Claude
4.7Built by former OpenAI safety researchers around a written constitution
Our highest-rated Chatbots AI tools are ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity AI. ChatGPT is our top overall pick (4.8/5), and it includes a free plan. Compare these 8 below by price, features and rating to find the right fit.
★ Top pickChatGPTOur highest-rated pick, known for broad, frequently updated GPT model familyVisit ChatGPT
| Tool | Best for | Free | From | Rating | Visit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 ChatGPT | Best overall | Yes | $20/mo | 4.8 | Visit |
| Claude | Best free option | Yes | $17/mo | 4.7 | Visit |
 Perplexity AI | Best value | Yes | $20/mo | 4.6 | Visit |
 DeepSeek | Also worth a look | Yes | Free | 4.5 | Visit |
 Grok | Also worth a look | Yes | $30/mo | 4.5 | Visit |
 Google Gemini | Also worth a look | Yes | $20/mo | 4.4 | Visit |
 Mistral Le Chat | Also worth a look | Yes | $14/mo | 4.4 | Visit |
 Character.AI | Most popular | Yes | $4.99/mo | 4.3 | Visit |
Best Chatbots AI tool for each use case
Research & up-to-date answers
Get current, sourced answers rather than relying on stale training data. Perplexity is built for this, citing live web sources for every answer, while Gemini and ChatGPT also browse; look for inline citations you can verify before trusting.
Long documents & analysis
Summarize, compare, and reason over long reports, contracts, or codebases. Claude is known for large context windows and careful long-document handling; look for big file or context limits and strong reasoning when accuracy over long inputs matters.
Coding & technical help
Debug, explain, and generate code conversationally. ChatGPT and Claude both excel at programming, while Gemini integrates with Google's developer tools; look for strong reasoning, code execution, and the ability to handle your whole file or repo in context.
Everyday & emotional support
Chat casually, talk through ideas, or get a supportive sounding board. Pi is designed for warm, conversational support, while general assistants handle brainstorming and advice; choose based on whether you want a tool or a companion-style tone.
How to choose a Chatbots AI tool
What to evaluate
- Web access and citations — because only some assistants give current, verifiable answers
- Context window size — since long documents and codebases need a model that holds it all
- Ecosystem integration — as Gemini ties into Google and ChatGPT into a broad plugin and app network
- Reasoning vs. speed — because the strongest model is slower and pricier than lightweight alternatives
Which one should you pick?
If you need current, sourced factsUse Perplexity, which cites live web sources by default, making answers easy to verify and harder to hallucinate.
If you work with long documents or careful reasoningChoose Claude for its large context window and strong, measured handling of lengthy or nuanced inputs.
If you want one versatile all-rounderPick ChatGPT, whose broad capabilities, plugins, and ecosystem make it the safest general-purpose default.
Best free Chatbots AI tools
These Chatbots tools offer a genuine free plan or trial, a smart place to start before you pay.
How much do Chatbots AI tools cost?
| Price tier | What you get | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0, free plan or open-source | SimSimi, Cleverbot, Quickchat AI, Personality Forge, iChatWithGPT |
| Budget | Under $15/mo | Shmooz AI, Chatmate AI, DocuChat, ResolveAI |
| Premium | $40/mo and up | Botnation AI |
Pro tips
- No single chatbot wins everything; keep two open and route queries to each one's strength.
- Always verify cited sources and facts; even browsing chatbots misread pages and fabricate confident details.
- Free tiers often run smaller or older models, so paid plans noticeably improve reasoning quality.
- For sourced research use Perplexity; for long-document reasoning use Claude, rather than forcing one tool.
How we check & rank
We verify every tool in this category is live and write its listing from the vendor’s own material, then score it on value, feature depth and how well it fits the job. Rankings are never for sale, and affiliate links never change a score. Read our full methodology
Browse all tools
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Perplexity AI
4.6The AI answer engine most competitors measure themselves against
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ChatGPT
4.8The product that took generative AI mainstream in late 2022
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SimSimi
3.0Long-running Korean chat app with a community-taught chatbot and AI characters, rated 16+ for mature themes.
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Cleverbot
3.1Long-running conversational AI that answers by matching your whole conversation against millions of earlier ones.
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Botsify
3.7White-label AI agent platform for agencies to build, brand and resell chatbots on WhatsApp, web, Instagram and Slack.
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Ivy.ai
3.8Higher-education AI assistant, now combined with Ocelot as Gravyty's Ivy & Ocelot platform.
