AI assistant you can text by SMS
Which AI assistants can you text by SMS, and which are best at it?
Updated · 15 assistants ranked
These are the AI assistants you can reach with an ordinary text message, no app or chat account needed, ranked across all ten of our tests. SMS works on any phone, which makes it the easiest channel to start with and the one where an assistant has no buttons or screens to help it.
Top picks
- 18.1
Tested on 8 of 10Best: Routines10, Purchasing9Time to finish 7m 1s
- 27.8OllieBest free option
Tested on 8 of 10Best: Online tasks9, Routines9
- 37.6
Tested on 7 of 10Best: Travel10, Email8
- 47.5
Tested on 6 of 10Best: Email9, Proactive8
- 57.2
Tested on 6 of 10Best: Travel9, Online tasks8
Top pick: highest average here. Best free option: highest among assistants you can use for free. Fastest that's still good: quickest median time to finish among those averaging 7 or more.
Full ranking
| # | Assistant | Online tasks | Travel | Purchasing | Phone calls | Proactive | Routines | Connected apps | Permissions | Memory | Average | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pally | 7 | 7 | 9 | N/A | 7 | 9 | 10 | 7 | 9 | — | 8.1 |
| 2 | Ollie | 9 | 7 | 7 | N/A | 7 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 8 | — | 7.8 |
| 3 | Tomo | 7 | 10 | 6 | — | 8 | — | — | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7.6 |
| 4 | Poke | 4 | — | — | — | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | — | 8 | 7.5 |
| 5 | Caddy | 8 | 9 | 7 | N/A | 7 | — | — | 6 | — | 6 | 7.2 |
| 6 | Wajo / Fo | 2 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 7.1 |
| 7 | Bantr | 8 | 8 | — | 5 | — | 7 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7.0 |
| 8 | Friday | — | 5 | — | 5 | — | — | 6 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5.8 |
| 9 | Ask Ranger | 4 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 5.6 |
| 10 | Nessi | — | — | — | — | 7 | 5 | — | 5 | 6 | 4 | 5.4 |
| 11 | Del | 5 | 7 | 1 | — | — | — | — | 7 | 8 | 4 | 5.3 |
| 12 | Ka | — | 6 | — | 6 | — | — | 5 | 4 | — | 5 | 5.2 |
| 13 | Persona | 5 | — | 4 | — | 5 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 6 | — | 5.0 |
| 14 | Alfi by Text.ai | — | — | 4 | 4 | 6 | — | 5 | 4 | — | — | 4.6 |
| 15 | Lucas | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 4.5 |
How this report works
Only assistants that list SMS as a channel, tested on at least five of the ten tests, are included. They are ranked by their average across the tests they took.
How to choose
- Check the number and the country. Several texting assistants are US-only, and your carrier may charge for messages; each assistant's page lists its region and plans.
- Plain text has no buttons, so look at how it handles confirmation: the booking and purchasing tests require it to show the total and wait before paying.
- If you want to send photos or files, check the assistant's page first; plain SMS limits what you can attach.
What users say
I love how @interaction would just leak their internal system unprompted, very cool feature 😂
Open sourceData sharing wise I’m ok. But with dedicated email it’s just easier to manage all the tests etc
Open sourcePally asks me before sending each message out to clients but now Pallyai can attend to my photography clients without asking me, it's all automated.
Open sourceFrequently asked questions
Which assistant is best for this?
Pally leads with an average of 8.1, ahead of Ollie and Tomo.
Is there a good free option?
Pally is the highest-ranked assistant with a free plan, averaging 8.1.
How did you test these assistants?
Every assistant got the same published tests, word for word, scored from three checkpoints and the number of corrections it needed. Each test is on the Dimensions page.