The 11 Best AI Chatbots in 2025

Since OpenAI introduced ChatGPT at the end of November 2022, there has been real hype about AI chatbots.

The result is that new AI chatbots are springing up like mushrooms:

In addition to various startups, providers of AI text generators, such as Jasper and Neuroflash, have also developed chatbots and integrated them into their products.

Additionally, large technology companies such as Google and Microsoft have been researching or developing AI chatbots for many years.

In this article, you will find an overview of the most popular and well-known chatbots and their advantages and disadvantages.

The best part:

Most of the AI ​​chatbots presented here are completely free, have a free basic version, or can at least be tested for free.

What is an AI chatbot?

The AI ​​tool landscape is currently evolving rapidly. Every month, dozens or even hundreds of new AI tools are launched.

Among them are many tools that are similar to AI chatbots and share some features or functions with them. These include, for example, code assistants like GitHub Copilot or Ghostwriter by Replit or AI-powered search engines like Perplexity.ai or You.com.

A definition is appropriate before I give you an overview of current AI chatbots. An AI chatbot is a tool that…

1. Provides AI-generated answers to commands or questions (e.g., through language models such as GPT-3.5, GPT-4, or Claude 2.1)
2. A chat user interface has
3. Remembers the chat history

AI chatbots at a glance

11 Best AI Chatbots in Detail

ChatFlash (by Neuroflash)

Neuroflash is currently the best ChatGPT alternative, especially for German texts.

Neuroflash’s German text quality is slightly better than ChatGPT, Jasper Chat, Chatsonic and other AI chatbots and AI text generators.

It is among the few AI chatbots offering a German user interface and support. As a German GmbH, Neuroflash is also committed to the high European data protection standards:

Neuroflash claims to be GDPR compliant. Data sent to OpenAI is not used as training data for language models and remains confidential.

With ChatFlash, Neuroflash has also integrated its own AI chatbot as a feature.

ChatFlash is based on GPT-4 and GPT-3.5 and is easily and quickly accessible in the right sidebar of the normal text editor in Neuroflash.

You can import the generated answers into the editor with one click, which is great if you want to write blog articles, term papers, or other longer texts:

Like ChatGPT, ChatFlash can also write code, for example, a Tic-Tac-Toe game in Python:

Unfortunately, ChatFlash cannot yet include external sources or search results in its answers, which is a disadvantage compared to other AI chatbots such as ChatGPT, Chatsonic, or Microsoft Copilot.

Chatsonic

Chatsonic is a feature of the AI ​​text generator Writesonic and, in my opinion, currently the best alternative to ChatGPT for English-language texts.

Even though the number of supported languages ​​has now been expanded to 24 (including German), Writesonic’s AI chatbot particularly shines when you want to generate English-language texts.

An advantage of Chatsonic over Neuroflash and the free version of ChatGPT:

You can set it to include current Google data in the chat answers. This means that you will also get an answer from Chatsonic if you ask about a more recent event, such as the 2022 World Cup:

Similar to the ChatGPT Code Interpreter and some ChatGPT plugins, Chatsonic also allows you to chat with files or web pages:

ChatGPT Plus

ChatGPT Plus is the upgraded and premium version of the popular AI chatbot ChatGPT, officially launched by OpenAI on February 1.

Compared to the free version, ChatGPT Plus has a higher availability. If ChatGPT is down again due to high load, you can still use it as a Plus user (most of the time). In addition, the response time of the AI ​​chatbot is not throttled when the load is high.

The Plus version also offers additional features:

1. Using GPT-4, OpenAI’s best language model is possible with ChatGPT Plus.
2. You can use ChatGPT plugins. These are extensions that you can use within the ChatGPT interface. They give ChatGPT access to the Internet, third-party services, and new features, making it much more powerful. For example, you can use ChatGPT plugins to create travel plans, compare prices, learn languages, run code, retrieve documents, and more.
3. You can use the code interpreter. This allows the AI ​​chatbot to write and execute code directly in ChatGPT, which opens up great possibilities. For example, upload a CSV file, analyze the data, modify it to your specifications, and then download it again.
4. In October 2023, DALL·E 3 was integrated into ChatGPT Plus. This allows you to generate AI images directly in chats.

Tip: ChatGPT plugins, the code interpreter, and DALL·E 3 are powerful features that save you much time. In my ChatGPT course, I show you how these work, dozens of use cases, and how to get the most out of both.

Microsoft Copilot

Microsoft Copilot (formerly Bing Chat) is currently the best free alternative to ChatGPT.

Copilot not only uses GPT-4 but also provides access to the Internet and can generate images. It is even possible to use some plugins, such as Instacart, Kayak, Klarna, OpenTable, Shop, or Suno.

The best part is:

Microsoft’s AI chatbot is free and can be used (with restrictions) without registration via the browser and recently as an app for Android or iOS.

Copilot also offers generous usage limits. Without registration, it allows 5 replies per chat, and with registration with a Microsoft account, even 30 (there is no limit per day).

This offers a more flexible and higher limit than ChatGPT Plus, which only allows 40 replies with GPT-4 every 3 hours.

Claude 2

Claude is an AI chatbot from Anthropic AI and was officially launched on March 14, 2023.

The AI ​​chatbot was launched with two models: “Claude” and “Claude Instant”. The first is the high-performance variant; the second is a cheaper and faster model.

On July 11, Anthropic introduced its successor, Claude 2 (almost simultaneously with the ChatGPT Code Interpreter ).

And that’s quite something!

