Price against what you get
Best-value AI assistants
Going by our grades, Gemini, Poe, Chatbox and Locally AI give the most for the money among AI assistants: no tool on this chart scores higher without costing more.
Paid plans start at a middle price of $10 a month across the 39 that charge, from $2.42 (Alter) to $50 (AnythingLLM). 6 more cost nothing at all. 11 of the 45 score above the category's average while starting at or below its middle price. 8 cost more than the middle price and score below the average.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- Nothing scores higher without costing more
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
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<a href="https://toolgpa.com/charts/ai-assistants"><img src="https://toolgpa.com/charts/ai-assistants/chart.svg" alt="45 AI assistants by starting price and by ToolGPA score" width="1200" height="675" style="max-width:100%;height:auto"></a>The best at every price
Each step is the highest score AI assistants reach at that price or below. Nothing on the chart beats these without costing more.
Free
No paid plan · scores 2.7 of 4
- Locally AIFreeCAC
$3.50
a month to start · scores 3.0 of 4
- Chatbox$3.50 per month, billed annually ($3.99 billed monthly)CBA
$4.17
a month to start · scores 3.7 of 4
- Poe$4.17 per month, billed yearly ($49.99 a year); $4.99 billed monthlyBAA
$4.99
a month to start · scores 4.0 of 4
- Gemini$4.99 per month (Google AI Plus)AAA
Paying more for less
The AI assistants that the most others beat on both counts: a higher score and a lower starting price.
- ElephasStarts at $15.83 a month and scores 2.0 of 4.33 of 44 score higher for lessCCC
- LM StudioStarts at $20 a month and scores 2.3 of 4.28 of 44 score higher for lessCBC
- AnythingLLMStarts at $50 a month and scores 2.7 of 4.20 of 44 score higher for lessCBB
- MagaiStarts at $20 a month and scores 2.7 of 4.18 of 44 score higher for lessBCB
- NanoGPTStarts at $12 a month and scores 2.3 of 4.18 of 44 score higher for lessBCC
A high starting price often means a product is sold to companies and has no small plan, and a score is three letters, not the whole product. Read a tool’s own page before ruling it out.
The four quarters
Where the tools fall when the chart is cut at the middle price and the average score.
More for less11
Each scores above the category's average and starts at or below its middle price.
Gemini, ChatGPT, Poe, Monica, Sider, Microsoft Copilot, ChatLLM, Chatbox and 3 more
Costs more, scores more9
Each scores above the average and starts above the middle price.
Kimi, Claude, Mistral Vibe, Perplexity, Felo, ChatHub, Venice, Maple AI and 1 more
All 45 on the chart
Highest score first, then lowest price. The last column counts the tools that score higher and start lower.
| # | Tool | Score | Features, ease, platforms | A month | As its listing states it | Score higher for less |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gemini | 4.0 | AAA | $4.99 | $4.99 per month (Google AI Plus) | None |
| 2 | ChatGPT | 4.0 | AAA | $8 | $8 per month (Go) | None |
| 3 | Poe | 3.7 | BAA | $4.17 | $4.17 per month, billed yearly ($49.99 a year); $4.99 billed monthly | None |
| 4 | Monica | 3.7 | BAA | $8.30 | $8.3 per month, billed annually ($99 per year) | 2 |
| 5 | Sider | 3.7 | BAA | $9.99 | $9.99 per month (Basic, US App Store); a mobile Pocket Plan is $49.99 per year | 2 |
| 6 | Kimi | 3.7 | BAA | $15 | $15 per month, billed annually ($180), or $19 billed monthly | 2 |
| 7 | Claude | 3.7 | BAA | $17 | $17 per month with an annual subscription ($200 billed up front) | 2 |
