Meta Muse alternatives — AI assistants you can text instead

Meta launched Muse on 8 September 2026, and within two weeks it was the top free iPhone app in the US, with more than 2.5 million downloads across iPhone and Android, according to Sensor Tower figures reported by CNBC. It's a personal agent that runs on its own cloud computer and does chores for you: email, forms, booking travel, lowering bills, buying things with a one-time card.

People go looking for alternatives for a few reasons. Some want an assistant that lives in iMessage rather than another app. Some want one for work. Some aren't in the US, and some would rather not hand their accounts to Meta. This page covers each of those. We make Arlo, one of the alternatives, so keep that in mind when you read our section. The facts about Muse come from Meta's announcement and dated reporting as of September 2026.

What Muse is (as of September 2026)

Muse runs on what Meta calls Muse Secure VM, a dedicated cloud computer that keeps working after you close the app. You use it through the Muse app on iPhone and Android, on muse.ai, in a Mac app, or inside WhatsApp. It's rolling out to adults in the US, and the mobile apps have also reached Canada.

It can read and send email, fill in forms, browse, book travel and negotiate bills. It pays through Link by Stripe with a one-time card, and it builds its own connectors for services with a public API. Meta says it asks before sending an email or buying something and keeps a complete audit trail. Calling US businesses is in beta.

There's a free tier with a weekly usage limit, and two paid plans, Power and Maximum. TechCrunch reported that you need a payment card to start, even on the free tier. Meta says your Muse data isn't shared with its ad systems, and you can opt out of having it used for training, though that's switched on by default.

The alternatives at a glance

Assistant	Where you use it	Built for	Phone calls	To start
Arlo	iMessage, SMS, WhatsApp, Slack	Work	Places calls	Free, no card
Pally	iMessage, Android RCS, Telegram	Personal life	Minutes by plan	Free plan
Poke	iMessage, SMS, Telegram; WhatsApp in some markets	Personal life	—	Free for light use
Lindy	Slack first, plus iMessage and email	Teams, per seat	Joins meetings	7-day trial
OpenClaw	Messaging apps you connect it to	Technical users	Via a voice plugin	Free, self-hosted
Muse	Muse app, web, Mac, WhatsApp	Personal life	Calls US businesses, in beta	Free tier, card required

Arlo: if you want it in your texts, or you need it for work

Arlo is an AI colleague you text in iMessage, SMS or WhatsApp, or use inside Slack. There's no app to install. It connects to Gmail, your calendar, Slack, HubSpot, Notion, Linear and about 3,000 other tools, and reaches sites with no API through a browser session you sign into once. When it wants to send an email or change something, it asks in the same thread you texted it from, and it keeps an audit trail of what it did. It also places phone calls for you, to people as well as businesses.

Muse has approvals and an audit trail too, so that alone isn't the difference. The difference is where it lives and who it's for. Arlo sits in the messaging apps you already use and is built for work that other people depend on: your company's inbox, your team's Slack, customers on the phone. It's free to start without a card, then runs on monthly plans from $20.

Pally: a personal assistant you text, with a free plan

Pally, a Y Combinator company, is the closest thing to Muse's personal-errands pitch that you reach by text. You chat with it over iMessage, Android RCS or Telegram. It finds flights and sends you a secure checkout link, pays with a single-use card capped at the amount you approve, reads your WhatsApp inbox and sends replies you approve, and makes calls from a monthly allowance of minutes. It has a permanent free plan. See Pally alternatives.

Poke: the polished texting option

Poke lives in iMessage, SMS and Telegram, with WhatsApp in some markets, connects to your email, calendar and 30-plus personal apps, and runs errands through one-tap "Recipes". Cognition, the company behind the Devin coding agent, bought its maker in July 2026, and Poke keeps running. If you liked the idea of Muse but want it in your texts, Poke is worth trying. See Arlo vs Poke.

Lindy: if your work lives in Slack

Lindy relaunched in August 2026 as an AI teammate that works in Slack first, and you can also reach it over iMessage and email. It connects to more than 1,000 tools, asks before anything with outside impact, and is sold per seat with a 7-day trial. Muse has no team or Slack product, so this is where Lindy and Arlo both differ from it. See Arlo vs Lindy.

OpenClaw: if you'd rather nobody else held your accounts

OpenClaw is open source and self-hosted. You run it on your own machine or server and connect it to WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, Signal, iMessage and other apps. It browses, fills in forms and runs tasks, and your data stays on your hardware. It's free, but you set it up and maintain it yourself. For developers who don't want a large company holding their logins, it's the obvious choice.

Is Muse safe to use?

Muse's design takes safety seriously: an isolated cloud computer, approvals before sending or buying, one-time payment cards and an audit trail. Its first weeks also had some incidents worth knowing about. A columnist at Inc. reported that Muse on his Mac used content from his Apple Messages without being asked to; Meta disputes his account. A security researcher found a flaw in the Mac app, which Meta patched quickly (9to5Mac). And Reuters reported that Meta had tested having human contractors place some Muse calls for half its employees; a Meta executive said starting without proper disclosures was "a miss", and the test was rolled back.

By default Muse asks before only some actions. If you use it, Engadget suggests switching it to always ask. The same advice applies to any assistant that can act for you, Arlo included: know what it asks about, check that you can see a record of what it did, and connect only the accounts it needs.

How to choose

If the job is personal errands and shopping and you're in the US, Muse is free, capable and built for exactly that. If you want your assistant in iMessage instead of another app, try Pally or Poke. If you want to run it yourself, use OpenClaw. If the work involves other people (a company inbox, a team in Slack, customers on the phone), look at Arlo, or at Lindy if your team buys per seat.

Frequently asked questions

What are the best Meta Muse alternatives? Arlo for work, over iMessage, SMS, WhatsApp, Slack and phone calls; Pally and Poke for personal errands by text; Lindy for teams that work in Slack; and OpenClaw if you want to host an open-source assistant yourself.

Is Meta Muse free? Muse has a free tier with a weekly usage limit, plus paid Power and Maximum plans, as of September 2026. You need to add a payment card even for the free tier. Arlo is free to start without a card, then runs on monthly plans from $20.

Is there a Muse alternative I can text in iMessage? Yes. Arlo, Pally and Poke all work in iMessage, so you can text them like a contact. Muse works in its own app, on the web, on the Mac and in WhatsApp.

Can I use Muse for work? Muse is a personal agent, and Meta hasn't announced a team, admin or Slack version. Arlo and Lindy are built for work and run inside Slack.

Is Muse available outside the US? As of September 2026 Muse is rolling out to adults in the US, and its mobile apps have also reached Canada. Arlo, Pally and Poke can be used without a Meta account.