AgentComparison
humans& ai, inc. · product · personal assistant

Boba

An assistant that joins your iMessage one-on-one and group chats, now also on the web, free per its homepage.

Group: Personal agents you message

Boba documents a 'social intelligence' assistant that works one-on-one and inside group chats in Apple Messages and now on the web, covering goals, planning, answers, drafting and creating, with no download or login.

Documentation researched, not testedChecked 22 October 2026Vendor documentation, not a test

The decision in plain English

Boba's homepage claims the service is free, but no pricing page or paid-plan terms were established, so treat long-term cost as unconfirmed. Its privacy notice (21 October 2026) permits training and fine-tuning on user Input and Output; Google User Data is excluded from generalised training. Review that trade-off before adding it to busy group chats.

Best fit

Group planning and quick answers inside an existing iMessage thread.

Poor fit

Anyone unwilling to have message content used for model training under the current privacy notice.

Documented capabilities

Vendor statements, not verified task outcomes.

  • One-on-one and group-chat assistance in Apple Messages Source · checked 2026-10-22
  • Boba Web assistant (free, no app, no sign-up) Source · checked 2026-10-22
  • Group planning, search and answers Source · checked 2026-10-22
  • Drafting and creating (for example, a song from shared memories) Source · checked 2026-10-22

Permissions and human control

  • Boba participates in one-on-one threads and any group chat you add it to; the homepage says you can remove it at any time.
  • The privacy notice references Google account connections via Google APIs; revoke access in Boba's settings or your Google account permissions.

Documented controls do not prove that an agent always follows them.

Limits and open questions

  • The free claim appears on the homepage; no pricing page or future paid-plan terms were found.
  • The privacy notice (5 October 2026) says Input and Output may be used to train or fine-tune the vendor's models.
  • Reliability, response speed and behaviour in large group chats were not tested.
  • A general fixed retention period for message content was not established in the sections reviewed.

Privacy and security

Privacy notice last updated 21 October 2026. It permits use of Input and Output to improve products and technology, including training or fine-tuning the models behind the service. Google User Data gets stricter treatment: not used for advertising or to train models beyond the user's personalised model, encrypted in transit and at rest, deletable on request to [email protected] within 60 days. The notice says the vendor takes commercially reasonable security steps but does not promise security.

Feature-by-feature: what is documented and what is not

Official sources checked 22 October 2026. A documented feature is a vendor statement, not proof of success.

FeatureEvidence statusDetail and limit
Messaging channelsDocumentedApple Messages (iMessage), one-on-one and group chats, plus Boba Web on boba.app; the vendor says no download and no login. Source
Group behaviourDocumentedVendor says it hangs back during normal chatter and jumps in when needed, and that you can remove it at any time. Source
Planning, answers, draftingDocumentedExamples include finding cabins, settling arguments and turning shared memories into a song. Output quality not tested. Source
CostHomepage claim'$0, no card' on the homepage; no pricing page or paid-plan terms found. Source
Training and retentionPolicy reviewedInput and Output may be used for model training and fine-tuning. Google User Data is excluded from generalised training and deletable within 60 days of request. Source

How to start with Boba narrowly

  1. Text Boba from the Apple Messages app, then add it to a group chat only if you want it there.
  2. Read the privacy notice first: it permits training on your messages.
  3. Keep sensitive topics out of threads it can read until you are comfortable with its data use.
  4. Remove it from any group where members have not agreed to its presence.

Official product/setup source. These are documentation-based steps, not a hands-on setup test.

Common questions about Boba

What is Boba for?

Group planning and quick answers inside an existing iMessage thread. The vendor describes it as: Boba documents a 'social intelligence' assistant that works one-on-one and inside group chats in Apple Messages and now on the web, covering goals, planning, answers, drafting and creating, with no download or login.

Who should look elsewhere?

Anyone unwilling to have message content used for model training under the current privacy notice.

How much does Boba cost?

Free per homepage (read 22 October 2026): 'Free - No app - No sign-up'. No pricing page or paid plan was found, so future cost is unconfirmed.

What can it access and what needs my approval?

Boba participates in one-on-one threads and any group chat you add it to; the homepage says you can remove it at any time. The privacy notice references Google account connections via Google APIs; revoke access in Boba's settings or your Google account permissions.

What happens to my data?

Privacy notice last updated 21 October 2026. It permits use of Input and Output to improve products and technology, including training or fine-tuning the models behind the service. Google User Data gets stricter treatment: not used for advertising or to train models beyond the user's personalised model, encrypted in transit and at rest, deletable on request to [email protected] within 60 days. The notice says the vendor takes commercially reasonable security steps but does not promise security.

Has AgentComparison tested it?

No. This record is built from the vendor's own documentation, checked 2026-10-22. Vendor claims are attributed, not confirmed.

How to evaluate Boba yourself

  1. Pick one low-risk task that matches its documented capabilities: one-on-one and group-chat assistance in apple messages.
  2. Write the expected output and what counts as failure before you start.
  3. Connect the minimum access needed, and check approval settings first.
  4. Run it twice and compare, then review every action it took.
  5. Check cost after any free allowance. Unknown price is not free.

Related

Documented use cases: Personal email, calendar and reminders.

Sources and history

Change history

Documentation overview expanded with current pricing/access sources. No hands-on results claimed.

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