| 8 | Microsoft Copilot | 3.3 | BBA | $8.33 | $9.99 per month, or $99.99 per year (Microsoft 365 Personal) | 4 |
| 9 | ChatLLM | 3.3 | BAB | $10 | $10 per user / month (Basic) | 5 |
| 10 | Mistral Vibe | 3.3 | BAB | $14.99 | $14.99 per month, excluding taxes (Pro) | 5 |
| 11 | Perplexity | 3.3 | BAB | $17 | $17 per month when billed annually ($20 a month on the US App Store) | 6 |
| 12 | Chatbox | 3.0 | CBA | $3.50 | $3.50 per month, billed annually ($3.99 billed monthly) | None |
| 13 | Gemini Notebook | 3.0 | CAB | $4.99 | $4.99 per month (Google AI Plus) | 1 |
| 14 | ChatOn | 3.0 | CAB | $5 | $6.99 per week, or $59.99 per year (US App Store) | 2 |
| 15 | Mammouth | 3.0 | BBB | $10 | $10 per month, billed yearly ($120), or $12 billed monthly | 6 |
| 16 | Felo | 3.0 | BBB | $12.50 | $12.50 per month, billed annually ($149.99), or $14.99 billed monthly | 7 |
| 17 | ChatHub | 3.0 | CBA | $14.99 | $14.99 per month, billed annually ($19 billed monthly) | 7 |
| 18 | Venice | 3.0 | ACB | $15 | $18 per month, or $180 per year (Pro) | 8 |
| 19 | Maple AI | 3.0 | CBA | $20 | $20 per month (Pro) | 11 |
| 20 | Langdock | 3.0 | BCA | $26 | €23.20 per user / month, billed annually, models included (excl. VAT) | 11 |
Show the other 25
| # | Tool | Score | Features, ease, platforms | A month | As its listing states it | Score higher for less |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | Locally AI | 2.7 | CAC | Free | Free | None |
| 22 | Nova | 2.7 | BBC | $3.33 | $4.99 to $7.99 per week, or $39.99 to $59.99 per year (US App Store) | None |
| 23 | Fello AI | 2.7 | BBC | $7.50 | $11.99 per month, or $89.99 per year (US App Store) | 5 |
| 24 | Meta AI | 2.7 | CBB | $7.99 | $7.99 per month (Meta One Core) | 5 |
| 25 | Dola | 2.7 | CBB | $8.26 | £7.49 per month, or £74.99 per year (Dola Plus, UK App Store) | 6 |
| 26 | Duck.ai | 2.7 | CBB | $8.33 | $9.99 per month, or $99.99 per year (DuckDuckGo Plus) | 7 |
| 27 | AI Fiesta | 2.7 | BBC | $10 | $12 per month, or $120 per year (Basic) | 9 |
| 28 | Msty | 2.7 | BCB | $12.42 | $149 per user / year (Aurum), or $349 one-time (Aurum Lifetime) | 11 |
| 29 | Z.ai | 2.7 | BBC | $12.60 | $12.60 per month, billed yearly ($151.20), or $18 billed monthly | 12 |
| 30 | Alexa+ | 2.7 | CBB | $14.99 | $14.99 per month with Amazon Prime, or $19.99 per month without Prime | 12 |
| 31 | Magai | 2.7 | BCB | $20 | $20 per month (Standard) | 18 |
| 32 | AnythingLLM | 2.7 | CBB | $50 | $50 per month (Basic hosted cloud instance) | 20 |
| 33 | DeepSeek | 2.3 | CCB | Free | Free | None |
| 34 | Jan | 2.3 | CBC | Free | Free | None |
| 35 | PyGPT | 2.3 | ADC | Free | Free | None |
| 36 | Kagi Assistant | 2.3 | CBC | $4.50 | $5 per month, or $54 per year (Kagi Starter) | 4 |
| 37 | HuggingChat | 2.3 | CBC | $9 | $9 per month (Hugging Face PRO) | 14 |
| 38 | Lumo | 2.3 | CCB | $9.99 | $9.99 per month, billed yearly ($119.88), or $12.99 billed monthly | 14 |
| 39 | NanoGPT | 2.3 | BCC | $12 | $12 per month (Pro), or pay as you go at model list prices | 18 |
| 40 | LM Studio | 2.3 | CBC | $20 | $20 per month (Bionic+, for cloud models) | 28 |
| 41 | LibreChat | 2.0 | BDC | Free | Free | None |
| 42 | Pi | 2.0 | CCC | Free | Free | None |
| 43 | Alter | 2.0 | BCD | $2.42 | $29 per year (Local+), or $3.50 billed monthly | 4 |
| 44 | Big-AGI | 2.0 | CCC | $9 | $9 per month, billed yearly ($108), or $10.99 billed monthly (Pro) | 18 |
| 45 | Elephas | 2.0 | CCC | $15.83 | $15.83 per month on the yearly plan, or $19 billed monthly (Standard) | 33 |
How AI assistants grade
Every bar is all the AI assistants we grade, cut by the letter each got on that count.
