The HuggingChat Insider’s Guide
Everything we know about HuggingChat in one document: what it costs, its grades, getting a refund, getting help and what else to look at. Read it here, or keep a copy.
HuggingChat
The Insider’s Guide
Hugging Face's open-source chat app for open AI models
Every plan, grade, refund rule and rival among AI assistants, read from HuggingChat’s own pages.
Made by Hugging Face · checked Oct 5, 2026 · toolgpa.com
Contents
- 01WelcomeWhat it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
- 02What it costsEvery plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
- 03What it doesIts main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
- 04Where it standsIts grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
- 05The alternativesThe tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
- 06Quick answersThe questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
- 07About ToolGPAWho made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
ToolGPA put this guide together from HuggingChat’s own pages, its app-store listings and our grades. Every fact in it is on HuggingChat’s page too, where it is kept up to date. Checked Oct 5, 2026.
Part 01 · Overview
Welcome
What it is, who it suits, its grades and the ten things to know first
2.2
GPA, above 4 of the 57 other AI assistants we grade
HuggingChat is Hugging Face's chat app for open source AI models, hosted at huggingface.co/chat and built on the company's open-source Chat UI code. A router called Omni picks a model for each message, or you can choose one yourself from the model list, and models can call tools through MCP servers such as web search. It is free with a Hugging Face account up to a monthly usage allowance, which a Hugging Face PRO subscription raises.
To get you started, here are 9 things to know about HuggingChat, taken from its own pages and our grades.
There's no rating on record for a web app, so we go by what the listing shows.
- 1
Best for trying lots of open AI models in one chat
Requests also run on third-party providers with their own data policies.
- 2
Paid plans start at $9 a month
As its pricing page puts it: $9 per month (Hugging Face PRO).
- 3
There is a free plan
Free with a Hugging Face account. Chats are billed as Inference Providers usage against $0.10 of monthly credits (subject to change); at the limit the app asks you to upgrade to PRO.
- 4
It runs on Web
Web.
- 5
Omni model router
Omni chooses a model for each message: image inputs go to a vision model, requests with MCP tools switched on go to a tools-capable model, and everything else follows a default route.
- 6
Catalog of open models
Instead of Omni you can chat with a specific model. The list showed 133 models when checked, including DeepSeek, Qwen, GLM, Kimi, Gemma and Llama releases.
- 7
MCP tools and web search
Models can call tools on MCP servers. Web Search (Exa) and a Hugging Face server are preconfigured, and you can add your own servers from the chat input or the settings.
- 8
A 2.2 GPA, above 4 of 57
That is against the other AI assistants we grade, on value, the free plan, features, ease of use and platforms.
- 9
Keep it
To replace HuggingChat you would be making an AI model, which you can rent by the request but not make. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
HuggingChat at a glance
- Pricing
- Free plan, from $9 per month (Hugging Face PRO)
- Free plan
- Yes
- Free trial
- None stated
- Runs on
- Web
- Made by
- Hugging Face, since 2023
- Category
- AI Assistants
- Our grade
- 2.2 GPA, fair
The report card
Best for trying lots of open AI models in one chat
HuggingChat is Hugging Face's chat window onto open models, 133 when the list was checked, with a router called Omni that picks one per message. It's browser only, it has no GPT, Claude or Gemini, and the free tier is $0.10 of credits a month with no word on how many messages that buys. Requests also run on third-party providers with their own data policies.
| Subject | Grade | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | C | More usage means Hugging Face PRO at $9 a month, this category's middle, and it isn't a chat plan at all: it raises your credits to $2.00 a month, then it's pay as you go, and it bundles storage and Spaces benefits you may not want. |
| Free plan and trial | C | Free with a Hugging Face account, but chats are billed against $0.10 of monthly credits, an amount Hugging Face says may change, and it won't say how many messages that covers. Hit the wall and the app asks you to upgrade. |
| Features | C | A router that picks a model per message, 133 open models to choose from yourself, web search and MCP tools, image uploads and voice input. The basics, with the gap the listing shows: open models only, so no GPT, Claude or Gemini. |
| Ease of use | B | Sign in and type, and Omni chooses the model for you, so you needn't find your way round 133 of them. There's no rating on record for a web app, so we go by what the listing shows. |
| Platforms and integrations | C | Browser only, with a Hugging Face account needed and no mobile app listed; the old macOS app's repository was archived in December 2025. It does plug into MCP servers, with Exa search and the Hub set up from the start. |
An A is worth 4 points, a B 3, a C 2, a D 1 and an F nothing. The GPA is the average of the five.
