What is Karpo?
Karpo suggests places to eat, events and weekend plans from a short description of your mood, budget, neighbourhood and company. It started inside iMessage, where you can still text it or add it to a group chat, and is now mainly an iPhone app (iOS 18 or later) with a Discover feed, animated invites friends can RSVP to, and VibePad, a slider that turns a feeling such as "chill and social" into a request.
Since October 2026 it can also act: Karpo Browser searches the web, fills in forms and completes restaurant reservations, ticket purchases and class bookings once you confirm the details. Its terms describe an opt-in booking feature that can also handle flights and hotels and place phone calls on your behalf.
Karpo is made by MachinePulse Pte. Ltd. of Singapore. It says it knows New York, San Francisco, Miami and London best, with guides for Los Angeles and Singapore.
Is Karpo worth it?
Friday at six, four friends in a group chat, and nobody can agree where to eat. Someone posts a link, someone else says it is too far, and by eight you are back at the usual place.
Karpo tries to end that loop. You tell it the vibe, for example a same-night omakase in SoHo or a cheap date night, and it comes back with a few picks that fit, drawn from city guides its editors keep for New York, Miami, San Francisco and London. Drop it into an iMessage group and it can weigh everyone's taste at once. On the App Store it holds 4.6 stars from 62 ratings.
The newer trick is doing the booking. Karpo Browser, announced on 21 October 2026, fills in the reservation or ticket form for you after you confirm the details. The terms say you authorise a one-time charge within the amount you confirmed and that MachinePulse never receives your full card number, which is the right design. Cancellations and refunds follow the venue's rules, not Karpo's.
The catch: Karpo is free because it is built around ads. Its App Store privacy label says precise location is linked to you and used for the developer's own advertising, and that identifiers are used to track you across other companies' apps. The privacy notice lets it use your messages to improve its models, links carry affiliate tags, and outside its core cities it has far fewer guides to draw on.
Our take: Karpo is a good friend with taste and a sales commission. Let it pick the restaurant, check the booking it fills in, and switch off location tracking for anything you would not tell an advertiser.
Where it earns its place
Four friends in an iMessage group chat in Manhattan
Agree on dinner for Friday without an hour of back and forth
Add Karpo to the group, say budget and neighbourhood, and it suggests places that suit everyone; one person confirms and Karpo Browser fills in the reservation. Costs nothing beyond the meal.
A newcomer to London with a free weekend
Find something to do that is not on every tourist list
Move the VibePad slider toward social or chill and get a short list of events and places; save one, send an animated invite and friends RSVP in a tap.
Someone planning a group trip, like a bachelorette for 7 in Tulum
Sketch dinner, a club and a boat day in one go
Describe the trip and Karpo returns an itinerary with booking links. Travel bookings that need passport details require the opt-in booking feature, and changes follow each seller's own refund rules.
Before you commit
- Setup
- Download the free iPhone app (iOS 18 or later) or text Karpo in iMessage, then describe what you want; some core features need location access.
- Integrations
- iMessage and group chats; Karpo Browser books on restaurant, ticket and class websites; the terms also cover calendar and email connections you authorise.
- Data and privacy
- Location, contact info, messages and identifiers are linked to you; precise location is used for advertising and identifiers for tracking, according to the App Store label. The privacy notice says it may develop and improve models and systems, including by using Content, but that passport and payment data from bookings are not used to train any model. Which AI tools train on your data?
- Cost at scale
- The app is free; bookings cost what the venue charges, and you are responsible for no-show and cancellation fees under the terms.
- Limits
- Best in New York, San Francisco, Miami and London; no Android app. It will not book anything medical, legal, financial or visa-related, and deleting your account is the only way to wipe data held by the booking feature.
What’s good
- Free, with no subscription
- Works inside iMessage group chats as well as its own app
- Books tables, tickets and classes only after you confirm
- Never receives your full card number, per its terms
- Rated 4.6 from 62 App Store ratings
What’s not
- Precise location used for advertising; identifiers used to track you
- Messages may be used to improve its models
- Strongest in four cities, starting with New York
- Apple devices only; no Android app
- Booking agent launched only in October 2026
Best for
iPhone users in New York, San Francisco, Miami or London who want quick, taste-matched ideas for tonight and are comfortable with an ad-funded app.
Karpo alternatives
Karpo: common questions
- Is Karpo worth it?
- Karpo is a fun, free way to find somewhere to go tonight in New York, but you pay for it with your location and ad tracking, and the booking agent is only weeks old. We rate it 3.4 out of 5.
- How much does Karpo cost?
- Free on iPhone; no paid plans or in-app purchases are listed. You pay venues and ticket sellers directly for anything it books.
- What are the downsides of Karpo?
- Precise location used for advertising; identifiers used to track you; messages may be used to improve its models; strongest in four cities, starting with New York; apple devices only; no Android app; booking agent launched only in October 2026.
- Who is Karpo best for?
- iPhone users in New York, San Francisco, Miami or London who want quick, taste-matched ideas for tonight and are comfortable with an ad-funded app.
- How much does Karpo cost for a team or in production?
- The app is free; bookings cost what the venue charges, and you are responsible for no-show and cancellation fees under the terms.
- Is Karpo safe for company data?
- Location, contact info, messages and identifiers are linked to you; precise location is used for advertising and identifiers for tracking, according to the App Store label. The privacy notice says it may develop and improve models and systems, including by using Content, but that passport and payment data from bookings are not used to train any model.
- What are the best Karpo alternatives?
- The closest alternatives we have reviewed are Meta Muse, OpenAI dots and Google AI Mode.
Answers checked Nov 11, 2026.