Reno vs Poke

Reno vs Poke: Which personal AI belongs in your texts?

Reno and Poke have a lot in common: both live in your messages, remember you, and can run Recipes in the background. Pick Reno if you want that friend to give important things a page you control and help with work on your Mac. Pick Poke if WhatsApp, Telegram, RCS, and its wider Recipe ecosystem matter more.

There is more overlap than the feature lists suggest.

Poke is the closest alternative to Reno. It is warm, proactive, strong in messaging, and has a broad Recipe ecosystem. If you want one assistant across several chat apps, Poke has the clearer channel story.

Both can feel useful every day

A personal assistant in your messages

Memory, reminders, Recipes, and proactive help

Email, calendar, web research, and connected services

What Reno adds

Memory still works naturally in conversation

Important things can become pages you open and correct

The same friend can help with files and websites on your Mac

The short version.

What matters	Reno	Poke
Where you talk	Apple Messages and the web.	Apple Messages, WhatsApp, Telegram, and RCS.
Memory	Conversation recall, plus pages you can open and correct when something matters.	Conversation memory used to answer and help proactively.
Recipes	Create standing jobs by talking, browse a library, read the promise, then approve it.	A broad library, custom Recipes, integrations, and Poke Kitchen.
Computer work	The same Reno can help with selected files and websites on your Mac.	Work extends through chat, integrations, Recipes, and generated outputs.
Work handoff	The same remembered relationship continues into selected files, projects, and browser work on Mac.	Advanced work is extended through recipes, integrations, and Poke Kitchen.

The differences you will actually feel.

The relationship in your texts

Both want to feel like someone you text. Poke gives you more chat apps; Reno lets the same relationship grow into pages and Mac work.

Memory you can see and correct

Both remember you in conversation. Reno also lets important memories become something you can open, correct, and keep.

Recipes and the things they keep doing

Both have Recipes. Poke has the broader public ecosystem; Reno makes every Recipe show its promise and limits before it starts.

Which one sounds more like you?

Pick Reno if…

You mostly live in iMessage.
You want important memories to become pages you can fix yourself.
You want the friend who knows you to help on your Mac too.

Try Reno

Pick Poke if…

You also want WhatsApp, Telegram, or RCS.
Poke’s larger Recipe ecosystem is the main attraction.
You want most of the experience to stay inside chat.

Questions people usually ask.

Is Reno a Poke alternative?

Yes. Both are personal AI assistants in messaging with memory, Recipes, reminders, and connected services. Reno adds pages you control and a Mac app; Poke supports more chat channels and has a broader public Recipe ecosystem.

Do Reno and Poke both work in iMessage?

Yes. Reno uses Apple Messages as its primary conversational channel. Poke supports Apple Messages and also documents Telegram, WhatsApp, and RCS, making Poke the broader choice when multi-channel messaging is essential.

How is Reno memory different from Poke memory?

Reno remembers conversations too. Workspaces are an extra layer: when something keeps mattering, Reno can give it a page you can open, change, and rely on. They do not replace ordinary memory.

Which is better for Recipes?

Both have Recipes and proactive background work. Poke has the broader public Recipe ecosystem. Reno lets you describe a standing job, shows exactly what it will use and will not do, and waits for your approval before it starts.

Which is better for work on a computer?

Reno is the clearer fit when you want to watch the work on your Mac, change your mind, or take over. Poke is the clearer fit when integrations and custom Recipes can finish the job from chat.

How we checked this comparison

Reno publishes this page. Competitor claims come from the company's own current product material, linked below. We leave out fast-changing prices and claims we cannot verify.

Last reviewed 23 August 2026.

Start with a text.

Meet the friend that remembers. It can help on your Mac too.

Try Reno