Piotr Olszewski · updated October 12, 2026The best ChatGPT alternative for writing, analyzing long documents and coding right now is Claude. For an everyday assistant bundled with cloud storage, images and video, it's Gemini, and for research with cited sources - Perplexity. If you already pay for Microsoft 365, you have Copilot in Word and Excel, and if you want a chatbot with no subscription, there's DeepSeek or the free plans of Gemini and Claude.
I checked prices on October 12, 2026. OpenAI, Perplexity and Grok block automated access to their pricing pages, so for those three I'm quoting the US App Store in-app prices (browser prices may differ) and I say so next to each amount.
Quick picks
- Best overall: Claude - for writing, editing, working with files and code.
- Best free: Gemini - a free plan with a Flash model, image generation and limited access to the Pro model.
- Cheapest paid plan: Google AI Plus at $4.99/month in the US App Store, and for students Mistral Le Chat Pro at $5.99.
- Best for Office users: Copilot in Microsoft 365.
- Best for search with sources: Perplexity.
ChatGPT alternatives compared
| Tool | Starting price | Free plan | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT (baseline) | Go $8/mo (US App Store) | yes | a bit of everything, images, voice |
| Claude | $20/mo ($17 billed annually) | yes | writing, long documents, code |
| Gemini | $4.99/mo AI Plus (US App Store) | yes | Google ecosystem, video, images |
| Perplexity | $20/mo (US App Store) | yes | search with cited sources |
| Grok | $30/mo (SuperGrok) | yes | real-time topics from X |
| DeepSeek | no app pricing, API pay-per-token | yes, chat | cheap API, reasoning |
| Mistral Le Chat | $14.99/mo | yes | EU-based provider, $5.99 for students |
| Microsoft Copilot | $9.99/mo (M365 Personal) | yes, chat | Word, Excel, Outlook |
ChatGPT - the baseline
Before you switch, it's worth knowing what you pay now. In the US App Store, ChatGPT subscriptions cost:
- Go - $8/month;
- Plus - $19.99/month;
- Pro - $100, $200 or $500 tiers (listed as Pro 100, Pro 200 and Pro 500).
Prices in the browser may differ, and OpenAI's pricing page blocked automated access, so treat these as approximate.
Claude
Claude by Anthropic is my first-choice alternative for writing and editing. It holds tone, long instructions and document structure well, and the paid plan adds Claude Code for programming.
Per the pricing page on October 12, 2026:
- Free - $0: chat on web, desktop and mobile, web search, file creation, code execution, memory;
- Pro - $20/month or $17/month billed annually: more usage, Claude Code, Projects, Claude in Chrome and Microsoft 365;
- Max - from $100/month: 5x or 20x more usage than Pro.
Who it's for: people who write, edit and analyze documents a lot, and developers.
Downsides: no image or video generation, and free plan message limits can run out mid-task.
Gemini
Gemini is Google's assistant, and it wins on price and on what's bundled: cloud storage, video generation in Google Flow and image generation.
US App Store in-app prices on October 12, 2026:
- Free - $0: a Flash model, limited Pro model access, image generation and editing, 15 GB of storage;
- Google AI Plus - $4.99/month: 2x higher usage limits than free, 400 GB, Flow credits;
- Google AI Pro - $19.99/month: 4x higher limits than free, 5 TB, more Flow credits;
- Google AI Ultra - $199.99/month.
Who it's for: people who live in Gmail, Google Docs and Android.
Downsides: Google describes limits with multipliers ("2x", "4x") instead of hard numbers, so it's hard to tell what you're actually getting.
Perplexity
Perplexity is a search engine with a chat interface: instead of a list of links, you get an answer with footnotes to its sources.
In the US App Store, Perplexity Pro costs $20/month and Perplexity Max $200/month, with credit packs from $5. The free version works without paying, with lower limits.
Who it's for: people who look up facts, compare products and want to check the source behind every sentence.
Downsides: weaker than Claude or ChatGPT for long-form writing and editing, and it costs about the same as ChatGPT Plus.
Grok
Grok is a chatbot tied to X, with web and X search, a voice mode and image and video generation (Imagine).
US App Store in-app prices on October 12, 2026:
- SuperGrok Lite - $10/month;
- SuperGrok - $30/month, higher limits, images and video;
- SuperGrok Plus - $100/month;
- SuperGrok Heavy - $300/month.
There's also a free tier with web and X search and voice mode.
Who it's for: people who follow breaking news on X and want answers about what's happening right now.
