A chat assistant is the front door to AI for most people. You type, it answers. This page lists every notable option in one table, with what each costs, who makes it, and what it is best at, from the same verified catalog as the full AI models directory.
Three kinds of product share this space. General assistants (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot) are all-purpose chat apps. Answer engines (Perplexity, You.com) are built around web search and return cited answers. Frontier model providers (Cohere, Amazon Nova, AI21) mainly sell models to developers rather than a consumer chat app.
Prices cluster tightly. Most big-name assistants use a free tier plus a paid tier around 20 dollars a month for higher limits and stronger models. A few are entirely free to use: DeepSeek, Meta AI, Qwen Chat, and Pi have no paid consumer tier at all.
Snapshot of 7 June 2026. 22 entries in this group, about 17 with a free option and 4 that can run on your own hardware. Prices and versions change often, and each name links to its official page. The full directory has search and filters across all categories.
How to Choose
Start without paying:
DeepSeek, Meta AI, Qwen Chat, and Pi are free with no paid tier. Every freemium assistant on the list also has a usable free tier, so trying several before paying is normal.
Cited, search-based answers:
Perplexity and You.com are built around web search and show their sources, which makes claims checkable.
You live in one ecosystem:
Copilot is built into Windows and Office, Gemini ties into Google One and Workspace, and Meta AI sits inside WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger.
European data residency:
Mistral Le Chat is the main European assistant, with a data-residency focus.
One app, many models:
Poe aggregates GPT, Claude, Gemini, and image and video models behind a single subscription.
All 22 Chat & text Entries
| Tool | Maker | What it is | Cost | Where it runs | Hardware |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AI21 (Jamba) | AI21 Labs | Long-context Mamba-Transformer models with open weights available. | Paid | Cloud or local | Server GPUs to self-host |
| Amazon Nova | Amazon | AWS foundation models for text, image, video, and speech. | Paid | Cloud | Any device |
| ChatGPT | OpenAI | The best-known assistant. Web search, images, video, deep research, and agents. | Free + paid | Cloud | Any device |
| Claude | Anthropic | Strong writing, careful reasoning, and document analysis. Includes Claude Code. | Free + paid | Cloud | Any device |
| Cohere (Command) | Cohere | Enterprise text models for RAG, agents, and translation. | Paid | Cloud or local | Server GPUs to self-host |
| DeepSeek | DeepSeek | Capable free Chinese-lab assistant with reasoning and web search. | Free | Cloud | Any device |
| Doubao | ByteDance | China most-used chatbot, with voice and video understanding. | Free + paid | Cloud | Any device |
| Ernie Bot | Baidu | Baidu omni-modal assistant. China-focused, login required. | Free + paid | Cloud | Any device |
| Gemini | Google assistant with strong multimodal and long-context, tied to Workspace. | Free + paid | Cloud | Any device | |
| Grok | xAI | Conversational assistant with real-time access to posts on X. | Free + paid | Cloud | Any device |
| HuggingChat | Hugging Face | Former open-source chat front end over Hugging Face models. | Discontinued | Cloud | Any device |
| Kimi | Moonshot AI | Long-context assistant with long-horizon coding and agent features. | Free + paid | Cloud | Any device |
| Meta AI | Meta | Free assistant built into WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger. Runs Llama. | Free | Cloud | Any device |
| Microsoft Copilot | Microsoft | Microsoft assistant running OpenAI models, built into Windows and Office. | Free + paid | Cloud | Any device |
| Mistral Le Chat | Mistral AI | European assistant with agentic features and a data-residency focus. | Free + paid | Cloud | Any device |
| Perplexity | Perplexity AI | Answer engine: web search with cited answers across several models. | Free + paid | Cloud | Any device |
| Pi | Inflection AI | Companion-style assistant with voice. Active development has stalled. | Free | Cloud | Any device |
| Poe | Quora | Aggregator app: chat across many third-party models on one plan. | Free + paid | Cloud | Any device |
| Qwen Chat | Alibaba | Free Alibaba assistant with chat, search, image, and video. | Free | Cloud | Any device |
| Reka | Reka AI | Multimodal models. The company is refocusing on physical-world AI. | Paid | Cloud or local | Server to edge |
| You.com | You.com | Answer engine with a model picker and a deep-research mode. | Free + paid | Cloud | Any device |
| Z.ai (GLM) | Zhipu AI | Chinese lab whose GLM-5 is a leading open-weight model. Chat and coding plans. | Free + paid | Cloud or local | Server GPUs to self-host |
Common Questions
Which AI chat assistants are completely free?
DeepSeek, Meta AI, Qwen Chat, and Pi have no paid consumer tier at all. Nearly every other assistant offers a real free tier, so you can try most of the table without paying.
What does the 20-dollar tier actually buy?
Across ChatGPT Plus, Claude Pro, Gemini, Copilot Pro, and Perplexity Pro, the roughly 20-dollar tier buys higher usage limits, access to stronger models, and extra features such as deeper research modes. The exact mix changes often, so check the pricing page before subscribing.
Are the Chinese assistants usable outside China?
DeepSeek, Qwen Chat, and Kimi are usable internationally. Doubao and Ernie Bot are aimed at the Chinese market, and parts of their consumer experience are region-locked or login-gated.
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