Charisma COMPARISON · UPDATED NOV 3, 2026
Poised alternatives
Poised announced it was shutting down on October 8, 2026. We make Charisma Lab, one of the five alternatives below. It doesn't listen to your calls, so for feedback during a meeting we point you to the tools that do.
Short answer
Pick by when you want the feedback.
- On your real video calls, in a private mode that records only you: Yoodli.
- Your talking speed and filler words during Zoom and Teams meetings, with a free plan: Read AI. Everyone in the meeting can see it's there.
- Before the call, out loud on your iPhone, with a coach that tells you what to change: Charisma Lab.
- A score on every rehearsal of a talk, on your phone: Orai. Its yearly plan is $49.99.
- Free feedback while you rehearse your slides: Speaker Coach in PowerPoint for the web.
What Poised did
Poised was a desktop app for Mac and Windows. During your video calls it gave you live feedback on filler words, hedging words, conciseness and interruptions. No bot joined the call, and no one else knew you were using it. It worked with Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and Slack. After each call you got a summary, action items and tips for next time. Poised Pro cost $19 a month, or $13 a month billed yearly. Its homepage now says Poised "is shutting down on 10/8/2026" and thanks its users for the last few years. Poised's notice · Poised's pricing page
At a glance
| APP | DURING YOUR CALLS | US PRICE | RATING |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yoodli | Works on your calls; private mode records only you | Free for 5 sessions; Pro $8/mo, Advanced $20/mo, billed yearly | Web app |
| Read AI | Talking speed and filler words in Zoom and Teams; others see it's there | Free for 5 meetings a month; Pro $15/mo billed yearly | 4.9 (1,052) |
| Charisma Lab | No: you practice before the call | $14.99/mo | 4.9 (14) |
| Orai | No: you rehearse a talk | $12.99/mo, $49.99/yr, $99.99 lifetime | 4.6 (3,732) |
| Speaker Coach | No: you rehearse your slides | Free in PowerPoint for the web | Part of PowerPoint |
App prices are the in-app purchases listed on each US App Store page. Yoodli's and Read AI's come from their pricing pages. What you're offered at checkout can differ. Ratings are US App Store averages, with the number of ratings in brackets.
Five alternatives to Poised
Yoodli
WHAT YOU DO Practice interviews, pitches and sales calls in your browser with an AI playing the other side. Each session gives you a report on your pacing, filler words and more. Yoodli's FAQ says you can also use it on Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Webex and other video calls. In team mode it joins the call as a participant and analyzes every speaker. In private mode it records only you, so you don't need to tell anyone you're using it.
NEXT TO POISED The closest match if you want feedback on your real calls without telling anyone. Its FAQ doesn't say whether that feedback comes during the call or after it.
PICK IT IF you want feedback on the calls you already have, plus roleplays to rehearse the hard ones.
BEFORE YOU PAY Yoodli's free Starter plan gives you 5 sessions in total. Yoodli Pro is $8 a month for up to 10 roleplays a week, and Advanced is $20 a month for unlimited ones. Both prices are billed yearly, and paying monthly costs more. We found no Yoodli app on the US App Store. Yoodli's FAQ · Yoodli pricing · Yoodli alternatives
Read AI
WHAT YOU DO Add the Read assistant to a Zoom, Teams or Google Meet meeting and it takes the notes. In its app for Zoom and Teams you can watch your talking speed and filler words while the meeting runs. Afterward, its meeting coach adds a report on you with metrics like talking speed, filler words, bias and charisma.
NEXT TO POISED Live nudges on pace and filler words, like Poised gave you. Poised stayed hidden, though, and Read's homepage says "Everyone in the meeting knows Read is there."
PICK IT IF your meetings already welcome a notetaker and you want coaching on top of the notes.
BEFORE YOU PAY Read AI's free plan covers 5 meetings a month, up to an hour each, and includes the meeting coach. Read AI Pro is $15 a month billed yearly, or $19.75 paid monthly, for unlimited meeting transcripts. There are apps for Windows, Mac, iPhone and Android. Read AI pricing · Read's meeting tools
Charisma Lab
WHAT YOU DO Talk out loud about the meeting you're preparing for, then hear your recording played back. The AI coach tells you what to fix, like "drop your pitch on the last three words," and you say it again. Train has drills for the habits Poised flagged. Filler Elimination and No Hedging hand you a sentence padded with words like "basically," "like," "I think" and "sort of," and you say it without them. Later, Word Economy has you say the same thing in fewer words.
