Rick Boers vs Town
Explore what we can build. Examples describe possible workflows; integrations, hosting, and scope are agreed for your project.
Town (town.com) is a personal AI assistant for work that gives each user a "Townie" with its own @town.com email address. It learns your voice, relationships, and priorities from your connected tools, then triages email, drafts replies, manages your calendar, preps meetings, and runs scheduled routines with approval gates you control. Founded by ex-Dropbox/Plaid and ex-Google AI leaders, it raised a $55M Series A led by a16z (with Forerunner) in June 2026, when it also launched out of beta.
Rick Boers is an independent AI product builder. I design and build custom agents, document workflows, internal tools, and complete web and mobile applications, with one person owning the work from brief to delivery.
At a glance
| Comparison dimension | Rick Boers | Town |
|---|---|---|
| Always-on computer | Hosting and runtime architecture are chosen for your project; dedicated VMs are one option. | No — the Townie is a hosted service on Town's cloud (Convex/AWS, US-hosted) that monitors accounts and runs routines in the background, but there is no dedicated per-user VM or real browser it can log into arbitrary sites with. |
| Tool integrations | I build integrations around the tools your workflow needs. Access, permissions, API availability, and any service subscriptions are checked and scoped before implementation. | 52 integrations across 9 categories — email (Gmail, Outlook), calendars, meetings, Slack, CRMs (HubSpot, Salesforce, Attio), project tools (Linear, Notion, Asana, Jira), file storage, data, development, and finance (QuickBooks, Brex) — plus the option to connect custom tools via MCP servers. |
| Messaging channels | Messaging or web interfaces are implemented where supported and included in the agreed scope. | Dedicated @town.com email address, web, iOS app, desktop app, Slack, Telegram, and WhatsApp (two-way chat with your Townie); iMessage is listed as "coming soon"; no SMS. |
| Persistent memory | Storage and memory can be designed for the workflow, with retention and access controls agreed first. | Yes — accumulated context is the core product: it learns your voice, relationships, and preferences from connected tools and retains them across sessions. |
| Background automations | Scheduled and background jobs can be included with monitoring, limits, and human review where needed. | Routines are central: stock routines (morning briefings, auto inbox triage, meeting briefings, newsletter digests, person research) plus custom routines you describe in plain language and set on triggers or schedules — 2 custom routines on Starter, unlimited on Pro and up. |
| Pricing | The first 20-minute fit call is free. Paid work is scoped individually. We agree the deliverables, price, and payment milestones before work begins; hosting and model costs depend on the system we build. | Check the provider’s current pricing and plan limits. |
Where Town shines
- Email-native delegation done right: your Townie has its own @town.com address, so you and external contacts can CC or forward work to it exactly like a human executive assistant.
- Near-zero setup — it learns your writing voice, clients, and priorities from your existing email and work history on day one instead of requiring configuration or prompt-writing.
- Careful autonomy controls: approval mode, read-only mode, and per-tool autonomy settings — it never sends emails or calendar invites without approval unless you explicitly grant it.
- Strong routine system: stock routines (morning briefings, auto inbox triage, meeting briefings, newsletter digests, person research) plus custom routines you describe in plain language, 52 integrations spanning Gmail, Outlook, Slack, calendars, CRMs, and project tools, and the ability to connect custom tools via MCP servers.
- Credible, well-funded operation: $55M a16z-led Series A, founders from Dropbox/Plaid and Google AI, SOC 2 Type 2 compliance, and multi-provider model routing (Anthropic primary, plus OpenAI, Gemini, Bedrock, OpenRouter).
Where it falls short
- No dedicated computer per assistant — Townies run as a hosted service on Town's shared infrastructure (Convex/AWS), with no per-user VM and no real browser it can log into arbitrary websites with, so work is bounded by its integration catalog and any MCP servers you connect.
- Scope is knowledge-work admin — email, scheduling, meeting prep, CRM updates — rather than open-ended execution like running code, operating web apps that have no API, or producing files and media.
- No iMessage or SMS today: iMessage is listed as "coming soon," so messaging surfaces are its email address, web, iOS, desktop, Slack, Telegram, and WhatsApp.
- The free tier (30 chats/month) is a preview rather than a usable daily plan, and the credit model means costs climb with usage via pay-as-you-go overages on Pro and up.
- Cloud-only and closed: your email and calendar data live in Town's US-hosted infrastructure with no self-hosting option, and individual plans cover one person with a single Townie rather than multiple specialized assistants.
Choose Town if…
- Your main pain is email and calendar volume: you want an assistant that triages your inbox, drafts replies in your voice, and preps every meeting automatically.
- You want colleagues, clients, and recruiters to interact with your assistant directly via its own email address, like a human EA.
- You want minimal setup on top of ~50 mainstream work integrations (Gmail, Outlook, Slack, HubSpot, Salesforce, Linear, Notion), with plain-language custom routines and MCP connections when you need something extra.
- You need conservative, approval-gated autonomy and enterprise trust signals (SOC 2 Type 2, well-funded vendor) before letting AI touch your work email.
Choose Rick Boers if…
- You need a custom workflow or product built around your team.
- You want one builder to own design, implementation, and delivery.
- Your project needs integrations or behavior beyond a packaged tool.
- You need a custom workflow or product built around your team.
Common questions
Is Town better than Rick Boers?
This comparison is between using a packaged tool and commissioning a custom system. Provider features change; check current documentation. For a custom build, we agree the specific workflow, infrastructure, integrations, and operating responsibilities.
How much does Town cost in 2026?
The first 20-minute fit call is free. Paid work is scoped individually. We agree the deliverables, price, and payment milestones before work begins; hosting and model costs depend on the system we build.
What can Town's AI assistant actually do on its own?
By default Town never sends emails or calendar invites without your approval — you choose autonomy per tool across approval, read-only, and autonomous settings. Its routines run in the background on Town's infrastructure: morning briefings, automatic inbox triage, meeting briefings, person research, and custom scheduled workflows you describe in plain language across tools like Gmail, Slack, and your CRM.