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Best AI Chatbots for Everyday Tasks

Every major AI lab sells a chatbot, and they differ less in what they can do than in how much each plan lets you do it: reasoning depth, web research with citations, writing and coding help, file analysis, and the apps each assistant lives in. Free plans are real but capped — by message counts, five-hour session windows or which model you get — so the table below compares what each free tier actually includes alongside paid pricing.

10 verified tools10 with a free plan9 with API access

The comparison at a glance

CriterionGoogle GeminiQwen ChatChatGPTClaudeMicrosoft Copilot
ProviderGoogleAlibaba (Qwen team)OpenAIAnthropicMicrosoft
What it is forGoogle's AI assistant, bundled with Google One storage and Workspace apps on paid Google AI plans.Alibaba's free Qwen assistant on web and mobile, with Qwen models also sold per token through Alibaba Cloud Model Studio.OpenAI's general-purpose AI assistant for chat, writing, coding, research and file work, built on OpenAI's GPT models.Anthropic's AI assistant for writing, analysis, coding and research, available on web, desktop and mobile.Microsoft's AI assistant, free on its own and built into Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook through Microsoft 365 plans.
Latest confirmed modelGemini 4 Argon
Oct 13, 2026		Qwen3.8-Max (API flagship)
Aug 3, 2026		GPT-6 Sol / GPT-6 Luna (in ChatGPT); GPT-6.1 Sol in Work and Codex
Oct 7, 2026		Claude Opus 5.5
Sep 22, 2026		—
Main capabilities
  • Deep Research
  • Gemini 4 Argon (Depends on plan)
  • Image and video generation (Depends on plan)
  • Gemini in Workspace apps (Depends on plan)
  • Agent Mode (Preview)
  • Free chat app
  • Qwen3.8 API models
  • Omni model
  • GPT-6 models in Chat (Depends on plan)
  • GPT-6 Pro reasoning (Depends on plan)
  • Codex coding agent (Depends on plan)
  • Credits for extra usage (Depends on plan)
  • Ads on lower tiers (Limited)
  • Artifacts and file creation
  • Claude Code (Depends on plan)
  • Research (Depends on plan)
  • Connectors
  • Claude Dashboards (Preview)
  • Copilot in Office apps (Depends on plan)
  • Advanced Copilot chat (Depends on plan)
  • Agentic research and analytics (Depends on plan)
  • Copilot Chat for work
Free planYes
Base limits		Yes
Not published		Yes
Limited usage; exact caps not published on the pages checked		Yes
Usage aimed at everyday questions; up to 5 projects		Yes
Limited Copilot usage
Cheapest paid planGoogle AI Plus: $4.99/moNo monthly list priceGo: $8/mo
US price; localised elsewhere		Pro: $20/mo
$17/mo billed annually
$200 billed up front annually		Microsoft 365 Personal: $9.99/mo
$8.33/mo billed annually
$99.99 per year
API accessYes · docs (opens in a new tab)Yes · docs (opens in a new tab)Yes · docs (opens in a new tab)Yes · docs (opens in a new tab)No
Last verifiedOct 23, 2026Oct 23, 2026Oct 19, 2026Oct 19, 2026Oct 19, 2026

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Tools in this category

Profiles with verified plan details, pricing and limitations — editorial order, not a ranking.

Qwen Chat

Alibaba's free Qwen assistant on web and mobile, with Qwen models also sold per token through Alibaba Cloud Model Studio.

Free plan — Not published · API available

Limitations: Default app model not documented on pages checked

Full profile · Official website (opens in a new tab)

Verified Oct 23, 2026

ChatGPT

OpenAI's general-purpose AI assistant for chat, writing, coding, research and file work, built on OpenAI's GPT models.

Free plan — Limited usage; exact caps not published on the pages checked · paid from $8/mo · API available

Limitations: Model names and rollout change often

Full profile · Official website (opens in a new tab)

Verified Oct 19, 2026

Claude

Anthropic's AI assistant for writing, analysis, coding and research, available on web, desktop and mobile.