NEXT TO POISED Poised coached you during the call. Charisma Lab coaches you before it, one take at a time.
PICK IT IF you have a big meeting, interview or presentation coming and want to rehearse it until it sounds right.
BEFORE YOU PAY Made for iPhone and iPad. Setup is free and includes a short live session with the coach. After that the app needs Pro, which is $14.99 a month in the US. It doesn't work during your calls. We're new, so we only have 14 ratings. Pricing and canceling · App Store listing
Orai
WHAT YOU DO Rehearse a prepared talk or speak freely. Orai scores each recording on filler words, pace, clarity, energy, confidence and conciseness. You get a scorecard with coaching tips, your transcript and the recording to play back.
NEXT TO POISED It checks some of what Poised did, like filler words and conciseness, on a talk you rehearse on your phone.
PICK IT IF you want a score every time you rehearse.
BEFORE YOU PAY Orai is free to download, with three plans listed: $12.99 a month, $49.99 a year and $99.99 for lifetime access. App Store listing · Orai alternatives
Speaker Coach in PowerPoint
WHAT YOU DO Rehearse your slide show out loud. Speaker Coach checks your pacing, pitch and filler words. It also flags informal speech, tells you when you're being wordy and notices when you're reading the slide. After each rehearsal you get a report with statistics and suggestions.
NEXT TO POISED Free, and it coaches the deck you'll present on the call, before the call.
PICK IT IF you're presenting slides and want a free check on your delivery.
BEFORE YOU PAY Nothing to pay in PowerPoint for the web: sign in with a Microsoft account, save your presentation to OneDrive and open it there. You need a microphone and an internet connection. It only understands English. Microsoft's guide
Free alternatives to Poised
Read AI's free plan covers 5 meetings a month and includes its meeting coach. Speaker Coach is free in PowerPoint for the web. Yoodli's Starter plan is free for 5 sessions in total. Charisma Lab isn't free after setup.
For a free check without a coaching app, record yourself on your phone giving the update you'll give at your next meeting. Play it back and count the fillers and the hedges, like "I think" and "sort of." How to stop saying um covers the fillers, and how to stop rambling covers getting to the point.
Practice out loud with an AI coach in Charisma Lab
Charisma Lab is a speaking coach on your iPhone. In Speak, tap the center and tell the coach what you're preparing for, like a meeting or an interview. Say it out loud one part at a time. A pause of about two seconds ends a take. You hear the take played back, then the coach tells you what to fix and sends you back in.
To see your delivery while you talk, open Voice Cam on the home screen and record, with the camera or audio only. Each recording runs up to a minute. It shows your volume, pitch and pauses, plus an estimate of your pace in words per minute. Setup is free and includes a short live session with the coach. After that, the app needs Pro, which is $14.99 a month in the US. See pricing.
FAQ
Did Poised shut down?
Poised's homepage says it "is shutting down on 10/8/2026", which was October 8, 2026.
What's the best Poised alternative?
It depends on when you want feedback. For your real calls without telling anyone, Yoodli's private mode records only you. For live nudges on pace and filler words, try Read AI, though everyone in the meeting knows it's there. To practice before a call on your iPhone, try Charisma Lab.
Is there a free alternative to Poised?
Read AI's free plan covers 5 meetings a month and includes its meeting coach. Speaker Coach in PowerPoint for the web is free for rehearsing slides.
Does Charisma Lab work on Zoom calls?
No. It runs on your iPhone or iPad, and you use it to practice before the call. For feedback during a call, look at Yoodli or Read AI.
How we checked
Poised's notice, features and prices come from poised.com. Yoodli's come from yoodli.ai and Read AI's from read.ai. App prices come from each app's US in-app purchase list on the App Store, and ratings are Apple's US App Store figures. Speaker Coach's details come from Microsoft's help page. Everything was checked on November 3, 2026. Prices change and differ by country, so check before you pay. Found a mistake? Tell us and we'll fix it.
More practice guides
- Yoodli alternatives: 5 speech coaches, free and paid
- Orai alternatives: 4 speech coaches, free and paid
- The best public speaking apps, with prices and ratings
- How to stop saying um, like and other filler words
- How to sound confident when you speak: 5 fixes you can hear
- Best app to practice a presentation
Updated November 3, 2026.