The short answer
- Every major general assistant has a free tier at the time of writing: Claude, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, Mistral's Vibe (formerly Le Chat) and Perplexity, as well as ChatGPT itself.
- They differ less in what they can say than in where they live (Google, Microsoft, a standalone app), what they connect to, and what they do with your data.
- Perplexity is built around web search with cited sources; Copilot and Gemini sit inside Microsoft's and Google's apps; Claude and Vibe are standalone assistants.
- A general chatbot answers questions. It doesn't keep a structured record of your spending, reminders or habits. A specialised assistant such as Binome360 does that, and asks you to confirm before saving anything. It is not a general chatbot.
- Before moving, ask the privacy questions in our AI personal assistant guide.
Why people look for a ChatGPT alternative
Some reasons come straight from OpenAI's own announcements.
Ads on the Free and Go tiers. On February 9, 2026, OpenAI began testing ads in ChatGPT in the US for logged-in adults on the Free and Go tiers; Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Education have no ads. OpenAI says ads don't influence answers and that advertisers don't see your chats. It also says ads are chosen by matching the topic of your conversation, your past chats and your past ad interactions. Updates to the same announcement extended the pilot to Canada, Australia and New Zealand, then to the UK, Mexico, Brazil, Japan and South Korea by August 2026. OpenAI offers two ways out: upgrade to Plus or Pro, or opt out of ads on Free in exchange for fewer daily free messages.
Price. On the US App Store at the time of writing, ChatGPT Go is listed at $8.00 and ChatGPT Plus at $19.99 as in-app purchases.
Other reasons are practical: you already live in Google or Microsoft apps, you want sources under every answer, you prefer a European company, or you realise that what you actually want is not conversation but a place that remembers things for you.
What to check before you switch
| Criterion | Question to ask | Where to find the answer |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | What does it include, and what are the limits? | The company's pricing page |
| Platforms | Web, iPhone, Android, desktop? | Pricing page and app store listings |
| Language | Is the app available in your language? | App store listing ("Languages") |
| Ecosystem | Does it plug into the mail, calendar and documents you already use? | Product page |
| Sources | Does it show where facts come from? | Try the same question on each |
| Records | Will you get lists and totals back later, or only a chat history? | Try "what did I spend on food last month?" |
| Data | Are chats used for training, and can you opt out? | Privacy settings and policy |
Free tier
Question to askWhat does it include, and what are the limits?
Where to find the answerThe company's pricing page
Platforms
Question to askWeb, iPhone, Android, desktop?
Where to find the answerPricing page and app store listings
Language
Question to askIs the app available in your language?
Where to find the answerApp store listing ("Languages")
Ecosystem
Question to askDoes it plug into the mail, calendar and documents you already use?
Where to find the answerProduct page
Sources
Question to askDoes it show where facts come from?
Where to find the answerTry the same question on each
Records
Question to askWill you get lists and totals back later, or only a chat history?
Where to find the answerTry "what did I spend on food last month?"
Data
Question to askAre chats used for training, and can you opt out?
Where to find the answerPrivacy settings and policy
On quality, we don't rank them. Models change every few months, and published benchmarks rarely measure the everyday tasks you care about. The honest test is to give two or three of them the same five real tasks from your week.
The general assistants
All facts below come from each company's own pages or app store listings, checked on September 25, 2026. Prices are US dollars at the time of writing.
Claude (Anthropic). Anthropic's pricing page lists a free plan that includes chat on web, desktop and mobile, web search, file creation, running code, memory across conversations and connections to your apps. Pro costs $17 a month billed annually or $20 billed monthly. The iPhone app's interface is available in English, French and eight other languages.
Gemini (Google). Google offers a free tier with a Google Account, including Deep Research, Gemini Live and Gems. Paid Google AI plans add higher usage and storage; the US App Store lists them as in-app purchases at $4.99 (AI Plus) and $19.99 (AI Pro). Gemini is available on Android, iPhone and the web. A natural choice if your email, calendar and files are already at Google.
Microsoft Copilot. The Copilot app is free on the App Store and Copilot also runs on the web at copilot.microsoft.com. Microsoft's paid plans for individuals bundle Copilot into Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook: Microsoft 365 Personal is $9.99 a month and Premium $19.99 a month, with "higher usage than free" for Copilot chat. It makes sense if your documents live in Microsoft 365.
Vibe by Mistral (formerly Le Chat). Mistral has renamed Le Chat to Vibe; its FAQ says conversations, settings and plans carry over. The free plan gives access on web and mobile, with limited messages and web searches. Pro costs $14.99 a month. Mistral says Vibe supports voice input. Mistral AI is a French company, which matters to some readers for data location; check its privacy policy for the details that apply to you.
Perplexity. Perplexity describes itself as an AI-powered search engine: it searches the web in real time and gives conversational answers with citations and links to the original sources. It lets you pick between several models, including OpenAI's and Anthropic's. The app is free on the App Store and Google Play, with a paid Pro tier. Good for questions where you want to check the source yourself.