Who HuggingChat is for
- Fits if you want to try DeepSeek, Qwen, Llama and other open models from one chat window
- Works for people already on Hugging Face who want to run Hub jobs from a chat
Who it is not for
- Skip it if you want GPT, Claude or Gemini, because only open source models are offered
- Not for you if you want a phone or desktop app: it runs in a browser only, and the old macOS app was archived
- Tight if you're staying free, with $0.10 of credits a month and no word on how far that goes
- Watch out: more usage means Hugging Face PRO at $9, a bundle with storage and Spaces, then pay-as-you-go credits
- Watch out: chats run on third-party inference providers, each with its own security and data-handling policies
Good to know
Good for
- Trying many open source models from one chat window
- Hugging Face users who want to run Hub jobs and build Spaces from a chat
- Teams that want to self-host the same chat interface
Worth knowing
- It runs in a browser only and needs a Hugging Face account. No mobile app is listed, and the GitHub repository of the earlier macOS app was archived on Dec 5, 2025.
- Free accounts get $0.10 of monthly inference credits, subject to change, and Hugging Face does not say how many messages that covers.
- There is no HuggingChat-only plan: more usage comes from Hugging Face PRO at $9 per month, which bundles storage and Spaces benefits, and from buying extra credits.
- Only open source models are offered, and requests run on third-party inference providers that apply their own security and data-handling policies.
Part 02 · Pricing
What it costs
Every plan, the free plan, ways to pay less and how prices have moved
$9
A month to start. There is a free plan too
HuggingChat has a free plan. Paid plans start at $9 per month (Hugging Face PRO).
Hit the wall and the app asks you to upgrade.
Free
$0
A free Hugging Face account with $0.10 of monthly inference credits, subject to change. HuggingChat shows an upgrade prompt once the message limit is reached.
PRO
$9
per month
Hugging Face PRO, not a HuggingChat-only plan: $2.00 of monthly credits (20x the free amount), pay-as-you-go beyond that, plus PRO storage and Spaces benefits.
Team
$20
per user / month
Hugging Face organization plan with $2.00 of monthly credits per seat, shared by members. HuggingChat usage can be billed to the organization.
Enterprise
$50
per user / month, with annual commitments
Everything in Team plus SCIM provisioning, the highest rate limits and managed billing. Bought through Hugging Face's sales team.
The free plan
Free with a Hugging Face account. Chats are billed as Inference Providers usage against $0.10 of monthly credits (subject to change); at the limit the app asks you to upgrade to PRO.
Read from huggingface.co on Oct 5, 2026.
Part 03 · Features
What it does
Its main features, where it runs, what it works with and who makes it
1
Place it runs: Web
Hugging Face's open-source chat app for open AI models. Here is what it does, as its own site describes it, and what it covers: open source, self-hostable, AI features, chat assistant, AI search, AI agents.
The basics, with the gap the listing shows: open models only, so no GPT, Claude or Gemini.
- Omni model router
- Omni chooses a model for each message: image inputs go to a vision model, requests with MCP tools switched on go to a tools-capable model, and everything else follows a default route.
- Catalog of open models
- Instead of Omni you can chat with a specific model. The list showed 133 models when checked, including DeepSeek, Qwen, GLM, Kimi, Gemma and Llama releases.
- MCP tools and web search
- Models can call tools on MCP servers. Web Search (Exa) and a Hugging Face server are preconfigured, and you can add your own servers from the chat input or the settings.
- ML Intern
- An experimental mode that plans and runs machine-learning work on the Hugging Face Hub, such as finetuning or evaluating a model, within a compute budget you set for each conversation.
- Image and voice input
- Models that support vision accept image uploads, and the published production configuration turns on speech transcription with OpenAI's whisper-large-v3-turbo model.
- Open source and self-hostable
- The app runs on Chat UI, an Apache-2.0 SvelteKit project that can be run locally, with Docker or with Helm against any OpenAI-compatible endpoint, including Ollama and llama.cpp.
Where it runs
- Web
What it works with
- Exa
- Hugging Face Hub
- Hugging Face Jobs
- Trackio
HuggingChat is made by Hugging Face, and has been around since 2023.
