FrankieTry it in WhatsAppFrankie vs Instinct: an Instinct alternative with no waitlist
Instinct has raised over a billion dollars and still runs on invites. Frankie is open to anyone with WhatsApp, and it’s built for the family side of life.
Last checked 30 September 2026
- Can I start today? Frankie, yes, no invite. Instinct is invite-only.1
- Where? Frankie is in WhatsApp; Instinct texts through iMessage.
- Built for families? Frankie handles co-parents, kids and school letters. Instinct is a general assistant.
Frankie vs Instinct at a glance
| What matters | Frankie | Instinct |
|---|---|---|
| Where you use it | Text (iMessage) and calls1 | |
| Available in Europe today | Yes | Invite-only waitlist1 |
| Built for families | Yes: co-parents, kids, school letters | General agent1 |
| Asks before it acts | Yes, every booking or form waits for your yes | Not found |
| Price | €14.99/mo per household | Free during invite beta1 |
| Data stored in the EU | Yes | Not found |
“Not found” means we could not find a public source, not that the feature is missing.
About Instinct
- What it is
- A personal AI agent you text or call, made by Spear Street Technology in San Francisco.1
- Access
- Invite-only, with a waitlist.1
- Channels
- Texting, including iMessage, and calls.1
- Funding
- $1B Series C at a $10B valuation (Sequoia, Benchmark, Coatue), a month after $250M at $2.5B.1
- Earlier round
- $350M raised in total at a $2.5B valuation, co-led by Index Ventures and Benchmark.2
- Family use
- A general assistant. Its newest feature lets Instinct assistants coordinate with each other; we found nothing family- or school-specific.1
- Privacy record
- TechCrunch reported terms granting Instinct a “perpetual and irrevocable” licence to user materials.3
About Frankie
- Where
- WhatsApp. No app to install. Anywhere WhatsApp works. Built in Vienna for families in Europe; data stored in the EU.
- Built for
- Built for households: shared lists, co-parent coordination, kids’ schedules, school letters read and translated.
- Languages
- English, German, Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese, and it replies in the language you write in.
- Acting for you
- Books tables and fills forms in a browser, but lays out the plan and waits for your yes before it submits anything.
- Trust
- Every reply is checked before it is sent: it will not claim a booking, a time or an event it cannot see.
- Privacy
- AES-256 for calendar tokens, no ads, nothing sold or used to train anyone else’s models, “delete my data” in one message.
- Price
- €14.99/month for the household, partner or co-parent included. First 100 members free; after that 14 days free.
Which one should you pick?
If you have an invite and want a general assistant in iMessage, Instinct is the one the Valley is talking about. If you’re a parent in Europe who lives in WhatsApp and wants help with the household today, Frankie doesn’t need an invite, and it’s built for families first.
Questions people ask
How do I get Instinct without an invite?
Instinct is invite-only with a waitlist at the time of writing. Frankie needs no invite: tap the button, WhatsApp opens, and you can start in about 30 seconds.1
What is the difference between Instinct and Frankie?
Instinct is a general personal agent that texts through iMessage. Frankie is a family assistant in WhatsApp, built for households in Europe: co-parents, kids’ schedules, school letters in any language, and it waits for your yes before it books anything.
How much funding has Instinct raised?
TechCrunch reported a $1B Series C at a $10B valuation on 28 September 2026, led by Sequoia, Benchmark and Coatue, a month after raising $350M in total at $2.5B.12
Is Instinct safe to use?
TechCrunch has reported concerns about how much access it takes and about terms that grant it a perpetual licence to user materials. Read the terms of any assistant before you connect your email.3
Sources
Try Frankie in WhatsApp
No app, no invite, no card to start. Send a voice note with the first thing you’d otherwise forget.
Open Frankie in WhatsAppWe make Frankie, so read this as our view. Every claim about another product links to its source, checked on 30 September 2026. Products change fast; if something here is out of date, tell us at [email protected] and we’ll fix it. Product names are trademarks of their owners; no affiliation is implied.