MaxAI vs Sider (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 12, 2026, Sider grades higher than MaxAI: 3.0 against 2.6 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 2, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 · graded Nov 2, 2026 and Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA
MaxAI grades higher on the free plan. Sider grades higher on features, ease of use and platforms. They get the same grade on value for money.
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
Sider
AI sidebar for the browser with many models and mobile apps
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 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
| 2.6GPAMaxAIGood | 3.0GPASiderVery 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. | 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 | 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. | 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 | 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. | 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 | 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 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 | BChrome and Edge extension plus a web app, working inside Gmail, Outlook, LinkedIn and YouTube. No Firefox, Safari, desktop or phone app is 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 sidebar in Chrome or Edge | 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: MaxAI and Sider. 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. Sider starts at $9.99 a month and scores 3.7.
Sider scores higher and starts $2.01 a month lower. Of the other AI assistants on the chart, 10 score higher than MaxAI for less, and 2 score higher than Sider 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 and image generation.
- Sider also covers AI agents.
At a glance
| MaxAI | Sider | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Starts at | $12 per member / month, billed yearly ($30 billed monthly) | $9.99 per month (Basic, US App Store); a mobile Pocket Plan is $49.99 per year |
| Free plan | Unlimited chat with the free AI models, 3 Pro chats per day and limited file uploads. | 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 | MaxAI.me | Vidline Inc. |
| Price read from | maxai.co | apps.apple.com |
| Checked | Nov 12, 2026 | Nov 2, 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.
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
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
Sider
No public discounts listed.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, MaxAI or Sider?
As of Nov 12, 2026, MaxAI starts at $12 per member / month, billed yearly ($30 billed monthly), and Sider starts at $9.99 per month (Basic, US App Store); a mobile Pocket Plan is $49.99 per year. 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 Sider?
As of Nov 12, 2026, both MaxAI and Sider have a free plan.
Which platforms do MaxAI and Sider run on?
As of Nov 12, 2026, only MaxAI 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.