While the previous models were inferior to ChatGPT in most aspects, Claude 2 has developed into a serious ChatGPT alternative. It offers the following advantages:

• Claude 2 is completely free
• Newer training data (early 2023)
• A “Context Window” of 100K tokens (that means you can enter about 75,000 words of English text as a prompt)

You can also upload files to Claude 2 and have them analyzed or ask questions about them, which works well.

Here, he explained to me what “EEAT” is based on the 176-page Google Quality Rater Guidelines :

Claude 2 generates responses quickly and has never crashed due to server overload. Overall, it is a good alternative to the free version of ChatGPT but also ChatGPT Plus.

Google Gemini

Google’s chatbot Gemini, introduced in February 2023 and then called “Bard,” was initially not a good ChatGPT alternative.

He had to endure criticism for a long time, especially because he “hallucinated” a lot, i.e., he gave out a lot of false information.

But Google has worked a lot on its chatbot in 2023. For example, in December 2023, it received an update to the new AI model Gemini Pro 1.0, which makes its response quality comparable to GPT-3.5.

It can also access Google search results, which offers great opportunities:

For example, Gemini can compile a guide on how to program ChatGPT plugins :

A big advantage of Gemini:

In contrast to ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot, it responds lightning-fast. While ChatGPT and Copilot sometimes need 10 seconds or more to respond, Gemini usually responds in under 5 seconds.

Gemini also has access to many Google services, such as YouTube, Google Flights, Google Maps, and Google Workspace.

ChatGPT

ChatGPT by OpenAI is a great AI chatbot that has been attracting much media attention since November and now has millions of users worldwide.

The tool has an answer to almost every question, even to very complex or long questions.

It can write and even format texts of various types and lengths on command.

However, ChatGPT’s language understanding is wider than natural language, but it can also write and explain many different programming languages. It can write Python, JavaScript, Go, Perl, PHP, Ruby, and Swift, among others.

This makes the AI ​​chatbot a great companion for programmers and a great sparring partner for learning programming.

ChatGPT is free to use, but only to a limited extent. In the free version, you have to expect that the AI ​​chatbot will be down more often, and you will receive slower answers.

In addition, great features such as GPT-4, ChatGPT plugins, and the Code Interpreter are missing, which are only available in the paid plans ChatGPT Plus, Team or Enterprise.

Perplexity AI

Perplexity AI is a search engine and AI chatbot that is a great and free alternative to ChatGPT or Bing Chat.

It is particularly suitable for conducting intensive Internet research on a topic.

Similar to Bing Chat or ChatGPT in Browsing Mode, the sources of the generated answers are cited in the form of footnote numbers:

Similar questions or topics are displayed below the answer, and you can ask follow-up questions.

I also think the new “Copilot” feature is brilliant. Similar to AutoGPT or BabyAGI, it provides AI-generated answers and carries out more advanced workflows to answer questions or complete tasks for you.

You can activate it in the search field and use it 5 times every 4 hours:

For example, when you plan a trip, it asks you questions to help you find the best possible route for you:

YouChat (by You.com)

You.com was the first search engine to integrate an AI chatbot into its search results.

The chatbot is no longer displayed above the search results but opens by default when you search for something on You.com. Relevant search results are displayed in the sidebar on the right.

I often use You.com as a ChatGPT alternative when I want to research on the Internet.

The search results are displayed to the right of the chat and are not relegated to the footnotes or, as with Bing Chat, only visible when you scroll down.

With YouCode, YouWrite, and YouImagine, You.com has also been offering its own AI code assistant, AI text generator, and AI image generator for several weeks, making it more and more of a complete solution for “generative AI.”

10th Pi

Pi is a free AI chatbot that went live on May 2, 2023. It was developed by Inflection AI, a startup founded by LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and Google DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman.

Pi stands for “Personal AI” and is intended to be a friendly, harmless, compassionate companion with high emotional intelligence.

And Inflection has succeeded in doing this. Pi succeeds better than ChatGPT and other ChatGPT alternatives in imitating a human conversation partner. I find it very pleasant to write with Pi:

The chatbot is currently still in the beta phase. But I see great potential in Pi and am excited to see how it will develop in 2024:

For example, Pi will soon run Inflection’s new AI model, Inflection-2.

OpenAI Playground

With the OpenAI Playground, you can try out all ChatGPT’s AI models for free.

These include the chat models “GPT-3.5” and “GPT-4”, which you can use in ChatGPT or the paid version ChatGPT Plus.

It is a good alternative to ChatGPT when the AI ​​chatbot is down, not working properly, or giving slow responses. The OpenAI Playground usually works even when ChatGPT doesn’t.

It also offers some advanced settings you can play with, such as the “Temperature” setting, which lets you determine how creative the responses from GPT-3.5, GPT-4 & Co. should be.

Other well-known AI chatbots

• And I
• ChatGenie (by WriteCream)
• Elicit
• HypoChat (by Hypotenuse AI)
• Kuki AI
• My AI (from Snapchat)
• pi
• Poe (from Quora)

Chatbot as a Service (CaaS)

• ChaiGPT
• Chatbase
• Fin (from Intercom)
• Mercury.ai

FAQ

Here, I’ve put together answers to common questions about AI chatbots:

Which AI chatbots are free?

ChatGPT , ChatFlash, YouChat, Chatsonic , Bing Chat, Claude 2 , Perplexity and the OpenAI Playground are free to use.

However, please note that some of the features may be limited. Some tools need features or have monthly, daily, or hourly limits on the number of chat responses or words generated.

How can I create my own AI chatbot?

If you want to create your own AI chatbot to embed it on your website or chat with your files, I  recommend Chatbase.

Which AI chatbots are best for programmers?

I liked the following chatbots the most for programming:

1. ChatGPT Plus (with Code Interpreter )
2. Google Bard
3. Bing Chat
4. Claude 2