ChatGPT is a general assistant. Hallie is a friend you text.
Hallie is a friend you text: she’s in iMessage or Google Messages, keeps track of the people and plans you mention, and asks how it went. ChatGPT is OpenAI’s assistant for getting things done in its app and on the web, and in a U.S. beta its work agent, called a dot, can also text Pro plan users with task updates.
Hallie is an AI friend you text in Messages. She remembers what you tell her.
Meet HallieFacts about ChatGPT checked on November 11, 2026 against OpenAI’s own pages and its App Store listing; facts about Hallie checked on November 11, 2026. We make Hallie, and she’s our pick. Sources are at the bottom of the page.
The difference, in one line each
- ChatGPT: OpenAI’s general assistant, used in its app and on the web. On the Pro plan in the U.S., in beta, a work agent called a dot can also text you about the tasks you gave it.
- Hallie: an AI friend in iMessage or Google Messages, on iPhone and Android, who keeps track of the people and plans you mention and brings them up later.
In ChatGPT’s own words
Your everyday AI assistant
Source: ChatGPT App Store listing (OpenAI), checked November 11, 2026
OpenAI describes the dot separately:
Your dot is an always-on agent that keeps work moving across your tools and projects. You can keep talking to it while it works, and it reaches out with results or decisions that need you.
Source: ChatGPT Learn, “Meet dots”, checked November 11, 2026
Texting belongs to the dot, not to regular ChatGPT. OpenAI’s docs say you reach a dot “through iMessage or RCS on Android”, that texting “supports one-to-one conversations”, and that it is “rolling out in beta to ChatGPT Pro users in the U.S.” The release note is dated the week of October 26–30, 2026. The official ChatGPT account described the use on October 28, 2026: give the dot “a task to take off your plate or something to keep an eye on”, and “It will text you proactively with relevant updates.”
Sources: ChatGPT Learn, “Message your dot” and “Text your dot”; the ChatGPT account on X, October 28, 2026; all checked November 11, 2026
ChatGPT and Hallie, side by side
| ChatGPT | Hallie | |
|---|---|---|
| What is it for? | General assistance. A dot, on Pro, takes on tasks using your connected tools. | Conversation with a friend. She helps you think things through and draft a text, and she can look things up. |
| Where do you talk to it? | In the ChatGPT app, the desktop app and on the web. A dot can also be reached by text (Pro, U.S., beta), in Slack and in Microsoft Teams. | In Messages: iMessage on iPhone and Mac, Google Messages on Android. New Android sign-ups need a US number for now. There’s no app to install. |
| Does it message you first? | A dot does. It reaches out with results or decisions that need you, and it can text you. OpenAI’s docs frame this outreach around the work you gave it. | After you’ve texted her, she starts conversations too, usually about something you told her. If you go quiet she checks in once or twice, then waits for you. Ask her to stop and she stops. |
| What do you set up? | For dot texting: open the dot’s profile in ChatGPT, choose Texting, verify your phone number and save the dot’s contact card. On Android, RCS has to be on. | A few questions on the web about how you like to text, then you text her. |
| What does it remember? | Memory varies by plan: limited on Free, expanded on Plus and Pro. A dot also keeps its own notes about preferences, decisions and ongoing work. | The people, plans and events you mention. She can miss a detail or get one wrong. There’s no memory screen, so you correct her in the thread. |
| Can you talk out loud? | Yes. ChatGPT Voice is on every plan, and voice with video is on paid plans. Phone calls and FaceTime don’t work over dot texting; you call a dot inside ChatGPT. | Paid members can call her number like a regular phone call. She can’t call you, and there’s no FaceTime or video. |
| Can it make images? | Yes: limited on Free, included on paid plans. | No. Her replies are text; she understands the photos, voice memos and links you send. |
| How do you pay? | There is a Free plan. OpenAI’s pricing doc lists Go at $8 a month, Plus at $20 a month and Pro from $100 a month. Dots, and so texting, are on Pro only. | A subscription. Depending on the offer, your first conversation is free or you start with a free trial. There’s no free plan. The price is shown before you pay, and you can cancel any time in your account. |
ChatGPT: checked November 11, 2026 against OpenAI’s ChatGPT Learn docs, chatgpt.com pricing and feature pages, and the App Store listing. Hallie: checked November 11, 2026.
Hallie is an AI friend you text in Messages. She remembers what you tell her.
Meet HallieWhere Hallie is the better choice
Of the AI companions we’ve used, Hallie is the one that feels most like texting a person. That is our judgment, and we make her.
