HIX AI vs Merlin (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Merlin grades higher than HIX AI: 2.8 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 5, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Merlin grades higher on the free plan, ease of use and platforms. They get the same grade on value for money and features.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Merlin
AI sidebar extension with models from several labs in one account
Free plan
Which one is for you
Pick HIX AI if
- Fits if you want slides, images and video from one credit pool
- Works for someone who wants to compare several chat models
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you stay free: 20 credits and 100MB of project storage
- Watch out: dollar prices were blank on the pricing page, so paid cost is unknown
- Watch out: credits reset each billing cycle
- Watch out: unlimited chat with standard models is for paid plans only
Pick Merlin if
- Fits if you want an AI helper beside the web pages you read
- Works for long PDFs or YouTube videos where you only want the key points
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want a clear price before you start, since its paid plans couldn't be confirmed
- Watch out: the App Store lists Pro at $20.00 a month and Unlimited at $15.00, and Google Play runs $3.49 to $499.99
- Skip it if you want voice chat, premium tools or team features for free, as they're described as premium
- Tight if you buy top-ups and forget them, since 3,000 queries for $4.99 expire after 30 days
- Tight if you go past 102 queries a day, the free plan's cap
How we grade them
| 2.0GPAHIX AIFair | 2.8GPAMerlinGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CNo paid dollar price could be read, so it sits in the middle. About 1,500 credits buys roughly three ten-slide decks, per the vendor. | CWe can't pin the price down. Merlin's site answers automated readers with a security check, and the store listings disagree: the US App Store lists Merlin Pro at $20.00 and Merlin Unlimited at $15.00 a month, and Google Play shows items from $3.49 to $499.99. |
| Free plan and trial | CFree: 20 credits, a project space with 5 uploads and 100MB. That covers very little generation. | BUp to 102 queries a day across ChatGPT, Grok, DeepSeek, Gemini and Perplexity models, going by its Google Play listing. Most people could live on that. Voice chat, premium tools and team collaboration are the paid bits. |
| Features | CModel library, deep research, slides, image, video and writing agents. Everything beyond chat runs on credits. | CA sidebar on any tab that summarises, translates and answers questions about the page, a PDF or a video, with models from several labs, Projects on your own files and 70-odd extra tools. The basics of a sidebar assistant, and the listing can't say what the paid tiers add. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. A web workspace with several agents and a credit system to learn. | B4.5 from about 780 App Store ratings. One shortcut opens it beside whatever you're reading, so there's not much to learn. The plans are the muddle, with query top-ups that expire sold on top. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb and a browser extension. No phone or desktop app and no integrations are listed. | AA browser extension, a web app, and apps for Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android, all on one account. It works inside Gmail, LinkedIn and YouTube, and beside Google, Bing and Yahoo results. |
| Best for | an AI workspace for research, slides and video | an AI sidebar on any web page |
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: HIX AI and Merlin. How we grade
Where they differ
- HIX AI also covers research, presentations, image generation and video generation.
- Merlin also covers AI search.
In commonFree planWebBrowser extensionAI featuresChat assistantAI agents
At a glance
| HIX AI | Merlin | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | Not published | Not published |
| Free plan | HIX AI Free: 20 credits, a project space with 5 file uploads and 100MB, and access to multiple models. | Free plan with up to 102 queries per day across ChatGPT, Grok, DeepSeek, Gemini and Perplexity models, according to the Google Play listing. Paid plan prices could not be confirmed. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | HIX.AI | Foyer Tech, Inc. |
| Price read from | Not confirmed | Not confirmed |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Worth knowing
HIX AI
- Paid usage is metered in credits; 1,500 credits is about 3 ten-slide decks or 30 seconds of video, per the vendor.
- The free plan's 20 credits cover little generation, and the credit balance resets each billing cycle.
- The pricing page showed Philippine pesos from our location and left dollar prices blank, so paid prices are not listed.
- Chat with standard models is described as unlimited on paid plans only.
Merlin
- Merlin's website answers automated readers with a security check, so its pricing page could not be read and paid plan prices are unverified.
- Store listings do not give a clear lineup: the US App Store lists Merlin Pro at $20.00 and Merlin Unlimited at $15.00 a month, and Google Play shows items from $3.49 to $499.99.
- The free plan is capped at up to 102 queries per day, and voice chat, premium tools and team collaboration are described as premium features.
- The US App Store also sells query top-ups that expire, such as 3,000 queries valid for 30 days at $4.99.
Key features
HIX AI
- Model library
- Chat with a regularly updated list of models from several vendors, plus separate image and video model lists.
- Deep research
- A research agent searches the internet and turns findings into a report or slide deck in one flow.
- Slides, images and video
- Agents for AI slides, image design and video making, billed in credits per slide or per second of video.
- Writing and documents
- An AI writer and document agent produce text, long articles and Markdown or rich text output.
- Project space
- Keep files and context together per project; storage is 100MB on Free and 10GB on the Max plan.
Merlin
- Sidebar on any tab
- Ctrl+M or Cmd+M opens Merlin beside the page you are on, where it can summarize, translate or pull the key points out of that page.
- Multiple models in one interface
- Switches among models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Mistral, DeepSeek and other providers inside the same chat view.
- Projects
- Turns a knowledge base, uploaded files or links into a dedicated assistant, with the material kept together in one searchable place.
- Chat with files, pages and videos
- Answers questions about PDFs, documents, images and one or several open tabs, and summarizes YouTube videos, with bilingual subtitles available.
- Writing and translation help
- Suggests and rewrites text in any text box, including tweets, LinkedIn posts and Gmail, and translates selected text or whole pages in more than 50 languages.
- Search answers and AI tools
- Adds concise, citation-linked answers beside Google, Bing and Yahoo results, and bundles more than 70 tools such as an AI detector and an AI humanizer.
Plans
HIX AI
Pricing could not be confirmed. See hix.ai.
Merlin
Pricing could not be confirmed. See getmerlin.in.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, HIX AI or Merlin?
As of Nov 12, 2026, HIX AI has no price we could confirm, and Merlin has no price we could confirm.
Which has a free plan, HIX AI or Merlin?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both HIX AI and Merlin have a free plan.
Which platforms do HIX AI and Merlin run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only Merlin lists macOS, Windows, iOS and Android apps. Both list a web app and a browser extension. 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.