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Instinct
A text-message personal assistant. Best for personal life admin ◇ our view.
| Vendor | Instinct (startup) |
|---|---|
| Launched | Aug 2026 ✓ verified |
| Computer | Cloud VM + its own phone for calls ✓ verified |
| Model | Not disclosed editorial |
| Surfaces | iMessage, WhatsApp, Email, Phone calls ✓ verified |
| Entry price | Free, invite-only (for now) as of 20 Oct 2026 ✓ verified |
| Apps | Google Workspace, Slack, Notion; secure vault logins |
| Lab compute | Not in Epoch’s top-five lab estimates |
| Security signature | Secure-vault logins ✓ verified |
| Biggest risk | Free + VC-funded: pricing/ads unknown; startup survival ✓ verified |
Set it up safely
- Start with read-only connectors and one narrow mailbox, label or channel.
- Secure-vault logins. Turn on every approval option before your first real task.
- Watch for: Free + VC-funded: pricing/ads unknown; startup survival.
- Payments: use a capped or one-time card.
- Review the activity log weekly for the first month. Use the trust-zone checklist.
Starter prompts
Unsubscribe sweep Inbox
Find newsletters and marketing emails I haven’t opened in 60 days. List them with sender, count and last-opened date. Wait for my “go” before unsubscribing, and only use the sender’s official unsubscribe link.
Cancel a subscription Life admin
I want to cancel [service]. Find the official cancellation path for my account, tell me any fees or notice period, then walk through it. Stop and ask me before the final “confirm cancel” click, and screenshot the confirmation page.
Book an appointment by phone Life admin
Call [business] to book [service] for me next week, mornings preferred. Say you are an AI assistant calling on my behalf. Don’t share my date of birth or payment details. Text me the options before you confirm anything.
What can you access? Security
List every app, account and permission you currently have access to on my behalf, what you can read vs change, and anything you’ve stored about me. Then tell me how to revoke each one.
Every claim on this page
| Claim | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Invite-only launch in August 2026, text-message interface (iMessage, WhatsApp, email) | ✓ verified | Instinct was the buzziest AI agent around — can it survive Muse? checked 20 Oct 2026 |
| Free for invite-only users; no app, no subscription (for now) | ✓ verified | Instinct was the buzziest AI agent around — can it survive Muse? checked 20 Oct 2026 |
| Logins entered via a “secure vault” link; connects Google Workspace, Slack, Notion | ✓ verified | Instinct was the buzziest AI agent around — can it survive Muse? checked 20 Oct 2026 |
| Instinct Concierge (16 Sep 2026) makes phone calls to businesses | ✓ verified | Rival AI agents, Instinct and Meta’s Muse, both add the ability to make calls checked 20 Oct 2026 |
| Raised $1B Series C at a $10B valuation (28 Sep 2026) | ✓ verified | Viral AI agent Instinct raises $1B Series C at a $10B valuation checked 20 Oct 2026 |
| Brief: Instinct-class startups experiment with agent-to-agent UX No specific agent-to-agent feature confirmed for Instinct. | ⚑ reported | Personal Agents After the Compute Map (research brief, 20 Oct 2026) checked 20 Oct 2026 |
| Has pushed “recommended products” to users | ✓ verified | Instinct was the buzziest AI agent around — can it survive Muse? checked 20 Oct 2026 |
Pricing and availability change weekly. Check the vendor’s page before you buy. Compare with other agents →