MaxAI vs Poe (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Poe grades higher than MaxAI: 3.4 against 2.6 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
MaxAI grades higher on the free plan. Poe grades higher on value for money, features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
MaxAI
AI sidebar for Chromium browsers that chats about the page you are on
Poe
One app for chatting with AI models from many different labs
Which one is for you
Pick MaxAI if
- Fits if you read and write inside Chrome or Edge all day
- Works for people who want several AI models on one plan
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you use Firefox, Safari or a phone, since no extension or app is listed for them
- Tight if you stay free, as you get 3 Pro chats a day and limited uploads
- Watch out: image generation and model choice are Pro features, and payments are final and non-refundable
- Pricey if you pay monthly, at $30 against $12 when billed yearly
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
| 2.6GPAMaxAIGood | 3.4GPAPoeVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CPro is $12 a member a month billed yearly, which is the middle of what AI assistants charge ($12). It is shown as a limited-time saving off $30 monthly, with no end date. | 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 | BChat with the fast free models is unlimited and needs no card, but Pro chats are capped at 3 a day and file uploads are limited. No trial is listed. | 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 | CSidebar answers about pages, PDFs, videos and email, rewrite and translate tools, and image generation on Pro. The listing shows gaps: no mobile app, and model choice sits on paid plans. | 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 store rating on record. It is an extension you add to the browser and sign in to, with nothing else to set up. | 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 | BChrome and Edge extension plus a web app, working inside Gmail, Outlook, LinkedIn and YouTube. No Firefox, Safari, desktop or phone app is listed. | 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 | an AI sidebar in Chrome or Edge | 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: MaxAI and Poe. How we grade
Price against what you get
MaxAI starts at $12 a month for each person and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Poe starts at $4.17 a month and scores 3.7.
Poe scores higher and starts $7.83 a month lower. Of the other AI assistants on the chart, 10 score higher than MaxAI for less, and none scores higher than Poe for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- MaxAI also covers citations, grammar & style and image generation.
At a glance
| MaxAI | Poe | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $12 per member / month, billed yearly ($30 billed monthly) | $4.17 per month, billed yearly ($49.99 a year); $4.99 billed monthly |
| Free plan | Unlimited chat with the free AI models, 3 Pro chats per day and limited file uploads. | 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 | ||
| Browser extension | ||
| Made by | MaxAI.me | Quora, Inc. |
| Price read from | maxai.co | poe.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Oct 10, 2026 |
Worth knowing
MaxAI
- The browser extension works on Chromium-based browsers such as Chrome and Edge; the vendor lists no Firefox, Safari or mobile app.
- The free plan allows 3 Pro chats a day; image generation and the larger model choices are paid features.
- The pricing page states that all payments are final and non-refundable.
- The $12 Pro price is shown as a limited-time saving with no end date, so the regular rate may differ.
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
MaxAI
- AI sidebar
- Opens beside any web page in Chrome or Edge so you can ask about the page without copying text into another tab.
- Ask about different sources
- Questions can be asked about a web page, YouTube video, PDF, email, file, image or audio, and answers carry cited sources.
- Choice of AI models
- The pricing page lists models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, xAI, Meta and DeepSeek, split into Fast, Smart and Think tiers. Paid plans choose among them.
- Writing and reply tools
- Rewrite, fix grammar, change tone, shorten or lengthen selected text, and draft replies inside Gmail, Outlook, LinkedIn and several social and chat sites.
- Translation
- Translate selected text, or show a page's original and translated text side by side.
- Image generation
- Create images from text with models such as GPT-Image-1, DALL-E 3 and FLUX. Listed as a Pro feature.
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
MaxAI
Free$0
per member / month
Unlimited chat with the fast free models, 3 Pro chats per day, limited file uploads.
Pro$12
per member / month, billed yearly ($30 billed monthly)
Unlimited Pro chat, model choice, image generation, higher upload limits. Shown as a limited-time 60% saving off $30, no end date.
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
MaxAI
- Annual discount
Yearly billing at $12 instead of $30 monthly
The pricing page shows Pro at $12 per member per month billed yearly against $30 when billed monthly, marked as a limited-time 60% saving.
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, MaxAI or Poe?
As of Nov 12, 2026, MaxAI starts at $12 per member / month, billed yearly ($30 billed monthly), and Poe starts at $4.17 per month, billed yearly ($49.99 a year); $4.99 billed monthly. One is priced for each person and the other is not, so which costs less depends on how many of you use it.
Which has a free plan, MaxAI or Poe?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both MaxAI and Poe have a free plan.
Which platforms do MaxAI and Poe run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only MaxAI lists a browser extension and only Poe lists macOS, Windows, iOS and Android apps. Both list a web app. 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.