Head to head · Assistants reached by message · October 2026 research run

Boba vs Zo Computer

Zo Computer scores 43.1 (E) on agent readiness against Boba's 10.3 (F), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do assistants reached by message.

Best AI personal assistants that act for one person · All 834 assistants comparisons

Which one, for what

Boba F

Best 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.

Zo Computer E

Best for One person who wants a hosted assistant with its own Linux machine, reachable by text message and chat apps, and who accepts that the assistant acts on connected accounts without a documented approval step.

Ahead on

  • Schema & documentation, 73 against 0
  • Agent ergonomics, 34 against 0
  • Security & auth, 37 against 0
  • Payments & pricing, 40 against 30
  • Maintenance & community, 68 against 2
  • Transparency & trust, 60 against 39

Also in its favour

  • A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install

Watch for

The access token for the API and MCP endpoint grants full access to the workspace, with no scoped or read-only token documented

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runBobaZo ComputerEdge
Reliability16%201515even
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.2073Zo Computer +73
Agent ergonomics13%16.2034Zo Computer +34
Security & auth14%17.5037Zo Computer +37
Payments & pricing10%12.53040Zo Computer +10
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.8268Zo Computer +66
Transparency & trust7%8.83960Zo Computer +21
Negative events≤1500
TotalF 10.3/100E 43.1/100

Facts side by side

FactBobaZo Computer
KindPlatformHTTP API
Vendorhumans& ai, inc.Zo Computer Company
Hosted endpointno (local only)https://api.zo.computer/mcp
TransportsHTTP
AuthOAuth or keyAPI key
PricingFreeFreemium
x402nono
LicenceClosed service under Boba's Terms of Service (humans& ai, inc., last updated 5 October 2026).Proprietary service under Zo Computer Company's terms of service
Read-only variant documentednono
llms.txtnoyes
Last releasenone2026-09-14
Terms last updated2025-08-08
Privacy policy last updated2026-05-20
Customer content may train modelsnot found in the text
Terms restrict automated accessnot found in the text
Terms restrict benchmarkingnot found in the text
Terms or service can change without noticenot found in the text
Arbitration or class-action waivernot found in the text

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.

Zo Computer

Zo publishes an OpenAPI file, Markdown docs, plan prices and a named list of the providers that receive user content. One access token grants full access to the workspace, no approval step before sending or buying was found in the reviewed docs, and no status page, rate limit or SLA is published.

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.

Zo Computer

  1. Send POST https://api.zo.computer/zo/ask with Authorization: Bearer zo_sk_... and an input string. The owner creates the token under Settings > Advanced
  2. Pass persona_id for a persona with a narrow tool set. The token itself carries every permission the owner has
  3. Set memory_mode to off to keep workspace memory out of a request. The field is in the OpenAPI file and absent from the API guide
  4. Do not retry /zo/ask blindly after a timeout. No idempotency key is documented and the request may already have sent a message
  5. Append .md to any guide or reference URL for Markdown

Questions

Which is better for AI agents, Boba or Zo Computer?

Zo Computer scores 43.1 (E) on agent readiness against Boba's 10.3 (F), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories.

Can an agent call Boba and Zo Computer without installing anything?

No hosted endpoint is listed for Boba. Zo Computer has a hosted endpoint at https://api.zo.computer/mcp.

Other comparisons with Boba or Zo Computer

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.

Machine-readable

For companies

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