Two kinds of assistant
Chat assistants answer when you ask. Doing assistants know your inbox, calendar or accounts and take care of things, ideally asking before anything irreversible. Most people in India use the first kind daily and have never tried the second.
Chat assistants
Ola's Kruti assistant was withdrawn from app stores in April 2026, so it is not in the table below.
| Assistant | What it is good at | Price in India |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | General answers, writing, files | Free; Go ₹399/mo, offered free for 12 months to India sign-ups from November 2025; Plus ₹1,999/mo |
| Gemini | Answers, images, Google apps | Free; Google AI Pro ₹1,950/mo, included free for 18 months on eligible Jio plans |
| Perplexity | Search with sources | Free; Pro free for a year for Airtel customers under a 2025 offer |
| Meta AI | Quick answers inside WhatsApp, Instagram | Free |
| Sarvam Indus | Voice-first chat in 10+ Indian languages | Beta since February 2026 |
Sources: TechCrunch, Medianama, Business Today and operator press releases, 2025 to 2026. Bundled offers change; check your operator.
Doing assistants
This is the category that is still empty in India. A few options:
- Momo: an AI chief of staff for Gmail and Google Calendar, built in India. Drafts in your voice, follow-ups, promises, scheduling by email and a morning brief at your IST hour. Free during early access; Pro planned at ₹499/mo.
- Gemini in Gmail: drafts and summaries inside Gmail when you ask, on eligible Workspace or Google AI plans.
- Zapia: a Latin American assistant app that connects WhatsApp, Gmail and Calendar. Spanish and Portuguese first; Pro US$9.99/mo.
- Instinct: a US agent that runs errands by text. Private access and not marketed in India.
How to choose
- 1If you want answers, use whichever chat assistant your phone plan gives you free. The quality gap between them matters less than the price gap.
- 2If your work runs on email, a chat box will not help you keep up. You need something connected to your inbox.
- 3Before you connect anything to Gmail, check whether it can send without asking, whether it trains on your mail, and where your data is stored.
Why Momo is built this way
Momo is for founders, sales teams, recruiters and anyone in India whose job runs on Gmail. It runs on servers in Mumbai, keeps its database in Central India, encrypts your Google access and conversations, and never sends an email without your tap. It is free while in early access and will be priced in rupees.