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

Instinct vs szn

Instinct and szn score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 7.3 (F) and 7.3 (F). szn leads on schema & documentation and payments & pricing. Both do assistants reached by message.

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

InstinctSpear Street Technology, Inc. (d/b/a Instinct) · Platform F7.3/100#1009 of 1010 sznNomadic Futures · Platform F7.3/100#1010 of 1010

Which one, for what

Instinct F

Best for People who want to hand errands to an assistant by text or phone.

Ahead on

  • Reliability, 10 against 5
  • Transparency & trust, 53 against 23

Watch for

No API, MCP server or A2A endpoint for an outside agent.

szn F

Best for A person who wants calls, emails and bookings done for them and has an access code.

Ahead on

  • Schema & documentation, 10 against 0
  • Payments & pricing, 20 against 0

Watch for

Early access by access code only.

Score by category

CategoryWeight this runInstinctsznEdge
Reliability16%20105Instinct +5
Performance10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Schema & documentation13%16.2010szn +10
Agent ergonomics13%16.200even
Security & auth14%17.530Instinct +3
Payments & pricing10%12.5020szn +20
Task success10%pendingpendingpendingnot scored in this run
Maintenance & community7%8.822even
Transparency & trust7%8.85323Instinct +30
Negative events≤1500
TotalF 7.3/100F 7.3/100

Facts side by side

FactInstinctszn
KindPlatformPlatform
VendorSpear Street Technology, Inc. (d/b/a Instinct)Nomadic Futures
Hosted endpointno (local only)no (local only)
Transports
AuthOAuth or keyOAuth or key
PricingPaidFree
x402nono
LicenceClosed service under Instinct's Terms of Service (Spear Street Technology, Inc. d/b/a Instinct, last revised 26 August 2026).Closed service. No terms of service were found on theszn.ai. A privacy policy and an acceptable use policy (both last updated March 2026) apply.
Read-only variant documentednoyes
llms.txtnoyes
Terms last updated2026-08-26no document linked
Privacy policy last updated2026-08-26
Customer content may train modelsyes, with an opt-out
Terms restrict automated accessyes
Terms restrict benchmarkingyes
Terms or service can change without noticenot found in the text
Arbitration or class-action waiveryes

Verdicts

Instinct

Instinct is a hosted assistant reached by text or call that acts in the owner's Google Workspace and WhatsApp and can make purchases. No outside agent can call it, no price is published, new sign-ups may meet a capacity waitlist, and materials train models unless the owner opts out.

szn

szn is an errand assistant in early access that makes calls, sends emails and books for its owner, free during the preview for people with an access code. No outside agent can call it, no terms of service or legal entity appear in its policies, and its privacy policy says nothing on training.

Before you call either

Instinct

  1. Don't look for an endpoint. app.instinct.com/mcp serves the web app shell and refuses POST with 405.
  2. Confirm any purchase with the owner. The terms say Actions may not be reversible.

szn

  1. Don't plan to call szn from another agent. It answers only its web app, iMessage, SMS and email for the owner.
  2. Tell the owner they need an access code to start, and that the acceptable use policy makes them responsible for confirming actions.

Questions

Which is better for AI agents, Instinct or szn?

Instinct and szn score within a point of each other on agent readiness, 7.3 (F) and 7.3 (F). szn leads on schema & documentation and payments & pricing.

Other comparisons with Instinct or szn

Disclosure

Instinct 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.

szn 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.

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