HIX AI vs Sider (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Sider grades higher than HIX AI: 3.0 against 2.0 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 2, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Nov 2, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
Sider grades higher on features, ease of use and platforms. They get the same grade on value for money and the free plan.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Sider
AI sidebar for the browser with many models and mobile apps
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 Sider if
- Fits if you want an AI side panel on every browser tab
- Works for people who want several models to answer the same question in one chat
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you want to know what a plan includes before paying, as the store listings don't say
- Skip it if you'd buy the $49.99 Pocket Plan for desktop use, because its credits are for mobile only
- Pricey if you need Unlimited, at $39.99 a month, with Pro at $19.99 in between
- Watch out: the App Store also lists a legacy Basic plan, a $12.99 Nano plan, a $40.00 Plus plan and a second Pro item at $65.00 a month, none of them described
- Tight if you plan to stay free, since neither store listing says how much usage comes without a plan
How we grade them
| 2.0GPAHIX AIFair | 3.0GPASiderVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | CBasic is $9.99 a month on the US App Store, which is ordinary money here, with Pro at $19.99 and Unlimited at $39.99. The listings don't say what any plan includes, and Sider's own site blocks automated readers, so web prices may differ. |
| Free plan and trial | CFree: 20 credits, a project space with 5 uploads and 100MB. That covers very little generation. | CThe apps and the browser extension are free to install, and the Chrome listing mentions free multi-chatbot support. Neither store listing says how much usage comes without a plan, so you'll meet the limit before you can read it. |
| Features | CModel library, deep research, slides, image, video and writing agents. Everything beyond chat runs on credits. | BIt covers the job: a panel on any tab with GPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok and DeepSeek, or several at once in a group chat, questions about PDFs, pages and open tabs, YouTube videos boiled down, grammar and translation, and Wisebase for your files. Monica and Merlin do much the same. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. A web workspace with several agents and a credit system to learn. | A4.7 from about 4,300 App Store ratings. Install the extension and the panel is on every tab, so there's no copying between windows, and a Fusion model picks which AI handles each request. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb and a browser extension. No phone or desktop app and no integrations are listed. | AA sidebar for Chrome, Edge and Safari plus apps for Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android on one account, and it works inside Gmail, YouTube, Google and Bing. One catch: Sider says the mobile Pocket Plan's credits can't be spent in the desktop browser. |
| Best for | an AI workspace for research, slides and video | an AI side panel on every browser tab |
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 Sider. How we grade
Where they differ
- HIX AI also covers research, presentations, image generation and video generation.
- Sider also covers AI search and grammar & style.
At a glance
| HIX AI | Sider | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | Not published | $9.99 per month (Basic, US App Store); a mobile Pocket Plan is $49.99 per year |
| Free plan | HIX AI Free: 20 credits, a project space with 5 file uploads and 100MB, and access to multiple models. | The iOS app is free to download and the Chrome extension lists free multi-chatbot support. Neither store listing says how much usage the free tier includes. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | HIX.AI | Vidline Inc. |
| Price read from | Not confirmed | apps.apple.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 2, 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.
Sider
- Sider's website answers automated readers with a security check, so the prices here are US App Store in-app prices and web prices may differ.
- The store listings do not say how much usage the free tier includes or what each paid plan adds.
- Sider told an App Store reviewer that the Pocket Plan is for mobile use and that its credits cannot be spent in the desktop browser.
- The App Store also lists a legacy Basic plan, a $12.99 Nano plan, a $40.00 Plus plan and a $10 booster pack without describing them.
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.
Sider
- Sidebar with many models
- The extension opens a side panel on any tab for chatting with GPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, DeepSeek and other models. A Fusion model picks a model for each request automatically.
- AI group chat
- Put the same question to several models in one chat by @-mentioning them, then compare their answers as they arrive.
- Chat with files and pages
- Ask questions about PDFs, images, audio files, a web page or several open tabs. The mobile app accepts more than 30 file formats as well as images and URLs.
- Reading and video summaries
- Summarizes articles, web pages and PDFs, and condenses YouTube videos into highlights, with bilingual subtitles available while watching.
- Writing and translation
- Offers writing help in any input box, rewording and tone changes, a grammar checker, and translation of selected text, full pages, PDFs and images into 50+ languages.
- Wisebase and Sider Claw
- Wisebase is a knowledge base for uploaded files and saved websites. Claw, in the mobile app, takes a request and researches, compares, extracts and compiles the results.
Plans
HIX AI
Pricing could not be confirmed. See hix.ai.
Sider
Free$0
The apps and the browser extension are free to install. The store listings do not state how much usage is included without a plan.
Pocket Plan$49.99
per year (US App Store in-app purchase)
A plan for mobile use. Sider's reply to an App Store review says Pocket credits cannot be used in the desktop browser.
Basic$9.99
per month (US App Store in-app purchase)
Listed as Sider Basic Plan Monthly. The App Store listing does not describe what the plan includes.
Pro$19.99
per month (US App Store in-app purchase)
Listed as Sider Pro Plan Monthly. A second item with the same name is listed at $65.00 a month, and the listing does not describe either.
Unlimited$39.99
per month (US App Store in-app purchase)
Listed as Sider Unlimited Plan Monthly. A yearly price of $299.99 seen in October is no longer among the in-app purchases the listing shows.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, HIX AI or Sider?
As of Nov 12, 2026, HIX AI has no price we could confirm, and Sider starts at $9.99 per month (Basic, US App Store); a mobile Pocket Plan is $49.99 per year.
Which has a free plan, HIX AI or Sider?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both HIX AI and Sider have a free plan.
Which platforms do HIX AI and Sider run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only HIX AI lists a web app and only Sider lists macOS, Windows, iOS and Android apps. Both list 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.