# Boba vs Poke > Poke scores 37.6 (F) to Boba's 10.3 (F) for assistants reached by message. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side. - Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-poke - Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-poke.md (~3,200 tokens) - Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-poke.min.md (~630 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts) - JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-poke.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json) - Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt) - API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json - Updated: 2026-10-13 Poke scores 37.6 (F) on agent readiness against Boba's 10.3 (F), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do assistants reached by message. - Boba: grade F, 10.3/100, rank #1004 of 1010. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/boba.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/boba.json - Poke: grade F, 37.6/100, rank #960 of 1010. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/poke.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/poke.json - Best AI personal assistants that act for one person: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/personal-assistants/index.md - All 834 assistants comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/personal-assistants/index.md ## Which one, for what ### Boba (F) Good for: Groups who want a free assistant inside a shared chat for planning, drafting and images. Also in its favour: - Free to start without a card Watch for: No API, MCP server or A2A endpoint for an outside agent. ### Poke (F) Good for: One person who wants an assistant in their text messages that reads and drafts mail, manages a calendar and reaches other apps through MCP. Ahead on: - Reliability, 51 against 15 - Schema & documentation, 42 against 0 - Agent ergonomics, 30 against 0 - Security & auth, 24 against 0 - Maintenance & community, 31 against 2 - Transparency & trust, 58 against 39 Watch for: No documented setting for which actions need approval before Poke sends, deletes or spends. Release notes mention email draft approval only in passing ## Score by category | Category | Weight | Boba | Poke | Edge | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 15 | 51 | Poke +36 | | Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run | | Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 0 | 42 | Poke +42 | | Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 0 | 30 | Poke +30 | | Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 0 | 24 | Poke +24 | | Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 30 | 30 | even | | Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run | | Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 2 | 31 | Poke +29 | | Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 39 | 58 | Poke +19 | | Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | | | **Total** | | **10.3 · F** | **37.6 · F** | | ## Facts side by side | Fact | Boba | Poke | | --- | --- | --- | | Kind | Platform | Platform | | Vendor | humans& ai, inc. | The Interaction Company of California Inc. | | Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) | | Transports | | HTTP | | Auth | OAuth or key | API key | | Pricing | Free | Freemium | | x402 | no | no | | Licence | Closed service under Boba's Terms of Service (humans& ai, inc., last updated 5 October 2026). | Proprietary service under Poke's Terms of Service. The `poke` npm package (CLI and Node.js SDK) declares MIT | | Read-only variant documented | no | no | | llms.txt | no | yes | | Last release | none | 2026-06-25 | | Terms last updated | | 2026-03-17 | | Privacy policy last updated | | 2026-09-11 | | Customer content may train models | | yes | | Terms restrict automated access | | yes | | Terms restrict benchmarking | | yes | | Terms or service can change without notice | | yes | | Arbitration or class-action waiver | | yes | ## Verdicts **Boba.** 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. **Poke.** Hosted assistant that answers in Apple Messages, WhatsApp, Telegram and RCS and acts in Gmail, Outlook, calendars and MCP servers. Plan prices and a status page are public. No approval settings, credential storage, model providers or retention periods are documented, and customer content trains models unless Maximum Privacy is selected. ## Before you call either ### Boba 1. Don't plan to call Boba from another agent. It answers only text messages in the Messages app. 2. Tell people in a group chat that messages sent to Boba may be used to train its models. ### Poke 1. POST JSON to `https://poke.com/api/v1/inbound/api-message` with a Bearer key from Kitchen. Legacy `pk_` keys work only on the deprecated `/api/v1/inbound-sms/webhook` 2. Expect only `{"success": true}` back. Poke's answer goes to the owner's message thread, not to the caller 3. Do not retry a POST blindly. No idempotency key is documented, and a repeated message may make Poke act twice 4. Treat an API key as full access to the owner's mail, calendar and integrations. Create one key per automation and revoke it when done 5. Avoid the prefilled integration link with `apiKey` in the query string for real secrets. Enter the key in the form or use `npx poke@latest mcp add -k` ## Questions ### Which is better for AI agents, Boba or Poke? Poke scores 37.6 (F) on agent readiness against Boba's 10.3 (F), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. ## For agents - This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-poke.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-poke.min.md - Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "boba", "b": "poke"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare boba poke` - Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/boba.