C
CGeneral-purpose AI chat assistant for writing, research, coding and everyday tasks
Free, from $8/mo
AI Chatbots toolsFull list
General chat assistants and LLM apps.
22 tools15 with a free plan11 with an API2 open source
22 tools
CC
Free, from $8/mo
C
General-purpose AI chat assistant for writing, research, coding and everyday tasks
AI ChatbotsFree plan
G
GG
Freemium
G
Google's AI assistant for chat, research, images, video and everyday tasks
AI ChatbotsFree planAPI
C
CC
Free, from $17/mo
M
MAI assistant for chat, web search, writing and images at work and home
Free, from $18/mo
M
Free, from $18/mo
M
AI assistant for chat, web search, writing and images at work and home
AI ChatbotsFree plan
D
DD
Paid
D
DD
Free
D
Private search engine, browser and Duck.ai chat for people who avoid tracking
AI SearchFree plan
G
GxAI's chat assistant for questions, writing and research, with free and paid tiers
Free, from $30/mo
G
Free, from $30/mo
G
xAI's chat assistant for questions, writing and research, with free and paid tiers
AI ChatbotsFree planAPI
Z
ZNo-code workflow automation and AI agents across 9,000+ apps for businesses
Free, from $19.99/mo
Z
Free, from $19.99/mo
Z
No-code workflow automation and AI agents across 9,000+ apps for businesses
Workflow AutomationFree planAPI
M
MOpen-weight AI models, chat and coding agent you can run on your own infrastructure
Free, from $14.99/mo
M
Free, from $14.99/mo
M
Open-weight AI models, chat and coding agent you can run on your own infrastructure
Local & Open ModelsFree planAPIOpen source
C
CC
Freemium
C
Chat with AI characters for fun, roleplay and conversation
Characters & CompanionsFree plan
O
OO
Free, from $16.67/mo
O
Run open AI models locally or in the cloud on macOS, Windows and Linux
Local & Open ModelsFree planAPIOpen source
R
RR
Freemium
R
AI companion app for conversation, voice calls and emotional support
Characters & CompanionsFree plan
I
IAI customer agent that resolves support, sales and ecommerce conversations
From $49.50/mo
I
From $49.50/mo
I
AI customer agent that resolves support, sales and ecommerce conversations
Customer SupportAPI
Z
ZZ
Free trial
G
GG
Free, from $20/mo
G
Desktop app for running open-source language models locally and privately
Local & Open ModelsFree plan
T
TT
From $24.17/mo
T
AI customer service and live chat that answers questions and drives store sales
Customer SupportAPI
K
KK
Free trial
K
AI companion app for building custom characters to chat, call and share selfies
Characters & Companions
N
NN
Freemium
N
AI companions with long-term memory for friendship, romance and roleplay
Characters & CompanionsFree planAPI
T
TT
Freemium
T
Chat with AI characters from anime, games and fiction, or create your own
Characters & CompanionsFree plan
W
WW
Freemium
W
AI chatbot for everyday mental health support using CBT and DBT techniques
Fitness & WellnessFree plan
P
PP
Contact
P
Conversational AI assistant that automates screening, scheduling and onboarding
HR & RecruitingAPI
K
KK
Paid
AI Chatbots tools compared
From each vendor's own pages, re-checked every two months. Of 18 tools we checked, 3 of 7 that state a policy don't train AI on your content, and 6 hold SOC 2 or ISO 27001.
| Tool | Web search | File upload & analysis | Image generation |
|---|---|---|---|
| CChatGPT | |||
| M | — | ||
| M |
— means the vendor's site doesn't say.
How to choose ai chatbots tools
Most general chat assistants handle the same everyday jobs: answering questions, drafting text and helping with research. A few things set them apart.
- Where the model runs. Hosted assistants like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Grok run in the cloud. If privacy or offline use matters, Ollama and GPT4All run open models on your own Mac, Windows or Linux machine, and Mistral can be self-hosted.
- Open source vs. closed. Mistral, DeepSeek and Ollama are open source or open-weight, so you can inspect, adapt and deploy them yourself.
- Pricing model. Many tools are freemium. ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot and Gemini have free tiers, and DuckDuckGo's Duck.ai chat is free. Paid plans in this list start at $5/mo (Rewind AI) and go up to $30/mo (Grok).
- Apps and API access. Copilot and DuckDuckGo have desktop and mobile apps. If you want to build on a model, Gemini, Grok, DeepSeek and Mistral offer APIs.
We haven't tested these tools. The details above come from each tool's listing.
Frequently asked questions
Are there free AI chatbots?
Yes. DuckDuckGo's Duck.ai chat is listed as free. ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Gemini, Mistral and Grok are freemium, so each has a free tier and paid plans. Ollama also has a free tier for running open models on your own computer.
How much do paid chatbot plans cost?
Among the tools that list a starting price, Rewind AI starts at $5/mo, Mistral at $14.99/mo, Ollama at $16.67/mo and Grok at $30/mo. Prices for Claude, DeepSeek and GPT4All aren't in our listings, so check their sites.
What should I look for in a chat assistant?
Decide whether you need a hosted service or a model running locally (Ollama, GPT4All). Then check which platforms it supports, whether there's a free tier, and whether it has an API if you plan to build with it. Gemini, Grok, DeepSeek and Mistral all offer APIs.
What are alternatives to ChatGPT?
For general chat, the main alternatives here are Claude, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot and Grok. If you want open-source models, look at DeepSeek and Mistral. For private chat, there's DuckDuckGo's Duck.ai, or you can run models locally with Ollama or GPT4All. Character.AI is built for roleplay with characters made by its users.