Chai vs Poe (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Poe grades higher than Chai: 3.4 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Poe grades higher on value for money, features, ease of use and platforms. They get the same grade on the free plan.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Chai
Mobile app for chatting with AI characters that users create
Poe
One app for chatting with AI models from many different labs
Which one is for you
Pick Chai if
- Fits if you want to chat with characters other users made on your phone
- Works for adults who want to write their own character
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you're under 18: age is checked by selfie or ID
- Not for you if you want a work assistant, as it's character chat only
- Watch out: no price is published, and some regions need a paid subscription
- Watch out: the web version is listed as coming soon
Pick Poe if
- Fits if you want to compare models from many labs without paying each one
- Works for developers who want one API key for models from many labs
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you dislike meters, as everything is counted in compute points and extra points are sold on top
- Skip it if you want to know the free limits first, because Poe doesn't publish them
- Tight if you chat in bursts, as the entry plan's 10 thousand points come by the day, not as a monthly pool
- Pricey if you need a monthly pool: 660 thousand points are $19.99 a month, and the top plan is $249.99, before regional taxes
- Too light for voice or agents, as the listing shows no voice mode and no tool use
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAChaiFair | 3.4GPAPoeVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CNo price is shown on the vendor's site or the Google Play listing, which says only that there are in-app purchases and ads. | AThe entry plan is $4.99 a month, or $49.99 for the year, on the US App Store — about a third of this category's middle price, and it opens models from many labs. The catch is that a real monthly pool, 660 thousand points, is $19.99. |
| Free plan and trial | CThe app carries ads and in-app purchases, and the Safety Center says some regions need a paid subscription. | CA free account can chat on a smaller points allowance, but Poe's plans page never says how many points that is. An allowance you can't see the size of is one you'll walk into. |
| Features | CUser-made characters, in-character chat, in-house models and safety filters. A narrow job: character chat, not general work. | BModels from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and other labs on one sign-in, several bots answering in one thread, image and video from FLUX, Ideogram, Veo and Runway, web search, and your own bots with knowledge bases. No voice mode on the listing and no agent or tool use, and every bit of it is metered in points. |
| Ease of use | BNo rating on record, but it's an app you install and start chatting in, with nothing to set up. Age checks apply. | A4.7 from about 53,800 App Store ratings. Pick a bot and type. The only thing to get your head round is points, since every chat draws on the same pool. |
| Platforms and integrations | CiOS and Android only, with no web version yet and no integrations. | AWeb, Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android, plus an OpenAI-compatible API that reaches hundreds of models on one key and plugs into coding tools like Cursor, Cline and Continue. That's the full set. |
| Best for | a mobile app for chatting with AI characters | comparing many AI models on one account |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Chai and Poe. How we grade
Where they differ
- Poe also covers AI search.
At a glance
| Chai | Poe | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | Not published | $4.17 per month, billed yearly ($49.99 a year); $4.99 billed monthly |
| Free plan | None | Free accounts can chat with a smaller allowance of compute points than subscribers. Poe's plans page does not state the size of the free allowance. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Chai Research Corp. | Quora, Inc. |
| Price read from | Not confirmed | poe.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 10, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Chai
- Prices could not be confirmed: the vendor's site and its Google Play listing show none, which says only that the app has in-app purchases and ads.
- The company's Safety Center says that in some regions use of the service requires a paid subscription.
- Adults only: users must be 18 or older, and the company says it checks age through selfie estimation or ID verification by a third party.
- Runs as an iOS and Android app; the website lists a web version as coming soon. It is a character-chat product, not a general work assistant.
Poe
- Usage is metered in compute points, from 10 thousand a day on the lowest plan to 8.25 million a month on the highest; add-on points are sold separately.
- The plans page shows US dollars and says the final price may vary with regional taxes and currency conversion; read from India it prices the same plans in rupees.
- The plans page does not say how many points a free account receives.
Key features
Chai
- User-made AI characters
- People create their own AI characters and stories and share them with others on the platform.
- Conversations in character
- The Google Play listing says the chatbots reply in character, with a large selection of characters to choose from.
- In-house language models
- The company says it trains its own models for the product rather than relying on open-source ones.
- Safety filters and reporting
- The app has optional filters for mature content and anonymous in-app reporting of characters and messages.
Poe
- Many models, one account
- Reaches models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and other labs, plus image and video generators, with one sign-in and one points balance.
- Multi-bot chat
- Compare answers from several models and combine bots for a task inside a single chat thread. Chats can be private or shared as a group chat.
- Image and video generation
- Creates images and video with generators such as FLUX, Ideogram, Veo and Runway from inside the same app.
- Custom bots
- Build and share your own bots, with custom knowledge bases if needed. Poe's App Store listing cites more than 1 million custom bots.
- Web search
- A search mode returns answers drawn from the web, and bots can search for current news.
- Poe API
- An OpenAI-compatible endpoint reaches hundreds of models and bots with one key. Subscribers spend their existing points on it at no additional cost.
Plans
Chai
Pricing could not be confirmed. See chai-research.com.
Poe
Free$0
A smaller points allowance than subscribers get, across free and subscription bots.
10 thousand points/day$4.99
per month, or $49.99 per year ($4.17 a month)
The entry plan, listed as Basic on the App Store: more messages, more models and each bot's maximum input size and chat history.
660 thousand points/month$19.99
per month, or $199.99 per year ($16.67 a month)
A monthly pool of 660 thousand points to spend across any model or bot.
1.65 million points/month$49.99
per month, or $499.99 per year ($41.67 a month)
A monthly pool of 1.65 million points to spend across any model or bot.
3.3 million points/month$99.99
per month, or $999.99 per year ($83.33 a month)
A monthly pool of 3.3 million points to spend across any model or bot.
8.25 million points/month$249.99
per month, or $2,499.99 per year ($208.33 a month)
The largest pool: 8.25 million points a month across any model or bot.
Ways to pay less
Chai
No public discounts listed.
Poe
- Annual discount
Save 17% with yearly billing
Poe's plans page marks yearly billing as saving 17% against monthly billing: the lowest plan is $49.99 a year, which the page gives as $4.17 a month, against $4.99 billed monthly.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Chai or Poe?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Chai has no price we could confirm, and Poe starts at $4.17 per month, billed yearly ($49.99 a year); $4.99 billed monthly.
Which has a free plan, Chai or Poe?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Poe has a free plan. Chai does not.
Which platforms do Chai and Poe run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Poe lists a web app and macOS and Windows apps. Both list iOS and Android apps. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.