{
  "meta": {
    "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)",
    "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/",
    "generatedAt": "2026-10-14",
    "license": "CC-BY-4.0",
    "method": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/",
    "methodology": "0.4",
    "openapi": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/openapi.json",
    "preview": false,
    "run": "2026-10-01",
    "runLabel": "October 2026 research run"
  },
  "tool": {
    "slug": "boba",
    "name": "Boba",
    "vendor": "humans\u0026 ai, inc.",
    "vendorUrl": "https://getboba.ai",
    "kind": "platform",
    "category": "personal-assistants",
    "summary": "Boba is a free AI assistant people text over iMessage, RCS or SMS, one to one or in group chats. It plans with groups, answers questions, drafts messages, makes and edits images and writes songs.",
    "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/boba",
    "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/boba.md",
    "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/boba.min.md",
    "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/boba.json",
    "license": "Closed service under Boba's Terms of Service (humans\u0026 ai, inc., last updated 5 October 2026).",
    "transports": [],
    "packages": [],
    "auth": "mixed",
    "authNotes": "No app or sign-up form. Sending the pre-written first text, which carries an invite code, is the sign-up (https://getboba.ai). The privacy notice describes optional Google account access through Google APIs (https://getboba.ai/privacy).",
    "pricing": "free",
    "pricingNotes": "\"No subscription, no ads. Free to use\" (https://getboba.ai, checked 14 October 2026). The terms say no fees are charged today and fees may apply in future (https://getboba.ai/terms).",
    "priceSummary": "Free",
    "where": "local",
    "x402": {
      "level": "no",
      "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 found on getboba.ai or its terms, checked 14 October 2026.",
      "endpoints": []
    },
    "toolCount": null,
    "popularity": {
      "githubStars": null,
      "npmWeekly": null,
      "pypiWeekly": null,
      "asOf": "2026-10-14"
    },
    "capabilities": [
      "assistant.messaging",
      "assistant.memory",
      "messaging.rcs",
      "messaging.inbound",
      "memory.user",
      "web.search"
    ],
    "tags": [
      "hosted",
      "official",
      "closed-source",
      "free",
      "no-card"
    ],
    "graded": true,
    "disclosure": "Boba competes with LocalGhost, which Anchor Terminal's founder builds. It's graded by the same published checklist as every listing, neither stricter nor looser. Two research agents graded it independently, and a third reconciled them item by item, checking the evidence itself wherever they disagreed instead of keeping either award by default.",
    "competesWith": "localghost",
    "anchor": {
      "graded": true,
      "score": 10.3,
      "grade": "F",
      "agentReady": false,
      "rank": 1004,
      "ranked": true,
      "rankOf": 1010,
      "categoryRank": 38,
      "methodology": "0.4",
      "run": "2026-10-01",
      "scores": {
        "ergonomics": 0,
        "maintenance": 2,
        "payments": 30,
        "reliability": 15,
        "schema": 0,
        "security": 0,
        "transparency": 39
      },
      "pending": [
        "performance",
        "tasks"
      ],
      "breakdown": [
        {
          "key": "reliability",
          "name": "Reliability",
          "weight": 16,
          "effectiveWeight": 20,
          "score": 15,
          "points": 3,
          "reason": "Read with the hosted lines. No status page found, and status.getboba.ai has no DNS record (0). No readable incident history (5). No limits published, and no interface for an outside agent (0). No overload or retry guidance (0). No SLA (0). Boba answers texts today and isn't labelled beta (10)."
        },
        {
          "key": "performance",
          "name": "Performance",
          "weight": 10,
          "effectiveWeight": 0,
          "pending": true,
          "points": 0,
          "reason": "Pending. Latency is measured per call by our probes, which haven't run yet, so this run doesn't score it. Its weight is shared across the assessed categories until the first probe window closes."
        },
        {
          "key": "schema",
          "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation",
          "weight": 13,
          "effectiveWeight": 16.25,
          "score": 0,
          "points": 0,
          "reason": "Graded on the interface an outside agent can use, as GRADER.md asks. Boba has no API, MCP server or A2A endpoint for an agent, so the contract, description, typed-input and example lines score nothing (0 of 25, 0 of 20, 0 of 15, 0 of 15). That is a statement about agent access, not about the service for people. getboba.ai/llms.txt returns 404, and no Markdown docs were found (0). The versioning and changelog line versions an agent interface, and with none there is nothing to version, so it scores nothing (0 of 15), the reading the 12 October audit applied to every listing without an agent interface."