| Assistant | Free tier | Paid entry price (US) | Platforms | Stands out for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude | Yes | $20/month ($17 billed yearly) | Web, desktop, iPhone, Android | Standalone assistant with memory across chats |
| Gemini | Yes, with a Google Account | $4.99 in-app (AI Plus) | Web, Android, iPhone | Google apps and storage |
| Copilot | Yes | $9.99/month (Microsoft 365 Personal) | Web, iPhone, Microsoft 365 apps | Word, Excel, Outlook |
| Vibe (ex-Le Chat) | Yes, limited | $14.99/month | Web, iPhone, Android | European company, voice input |
| Perplexity | Yes | Pro plan (price not confirmed on an official page) | Web, iPhone, Android | Answers with cited sources |
Claude
Free tierYes
Paid entry price (US)$20/month ($17 billed yearly)
PlatformsWeb, desktop, iPhone, Android
Stands out forStandalone assistant with memory across chats
Gemini
Free tierYes, with a Google Account
Paid entry price (US)$4.99 in-app (AI Plus)
PlatformsWeb, Android, iPhone
Stands out forGoogle apps and storage
Copilot
Free tierYes
Paid entry price (US)$9.99/month (Microsoft 365 Personal)
PlatformsWeb, iPhone, Microsoft 365 apps
Stands out forWord, Excel, Outlook
Vibe (ex-Le Chat)
Free tierYes, limited
Paid entry price (US)$14.99/month
PlatformsWeb, iPhone, Android
Stands out forEuropean company, voice input
Perplexity
Free tierYes
Paid entry price (US)Pro plan (price not confirmed on an official page)
PlatformsWeb, iPhone, Android
Stands out forAnswers with cited sources
General assistant or specialised assistant?
A general assistant is a very good conversation partner. Ask it to reword a letter to your landlord, explain a term on your pay slip or plan a week of meals, and it will. What it doesn't do by design is keep a structured record. If you tell a chatbot on Monday "I spent $42 on groceries" and on Friday "I spent $18 on gas", you'll get a friendly reply both times. To get a total, you have to ask it to dig back through the conversation, and nothing guarantees it finds every line. Some general assistants now have memory features, but memory of a conversation is not the same as a ledger with dates and amounts.
A specialised assistant does the opposite: it understands a narrower set of requests and turns each one into a record (an expense, a reminder, a habit check-in) that you can find, total and change later.
Where Binome360 fits (and where it doesn't)
Binome360 is our app. It's a specialised assistant: you type, speak or snap a photo, and it prepares a record for you to confirm. Nothing is saved until you do. It keeps expenses and income in any currency (cash included), budgets per category, reminders (one-off and recurring), a memory vault ("remember that…"), savings goals, habits with streaks, shared assistants for couples, families or groups, quotes and invoices, tontines and small-shop stock.
$42.60 at the grocery store on my card, remind me to pay the water bill on the 3rd every month, and I went for a run today
Ready: an expense of $42.60, category Groceries, account Card, today; a recurring reminder "Pay the water bill" on the 3rd of every month; and today's check-in for your Running habit. Save all three?
Ask "how much did I spend on groceries this month?" later and you get a total, not a chat transcript.
Try Binome360 for freeWhat it is not, plainly:
- Not a general chatbot. Don't use it to research a topic, write an essay or ask about the news; a general assistant is the right tool for that.
- No bank connection or import, no payments or transfers, no investment advice.
- Not an accounting product or a certified e-invoicing platform.
- English and French. Android app, iPhone (web app installed from Safari), any browser.
- 7-day free trial, then $3.99 a month, $8.99 for 3 months or $23.99 a year on the web, one subscription for every module.
Many people will use both: a general assistant for words and questions, and a specialised one for the records they want to keep. Our guide to using AI to be more productive shows where each kind saves real time.
Privacy questions to ask any assistant
We cover these in depth in our AI personal assistant guide; the short list:
- Are my chats used to train the model, and can I switch that off?
- Are ads shown, and what are they matched on?
- Can I export and delete my data?
- Does it act on its own, or ask me to confirm first?
- Who else sees what I add in a shared space?
- I never paste passwords, full card numbers or ID documents
Frequently asked questions
What is the best free alternative to ChatGPT?
There is no ranking that holds for everyone, and models change often. Claude, Gemini, Copilot, Vibe and Perplexity all have free tiers. Pick by where you already work (Google, Microsoft, neither) and whether you want sources under every answer.
Is there a ChatGPT alternative without ads?
At the time of writing, OpenAI's ads test covers ChatGPT's Free and Go tiers in the markets it lists; paid tiers have no ads. For other assistants, check their own terms, which can change.
Can a chatbot track my spending?
It can do the arithmetic you give it, but it doesn't keep a ledger with dates, categories and totals you can come back to. For that you need a budgeting or expense app. See our guide to tracking cash spending.
What happened to Le Chat?
Mistral renamed it Vibe. According to Mistral's FAQ, conversations, settings and plans carry over, and the apps are listed as "Vibe by Mistral (ex-Le Chat)".
In short
The main ChatGPT alternatives are other general assistants with free tiers: Claude, Gemini, Copilot, Vibe and Perplexity. Choose by ecosystem, sources and privacy, not by benchmark headlines. If what you really want is a place that keeps your spending, reminders and habits, a specialised assistant fits better than any chatbot. First action: give two assistants the same three real tasks from your week and compare what you get back.
Sources
All pages below were checked on September 25, 2026.
- OpenAI, "Testing ads in ChatGPT", February 9, 2026, with updates of March 26, May 7 and August 11, 2026: openai.com.
- Anthropic, Claude plans and pricing: claude.com/pricing.
- Google, Gemini subscriptions: gemini.google/subscriptions.
- Microsoft, Copilot plans for individuals: microsoft.com; Copilot on the web: copilot.microsoft.com.
- Mistral AI, pricing: mistral.ai/pricing; Vibe (formerly Le Chat) product page and FAQ: mistral.ai.
- Perplexity Help Center, "What is Perplexity?": perplexity.ai.
- US App Store listings (price, in-app purchases, languages): ChatGPT, Claude by Anthropic, Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, Vibe by Mistral (ex-Le Chat), Perplexity: apps.apple.com.
- Google Play listings for Claude, Gemini, Vibe by Mistral and Perplexity: play.google.com.
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