and Drift is not.
Where Drift differs. Drift is one agent across the web, the Mac and Windows apps, and your texts, so the same memories and the same connected accounts are there wherever you ask. Whether you text Drift’s own number or one from your own Photon project, once your phone is paired only your phone reaches your agent. More importantly, the approval rule is published and enforced in the runtime: anything that sends, posts, or deletes asks you first, and over iMessage you answer that with a yes or a no. This shows that the boundary is a product decision rather than a setting someone could change.
What it is — Drift: A personal agent for Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Tasks, and Notion. Poke: An AI assistant that lives in your text messages, reached over iMessage and other messaging apps.
Acts on your email — Drift: Yes: reads, searches twelve months of history, drafts, and sends after you approve. Poke: Yes. It connects to your email and works through your inbox from the text thread.
Asks before sending email — Drift: Yes. The card shows every recipient and the full body before it sends. Poke: Partly. Reviews say actions need your approval in the thread, although automations you set up can send without asking again.
Rebuilds your calendar automatically — Drift: No. Drift books and moves events you ask it to. It has no auto-scheduling engine. Poke: No auto-scheduling engine. It books and moves events you ask it to over text.
How you drive it — Drift: Plain language. There is no syntax and no board to maintain. Poke: Plain language, sent as a text message.
Setup before it is useful — Drift: Connect an account and ask a question. Poke: Very light. You enter a phone number and connect an email account.
Price — Drift: Free forever tier. Flow $8/month, or $6.40/month billed yearly; Horizon $60/month, or $48/month billed yearly. Poke: Free plan. As of November 2026, Pro is $19 a month and Ultra is $199 a month.
Choose Poke if you want an assistant on more messaging apps than iMessage, or one that works in Outlook. Choose Drift if you want one agent across the web and your texts, on any plan, with a published approval rule.