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Best AI Agents for iMessage: 5 Options Compared for 2026
Compare BodyBuddy, Poke, Instinct, Town, and Tomo for health coaching, proactive texting, integrations, pricing, privacy, and everyday automation.
An AI agent for iMessage should do more than answer a prompt. The best options feel like useful contacts. They can text first, remember context, connect to other services, and help something happen.
Quick answer: choose BodyBuddy for proactive health accountability, Poke for a general assistant that lives in your texts, Instinct for an autonomous agent that can use connected devices, Town for work automation and routines, and Tomo for a broad personal AI with proactive messaging.
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Publisher disclosure: The creators of BodyBuddy publish this article. We reviewed current official product pages, pricing, terms, and privacy documentation. We did not conduct a controlled hands-on benchmark of every product. Each recommendation is for a specific job, not a claim that one product is universally best. Features, access, and pricing were checked on August 24, 2026.
The five options at a glance
Option | How you interact | Best job | Access and starting price |
BodyBuddy | Text message / iMessage, plus the iPhone app | Daily health accountability and professional-plan follow-through | Available on the App Store; subscription product |
Poke | Messages, WhatsApp, Telegram, and connected services | Inbox, calendar, tasks, and personal automation | Free plan; Pro starts at USD 19 per month |
Instinct | Text, calls, Mac, mobile, and connected devices | Autonomous help that can act across apps and devices | Private access / waitlist; no public price listed |
Town | iPhone, web, Mac, email, Slack, WhatsApp, Telegram, and texting | Work automation, routines, research, and connected accounts | Free plan; Starter begins at USD 15 per month |
Tomo | Text messaging and connected services | Broad proactive personal assistance and accountability | Base plan starts at USD 19.99 per month |
The phrase "iMessage agent" can describe two different products. Some are contacts you talk to through Messages. Others connect to your existing iMessage history or use several communication channels. We explain that distinction below.
How we compared these AI texting agents
We looked for five things:
- A real text experience. Can you talk to the product through text, or does its main experience stay inside another app?
- Proactivity. Can it start a useful conversation, follow up, or run a routine without waiting for another prompt?
- Action. Can it use connected services or turn a conversation into work?
- A clear job. Is it built for health, productivity, broad assistance, or another specific use case?
- Current access. Can someone use it now, what does it cost, and what data access does it require?
1. BodyBuddy: best for proactive health accountability
BodyBuddy is our pick when your health plan needs to survive real life.
BodyBuddy is a health accountability coach that texts you every day. It can help you stay on track with meals, movement, sleep, weight, goals, and instructions from the professionals helping you.
The BodyBuddy app can record your own appointment or import a PDF, photo, after-visit summary, meal plan, workout plan, or written instructions. You review the extracted actions before they become part of a plan. BodyBuddy can then bring those actions into the daily coaching conversation and follow up over text.
That creates a simple handoff:
- Bring a plan or appointment into the BodyBuddy app.
- Review the important actions.
- Let BodyBuddy text first and help you follow through.
- Review progress and patterns in the app.
BodyBuddy also has a first-of-its-kind iPhone experience for nutrition tracking. On supported iPhones, meals and calorie progress can stay visible in the Dynamic Island while the text conversation is active. You can see how the Dynamic Island calorie tracker works.
Best for: someone who wants one coach to help carry their health across meals, appointments, professional plans, and everyday decisions.
Tradeoff: BodyBuddy is purpose-built for health. It is not the best choice for inbox automation, general research, or managing a large set of work apps. It is also not medical care and does not replace a doctor, dietitian, therapist, physical therapist, or trainer.
If you already have a professional plan, see how to import a doctor, PT, dietitian, or workout plan into the BodyBuddy app. If your starting point is an appointment, see the best apps for recording doctor visits.
2. Poke: best general assistant that lives in your texts
Poke calls itself a proactive, private, personal contact that is "right in your texts." That description fits the product well.
Poke connects to services such as Gmail, calendar, Notion, and Oura. It can surface information, create reminders, send or draft emails, organize data, and run automations called Recipes. You can send a text or voice message, and Poke can also use connected services and memory to help at the right time.
Poke is the strongest general-purpose option in this list for someone who wants an assistant in a familiar message thread. Its scope is broader than health, and its integrations make it useful for work and personal administration.
Poke currently offers a free plan. Pro starts at USD 19 per month and adds frontier models, background automations, higher limits, and priority support. Ultra is listed at USD 199 per month.
Best for: email, calendar, tasks, connected services, and general personal automation through text.
Tradeoff: Poke can support health-related workflows, but its public product is not centered on professional health-plan review, appointment recording, or one continuous health-accountability system.
3. Instinct: best for an autonomous agent with broad device access
Instinct is the most ambitious autonomous agent in this comparison.
Its official site says you can text or call it. Instinct can connect to email, messaging, screen activity, audio, location, and other sources. It is designed to notice dropped threads, contact you proactively, and use connected devices to complete tasks.
That can make Instinct feel less like a chatbot and more like a person with a phone and computer. Examples on its site include arranging a ride, booking a handyman, and following up on something the user forgot.
The tradeoff is access. Instinct is currently in private access while the company scales capacity. Its site directs most new users to a waitlist or an invite from an existing member.