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Quickchat AI
3.7Builds AI agents for support, sales, ecommerce and internal helpdesk, with the human handover treated as a first-class feature.
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A long-running chatbot platform for building conversational characters with defined personalities, emotions and memory.
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iChatWithGPT
3.1Chat with GPT-5.6 and Claude 4.8 straight from iMessage, Siri, or CarPlay – no app, no signup, no identifying information required.
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Shortly AI
3.1One chat interface, 100+ LLMs – Gemini, GPT, Claude, Mistral, and more – without juggling separate subscriptions.
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Magic AI
3.4An AI teammate you train on your own documents and data, with an API and published pricing.
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ChatWP
3.5A chatbot trained only on the official WordPress documentation, so answers come from the docs rather than from forum folklore.
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WorkBot
3.5Chatbot, chat agent and voice agent from one platform, covering support, ecommerce and sales.
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Ultra Hal, a long-running conversational AI companion that learns from your conversations, with a desktop assistant edition and a browser demo.
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ChatShape
3.4Point it at your website URL and it trains a support chatbot on the content, ready to embed.
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Flow XO
3.4Multi-channel chatbot builder focused on lead capture and qualification, with 100+ integrations into CRM and payment tools.
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Chat Thing
3.5Support agent that learns from your content, looks up orders, escalates when it should – and ships with an SDK.
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Wiz Chat
2.8Chat with AI characters you dream up, entirely in your browser – no account, no download, and no server reading your conversations.
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Engati
3.7Omnichannel AI chatbots across WhatsApp, Instagram, Shopify and RCS, with a low-code builder, multilingual conversations and live chat handover.
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ChatBot
3.6Website chatbot builder with visual flow construction and no coding, from the LiveChat family.
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Coachvox
3.5Lets a coach build an AI version of themselves, trained on their own material, so prospects can experience their thinking before enquiring.
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PizzaGPT
2.9"Chat AI veloce e gratuita" – a free Italian ChatGPT alternative covering chat, text generation, image generation, translation, and student study tools, with a faster PizzaGPT Plus tier.
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ResolveAI
3.4Connect your website, documents, and data sources to train a 24/7 custom AI ChatGPT for your business – GPT-4 access, WhatsApp/Messenger/Slack deployment, human takeover when needed.
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JimmyGPT
2.9One AI assistant for cover letters, professional emails, essays, historical summaries, new-skill tutorials, translations, jokes, music picks, and bedtime stories.
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Xmagic
3.0Design custom chatbots trained on your own knowledge base, test them in a live Playground, then monitor every conversation from one Dashboard.
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Shmooz AI
3.2One AI assistant across WhatsApp, Telegram, and web – chat, generate images with Flux, make short video clips, summarize PDFs, and transcribe voice notes, no app download required.
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Chatmate AI
2.9AI companions with simulated personalities to chat, voice call, and generate photos with – free tier included, Premium at $9.90/month.
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WhatsGPT
3.0GPT-powered chat, voice, and image support across WhatsApp, Telegram, and Messenger – answer customer questions, draft contracts, and generate reports, no app download required.
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WhatGPT
3.0ChatGPT, built into WhatsApp – ask a question, get a concise answer, no login expiration, no app to install, start chatting immediately.
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Arsturn AI
3.3Build a custom AI chatbot on GPT-4o or Claude 3.5 Sonnet, train it on your PDFs and website, and embed it anywhere – no code, support for ~95 languages.
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Knowbo
3.6Creates a support chatbot trained on an existing website or knowledge base.
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DocuChat
3.7Upload your PDFs, spreadsheets, or a YouTube video and chat with them – powered by Claude Opus, GPT-5, Mistral Large, and Llama 4, with hybrid search and source citations.
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Botnation AI
3.3Proprietary contextual AI – natural language understanding, dynamic response generation, learning from your own data – deploys a multi-channel chatbot in about 5 minutes, no code.
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LoveGPT
3.1AI generates personalized conversation starters and reply suggestions for romantic communication – relationship-coaching support, not a dating or matching service.
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ChatOga
3.0Chat with GPT-3.5 or GPT-4 right inside Telegram, Messenger, or WhatsApp – AI-driven efficiency for real tasks, not a companion app, already used by 10K+ people.
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HotBot AI
3.0One free chat interface for ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and more – write, learn, create images, summarize, analyze data, and translate, all in one place.
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Chathub
3.4One question, every answer – compare GPT-5, Claude 4.5, Gemini 3, Grok, and 20+ other models side by side under a single subscription, used by 300,000+ people.
