Persona vs Rene
How the two compare on price, platforms, what they can act on and how they ask before acting. Facts come from each agent's sources page.
| Persona | Rene | |
|---|---|---|
| Maker | Persona (founded by Zach Yadegari) | Second Enlightenment Limited (operated by Marumaru, LLC) |
| Cheapest paid plan | Free (Persona Band hardware: $179 one time early-bird price, regular $219; no subscription) | Not stated |
| Free tier | Yes: using Persona in iMessage and WhatsApp is free, per the official Band FAQ | Yes: free to start, no credit card required (included usage not stated) |
| Platforms | iMessageWhatsAppWearable (Persona Band, ships December 2026) | iMessageWhatsAppTelegramiOSWeb |
| Can act on | EmailCalendarPhone callsShoppingBookingsSubscriptions | EmailCalendarBrowserShoppingMessagesCodeWork apps (Slack, Notion, Linear, GitHub) |
| Approval model | The official FAQ says anything that spends money, sends words in your name or cannot be undone waits for your yes; TechCrunch reports payments run through external providers such as Stripe Link so the agent does not see card numbers. | Its FAQ says it can draft the next step and asks before anything sensitive is sent or changed; the founder's launch post says it always asks before it pays. |
| Launched | Not stated | Sep 16, 2026 |
| Last update | Oct 8, 2026: Funding and free beta reported | Sep 17, 2026: iOS app version 1.1 |
See sources on the Persona and Rene pages.
Track both every week