Its data footprint also deserves careful review. Instinct's privacy notice says the assistant may access screen content, software interactions, messages, emails, voice data, and sensitive information when those permissions are enabled. It also says some service data may be used to evaluate, fine-tune, and train the models behind the product. Google Workspace data is excluded from that training use.
Best for: someone who wants an agent that can proactively act across apps and devices, and who is comfortable granting broad context.
Tradeoff: access is limited, pricing is not public, and the permissions required for the full experience are wider than those of a simple texting assistant.
4. Town: best for work automation with clear approval controls
Town is a connected work assistant built around routines, integrations, research, and action.
You can use Town through its iPhone app and several communication channels. Its Mac app can also access iMessage history after you grant permission, which lets Town search conversations and recover details from past texts. That is useful, but it is different from a product whose entire identity is a single iMessage contact.
Town can read connected email and calendar data, prepare meeting briefings, draft replies, create documents, run custom routines, and work across tools. Its safety documentation says external actions such as sending messages or calendar invitations require approval by default.
Town also makes its privacy posture unusually explicit. Training is off by default, third-party model providers are configured not to train on user data, and Google data is never used for training. Town says data is encrypted in transit and at rest. Its current documentation says it does not offer HIPAA compliance or a business associate agreement.
Town has a free plan with 30 chats per month and a 14-day Pro trial. Starter begins at USD 15 per month. Pro begins at USD 49 per user per month when billed annually, with higher tiers for more credits and automation.
Best for: professionals who want routines, research, meeting preparation, inbox help, and connected work automation.
Tradeoff: Town is a broader multi-channel work platform. If your only goal is a simple AI contact in iMessage, it may feel heavier than necessary.
5. Tomo: best broad personal AI with proactive messaging
Tomo is a personal AI that lives in your texts and can message first.
Its official About page says Tomo can send reminders, join group chats, search the web, manage calendar and email, watch videos, edit photos, and connect to other services. It is designed to help with everyday goals and organization rather than one narrow workflow.
Tomo has also expanded into health. With permission, it can use Apple Health data such as activity, workouts, sleep, heart rate, and body measurements to provide coaching, summaries, and proactive reminders.
That makes Tomo the closest broad personal-life alternative to BodyBuddy in this list. The difference is focus. Tomo aims to help across life. BodyBuddy is built around one connected health system that includes professional plans, appointment capture, nutrition, movement, sleep, progress, and daily follow-through.
Tomo's base plan starts at USD 19.99 per month. The company says pricing can vary by user and promotion.
Best for: someone who wants one proactive AI across goals, reminders, scheduling, general life, and some health context.
Tradeoff: breadth can be useful, but it does not provide the same purpose-built handoff from a doctor, dietitian, PT, trainer, or health document into a reviewed plan and ongoing health coaching.
Which AI agent for iMessage should you choose?
Choose based on the work you want done:
- You want daily help carrying your health: choose BodyBuddy.
- You want a general assistant directly in your texts: choose Poke.
- You want an agent that can use connected devices and act broadly: consider Instinct and join the waitlist.
- You want work routines, research, and approval-controlled automation: choose Town.
- You want a broad personal AI that can proactively text: choose Tomo.
For a strict shortlist of products you converse with through text, start with BodyBuddy, Poke, Instinct, and Tomo. Town belongs in the comparison because it supports texting and can use iMessage context on a Mac, but its full product is a wider work platform.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best AI agent for iMessage?
There is no universal winner. BodyBuddy is our pick for health accountability. Poke is the strongest general assistant that lives in your texts. Instinct offers the broadest autonomous-device vision, but access is private. Town is better for connected work automation. Tomo is a broad proactive personal AI.
What is the best AI texting app for health and fitness?
The creators of BodyBuddy recommend BodyBuddy for this use case. BodyBuddy can proactively text about meals, movement, sleep, progress, and reviewed action items from professional plans or appointments. The BodyBuddy app adds plan import, appointment recording, tracking, and progress views.
Tomo is the broadest alternative in this list with current Apple Health integration. Poke can also connect to Oura. Neither product is centered on the same professional-plan handoff as BodyBuddy.
Does BodyBuddy work through iMessage?
Yes. The coaching conversation can live in your text messages. The BodyBuddy app adds appointment recording, plan import, tracking, progress, and other visual features.
Is Town an iMessage agent?
Town supports a texting channel, and its Mac app can access your existing iMessage history after you grant permission. Town is still broader than a single iMessage contact. Its main product spans iPhone, web, Mac, email, Slack, WhatsApp, Telegram, routines, and integrations.
Is Instinct available to everyone?
Not yet. Instinct says it is in private access while it scales capacity. New users can join the waitlist or receive an invite from an existing member. Its public site does not list consumer pricing.
Is Poke or Tomo better than BodyBuddy?
They are built for different jobs. Poke and Tomo cover more general productivity and personal-assistant work. BodyBuddy is narrower and deeper in health. It is designed to carry meals, appointments, professional plans, health tracking, and daily accountability in one continuing relationship.
Can these agents make mistakes?
Yes. Every AI agent can misunderstand a request, use incomplete information, or take an unwanted action. Review important outputs and approval settings. Verify medical, legal, financial, and other high-stakes information with the appropriate professional.
Official sources
Next steps
Everyone gives you a plan.BodyBuddy texts you until it happens.
BodyBuddy keeps you on track—from meals to doctor's appointments and everything in between.