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/poke.json ## Other comparisons with Boba or Poke - [asaply vs Boba](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asaply-vs-boba.md) - [asaply vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asaply-vs-poke.md) - [Asmi vs Boba](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asmi-vs-boba.md) - [Asmi vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asmi-vs-poke.md) - [AstrBot vs Boba](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-boba.md) - [Boba vs Boski](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-boski.md) - [Boba vs Brea](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-brea.md) - [Boba vs Caddy](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-caddy-app.md) - [Boba vs CowAgent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-cowagent.md) - [Boba vs Del](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-del.md) - [Boba vs folk](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-folk-nozomio.md) - [Boba vs GAIA](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-gaia.md) - [Boba vs Grok Bot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-grok-bot.md) - [Boba vs Haven](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-haven.md) - [Boba vs Hermes Agent](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-hermes-agent.md) - [Boba vs HireAlpha](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-hirealpha.md) - [Boba vs Instinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-instinct.md) - [Boba vs IronClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-ironclaw.md) - [Boba vs Lindy](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-lindy.md) - [Boba vs nanobot](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-nanobot.md) - [Boba vs NanoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-nanoclaw.md) - [Boba vs Natura tinyNature](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-natura.md) - [Boba vs Dots](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-openai-dots.md) - [Boba vs OpenClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-openclaw.md) - [Boba vs OpenInstinct](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-openinstinct.md) - [Boba vs Orbits](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-orbits.md) - [Boba vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [Boba vs Pally](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-pally.md) - [Boba vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-picoclaw.md) - [Boba vs QwenPaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-qwenpaw.md) - [Boba vs szn](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-szn.md) - [Boba vs Tab](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-tab-bot.md) - [Boba vs Tomo](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-tomo.md) - [Boba vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-town.md) - [Boba vs Zapia](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-zapia.md) - [Boba vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-zeroclaw.md) - [Boba vs Zo Computer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-zo-computer.md) - [Brea vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-poke.md) - [Del vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-poke.md) - [HireAlpha vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hirealpha-vs-poke.md) - [OpenInstinct vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-poke.md) - [Orbits vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orbits-vs-poke.md) - [Orchid vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orchid-ai-vs-poke.md) - [Poke vs szn](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/poke-vs-szn.md) - [Poke vs Tab](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/poke-vs-tab-bot.md) - [Poke vs Zapia](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/poke-vs-zapia.md) - [AstrBot vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-poke.md) - [Boski vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boski-vs-poke.md) - [Caddy vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/caddy-app-vs-poke.md) - [CowAgent vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-poke.md) - [folk vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-poke.md) - [GAIA vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-poke.md) - [Gemini Spark vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-poke.md) - [Grok Bot vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-poke.md) - [Haven vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-poke.md) - [Hermes Agent vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-poke.md) - [Instinct vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-poke.md) - [IronClaw vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-poke.md) - [Leon vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-poke.md) - [Lindy vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lindy-vs-poke.md) - [nanobot vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-poke.md) - [NanoClaw vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-poke.md) - [Dots vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-poke.md) - [OpenClaw vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-poke.md) - [PicoClaw vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/picoclaw-vs-poke.md) - [Poke vs QwenPaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/poke-vs-qwenpaw.md) - [Poke vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/poke-vs-town.md) - [Poke vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/poke-vs-zeroclaw.md) - [Poke vs Zo Computer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/poke-vs-zo-computer.md) - [Natura tinyNature vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/natura-vs-poke.md) - [Pally vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/pally-vs-poke.md) - [Poke vs Tomo](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/poke-vs-tomo.md) - [Poke vs Wajo (Fo)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/poke-vs-wajo.md) - [Boba vs Gemini Spark](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-gemini-spark.md) - [Boba vs Leon](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-leon.md) - [Boba vs Talorys](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-talorys.md) - [Boba vs Wajo (Fo)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-wajo.md) - [Poke vs Talorys](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/poke-vs-talorys.md) ## 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.