Helios vs Instinct
An assistant you text. A runner for your team.
Instinct is an invite-only personal agent you reach by text or phone. It acts on a cloud computer with your accounts. Helios runs team workflows on triggers with roles and one spend meter.
5,000 free credits to start.
Instinct is a personal AI assistant from Spear Street Technology, a San Francisco company led by Noah Shinn, a former research scientist at Sierra. There is no app. You text it on iMessage or WhatsApp, or call it, and it works on a persistent cloud computer with a browser and your connected accounts. Early users have booked restaurants, negotiated bills, bought groceries and concert tickets, and cancelled subscriptions. As of September 2026 it is in an invite-only beta, it is free while in beta, and the company has raised $350 million at a $2.5 billion valuation. Helios is aimed at engineers and operators. Each run gets its own sandbox, workflows start on schedules and events, and spend is one meter for the organization. Both products give an agent a real computer. They differ on who it is for, how work is triggered, and how it is shared and reviewed.
At a glance
Side by side
Short facts for each product. The Instinct column comes from public pages on the date shown at the bottom of this page.
| Topic | Helios | Instinct |
|---|---|---|
| Computer per run | Yes, on every plan. Each run starts an isolated sandbox with shell, filesystem, and code execution. The sandbox is discarded when the run ends. | One persistent cloud computer per user with a browser and stored credentials. |
| Tools and APIs | The full OpenAPI or GraphQL surface of each connected service, plus remote MCP servers. | Connected accounts such as Gmail, messaging apps, calendar, Resy, and travel sites, plus a browser. Its privacy notice also lists screen captures, keyboard input, audio, and location. |
| Triggers | Manual, cron schedule, signed webhook, and events from GitHub, Slack, and Plain. | Text messages and phone calls, plus proactive follow-ups. No schedule or webhook trigger is described on the public pages we checked. |
| Human review | Agents propose edits to shared Library files. A person approves or discards each file. No approval step inside a run. | Not described on the public pages we checked. Its terms allow it to enter into agreements and transactions on the user's behalf.Requires the Library release. |
| Permissions | Four resource roles, groups, service accounts, and share expiry for every organization. | Per-account connections chosen by the user. No team or organization features are described on the public pages we checked. |
| CLI | A terminal app and CLI with the same roles as the dashboard. JSON output when piped. | No CLI or developer API is described on the public pages we checked.Requires the CLI release. |
| Pricing model | Usage credits. 5,000 free credits, then $0.002 per credit. No seats. | Free during the invite-only beta. No public pricing as of September 2026. |
| Organization spend limits | A monthly spending limit for the organization. Triggers stop when credits run out. Optional auto refill. | Not described on the public pages we checked. |
| Memory or context | Shared Library files mount into every run. Changes go through review before they are saved. | One continuous conversation per user. It indexes connected email and messages. Testers reported that indexed emails stayed after a source was disconnected.Requires the Library release. |
| Availability | Web dashboard and CLI on any operating system. Available to teams now. | Invite-only beta by waitlist at instinct.co or an invite from a member. Reached by text or phone. |
Where Instinct is strong
What Instinct does well
- No app to learn. You text or call Instinct like a person, on iMessage, WhatsApp, or the phone.
- A persistent cloud computer with a browser and stored credentials, so it can use websites and services that have no API.
- Proactive follow-up. It picks up dropped threads and reaches out without being asked.
- Broad reach into a person's life. It connects to email, messages, calendar, and reservation and travel services.
- Well funded. $350 million raised, so the product is likely to keep developing.
Where Helios is different
How Helios works instead
- Built for teams. Helios workflows are shared with people, groups, or the whole organization with four resource roles and share expiry. Instinct is one assistant per person.
- Triggers. Helios workflows start on a cron schedule, a signed webhook, or events from GitHub, Slack, and Plain. Instinct is driven by messages and its own follow-ups.
- The full API of each tool. Helios indexes the complete OpenAPI or GraphQL surface of a connected service, plus remote MCP servers. Instinct works through connected accounts and a browser.
- Credentials stay out of the agent. Helios injects credentials at the network layer, so the agent never holds a token. Instinct stores credentials on its cloud computer.
- Reviewed shared memory. Agents propose edits to Library files and a person approves each one. Requires the Library release.
Pricing
What each one charges
Public list prices, checked on 14 September 2026. Prices change, so confirm on each vendor's page before you decide.
Helios
5,000 free credits to start. Then $0.002 per credit. No seats. Monthly spending limit per organization. Enterprise pricing on request.
Helios pricing →Instinct
Free during the invite-only beta. Spear Street Technology has not published pricing as of September 2026. Third-party guides speculate about subscription tiers, so check the live site.
Instinct pricing page →Checked on 14 September 2026
Using both
Helios and Instinct together
The two products rarely overlap. Instinct is for one person's bookings, purchases, and inbox. Helios is for work that must run for a team, on a trigger, against the full API of a tool, with roles and a shared spend limit. There is no importer between them. A task you would text to Instinct becomes a Helios workflow by writing the steps as a prompt, connecting the same tools, and picking a trigger.
FAQ
Helios and Instinct, common questions
Run your first task.
5,000 free credits. Set an organization spending limit before your first workflow runs.
Instinct information is from public pages on 14 September 2026. Marks belong to their owners. Helios is not affiliated with Instinct. Tell us if something is out of date at [email protected].