Compare/Head to head

Poke vs Town

Same facts, side by side: starting price, free tier, MCP, API and what each one is actually built for.

Starting price

Poke

$19/mo Free tier

Poke is an AI assistant you simply text on Messages, WhatsApp or Telegram to handle email, calendar and reminders, with proactive updates and background automations. Free forever plan; Pro $19/mo, Ultra $199/mo. Owned by Cognition since July 2026.

Where Poke fits

  • Recruiters who live on their phone
  • Solo recruiters who want email and calendar help by text
  • Anyone who wants to try an agent free

Town

$15/mo Free tier 7 day free trial

Personal AI assistant that learns your clients, deadlines and writing style from your email, then drafts replies, books meetings and runs routines. Free plan; Starter $15/mo, Pro $49/user/mo billed annually.

Where Town fits

  • Recruiters and talent leads buried in email and scheduling
  • Ashby users who want an assistant that can read pipeline data
  • Busy individuals who want daily briefings and inbox triage done for them
  • Small teams that want shared routines and pooled credits

At a glance

DetailPokeTown
Starting price$19/mo$15/mo
Free tier✓Yes✓Yes
Free trialNot on record7 day free trial
MCP server–No–No
Public API–No–No
Listed underAI assistantsAI assistants, Workflow automation

Where they pull apart

Poke

Stands out: Nothing to install and nothing to learn: you text it like a person. Its approval to text natively on Apple Messages and its friendly, proactive style made it one of the most used assistants of its kind, with 100 million messages in three months.

Watch out: It is a personal assistant, not a team tool, and it reaches deep into your inbox and messages. Cognition bought it to shape its coding agent Devin, so the consumer roadmap may change.

Not the right fit for

  • Teams that need shared workspaces and admin controls
  • Companies with strict rules on connecting work email to consumer apps

Town

Stands out: Town learns from the work you have already done in Gmail, so it drafts in your voice with no prompt writing. Each person gets their own Townie, and assistants can coordinate with each other, for example to reschedule a meeting.

Watch out: Town is a general work assistant, not a recruiting system: Ashby is the only ATS among its listed integrations. Everything runs on credits, the Free plan stops at 30 chats a month, and the vendor offers no refunds.

Not the right fit for

  • Teams looking for an ATS, sourcing database or outreach sequencer
  • Buyers who want flat pricing with no usage credits

Pros and cons

Poke

  • Free forever plan
  • No app to install
  • Proactive updates by text
  • Personal use only, no team admin
  • Ultra is a big jump from Pro
  • Roadmap now tied to Cognition

Town

  • Free plan plus a 7-day Pro trial, no card needed
  • Drafts in your own voice by learning from past email
  • Never sends email or invites without your approval
  • Ashby is the only ATS integration listed
  • Credit-based usage makes monthly cost vary
  • No refunds on cancelled plans

What each one costs

Poke

$19/mo

Poke has a Free forever plan with no card that connects your apps, email and calendar. Pro is $19/mo with frontier models for complex tasks and background automations, and Ultra is $199/mo with frontier models on every action, the highest limits and pay-as-you-go usage beyond its credits. Confirm current terms on the vendor site.

Checked 16 Oct 2026

Town

$15/mo

The Free plan costs nothing, needs no card and includes 30 chat messages a month, a weekly briefing and every integration; new signups get a 7-day Pro trial first. Starter is $15/mo billed monthly, and Pro ($49/user/mo), Power ($99/user/mo) and Power Plus ($199/user/mo) are quoted billed annually. Paid plans run on monthly credits, Pro and above can buy overage at a flat per-credit rate, and Team plans add pooled credits per seat. Confirm current terms on the vendor site.

Checked 6 Oct 2026

Common questions

Is Poke cheaper than Town?
Town starts lower, at $15/mo against $19/mo for Poke. That is the entry plan on each side, so the real number depends on seats and the tier you land on.
Can you try Poke or Town for free?
Poke and Town carry a free tier on our listing. Town offers a 7 day free trial.

Not the pair you wanted?

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Editorial listings, never paid rankings. Prices checked 16 Oct 2026. Confirm current terms on the vendor site. Spot an error?