# Orchid vs Poke > Poke scores 37.6 (F) to Orchid's 20.2 (F) for assistants reached by message. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side. - Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orchid-ai-vs-poke - Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orchid-ai-vs-poke.md (~3,300 tokens) - Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orchid-ai-vs-poke.min.md (~630 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts) - JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orchid-ai-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 Orchid's 20.2 (F), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do assistants reached by message. - Orchid: grade F, 20.2/100, rank #992 of 1010. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/orchid-ai.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/orchid-ai.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 ### Orchid (F) Good for: A founder or operator who wants Gmail and calendar triage by text with approval before anything leaves. 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: - Schema & documentation, 42 against 10 - Agent ergonomics, 30 against 0 - Security & auth, 24 against 0 - Payments & pricing, 30 against 10 - Maintenance & community, 31 against 24 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 | Orchid | Poke | Edge | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 50 | 51 | Poke +1 | | Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run | | Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 10 | 42 | Poke +32 | | 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) | 10 | 30 | Poke +20 | | Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run | | Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 24 | 31 | Poke +7 | | Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 60 | 58 | Orchid +2 | | Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | | | **Total** | | **20.2 · F** | **37.6 · F** | | ## Facts side by side | Fact | Orchid | Poke | | --- | --- | --- | | Kind | Platform | Platform | | Vendor | Zero Email, Inc. | The Interaction Company of California Inc. | | Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) | | Transports | | HTTP | | Auth | OAuth or key | API key | | Pricing | Paid | Freemium | | x402 | no | no | | Licence | Closed service under Orchid's Terms of Service (Zero Email, Inc., last updated 16 January 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 | yes | 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 **Orchid.** Orchid is a paid executive assistant over iMessage, SMS and Telegram that holds drafts and calendar holds until the owner approves, with a public status page and a named subprocessor list. No outside agent can call it, there's no free tier, and its privacy policy allows training a personal model while its blog says it never trains. **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 ### Orchid 1. Don't plan to call Orchid from another agent. It answers only the owner's iMessage, SMS and Telegram threads. 2. Check status.orchid.ai before telling the owner Orchid is down. The 7 August incident moved it to a new number. 3. Tell the owner that drafts and holds wait for their approval unless they widen it. ### 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, Orchid or Poke? Poke scores 37.6 (F) on agent readiness against Orchid's 20.2 (F), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. ## For agents - This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orchid-ai-vs-poke.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orchid-ai-vs-poke.min.md - Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "orchid-ai", "b": "poke"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare orchid-ai poke` - Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/orchid-ai.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/poke.json ## Other comparisons with Orchid or Poke - [asaply vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asaply-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [asaply vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asaply-vs-poke.md) - [Asmi vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asmi-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [Asmi vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/asmi-vs-poke.md) - [AstrBot vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/astrbot-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [Boba vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [Boba vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boba-vs-poke.md) - [Boski vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/boski-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [Brea vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [Brea vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/brea-vs-poke.md) - [Caddy vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/caddy-app-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [CowAgent vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cowagent-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [Del vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [Del vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/del-vs-poke.md) - [folk vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/folk-nozomio-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [GAIA vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gaia-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [Grok Bot vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/grok-bot-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [Haven vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/haven-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [Hermes Agent vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hermes-agent-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [HireAlpha vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hirealpha-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [HireAlpha vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hirealpha-vs-poke.md) - [Instinct vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/instinct-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [IronClaw vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ironclaw-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [Lindy vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/lindy-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [nanobot vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanobot-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [NanoClaw vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/nanoclaw-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [Dots vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-dots-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [OpenClaw vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openclaw-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [OpenInstinct vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [OpenInstinct vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openinstinct-vs-poke.md) - [Orbits vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orbits-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [Orbits vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orbits-vs-poke.md) - [Orchid vs Pally](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orchid-ai-vs-pally.md) - [Orchid vs PicoClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orchid-ai-vs-picoclaw.md) - [Orchid vs QwenPaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orchid-ai-vs-qwenpaw.md) - [Orchid vs szn](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orchid-ai-vs-szn.md) - [Orchid vs Tab](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orchid-ai-vs-tab-bot.md) - [Orchid vs Tomo](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orchid-ai-vs-tomo.md) - [Orchid vs Town](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orchid-ai-vs-town.md) - [Orchid vs Zapia](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orchid-ai-vs-zapia.md) - [Orchid vs ZeroClaw](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orchid-ai-vs-zeroclaw.md) - [Orchid vs Zo Computer](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orchid-ai-vs-zo-computer.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) - [Gemini Spark vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-spark-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [Leon vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/leon-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [Natura tinyNature vs Orchid](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/natura-vs-orchid-ai.md) - [Natura tinyNature vs Poke](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/natura-vs-poke.md) - [Orchid vs Wajo (Fo)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orchid-ai-vs-wajo.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) - [Orchid vs Talorys](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/orchid-ai-vs-talorys.md) - [Poke vs Talorys](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/poke-vs-talorys.md) ## Disclosure - Orchid 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.