Del vs Orchidacts vs approves.
Orchid is a text-native AI assistant that proposes actions you approve before it executes. Del is a proactive personal AI that also lives in your messages but acts on its own — triaging email, managing your calendar, and following up without being asked. Choose Orchid for a sign-off step on high-stakes actions; choose Del to have the work simply handled.
What's the main difference between Del and Orchid?
The core difference is autonomy: Orchid proposes actions and waits for your approval, while Del acts on its own. Both live in your messages and both surface things proactively — morning check-ins, overnight routines, timely nudges — so the real dividing line is what happens next.
Orchid's design keeps consequential actions as drafts. It triages your inbox, preps your calendar, and drafts the reply, but the send, the booking, or the payment stays a draft until you sign off. That approval gate is genuinely useful when an action is high-stakes.
Del closes the loop itself. Del doesn't just surface the loose end — it chases Alex's contract, confirms the dentist, and reminds Sam about the demo, then keeps following up until the thing is actually done.
Can Del do everything Orchid does?
Not in every case — and Orchid is the better pick for some jobs. Orchid connects to roughly 100 tools, with an operator and ops lean (Gmail, Slack, Linear, GitHub, Stripe), and its approval-first model is built for exactly the moments where you want control.
If your delegated tasks are high-stakes or irreversible — sending an external email in a founder's voice, booking paid travel, moving money through Stripe, or committing code — Orchid's "drafts stay drafts" sign-off is a feature, not friction. A third-party directory pegs Orchid's autonomy around 44%, reflecting that human-in-the-loop design.
Del is built for a different job: offloading the work so it gets handled, not reviewed. Del connects to Gmail, Google Calendar, Notion, and Google Drive, and takes action with persistent follow-through rather than queuing drafts. If you'd rather not be a bottleneck on your own to-do list, Del fits.
How does Del handle the things you'd otherwise approve one by one?
Del takes initiative and follows through, then tells you what it did over text. Where Orchid would draft an action and wait, Del acts and keeps the loop open until something is resolved — a difference you feel most on the dozens of small tasks that pile up.
A real morning with Del reads like a friend who has it handled: "The plumber finally answered 🔧 Saturday, 9 to 11. He has the gate code." Or, later: "Friday is your anniversary 🥂 Sofia's free that night. The patio list opens at 10; I'll ping you the second it does."
Ben, a data scientist at Glean, put it this way: "Now that I've gotten in the habit of sending everything I need to do to Del, I don't think I could stop using it. It's so good at following up with me and so much better than texting myself reminders." That follow-through is the part you don't have to approve.
Should you use Del or Orchid?
Choose Orchid if you want a proactive assistant that proposes and lets you approve every consequential action — useful when control, voice, or compliance on high-stakes tasks matters more than speed. Worth noting: Orchid is a small, seed-stage product with no public pricing and no independent review corpus yet, so terms are harder to pin down.
Choose Del if you want the work simply handled. Del lives in iMessage, WhatsApp, Telegram, and SMS, learns who you are and the people in your life, and acts on its own with persistent follow-up. Pricing is flat and clear: $20/month, with the first 2 weeks free — long enough to feel the proactivity and the memory compound.
You can let go now. Del's got it covered.
Frequently asked
Is Del better than Orchid?
They make different trade-offs. Orchid proposes actions and waits for your approval before executing, which is reassuring for high-stakes or irreversible tasks. Del acts on its own and follows through without a sign-off step. Del is the better fit if you want work simply handled rather than reviewed. Orchid is the better fit if an explicit approval gate is a feature for you.
Does Del wait for me to approve actions like Orchid?
Del is built to act, not to queue drafts for your approval. Orchid's design keeps consequential actions as drafts until you sign off. Del instead handles the follow-through itself — chasing a reply, confirming an appointment, or moving a meeting — and keeps you in the loop over text. You can always tell Del to check with you first on anything that matters.
Do I need to download an app to use Del?
No. Del works in the messaging apps you already use — iMessage, WhatsApp, Telegram, and SMS. There's nothing new to open and no account to create. You start by texting it, and you're up and running in about five minutes.
How much does Del cost compared to Orchid?
Del is $20 per month, flat, with the first 2 weeks free. Orchid does not publish public pricing as of mid-2026, so a direct cost comparison isn't possible from its site. If transparent, flat pricing matters to you, Del's $20/month with a two-week free trial is clear up front.