        },
        {
          "key": "ergonomics",
          "name": "Agent ergonomics",
          "weight": 13,
          "effectiveWeight": 16.25,
          "score": 0,
          "points": 0,
          "reason": "Graded on the interface an outside agent can use. Boba has none, so context cost, pagination, errors, retries and defaults have nothing to score (0 on each line). This says nothing about the service for people."
        },
        {
          "key": "security",
          "name": "Security \u0026 auth",
          "weight": 14,
          "effectiveWeight": 17.5,
          "score": 0,
          "points": 0,
          "reason": "Graded on the interface an outside agent can use. With none for Boba, the credential, least-privilege, injection and audit lines score nothing (0 of 30, 0 of 20, 0 of 15, 0 of 15), whatever the service does for its owner. The security programme line doesn't need an interface and is scored. getboba.ai/.well-known/security.txt returns 404, and no security contact, disclosure policy, bug bounty, certification or advisories were found. The only address is hello@getboba.ai (0 of 20)."
        },
        {
          "key": "payments",
          "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing",
          "weight": 10,
          "effectiveWeight": 12.5,
          "score": 30,
          "points": 3.75,
          "reason": "Read with the hosted rule. No x402, MPP or L402 (0). The home page says Boba is free with no subscription and no ads, and the terms say no fees are charged today and fees may apply later. With nothing to buy, the published price is $0 and the terms leave future fees unpriced, the reading we took for every free-only service in this batch (10). The home page says $0 with no card, and the sign-up is sending a pre-written text that carries an invite code, with no form or app (20). A person starts from their own phone (0)."
        },
        {
          "key": "tasks",
          "name": "Task success",
          "weight": 10,
          "effectiveWeight": 0,
          "pending": true,
          "points": 0,
          "reason": "Pending. Task success needs the category task suites run through each tool, which haven't run yet, so this run doesn't score it. Its weight is shared across the assessed categories until then. A data provider's data-quality score is published on its listing now and becomes half of this category when it's scored."
        },
        {
          "key": "maintenance",
          "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community",
          "weight": 7,
          "effectiveWeight": 8.75,
          "score": 2,
          "points": 0.18,
          "reason": "Read for a closed service. No dated release, changelog or app listing found. The home page marks Boba Web as new, with no date (0). No dated entries in the last 90 days (0). No changelog, and hello@getboba.ai, which we didn't test (2 of 15). No MCP server or SDK (0). No package or CI to judge (0)."
        },
        {
          "key": "transparency",
          "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust",
          "weight": 7,
          "effectiveWeight": 8.75,
          "score": 39,
          "points": 3.41,
          "note": "editorial 30, provenance 47",
          "reason": "Closed service under terms of 5 October 2026 naming humans\u0026 ai, inc. (15). The privacy notice of the same date uses inputs and outputs to improve its products, including by training or fine-tuning the models behind Boba, and the home page's consent line says messages may be used to improve Boba. The FAQ's statement that messages never train third-party models is consistent with that. Google data stays out of models beyond the owner's personalised model and is deleted within 60 days of a request. No opt-out from training and no retention period for messages were found (11 of 30). The terms reserve future fees, and no deprecation policy was found (2 of 20). AI model providers aren't named, and no subprocessor list or regions were found (2 of 20)."
