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ChatGPT has definitely proven itself—it’s a solid choice, but the AI chatbot is not the only option out there. Depending on what you’re trying to get done, it might not even be the best fit for you. Sure, it’s a fantastic all-around chatbot, but like any jack-of-all-trades, it can sometimes fall short when compared to tools designed for specific tasks. In those cases, it’s worth checking out some of the many alternatives to OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
Here are some similar chatbots to ChatGPT:
Is there any other AI chatbots similar to ChatGPT?
What makes ChatGPT stand out is how easy and effective it is to use. You don’t have to jump through hoops, reword your questions in strange ways, or cram in specific keywords to get a solid response. You can just talk to it naturally, like you would with a friend. Of course, the clearer your question, the better the answer—just like in any normal conversation.
For a chatbot to truly compete with ChatGPT, it has to nail that same effortless experience. It should let you chat freely and confidently, knowing it can handle whatever you throw at it.
To be a top ChatGPT alternative, there are some key elements it needs to include. For one, it should excel in something specific. While ChatGPT is the best all-around chatbot, a great alternative should outshine it in a particular area or feature.
It should also be easy to use as some AI tools require complicated setups or technical skills, which are certainly not ideal. The best options are plug-and-play – just sign up and start chatting.
The AI bot has to be accessible so there are no waiting lists or closed betas. You should be able to use it right now. Lastly, it’s important that it is reliable as there’s no point if it’s always offline or glitching.
After hours of testing, we’ve rounded up the ones that check all these boxes.
Claude
Claude seems to have a lot going for it. Many people say its default writing style feels more natural than ChatGPT’s, and it’s not just about the tone or word choice—it often responds with a more empathetic touch. Depending on what you’re looking for, that can either feel refreshing or a little too “uncanny valley,” but it’s undeniably a standout feature.
You can now directly add content from Google Docs to chats and projects.
Just paste a link or choose from recent documents to get started. pic.twitter.com/8PZIcaTObg
— Anthropic (@AnthropicAI) November 21, 2024
The bot comes from Anthropic, a company known for prioritizing “helpful, harmless, and honest” AI. They’ve put a lot of thought into its safety features, building in strong guardrails to keep it on the right track. For example, Claude is programmed to avoid anything offensive—even to a child—and follows dozens of similar guidelines to ensure its responses are as safe as possible.
While it’s tough to prove this in every interaction, Claude’s track record speaks volumes—it’s not out there making headlines for replying to users in “Spanglish” and issuing bizarre comments.
Of course, safety is a focus for every app on this list, but Anthropic takes it to another level. Beyond that, Claude is an excellent ChatGPT alternative because it’s probably the most similar chatbot out there (created by ex-OpenAI team members). Plus, it shines in areas like context.
Claude offers a 200,000-token context window—about 150,000 words, or the length of a whole book. By comparison, ChatGPT maxes out at 128,000 tokens with GPT-4o. Only a few Google Gemini models go bigger, with a staggering 1-million-token capacity. So, Claude isn’t just comparable—it’s competitive. Anthropic also recently announced that you can now add Google Docs to chats and projects, giving it a trump card.
We assessed Claude against ChatGPT and Gemini, and it performed surprisingly well in complex reasoning, ethics, and language tasks.
Google Gemini
Gemini (formerly Bard) used to be ChatGPT’s quicker, web-savvy cousin. But now that ChatGPT has caught up in most areas, Gemini’s real major features come down to one thing: Google.
Gemini works exceptionally well with Google’s ecosystem. It has one-click integrations with tools like Google Docs and Gmail, and it can pull information from apps like Google Drive, Hotels, Flights, Maps, and even YouTube. Sure, you can rig up similar functionality in ChatGPT, but with Gemini, it’s practically effortless.
Did we mention that Gemini can turn your phone into a personal tour guide? Discover hidden gems, local food, and more. (4/4)
What will you ask Gemini next?
Try the Gemini app on your iPhone → https://t.co/et5AspruyM pic.twitter.com/y3DpUcqZVF— Google Gemini App (@GeminiApp) November 22, 2024
If you’re already living in Google’s apps, these features are hard to ignore. And Google’s taking it further by baking Gemini right into Chrome and Android, so it’ll soon be part of your browser and phone experience.
That said, ChatGPT still shines in some areas. Its data analysis and voice interaction tools are way more advanced, and it offers a ton of customization options. But if Google’s ecosystem is where you spend most of your time, Gemini is a no-brainer as a ChatGPT alternative.
In our test against its counterparts, however, Gemini struggled often failing to meet specific requirements in our queries.