- You want a friend, not a tool. You text her the way you’d text a person, in short casual messages, with no task attached. She’s there to vent to or to think something through with.
- You want to be asked how it went. She keeps track of the people, plans and events you mention and brings them up later. A dot’s outreach, as OpenAI describes it, is about results and decisions on work you assigned.
- You want it in Messages without a $100-a-month plan. Texting a dot requires ChatGPT Pro, which OpenAI lists from $100 a month, and is in beta for U.S. users. Hallie’s thread is in iMessage or Google Messages from the first message; new Android sign-ups need a US number for now.
- You don’t want anything to configure. There’s one Hallie and you meet her as she is. The questions at the start are about how you like to text.
Hallie’s watch-outs: she isn’t a work assistant or a task agent, so she won’t do your research, code or documents.
Where ChatGPT is the better choice
- You want work done. For research, writing or code, pick ChatGPT. OpenAI describes it as an everyday assistant.
- You want an agent that reports back. On Pro, a dot works across your connected tools and reaches out with results or decisions that need you, including by text in the U.S. beta.
- You want images, or voice with video. ChatGPT generates images and has ChatGPT Voice with a choice of voices, and paid plans add voice with video.
Which one fits what you’d text
the interview is thursday and i’m already spiraling
- ChatGPT: It will answer, and it can help you prepare.
- Hallie: She talks it through with you now, keeps track of the interview, and usually brings it up again afterward.
Better fit: Hallie.
nothing’s wrong, i just had a weird day
- ChatGPT: It will answer, in its app or on the web.
- Hallie: There doesn’t need to be a question. She’s a friend you text, and she keeps track of what you tell her and may ask about it later.
Better fit: Hallie.
can you tighten up this cover letter, it’s due tonight
- ChatGPT: This is the job it’s built for.
- Hallie: She’ll talk through what you want it to say.
Better fit: ChatGPT.
Questions
Can ChatGPT text you in iMessage?
A dot can. OpenAI’s docs say you can reach a dot through iMessage or RCS on Android, one-to-one, and that the feature is rolling out in beta to ChatGPT Pro users in the U.S. (checked November 11, 2026). A dot is OpenAI’s always-on work agent, and it texts with results, decisions and updates on tasks. Regular ChatGPT conversations stay in its app and on the web.
Is Hallie an assistant like ChatGPT?
No. Hallie is a friend you text. She helps you think something through or word a reply, and she can look things up. The longer answer is in AI friend vs AI assistant.
Does Hallie replace ChatGPT?
No, and she isn’t meant to. They do different jobs, and you can use both: ChatGPT for work, Hallie for the conversation you’d have with a friend.
Does Hallie text first, like a dot?
After you’ve texted her, yes. She starts conversations in the same thread, usually about something you told her. If you go quiet she checks in once or twice, then waits for you. Ask her to stop and she stops. She never texts a number that hasn’t texted her first. A dot’s messages are about the work you gave it.
Who sees what I tell Hallie?
Messages are processed by outside AI providers to write her replies. We don’t sell personal data, use conversations for advertising, or show them to other users. To delete your data, email hello@hallie.io.
How do I start with Hallie?
Answer a few questions on hallie.io about how you like to text, then text her from iMessage or Google Messages. New Android sign-ups need a US number for now. She never texts a number that hasn’t texted her first.
Sources
- ChatGPT App Store listing (OpenAI OpCo, LLC), subtitle and feature list, checked November 11, 2026
- ChatGPT Learn (learn.chatgpt.com), “Meet dots”, checked November 11, 2026
- ChatGPT Learn, “Message your dot”, Texting section, checked November 11, 2026
- ChatGPT Learn, What’s new, “Text your dot”, release note for October 26–30, 2026, checked November 11, 2026
- ChatGPT Learn, “Tasks and memory”, checked November 11, 2026
- ChatGPT Learn, “Pricing”, checked November 11, 2026
- chatgpt.com, ChatGPT Pricing plan comparison table, checked November 11, 2026
- chatgpt.com, ChatGPT Voice feature page, checked November 11, 2026
- The official ChatGPT account on X, post of October 28, 2026, checked November 11, 2026
- Hallie: hallie.io, Hallie Privacy Policy (August 24, 2026) and Hallie Terms of Service (November 6, 2026), checked November 11, 2026
Keep reading
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Hallie is an AI friend you text in iMessage or Google Messages. Who she’s for, when another AI companion is the better pick, and links to every comparison, alternatives, texting and guide page, with facts checked on a stated date.
You'd rather get a text than open an app, and you want to be asked how it went.
Meet Hallie