        }
      ],
      "assessment": {
        "date": "2026-10-14",
        "basis": "public evidence",
        "confidence": "medium",
        "notes": {
          "ergonomics": "Graded on the interface an outside agent can use. Boba has none, so context cost, pagination, errors, retries and defaults have nothing to score (0 on each line). This says nothing about the service for people.",
          "maintenance": "Read for a closed service. No dated release, changelog or app listing found. The home page marks Boba Web as new, with no date (0). No dated entries in the last 90 days (0). No changelog, and hello@getboba.ai, which we didn't test (2 of 15). No MCP server or SDK (0). No package or CI to judge (0).",
          "payments": "Read with the hosted rule. No x402, MPP or L402 (0). The home page says Boba is free with no subscription and no ads, and the terms say no fees are charged today and fees may apply later. With nothing to buy, the published price is $0 and the terms leave future fees unpriced, the reading we took for every free-only service in this batch (10). The home page says $0 with no card, and the sign-up is sending a pre-written text that carries an invite code, with no form or app (20). A person starts from their own phone (0).",
          "reliability": "Read with the hosted lines. No status page found, and status.getboba.ai has no DNS record (0). No readable incident history (5). No limits published, and no interface for an outside agent (0). No overload or retry guidance (0). No SLA (0). Boba answers texts today and isn't labelled beta (10).",
          "schema": "Graded on the interface an outside agent can use, as GRADER.md asks. Boba has no API, MCP server or A2A endpoint for an agent, so the contract, description, typed-input and example lines score nothing (0 of 25, 0 of 20, 0 of 15, 0 of 15). That is a statement about agent access, not about the service for people. getboba.ai/llms.txt returns 404, and no Markdown docs were found (0). The versioning and changelog line versions an agent interface, and with none there is nothing to version, so it scores nothing (0 of 15), the reading the 12 October audit applied to every listing without an agent interface.",
          "security": "Graded on the interface an outside agent can use. With none for Boba, the credential, least-privilege, injection and audit lines score nothing (0 of 30, 0 of 20, 0 of 15, 0 of 15), whatever the service does for its owner. The security programme line doesn't need an interface and is scored. getboba.ai/.well-known/security.txt returns 404, and no security contact, disclosure policy, bug bounty, certification or advisories were found. The only address is hello@getboba.ai (0 of 20).",
          "transparency": "Closed service under terms of 5 October 2026 naming humans\u0026 ai, inc. (15). The privacy notice of the same date uses inputs and outputs to improve its products, including by training or fine-tuning the models behind Boba, and the home page's consent line says messages may be used to improve Boba. The FAQ's statement that messages never train third-party models is consistent with that. Google data stays out of models beyond the owner's personalised model and is deleted within 60 days of a request. No opt-out from training and no retention period for messages were found (11 of 30). The terms reserve future fees, and no deprecation policy was found (2 of 20). AI model providers aren't named, and no subprocessor list or regions were found (2 of 20)."
        },
        "sources": [
          {
            "what": "homepage and FAQ",
            "url": "https://getboba.ai",
            "seen": "2026-10-14"
          },
          {
            "what": "privacy notice",
            "url": "https://getboba.ai/privacy",
            "seen": "2026-10-14"
          },
          {
            "what": "terms",
            "url": "https://getboba.ai/terms",
            "seen": "2026-10-14"
          },
          {
            "what": "robots.txt (404)",
            "url": "https://getboba.ai/robots.txt",
            "seen": "2026-10-14"
          },
          {
            "what": "status subdomain DNS lookup",
            "url": "https://dns.google/resolve?name=status.getboba.ai\u0026type=A",
            "seen": "2026-10-14"
          },
          {
            "what": "llms.txt (404)",
            "url": "https://getboba.ai/llms.txt",
            "seen": "2026-10-14"
          },
          {
            "what": "security.txt (404)",
            "url": "https://getboba.ai/.well-known/security.txt",
            "seen": "2026-10-14"
          }
        ],
        "openQuestions": [
          "Whether owners can opt out of training on inputs and outputs.",
          "How long messages are kept.",
          "unchecked: Boba Web, which the home page marks as new."
        ]
      },
      "negative": 0,
      "verdict": "Boba is a free texting assistant for one-to-one and group chats over iMessage, RCS and SMS, started by sending one message with no card or app. No outside agent can call it, its privacy notice uses inputs and outputs to train its models with no opt-out found, and no status page or security contact was found.",
      "bestFor": "Groups who want a free assistant inside a shared chat for planning, drafting and images.",
      "disclosure": "Boba competes with LocalGhost, which Anchor Terminal's founder builds. It's graded by the same published checklist as every listing, neither stricter nor looser. Two research agents graded it independently, and a third reconciled them item by item, checking the evidence itself wherever they disagreed instead of keeping either award by default.",
      "strengths": [
        "Free, with no subscription, ads, card or app.",
        "Works in group chats that mix iPhone and Android.",
        "Google user data isn't used for advertising or for models beyond the owner's personalised model, and is deleted within 60 days of a request."
      ],
      "weaknesses": [
        "No API, MCP server or A2A endpoint for an outside agent.",
        "The privacy notice uses inputs and outputs to train or fine-tune its models, with no opt-out found.",
        "No retention period stated for messages.",
        "No status page, changelog, security.txt or named subprocessors."
      ],
      "agentNotes": [
        "Don't plan to call Boba from another agent. It answers only text messages in the Messages app.",
        "Tell people in a group chat that messages sent to Boba may be used to train its models."