- Value for moneyaverage 2.7
- Free plan and trialaverage 2.5
- Featuresaverage 2.6
- Ease of useaverage 2.8
- Platforms and integrationsaverage 2.8
An A is worth 4 and an F nothing. C is the ordinary grade. Every ai assistants grade in one table
Not on the chart
Sold for a single payment, or with no public price that can be put as dollars a month. They are graded like the rest.
- BoltAI$79 one-time (Essential, 1 device, one year of updates)
- Cherry StudioNo public price
- Confer$34.99 (Confer Membership, US App Store; billing period not shown)
- Fluent$49 one-time (Basic, 1 Mac, lifetime upgrades)
- Grok$10.00 (SuperGrok Lite, US App Store; billing period not shown)
- MerlinNo public price
- NextChatNo public price
- Open WebUINo public price
- PocketPal AI$0.99 per premium Pal, one-time (US App Store in-app purchase)
- Private LLM$4.99 one-time (US App Store)
- Qwen StudioNo public price
- T3 ChatNo public price
- TypingMind$39 one-time (Standard lifetime license)
Common questions
Which AI assistants give the most for the money?
Gemini, Poe, Chatbox and Locally AI. Each is the highest-scoring tool at its price or below: Locally AI scores 2.7 out of 4 and is free; Chatbox scores 3.0 out of 4 and starts at $3.50 a month; Poe scores 3.7 out of 4 and starts at $4.17 a month; Gemini scores 4.0 out of 4 and starts at $4.99 a month. This goes by ToolGPA's own grades for features, ease of use and platforms, averaged out of 4, set against the price each tool's paid plans start at.
Which are the best free AI assistants?
Of the 6 AI assistants here with no paid plan at all, Locally AI scores highest, at 2.7 out of 4. 33 more have a free plan beside their paid ones.
Which AI assistants are best for under $5 a month?
Gemini, with a score of 4.0 out of 4: the highest among the 14 that start at $5 a month or less. Gemini starts at $4.99 a month.
Which AI assistants are best for under $10 a month?
Gemini and ChatGPT, with a score of 4.0 out of 4: the highest among the 28 that start at $10 a month or less. Gemini starts at $4.99 a month; ChatGPT starts at $8 a month.
Which AI assistants cost the most for what they offer?
On this chart, Elephas (starts at $15.83 a month, scores 2.0 out of 4, and 33 tools score higher for less), LM Studio (starts at $20 a month, scores 2.3 out of 4, and 28 tools score higher for less) and AnythingLLM (starts at $50 a month, scores 2.7 out of 4, and 20 tools score higher for less). A high starting price often means a product is sold to companies and has no small plan, so check what the price includes before ruling one out.
How much do AI assistants cost?
The middle starting price is $10 a month: half of the 39 AI assistants with a recurring price start below that and half above. 6 of the 58 in this directory have no paid plan, and 33 of those that charge also have a free plan.
How is the score on this chart worked out?
It is the average of three of the five grades ToolGPA gives every tool: features, ease of use, and platforms and integrations, with an A worth 4 and an F worth 0. The other two grades, value for money and the free plan, are about price, so they are left out and price gets an axis of its own. 45 of the 58 AI assistants are on the chart; 13 are left off because they are sold for a single payment or publish no price that can be put as dollars a month.
How this chart is made
- The score is the average of three of a tool’s five grades: features, ease of use, and platforms and integrations. An A is 4 points and an F none. Value for money and the free plan are left out because they are about price, and price has an axis of its own.
- The price is what paid plans start at, in dollars a month, on the cheapest way of paying the listing names. A yearly price is divided by twelve, and a price in another currency is converted. A price for each person is shown for one person.
- A tool with no paid plan sits in the band marked Free. A tool with a free plan beside paid ones is placed at its paid price and drawn as a filled dot.
- The grades are ToolGPA’s own judgement from each vendor’s pages and from public reviews, not from testing, and no vendor can pay for one. How we grade
More charts
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- Note-Taking
- Writing
- Docs & Wikis
- Whiteboards
- Spreadsheets
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- To-Do Lists
- Daily Planners
- Calendar
- Project Management
- CRM
- Team Chat
- Automation
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- Focus
- Time Tracking
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- Journaling
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