Carly AI vs Poke

Carly AI

• People who would rather CC an assistant on email than open another app
• Scheduling across Google and Microsoft calendars with several attendees
• Rule-based automations that can run without spending credits

Poke

• People who would rather text an assistant than open another app
• Handling email, calendar and reminders from a message thread
• Developers who want to add their own tools through MCP

Carly AI

• The Free plan covers MCP access, 10 workflows, the calendar view and the task manager; AI agents start at $35 a month.
• Personal includes 200 credits a month. Bigger allowances are add-ons, from $30 a month more for 400 credits up to $1,450 more for 15,200.
• Business SMS, calling and the AI receptionist are add-ons for Organization teams, billed separately and set up on a call.
• No mobile or desktop app is listed: Carly works through email, SMS, Slack, a web dashboard and a Chrome extension.

Poke

• Poke has no app of its own: it works through Apple Messages, WhatsApp, Telegram or RCS, with settings managed on the website.
• Email support covers Gmail and Outlook only; Poke says it has no immediate plans for iCloud or Yahoo Mail.
• The Free plan has a small usage allowance, and background automations and frontier models start at Pro.
• Poke Human is included only with Ultra at $199 a month, and expenses paid on your behalf are deducted from your credit balance.

Carly AI

Delegation by email, SMS, Slack or chat

Send, CC or forward an email to hand over a task, text the agent, mention it in Slack or chat from the dashboard. Emails the agent sends from its own account use no credits.

Custom agents

Each agent has its own name, email address, integrations, permissions and files, keeps a memory of contacts and preferences, and can be taught your policies and templates as skills.

Scheduling

Handles group scheduling, booking links and availability polls, and creates events with titles, video links, attendees and time zones across Google and Microsoft calendars.

Workflows built by asking

Describe a workflow and Carly builds and tests it, with triggers such as a new email, a webhook or a schedule. Steps without an AI call are free; each AI call costs 0.025 credits.

Integrations

The integrations page lists 258+ apps, among them Gmail, Outlook, Slack, Salesforce, HubSpot, Notion, QuickBooks and Jira, which agents and workflows can act in.

MCP server

An MCP server exposes 148 tools for email, calendar, CRM, workflows, files and notes to Claude, ChatGPT and other MCP clients. Calls made this way cost no credits.

Poke

Works inside messaging apps

You use Poke by texting it in Apple Messages, WhatsApp, Telegram or RCS, including by voice message, and you can choose which channel it texts you on.

Email and calendar

Reads, searches and drafts email and schedules meetings, with full support for Gmail and Outlook inboxes, calendars and contact sync.

Recipes

Recipes set up integrations and automations in one step and can be shared with others. The directory covers apps such as Notion, GitHub, Linear and Oura.

Reminders and proactive updates

Creates reminders and gets a head start on tasks from a text, then draws on connected services and its memory to message you when something needs attention.

Custom integrations and API

Developers can add custom integrations through MCP servers, and the Poke API lets scripts, webhooks and other tools send messages to your assistant.

Poke Human

On Ultra, real-world tasks such as restaurant reservations, phone calls and orders are dispatched to a person, who sees only the details needed for that task.

Carly AI

• Free$0

  MCP access, 10 Zapier-style workflows, a multi-calendar view for Google and Microsoft, and the Task Manager.

• Personal$35

  per month

  Custom agents, app integrations, scheduled tasks, memory, unlimited email and calendar accounts, and 200 credits a month. Larger credit allowances cost extra.

• Organization$35

  per seat / month

  Everything in Personal plus shared agents and skills, admin controls, a pooled credit allowance, per-member usage and central billing.

• EnterpriseCustom

  Everything in Organization plus agents on your own email domain, custom branding, and advanced security and compliance.

Poke

• Free$0

  Connect apps, email and calendar with a small usage allowance; when it runs out, Poke answers in a lighter mode until it refills.

• Pro$19

  per month, billed monthly

  Frontier models for complex tasks, automations that run in the background, higher rate limits and priority support.

• Ultra$199

  per month, billed monthly

  Frontier models on every action, a monthly credit pool with pay-as-you-go top-ups, Poke Human and highest-priority support.