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GlasgowGPT
3.2Chat with an AI that talks like an actual Glaswegian – built on OpenAI's language models with specialized prompting for authentic slang, humor, and local knowledge.
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MobileGPT
3.5AI assistant built into WhatsApp, no app download or account needed – send a photo and it reads the label, or hand off an actual task: Smart Agents send the email, book the calendar slot, post to LinkedIn.
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Twinning
3.3Record 5-15 minutes of audio and get an AI voice clone your followers can chat with – a creator-economy tool for fan engagement and monetization, covered in trade press on AI in entertainment.
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KnowBuddy.ai
3.1AI without the faff – text it on WhatsApp like a friend, no app download or password. It remembers what matters to you and can reach out first when something's worth knowing.
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Open Voice OS
3.5Open-source voice assistant framework with a swappable speech-recognition and text-to-speech pipeline – runs offline on anything from a Raspberry Pi to a desktop, free under Apache 2.0.
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Kajiwoto
3.2Train your own AI companion's personality and memory over time, chat solo or in multi-party Kaji Rooms – NSFW content banned outright, immediate ban, no warning.
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Imperson
3.6Natural-language conversation engine that handled a free-flowing chatbot conversation with a virtual Einstein for National Geographic's "Genius" series.
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The Simulation
3.1Fable Studio's platform for creating AI characters that live, learn and interact on their own inside simulated worlds – access is NFT-gated, with holders joining a whitelist to enter a given town.
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Humley
3.5No-code Humley Studio builds and deploys a GPT-powered conversational AI assistant in under an hour, with analytics to keep improving it after launch.
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Chunky
3.3Train a chatbot on your PDFs, website, or Google Sheets using the ChatGPT API and OpenAI Embeddings, then embed it with one line of code – free forever plan included.
About Chatbots AI tools
This category spans two related things: general-purpose AI assistants like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini that help with writing, research, and analysis, and customer-facing chatbot platforms that businesses deploy to answer support questions, qualify leads, and guide users 24/7. They serve individuals seeking a smart assistant as well as companies that want to automate conversations on their website, app, or help desk, often trained on their own documents.
Pick based on whether you need a personal assistant or a deployable support bot, then compare on:
- Model and reasoning quality, accuracy, context length, and how well it handles complex questions.
- Knowledge grounding, ability to train on your data and cite sources to reduce hallucinations.
- Integrations and channels, website, WhatsApp, Slack, and help-desk connections.
- Privacy and cost, data handling, usage limits, and per-seat or per-message pricing.
Chatbots AI tools — FAQ
What is an AI chatbot?
An AI chatbot is software that understands and responds in natural language using a large language model. It can answer questions, hold conversations, and automate tasks like customer support, examples include ChatGPT, Claude, and Intercom's Fin.
What's the difference between an AI assistant and a customer-support chatbot?
General assistants like ChatGPT help individuals with broad tasks such as writing and research. Support chatbots are deployed by businesses, trained on company data, and focused on answering customer questions and resolving tickets.
Are AI chatbots free to use?
Many assistants offer capable free tiers, with paid plans (around $20 per month) unlocking better models and higher limits. Business chatbot platforms are usually subscription-based, priced per seat, resolution, or message volume.
Can AI chatbots replace human customer support?
They can resolve a large share of routine, repetitive questions instantly and around the clock, reducing workload. Complex, sensitive, or high-stakes issues still need human agents, so most teams use a hybrid approach.
What's the best free AI chatbot?
ChatGPT's free tier is the best all-around free chatbot, offering capable general-purpose help with some access to current models. Claude and Gemini also have strong free tiers, and Perplexity is the best free option for sourced research. The right pick depends on whether you prioritize versatility, reasoning, or citations.
How much do AI chatbots cost?
The major chatbots all offer free tiers, with paid plans clustered around the low-twenties of dollars monthly for faster, smarter models and higher limits. ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity price their premium tiers similarly. Pay only if you hit free-tier limits or need the most capable models for serious work.
Is ChatGPT Plus worth it?
ChatGPT Plus is worth it for heavy users who want the latest models, higher limits, and features like advanced data analysis and image generation. Light users are well served by the free tier or by free Claude and Gemini. If you use it daily for work, the upgrade pays off quickly.
ChatGPT vs. Claude vs. Gemini: which is best?
It depends on the task: Claude excels at long documents and careful reasoning, ChatGPT is the most versatile all-rounder with the broadest ecosystem, and Gemini integrates best with Google's apps and real-time data. For sourced research, Perplexity beats all three. Most power users keep two open and switch based on the job.