Best for busy people and small teams who live in their messages and want errands, calls and follow-ups handled by text. It replaces a part-time assistant for low-stakes tasks. Arlo says it asks first before spending money or doing anything irreversible, but no independent reviews exist yet and it is reached through four channels.
What changed
- · Pricing change Free, Plus and Max plans sized by monthly usage source
Arlo is a text-first AI assistant from arlo.sh that you reach over iMessage, SMS, WhatsApp, Slack and phone calls. It books tables and flights, places calls, uses websites with your logins and keeps an audit trace of each run. The vendor says it connects to more than 3,000 tools.
Maker: Arlo (arlo.sh) · Autonomy: semi autonomous · Maturity: GA
About Arlo
Arlo is an AI assistant you reach by text, made by the company behind arlo.sh. It is not the Arlo home-security camera brand: arlo.sh says it is an independent company with no tie to Arlo Technologies. You sign up on the website, verify your phone number, and then text a number in iMessage or SMS the way you would text a contact. WhatsApp, Slack and phone calls are the other ways in, and the About page names Idan Mann as the founder you reach at the contact address.
What makes it an agent rather than a chat window is that it acts. Arlo's homepage shows it booking flights and tables, calling a dentist, waiting on hold, signing into websites with your own accounts to compare options and fill in forms, and running a poll in a group chat to find a time that suits everyone. Its llms.txt adds persistent memory across conversations, a daily morning briefing, a connector layer the vendor puts at more than 3,000 tools, and a secure browser session for software that has no API. Those are the vendor's own claims, and the pages reviewed name no underlying model. Meta and OpenAI sell agents with similar promises, and the nearest text-first rival is Poke.
Arlo sells itself two ways. The homepage pitches a personal assistant for travel, restaurants and errands, while the About page and llms.txt describe a governed AI colleague for teams, aimed at founders, operators, sales and support leads, and recruiters. Its stated rule is that a clear request runs and Arlo reports back afterwards, while a vague one, one involving money or one that cannot be reversed gets a question first, with a trace of each run kept. That is lighter than a confirmation on every send, so read the rules before you connect an inbox.
Access is open: Free needs no card, and the pricing page covers the plans. No list of supported countries is published, and the site shows a US phone number. The public API is read-only product data; the workspace API behind Arlo's own apps is closed to outside code, with API keys and a CLI listed as planned. This page rests on arlo.sh's own pages, read on 25 October 2026, because no independent hands-on reviews or benchmarks existed.
For agents with a similar remit, see Cue, Gemini Spark, Grok Bot, ChatGPT Work, Hermes Agent, OpenClaw and the parent-style general agent Manus. Arlo's connectors overlap with Notion, HubSpot and Zapier. Comparison reading: Best Personal AI Agents in 2026, Grok Bot vs Meta Muse vs OpenAI dots and Best Agentic AI in 2026. Before an agent touches a wallet, read what happened when 7 AI agents got real bank accounts. HokAI files Arlo under general agents, semi-autonomous and generally available agents.
Pricing
Per arlo.sh/pricing (October 2026): the Free plan needs no card, and Plus and Max can be paid yearly for two months free. Every plan is sized by a monthly usage allowance, and the exact amounts are in the cost FAQ. Allowances reset each month, do not roll over and cannot be topped up. Family members are an extra monthly charge on paid plans, and calls are charged by the minute from the allowance.
Key Features
- Text-first channels: Works over iMessage and SMS, WhatsApp, Slack and live phone calls from one assistant, with no app to install (arlo.sh/imessage).
- Phone calls: Calls restaurants and offices, waits on hold and texts you what happened, and calls and bookings are available on the Free plan too (arlo.sh homepage and pricing page).
- Browser actions with your logins: Signs into websites with your accounts to compare options, fill forms and manage orders, and the vendor says a secure browser session covers tools with no API (arlo.sh).
- Memory and morning briefing: Keeps context across conversations and channels and sends one daily briefing of what changed overnight (arlo.sh/llms.txt).
- Approvals and audit trace: Asks first when a request is unclear, would spend money or cannot be undone, and logs each tool call, source and approval for review (arlo.sh/about).
- Group planning and call notes: Added to a group chat it runs a poll and finds a time that works, and it can join a call and text you the recap (arlo.sh homepage).
Strengths
- Free can already text, call and book, so you can test real errands before paying, and plans differ only in monthly usage (arlo.sh/pricing).
- Spend is capped rather than open-ended: Arlo says it stops and tells you at the limit, and it sells no top-ups.
- Setup is a phone-number check and a text, with no card for Free and no download.
- Publishes an OpenAPI spec, llms.txt and Markdown versions of its pages, which makes its claims easy to check and quote.
Weaknesses
- Two pitches for one product: the homepage sells a personal assistant and the About page sells a governed colleague for teams, and the pages do not say which comes first (arlo.sh pages reviewed).
- The pages reviewed publish no supported-country list, underlying model or security certification; only a US phone number is shown.
- No independent reviews or benchmarks were found, so every capability here is the vendor's own claim.
- A clear request runs without a second question, so a badly worded text can still send a message or place a call before you see it.
- The workspace API is closed to outside code; API keys, webhooks and a CLI are listed as planned, not available.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Arlo actually cost?
Arlo measures every plan in monthly usage that resets each month and does not roll over. Free is $0 with $20 of usage, Plus is $20 a month ($200 a year) with $100, and Max is $100 a month ($1,000 a year) with $500. Calls come out of that usage at 25 cents a minute of talking and about 1.5 cents a minute on hold, there are no top-ups, and a family member added to a paid plan costs $10 a month.
Can you use Arlo without paying?
Yes. Free needs no card and covers texts, calls and bookings, not only chat, up to its monthly allowance. At the limit Arlo stops and tells you before it spends more, and the allowance returns when the month resets. Two people who each use Arlo from their own verified number on at least 3 days in a month earn extra usage.
What are Arlo's closest competitors?
Arlo's own comparison page measures it against [Poke](/hub/agents/poke), a consumer assistant built around one person's life. If you already pay for ChatGPT, [OpenAI dots](/hub/agents/dots) runs on its own cloud computer, and anyone happy inside Meta's app or WhatsApp can try [Meta Muse](/hub/agents/muse). Giving every agent its own phone number and wallet is the angle of [Cue](/hub/agents/cue), which still requires an invitation code.
How does Arlo compare to Poke in 2026?
Arlo's own comparison page says Poke serves one person's digital life across Messages, WhatsApp and Telegram, while Arlo adds Slack and live phone calls and aims at teams. That page is written by Arlo, so treat the framing as marketing and check Poke's site for its current plans. If calls or Slack decide it, Arlo fits; if you want Telegram, look at Poke.
How do you set up Arlo?
Go to arlo.sh, choose Get Started and verify your phone number; Free needs no card. Then text the number Arlo gives you in iMessage or SMS, or bring it into WhatsApp or Slack. Start with a reversible errand such as a restaurant search, and connect only the accounts that task needs before you let it sign into websites for you.
Top Alternatives
- Poke: Pick Poke for a consumer assistant in Telegram as well as Messages and WhatsApp; pick Arlo when Slack and phone calls matter.
- OpenAI dots: Pick dots if ChatGPT already covers you and you want an agent with its own cloud computer; pick Arlo to work by text and phone.
- Meta Muse: Pick Muse for Meta's app and WhatsApp in the US and Canada; pick Arlo for iMessage, Slack and calls.
- Cue: Pick Cue to give each agent its own phone number and wallet, if you can get an invite; pick Arlo, which has no waitlist.