      ],
      "metrics": {
        "kind": "remote",
        "measured": false
      },
      "reviewCount": 0,
      "avgRating": 0,
      "history": [
        {
          "basis": "public evidence",
          "confidence": "medium",
          "grade": "F",
          "methodology": "0.4",
          "pending": [
            "performance",
            "tasks"
          ],
          "run": "2026-10-01",
          "runLabel": "October 2026 research run",
          "score": 10.3
        }
      ],
      "editorialScores": {
        "ergonomics": 0,
        "maintenance": 2,
        "payments": 30,
        "reliability": 15,
        "schema": 0,
        "security": 0,
        "transparency": 30
      },
      "provenanceScore": 47
    },
    "connect": {},
    "letme": {
      "capability": "https://letme.dev/assistant.messaging",
      "tool": "https://letme.dev/boba"
    },
    "notable": [
      "Boba works in the Messages app over iMessage, RCS and SMS, including group chats that mix iPhone and Android (https://getboba.ai)",
      "The home page consent line says \"Messages you send may be used to improve Boba\". The privacy notice says inputs and outputs are used \"including by training or fine-tuning the AI models that power such tools\" (https://getboba.ai and https://getboba.ai/privacy)",
      "The FAQ says messages are never used to train third-party models or sold to advertisers (https://getboba.ai)",
      "Google user data is not used for advertising or to train models beyond the owner's personalised model (https://getboba.ai/privacy)",
      "The terms describe an \"AI agent-powered autonomous personal assistant\" that takes Actions on third-party services on the user's behalf (https://getboba.ai/terms)",
      "trygist.ai redirects to getboba.ai"
    ],
    "area": "frameworks",
    "details": [
      {
        "label": "Surface listed",
        "value": "The Boba texting assistant, read from getboba.ai, the terms and the privacy notice on 14 October 2026. Boba Web, a newer surface linked from the home page, was not reviewed. No message was sent."
      },
      {
        "label": "Where it runs",
        "value": "A cloud service using third-party AI model providers, which are not named (https://getboba.ai/privacy)."
      },
      {
        "label": "What it acts on",
        "value": "Group planning, answers, drafts, images and songs, and Actions on connected third-party services including Google when authorised (https://getboba.ai and https://getboba.ai/terms)."
      },
      {
        "label": "Outside agent access",
        "value": "None found."
      },
      {
        "label": "Data handling",
        "value": "Messages are stored so conversations have memory. No retention period is stated (https://getboba.ai and https://getboba.ai/privacy)."
      },
      {
        "label": "Eligibility",
        "value": "18 and older (https://getboba.ai/terms)."
      }
    ],
    "provenance": {
      "legalEntity": "humans\u0026 ai, inc.",
      "domain": "getboba.ai",
      "domainRegistered": "2026-04-30",
      "endpointOnVendorDomain": null,
      "terms": "https://getboba.ai/terms",
      "privacy": "https://getboba.ai/privacy",
      "statusPage": "",
      "changelog": "",
      "securityTxt": "none",
      "checked": "2026-10-14",
      "notes": [
        "The terms and privacy notice name humans\u0026 ai, inc. and were last updated on 5 October 2026.",
        "getboba.ai has no robots.txt (404). security.txt, llms.txt and sitemap.xml return 404. No status page or changelog was found. Contact hello@getboba.ai.",
        "No X account is linked from getboba.ai.",
        "RDAP gives a registration date of 2026-04-30 for getboba.ai."
      ],
      "score": 47,
      "checks": [
        {
          "check": "Legal entity named",
          "value": "humans\u0026 ai, inc.",
          "points": 20,
          "max": 20,
          "state": "ok"
        },
        {
          "check": "Domain age",
          "value": "getboba.ai, registered 2026-04-30 (under a year)",
          "points": 0,
          "max": 15,
          "state": "no"
        },
        {
          "check": "Endpoint on the vendor's domain",
          "value": "no hosted endpoint",
          "points": 0,
          "max": 0,
          "state": "na"
        },
        {
          "check": "Terms of service",
          "value": "published",
          "points": 10,
          "max": 10,
          "state": "ok"
        },
        {
          "check": "Privacy policy",
          "value": "published",
          "points": 10,
          "max": 10,
          "state": "ok"
        },
        {
          "check": "Status page",
          "value": "not found",
          "points": 0,
          "max": 10,
          "state": "no"
        },
        {
          "check": "Changelog",
          "value": "not found",
          "points": 0,
          "max": 10,
          "state": "no"
        },
        {
          "check": "security.txt",
          "value": "not found",
          "points": 0,
          "max": 10,
          "state": "no"
        }
      ]
    },
    "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/boba.json"
  }
}