Part 04 · Standing
Where it stands
Its grades against its category, and whether to keep it or make your own
4/57
Other AI assistants it is graded above
HuggingChat's GPA of 2.2 is higher than 4 of the 57 other AI assistants we grade, and level with 7.
It stands best on ease of use (B, above 21 of 57) and worst on features (C, above 0).
Its paid plans start at $9 a month, against a middle price of $10 for the category: 15 of the 38 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.3 out of 4. 14 tools score higher and cost less.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 58 AI assistants we grade, cut by the letter each got. HuggingChat’s own letter is outlined.
- CValue for moneyAbove 5 of 57
- CFree plan and trialAbove 5 of 57
- CFeaturesAbove 0 of 57
- BEase of useAbove 21 of 57
- CPlatforms and integrationsAbove 2 of 57
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 45 AI assistants. Further left costs less; higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. HuggingChat is the marked dot.
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
Keep it, or make your own?
Whether this is something you could build for yourself with an AI app builder, and what you would give up.
Keep it
To replace HuggingChat you would be making an AI model, which you can rent by the request but not make. That is not a weekend's work, with an AI app builder or without one.
That makes this kind of software worth paying for, not this one in particular: 46 of the 57 other AI assistants grade higher. It costs $108 a year. HuggingChat is open source, so there is a third way: take its code and run it yourself.
What you could not
- An AI model, which you can rent by the request but not make.
- A search engine with an AI model behind it.
- An AI agent, with the models and the safeguards behind it.
What this rests on. HuggingChat’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
Part 05 · Alternatives
The alternatives
The tools it is most often weighed against, side by side
Open WebUI, LibreChat, Poe, Duck.ai and ChatGPT
The 5 tools HuggingChat is most often weighed against, with where each one differs from it.
- 3.2GPA
Open WebUI
Free plan
Self-hosted chat interface for local and cloud AI models.
- Only Open WebUI lists macOS, Windows and Linux apps.
- HuggingChat is open source, according to its own site.
- 2.8GPA
LibreChat
Free
Open-source, self-hosted chat interface for many AI providers.
- 3.4GPA
Poe
Free plan · from $4.17/mo
One app for chatting with AI models from many different labs.
- Only Poe lists macOS, Windows, iOS and Android apps.
- HuggingChat is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- HuggingChat also covers AI agents.
- 2.4GPA
Duck.ai
Free plan · from $9.99/mo
Private, anonymized chat with third-party AI models.
- Only Duck.ai lists macOS, Windows, iOS and Android apps.
- HuggingChat is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- HuggingChat also covers AI search and AI agents.
- 3.4GPA
ChatGPT
Free plan · from $8/mo
OpenAI's general-purpose AI assistant for chat, images and voice.
- Only ChatGPT lists macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS and Android apps.
- HuggingChat is open source and self-hostable, according to its own site.
- HuggingChat also covers AI agents.
Part 06 · Questions
Quick answers
The questions people ask about it, each answered in a line or two
12
Questions, each answered in a line or two
The short version of everything above, for when you only need the answer. Each one is told in full in its part of the guide.
Is HuggingChat free?
HuggingChat has a free plan. Free with a Hugging Face account.
How much does HuggingChat cost?
HuggingChat lists 4 plans. Free: $0.
What platforms does HuggingChat work on?
HuggingChat is available on Web.
Does HuggingChat have an Android app?
No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 5, 2026. HuggingChat is listed for Web.
Does HuggingChat have an iPhone app?
No iPhone app was listed when its pages were read on Oct 5, 2026. HuggingChat is listed for Web.
Is HuggingChat open source?
Yes. HuggingChat is open source, according to its own site.
What does HuggingChat integrate with?
HuggingChat's listing names Exa, Hugging Face Hub, Hugging Face Jobs and Trackio.
Who makes HuggingChat?
HuggingChat is made by Hugging Face. It dates from 2023.
What are the alternatives to HuggingChat?
The closest alternatives to HuggingChat in our directory are Open WebUI, LibreChat, Poe, Duck.ai and ChatGPT.
How does HuggingChat compare with other AI assistants?
HuggingChat's GPA of 2.2 is higher than 4 of the 57 other AI assistants we grade, and level with 7.
Is HuggingChat good value for money?
ToolGPA grades HuggingChat C for value for money. Its paid plans start at $9 a month, against a middle price of $10 for the category: 15 of the 38 others that charge start lower.