Microsoft Copilot
Microsoft is a major investor in OpenAI, so it’s no surprise that both Copilot and ChatGPT run on OpenAI’s GPT models. Plus, their web search features are powered by Bing. But the experience of using each feels totally different.
The big difference? Copilot (formerly Bing Chat) is baked right into Microsoft Edge, making it a more seamless, tailored tool for finding answers. ChatGPT, on the other hand, is more of a standalone experience—though you can expand it with integrations and GPTs.
Like Gemini, Copilot is great at citing its sources and can even include visuals in its answers. It also suggests follow-up searches to keep your workflow smooth. It shines brightest in Edge, where it lives in the sidebar, giving you handy tools while you browse.
If only your browser could see what I see… oh wait, Copilot Vision will be able to very soon 👀 pic.twitter.com/EtLGyMGPq3
— Microsoft Copilot (@MSFTCopilot) November 1, 2024
That’s not to say ChatGPT can’t do what Copilot does—it just takes a bit more effort and switching between tasks to get there. It may catch up soon though, after OpenAI announced the launch of SearchGPT, which positions the AI startup’s ability to compete with search engines like Google, Microsoft’s Bing, and Perplexity.
Perplexity
That brings us on to Perplexity. Perplexity is technically a ChatGPT alternative, but it’s more like a modern spin on search engines. Think of it as a conversational AI chatbot built for accuracy and up-to-date info—kind of like Google’s AI overviews, but without the baggage. It is described as a “Swiss Army Knife for information discovery and curiosity.”
What sets it apart? Perplexity gives you far more sources than ChatGPT and lets you decide which sources to use. Want to search the entire internet? Sure thing. Prefer academic papers, Wolfram|Alpha, YouTube, or Reddit? You’ve got that option too. Plus, you can choose the AI model it uses, like GPT-4o, GPT-4 Turbo, Claude 3 Sonnet, Claude 3 Opus, or Sonar 32k (based on Meta’s Llama 3). ChatGPT doesn’t offer that kind of flexibility.
Another cool feature is how Perplexity lets you organize your searches into collections, which feels a lot tidier than ChatGPT’s sidebar setup. The pro option now offers the ability to shop on the platform, which they describe as a “one-stop solution where you can research and purchase products.”
Introducing Perplexity Shopping: a one-stop solution where you can research and purchase products. It marks a big leap forward in how we serve our users – empowering seamless native actions right from an answer. Shopping online just got 10x more easy and fun. pic.twitter.com/gjMZO6VIzQ
— Perplexity (@perplexity_ai) November 18, 2024
It can still handle the usual stuff—answering questions, writing emails, generating images—but it’s not quite as polished as ChatGPT for those tasks. If your main focus is web searching, though, Perplexity is definitely worth a look. We tried out Perplexity and found it to be better than traditional search engines by providing quick responses. It also seemed to be far more reliable than other chatbots when providing useful responses.
Is anything better than ChatGPT?
After running four tests on math, ethics, and language, we’re convinced that Claude still holds the top spot among the models.
GPT-4o impressed us, especially when it came to tackling complex reasoning tasks, but the tests showed that each model has its own strengths and shines in different areas. Even so, Claude continues to stand out as the best overall.
But when it comes to search, we found that Perplexity still has an edge because of its customizable features, and options to personalize the experience with pages and threads. However, SearchGPT is shaping up to be a serious player in the AI search world, potentially becoming a strong contender among today’s search AI options.
Is there a free ChatGPT competitor?
Technically, all the AI chatbots mentioned have a free version. However, they also give a more advanced, premium tier at an additional cost.
- Claude Pro is $20 per month
- Gemini Advanced is $19.99 per month, with the first two months free
- Microsoft Copilot Pro is $20 per month, with the first month free
- Perplexity Pro is also $20 a month.
The one bot that hasn’t been mentioned is Meta AI, which remains free with an Instagram, Facebook, or WhatsApp account.
Meta AI might not have the advanced data analysis tools that ChatGPT offers, and it’s not as customizable, but it can be integrated into apps you probably use every day—WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook. You can ask it for details about something mentioned in a Facebook post, chat with it directly in Messenger, Instagram, or WhatsApp, or even bring it into conversations with your friends. You can also trigger it right from the search bar in any of these apps.
One big bonus? Meta AI creates images for free, whereas ChatGPT only allows users to create up to two images per day for free using DALL-E 3, OpenAI’s image model. It can even animate the images it generates. It’s not perfect, but it’s a fun extra that adds a bit of flair.
Featured image: Ideogram
