Zo vs Poke
Poke is an AI assistant that lives in your iMessage, WhatsApp, or SMS. It connects to your email and calendar, proactively monitors for tasks, and sends you one-tap actions to approve. No app to open – it just texts you.
Zo also lets you text it. But where Poke is an assistant that prompts you, Zo is a computer you own.
What Poke Does
Poke integrates into your messaging apps:
Proactive monitoring: Watches your email and calendar for actionable items
One-tap actions: Sends prompts like "Reschedule this meeting?" with approve/decline buttons
Natural conversation: Mimics human texting with short messages and typing indicators
Task management: Drafts replies, books travel, sets reminders
No app needed: Lives entirely in iMessage, WhatsApp, or SMS
The experience feels like texting a very capable assistant who already knows your schedule.
Both Let You Text AI
Here's what Poke and Zo have in common: you can text them.
With Zo, you can text your server and get responses. Ask it to do research, run code, check on automations, save articles. It texts back with results.
"Zo rocks by the way. I've had a couple people who didn't think they needed a VM find that having an always on cloud computer that they can text and email and have respond is handy."
But the similarity ends there.
The Fundamental Difference
Poke is an assistant that sends you prompts to approve.
Zo is a computer you own that happens to be reachable by text.
What you're interacting with
Poke: A task management layer over your existing accounts
Zo: A full Linux server with 100GB storage
Data ownership
Poke: Accesses your email/calendar via API connections
Zo: Your files live on your server
Capabilities
Poke: Predefined actions (reschedule, draft reply, set reminder)
Zo: Anything a computer can do (code, host, automate, store)
Persistence
Poke: Task-focused, ephemeral conversations
Zo: Persistent filesystem, databases, running services
Platform
Poke: iOS only (currently)
Zo: Web, mobile, desktop – access anywhere
Beyond Prompts
Poke excels at: "Here's something that needs your attention. Approve?"
Zo excels at: "I need to build something that runs continuously."
With Zo, you can:
Store files that persist forever
Run automations 24/7 without approval prompts
Host websites and services
Build custom tools and workflows
Own your data in standard formats
Poke is a smart notification layer. Zo is infrastructure.
The Proactive vs. Owned Distinction
Poke's innovation is proactive AI – it monitors and prompts you before you ask.
Zo's philosophy is owned AI – you have a computer, and AI helps you use it.
Both are valuable. But they solve different problems:
Need an assistant to surface tasks and get quick approvals? Poke.
Need a computer to build systems, store files, and run automations? Zo.
Pricing
Poke:
Unconventional "negotiated" pricing during onboarding
Users report paying anywhere from $0.01 to $30/month
Varies by user
Zo:
Plans start at $18/month
Includes AI, 100GB storage, full server access
Transparent, consistent pricing
Get Started
Want a computer you can text, not just an assistant that prompts you? Try Zo Computer – your server, your files, your AI.