Could I make my own version of HuggingChat?
To replace HuggingChat you would be making an AI model, which you can rent by the request but not make.
Where this guide comes from
The prices, plans, platforms and features were read from HuggingChat’s own pages on Oct 5, 2026, and the grades were given on Oct 10, 2026. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Hugging Face's own pages on 5 October 2026. Also tested with a demo account on 2026-07-10.
Every tool we list gets five grades, A to F, each with its reason, and a GPA that averages them. How each is decided is at toolgpa.com/grades. This guide is ToolGPA’s own work; it is not made, paid for or approved by Hugging Face. Prices change, so check huggingface.co before you buy.
- huggingface.co/pricing
- huggingface.co/chat
- huggingface.co/pro
- huggingface.co/docs/inference-providers/pricing
- huggingface.co/docs/chat-ui/index
- huggingface.co/docs/chat-ui/configuration/mcp-tools
- huggingface.co/docs/chat-ui/ml-intern/getting-started
- github.com/huggingface/chat-ui
- github.com/huggingface/chat-ui/blob/main/PRIVACY.md
- github.com/huggingface/chat-ui/blob/main/src/lib/components/SubscribeModal.svelte
- github.com/huggingface/chat-ui/blob/main/chart/env/prod.yaml
- github.com/huggingface/chat-macOS
- huggingface.co/terms-of-service
- techcrunch.com/2023/04/25/hugging-face-releases-its-own-version-of-chatgpt/
Part 07 · About
About ToolGPA
Who made this guide, what else is on the site, and how to cite it
3,189
Tools graded, in 94 categories
ToolGPA grades software the way a school report grades a pupil: five subjects, a letter for each with the reason written beside it, and a GPA that averages them. Prices, plans and platforms are read from each maker’s own pages and dated, so you always know how fresh a figure is.
Every grade, review and ranking on ToolGPA is our own judgement. No company can pay for a grade or change one. Every tool on the site has a guide like this one, free to download and pass on. It all lives at toolgpa.com.
3,189
tools graded
94
categories
426
price changes on record
579
apps priced in 12 countries
What else is on toolgpa.com
- HuggingChat, kept up to dateEverything in this guide, with prices and grades as they are todaytoolgpa.com/tools/huggingchat
- How grades are givenThe rules behind every letter and every GPAtoolgpa.com/grades
- Value chartsWhat each tool costs against what it scores, for every categorytoolgpa.com/charts
- CompareAny two tools side by side, plan by plantoolgpa.com/compare
- Price changesEvery price rise and cut on record, each with its sourcetoolgpa.com/price-changes
- Prices by countryWhat apps cost on the App Store in 12 countriestoolgpa.com/prices-by-country
- Pay lessEvery public discount: yearly billing, students, nonprofitstoolgpa.com/save
- Keep or makeWhich tools are worth paying for, and which you could build yourselftoolgpa.com/keep-or-make
Scan for the live page
Prices and grades as they are today
Quoting this guide?
Please name ToolGPA and link to the live page, so readers can check the figures for themselves:
ToolGPA, "HuggingChat: The Insider's Guide", checked Oct 5, 2026. https://toolgpa.com/tools/huggingchat
Know someone choosing between AI assistants?
Send them this guide: toolgpa.com/tools/huggingchat/guide
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See our other guides
The best-graded AI assistants after HuggingChat, each with an Insider's Guide of its own.
- AI Assistants Insider's GuideEvery one of the 58 AI assistants we grade, compared
- Gemini Insider's GuideGoogle's AI assistant, tied into Gmail, Docs and other Google apps3.8 GPA
- Chatbox Insider's GuideAI chat client for your own API keys or a hosted model plan3.4 GPA
- ChatGPT Insider's GuideOpenAI's general-purpose AI assistant for chat, images and voice3.4 GPA
Choosing software? Every tool graded, every price dated.
Compare tools at toolgpa.com ›Everything in this guide is ToolGPA’s own summary of what HuggingChat’s pages, its app-store listings and public reviews said on the dates shown. Grades are our judgement under the rules at toolgpa.com/grades. Every grade, review and ranking on ToolGPA is our own judgement. No company can pay for a grade or change one. HuggingChat is a trademark of its owner, and this guide is not made, paid for or approved by Hugging Face. Prices and plans change: check huggingface.co before you buy.