Best Martin alternatives for EU founders in 2026

By Prio editorialUpdated May 6, 2026For EU founders

Martin is a well-built AI assistant for the texting-first crowd, and the iMessage-native interface has obvious appeal. But for EU founders, the procurement question lands differently. Where does the data live? Who's the data controller? Is there a DPA on the website or do we need to email for it? Is the model trained on user content? Which sub-processors are involved? These aren't paranoia questions — they're the questions your investors, your customers, and your DPO will ask the moment you tell them you're sending company email through an AI assistant. The right alternative for an EU founder isn't necessarily the prettiest texting interface; it's the one that lets your DPO sign off in an afternoon instead of six weeks.

Why EU founders look for Martin alternatives

•Most consumer AI assistants are US-built and US-hosted by default — Schrems II makes that a procurement headache

•Customers and investors are increasingly asking 'where does our data live?' as a first-page question

•GDPR Article 28 DPA needs to be available out of the box, not after a six-week back-and-forth

•Sub-processor chains matter — every additional US sub-processor is another box to tick

•Many EU founders need their assistant to handle Dutch / German / French as a first-class UX, not as machine translation

How Prio fits EU founders specifically

The investor who asks 'is this GDPR-compliant?' on the first call

When a Dutch investor or German enterprise customer asks whether your AI assistant is GDPR-compliant, the answer 'we use a US tool but they say they're compliant' is no longer good enough. With Prio, the answer is: 'It's built and operated in the Netherlands by a European entity, EU data residency, GDPR-compliant by default, no training on user data, and the DPA is available on the website.' That's the answer that closes the procurement loop in one email instead of six.

The Dutch customer email you want to reply to in Dutch

Most US-built AI assistants treat non-English as machine translation — okay grammar, foreign tone. Prio is built bilingual (English + Dutch) with native speakers maintaining both versions. When you reply to a Dutch customer, the draft sounds like a Dutch native wrote it, not like a translation. For EU founders selling to local-language customers, that's the difference between a draft you can send and a draft you have to rewrite.

The DPO review that needs to happen this week, not next quarter

Procurement at any EU company with a DPO involves a vendor review. For most US AI tools, that means a sub-processor list, a DPIA, a Standard Contractual Clauses review, and a wait. With Prio operating from the Netherlands under European entity governance, most DPO reviews close in days, not weeks. For EU founders, the difference between 'we can use this' and 'we'll revisit next quarter' is often whether the vendor exists in the EU.

What you get with Prio

PrioOur pick for EU founders

Pricing: Starter €29/mo, Pro €79/mo, Business €199/mo. 30-day money-back guarantee.

Why it works for EU founders

iMessage/SMS via Sendblue PLUS Slack, Telegram, Discord, Teams, WhatsApp, web, native iOS
Deep Gmail/Outlook triage with auto-archive, drafting, follow-up tracking
Anticipation engine surfaces birthdays, board prep, contract renewals before you ask
Year-over-year recall of past actions across years
P0 ringer — Prio rings your iPhone via VoIP/CallKit on truly urgent items

Honest tradeoffs

−More setup than 'just text a number'
−Web dashboard is more surface area than Martin's pure texting interface

Start with Prio

30-day money-back guarantee. No questions asked.

What “good” looks like for EU founders

For an EU founder, the right AI assistant clears the GDPR bar before you read the feature list — not after. That means: actual EU data residency (not 'EU region available as a paid add-on'), Article 28 DPA available without a sales conversation, no training on user data with audit-ability, a European data controller you can sign with, and ideally first-class language support for at least English plus your local language. Beyond compliance, the right assistant should integrate with the European tool stack as a first-class citizen — Outlook as well as Gmail, Microsoft Graph alongside Google APIs, EU calendar conventions (DD/MM, 24-hour clock, week-start Monday). And the company behind it should be European in operations and reachable in your timezone. That's the bar. Prio meets it; most US-built consumer assistants don't.

Frequently asked questions

Where does Prio's data actually live?

Prio runs on EU infrastructure (primary region in Frankfurt). Database, file storage, and AI inference are all configured for EU residency. The European entity is based in the Netherlands and is the data controller. No data is transferred to non-EU jurisdictions for routine processing. Sub-processors are documented and minimised — see the privacy page or request the full sub-processor list at hello@prio.sh.

Does Prio train AI models on my data?

No. This is a hard policy, not an opt-out — your conversations, emails, calendar events, contacts, and documents are never used to train AI models. The underlying model providers (Anthropic, OpenAI, etc.) are configured with zero data retention agreements. Audit-able on request.

Do you have a DPA / Article 28 agreement available?

Yes. The standard DPA is available on the privacy page and can be signed electronically without a sales call. For larger customers requiring custom redlines, contact hello@prio.sh.

Does Prio support Dutch / German / French as first-class languages?

English and Dutch are first-class today — both UX and AI output are maintained by native speakers. German and French are supported in AI output (the model is multilingual) but the UI is not yet localised. Roadmap expansion targets Q3 2026.

Ready to replace Martin with one AI chief of staff built for EU founders?