Downsides: the top tiers get expensive fast, and the official pricing page didn't load for me, so check prices in your own app store.
DeepSeek
DeepSeek is a Chinese model with an app, a browser chat and a very cheap API.
I didn't find any app pricing on its site - only API access is paid, billed per token. Per the API pricing page as of October 8, 2026, the cheapest rates start at $0.02 per million input tokens on cache hits during off-peak hours.
Who it's for: developers plugging a model into their own apps, and people who want a chatbot without a subscription.
Downsides: your data goes to a Chinese company, which for me rules it out for client documents.
Mistral Le Chat
Mistral is a French company, so it's an EU-based provider. Its chatbot is Le Chat, and the newer assistant branding is Vibe.
Per the pricing page on October 12, 2026:
- Free - limited messages, web searches and basic image generation;
- Pro - $14.99/month: more messages, coding support, $15/month in API credits;
- Student - $5.99/month with education verification, for up to 12 months;
- Team - $24.99 per user per month, minimum $50.
Who it's for: businesses that want a European provider, and students.
Downsides: a smaller integration ecosystem than Google or Microsoft.
Microsoft Copilot
Copilot makes the most sense if you work in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook. The Copilot chat works in the browser for free, and Microsoft 365 gives you higher limits.
Per Microsoft's US store on October 12, 2026:
- Microsoft 365 Personal - $9.99/month or $99.99/year, Copilot with higher usage than free;
- Microsoft 365 Family - $12.99/month or $129.99/year, up to 6 people, but AI features only for the subscription owner;
- Microsoft 365 Premium - $19.99/month or $199.99/year, extensive usage and agentic AI features.
Who it's for: people who already pay for Office.
Downsides: on the Family plan only the owner gets Copilot, not the rest of the household.
How to choose
- You write a lot: Claude.
- You use Gmail and Android and want video: Gemini with Google AI Plus or Pro.
- You need facts with sources: Perplexity.
- You work in Office: Copilot in Microsoft 365.
- You need an EU-based provider: Mistral.
- You're building an app on an API and counting every cent: DeepSeek, as long as your data isn't sensitive.
- Test the free plan for a week on your own tasks before buying - the differences only show up on your own work.
Common mistakes
- Comparing web prices with app store prices. The same subscription can cost more in the iPhone app than in the browser.
- Paying for two chatbots at once. Before adding a second subscription, check whether you already have Copilot in Microsoft 365 or Gemini in Google One.
- Pasting client data into free chatbots. Check your settings to see whether your chats are used to train models.
- Judging by a single question. Every model has good and bad days - test on 5-10 typical tasks.
- Starting with an annual plan. The market shifts every few months, and new models reshuffle the rankings.
FAQ
What is the best free alternative to ChatGPT?
Gemini gives you the most for free: a Flash model, limited Pro access and image generation. Claude, Grok, Mistral Le Chat and Copilot also have free plans, and the DeepSeek chat has no app pricing at all.
Is Claude better than ChatGPT?
For writing, editing and long documents, I prefer Claude. ChatGPT wins on versatility: images, voice mode and more features in one app. Claude Pro costs $20/month and ChatGPT Plus $19.99/month in the US App Store.
What is the cheapest alternative to ChatGPT Plus?
Google AI Plus at $4.99/month (US App Store) or Mistral Le Chat Pro at $14.99 ($5.99 for students). ChatGPT itself also has a cheaper Go plan at $8/month in the US App Store.
Is DeepSeek safe to use?
DeepSeek is a Chinese company and chat data goes to its servers. It's fine for casual questions, but I wouldn't paste company documents or personal data there.
Which AI is better than ChatGPT for research?
Perplexity, because every answer comes with footnoted sources you can check. Gemini and Claude also have web search and deep research features.
Is Microsoft Copilot free?
The Copilot chat is free in the browser. Higher limits and Copilot inside Word, Excel and Outlook come with Microsoft 365 Personal ($9.99/month), Family or Premium.
Sources
- Claude - pricing - checked October 12, 2026
- Mistral - pricing - checked October 12, 2026
- Microsoft 365 - compare plans (US) - checked October 12, 2026
- Gemini in the US App Store - checked October 12, 2026
- ChatGPT in the US App Store - checked October 12, 2026
- Perplexity in the US App Store - checked October 12, 2026
- Grok in the US App Store - checked October 12, 2026
- DeepSeek and API pricing - checked October 8, 2026