Chatbox vs NextChat

Chatbox

• People who want the same chat app on desktop, phone and browser
• Users with their own API keys who prefer to pay providers per use
• Trying hosted GPT, Claude and Gemini models on a low-priced plan

NextChat

• Developers who want a lightweight chat interface they can deploy themselves
• People with their own API keys who want a small cross-platform client
• Sharing one deployment with others behind an access password

Chatbox

• Work Mode and the knowledge base are desktop only; the web and mobile apps offer regular chat.
• On the hosted service, advanced models, the knowledge base and MCP services need Pro or Pro+. Lite and Free are limited to standard models.
• Hosted usage is metered in compute points that reset monthly (daily on Free). Extra points are sold as add-on packs valid for 3 months.
• A license works on up to 5 devices at the same time, and switching plans means buying the new plan from the pricing page.

NextChat

• Credit prices for the hosted service are shown only at checkout after sign-in; the site publishes no price list.
• The self-hosted app and desktop clients need your own API keys, and each model provider bills usage.
• A local knowledge base is still an open item on the project roadmap.
• Brand customization, permission control and security auditing belong to the Enterprise Edition, which is sold by inquiry.

Chatbox

Your own keys or hosted models

Add API keys for OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, DeepSeek, OpenRouter and other providers, run local models through Ollama or LM Studio, or subscribe to Chatbox AI for hosted models on one bill.

Work Mode

On desktop, an agent works in a loop of thinking and tool calls: it runs code, reads and writes files, calls MCP servers and queries knowledge bases until the task is done.

File and image chat

Attach PDFs, Word documents, images and code to a conversation so the model can summarize them and answer questions about their content.

Real-time web search

Chat can search the internet for current information. It is toggled from the toolbar in Chat Mode and managed from the control panel in Work Mode.

Local knowledge base

The desktop app stores documents in a local knowledge base the AI can search. Each file must be under 50 MB, in formats such as PDF, DOCX, PPTX, XLSX, CSV and EPUB.

Image generation and rich output

Generates images from a text description and renders Markdown, LaTeX formulas, Mermaid diagrams and code with a live preview.

NextChat

One-click deployment

Deploy your own instance to Vercel in under a minute, or self-host it, and restrict access with passwords set through an environment variable.

Desktop, web and iPhone clients

A compact desktop client of about 5 MB for Windows, macOS and Linux, a responsive web app that installs as a PWA, and an iPhone app on the App Store.

Many providers and self-hosted models

Works with Claude, DeepSeek, GPT and Gemini models and Azure endpoints, and is compatible with self-deployed models through RWKV-Runner or LocalAI.

Prompt templates

Create, share and debug chat tools built on predefined prompts, called masks, with a built-in library of community prompts to start from.

Artifacts and plugins

Preview, copy and share generated content and web pages in a separate window, and add plugins such as network search and a calculator. MCP support is switched on at build time.

Local storage and history compression

All data is stored locally in the browser, and long conversations are compressed automatically to keep context while saving tokens.

Chatbox

• Free$0

  Hosted service for light use: 10,000 compute points reset daily, standard models, web search, 5 generated images and a trial of Work Mode.

• Lite$3.50

  per month, billed annually ($3.99 billed monthly)

  2,000,000 compute points a month on standard models, 25 generated images, web search and Work Mode. No advanced models, knowledge base or MCP services.

• Pro$16.70

  per month, billed annually ($19.99 billed monthly)

  12,000,000 compute points a month, advanced GPT, Claude, Gemini and Grok models, 100 generated images, the knowledge base and MCP services.

• Pro+$33.33

  per month, billed annually ($39.99 billed monthly)

  30,000,000 compute points a month and 200 generated images, with the same models and features as Pro.

NextChat

• Open source$0

  The MIT-licensed web app, deployed to Vercel in one click or self-hosted, plus desktop clients for Windows, macOS and Linux. You supply your own API keys.

• Hosted creditsPay as you go

  Hosted models on nextchat.club are paid for with prepaid credits and no subscription. Prices and credit amounts are shown at checkout after sign-in.

• Enterprise EditionCustom

  Private deployment with brand customization, central management of AI resources, permission control, a company knowledge base and security auditing.

Chatbox

• Annual discount

  Lower monthly rate with annual billing

  Billed annually, Lite is $3.50 a month instead of $3.99, Pro $16.70 instead of $19.99 and Pro+ $33.33 instead of $39.99, a saving of about 12% to 17%.

NextChat

No public discounts listed.