Free plan — Usage aimed at everyday questions; up to 5 projects · paid from $20/mo · API available

Limitations: Session-based limits can run out during heavy use

Full profile · Official website (opens in a new tab)

Verified Oct 19, 2026

Microsoft Copilot

Microsoft's AI assistant, free on its own and built into Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook through Microsoft 365 plans.

Free plan — Limited Copilot usage · paid from $9.99/mo · No public API

Limitations: Models used per plan are not named on pricing pages

Full profile · Official website (opens in a new tab)

Verified Oct 19, 2026

Which tool fits your situation

Recommendations based on each tool's verified features, plans and documented use cases — where we cannot recommend confidently, we say so.

Everyday questions and drafting on a budget

ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini all have free plans usable for real work — with caps: ChatGPT's free tier runs the lighter model, Claude measures usage per five-hour session, and Gemini's free plan uses its Flash-Lite model. Meta AI is free inside WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook.

ChatGPTClaudeGoogle GeminiMeta AI

Research and answers with sources

Perplexity is built around searching the web and citing its sources, with multi-provider model access on paid plans. Citations still need checking — an AI chatbot is not a source, it points at sources.

Perplexity

Long documents and heavy sessions

Claude documents a 1M-token context window on its top model and per-session limits; ChatGPT handles file analysis across its tiers. Neither publishes exact message counts — both measure usage in ways that vary by load.

ClaudeChatGPT

Developers watching API spend

DeepSeek's API is priced low with peak-hour surcharges; Qwen's API documents a free quota (1M tokens per model, 90 days, Singapore region); Gemini documents a free API tier for Flash models. Subscription plans and API billing are always separate budgets.

DeepSeekQwen ChatGoogle Gemini

Staying inside your existing apps

Microsoft Copilot is free on its own and built into Word, Excel and Outlook through Microsoft 365 plans; Gemini comes bundled with Google storage and Workspace apps on paid Google AI plans.

Microsoft CopilotGoogle Gemini

How we would choose

  • Which model each plan gets — free tiers often run the lab's lighter model.
  • How the free plan caps you: message counts, session windows or unpublished 'fair use'.
  • Where the assistant lives — web, phone, or the office and social apps you already use.
  • Whether the API is included, separate, or not offered at all.

Advantages

  • A capable free tier from every major lab — you can try several at zero cost
  • File analysis, web search and image understanding are now standard on paid plans
  • Bundles: subscriptions increasingly include coding tools and storage

Limitations

  • Free-plan limits are often vague or unpublished — you find the cap by hitting it
  • The best models are usually reserved for paid tiers
  • A chat subscription almost never includes API access

Practical use cases

Illustrative scenarios for this category — not customer case studies.

  • Drafting, rewriting and summarising everyday writing
  • Asking questions about uploaded documents or images
  • Quick web research with links you can check

Frequently asked questions

What are AI chatbots?
Conversational assistants built on large language models: you type or speak a request and get generated answers, drafts, code or file analysis. The chatbot is the product; the model behind it is what you are actually paying for.
Which AI chatbots have free plans?
All ten verified in our directory: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, Grok, DeepSeek, Meta AI, Qwen, Mistral's Le Chat and Perplexity. The free plans differ sharply in caps and in which model you get — the table states what is documented.
Which chatbot is best for research with sources?
Perplexity is the one designed around citations and web search. General assistants also cite sources when browsing — verify the links either way, because generated citations can be wrong even when they look plausible.
Can AI chatbots write code?
Yes, and every major assistant covers light-to-medium coding. For work inside a codebase — completion, multi-file edits, tests — a dedicated coding tool usually fits better; see our AI coding tools guide.
Do free plans include the best models?
Usually not: Claude's free plan runs Sonnet and Haiku (paid adds Opus), and Gemini's free plan uses Flash-Lite. If a page does not name the model per plan, that is a reason to check before subscribing — some providers still don't.
Can I use a chatbot subscription's allowance in my own app?
No. App plans and API access are billed separately everywhere we verified. Some APIs have free quotas (Gemini's Flash tier, Qwen's 90-day allowance) — the API row on each profile shows what is documented.

Also in this category

Related comparisons and guides

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The table shows up to five entries in the directory's editorial order, not a ranking. Every value links back to a record with sources and a last-verified date.