10 Best ChatGPT Alternatives in 2025
The explosive popularity of ChatGPT in recent months took many by surprise as it gained a million users in its first 5 days of availability to the public.
ChatGPT is amazing but resource intensive. The mega AI model uses about $100k in resources per day or $3 million a month. This has led to capacity problems and the introduction of a premium plan that allows paid users to skip the waiting line.
Another downside is that ChatGPT data is from 2021 and earlier. So, if you don’t feel like paying the $20 per month or you’re just tired of having to wait for your turn, then here are the 10 best chatGPT alternatives on the web and what they can do for you.
Best ChatGPT Alternatives
NameName | Highlights | Pricing | Website |
---|---|---|---|
Perplexity AI | General purpose, search engine | Free | perplexity.ai |
ChatSonic | For writers & marketers, assistant | $12.67 / mo | writesonic.com |
YouChat | Search engine, AI art, writer, modules | Free | you.com |
GitHub CoPilot | For coders, NLP autocomplete | $10 / mo | github.com |
Character AI | Fun, entertaining characters | Free | character.ai |
OpenAI Playground | For developers, researchers | Freemium | openai.com |
Bing AI | Search engine, Microsoft users | Free | bing.com |
ManyChat | Chat marketing, branding | Freemium | manychat.com |
Replika | AI friend, remembers, shares | Freemium | replika.com |
Socratic | Smartphone app, iOS, Android | Free | socratic.org |
1. Perplexity AI
Highlights: General purpose bot, search engine
Pricing: Free
Website: perplexity.ai
Perplexity.ai is a general-purpose AI chatbot that integrates with a live chat engine and delivers impressive results with numbered references in a clean and intuitive UI. It arranges these references neatly below each answer, so you can visit each page with a single click.
You can ask it questions similar to the way you ask ChatGPT and it remembers your previous questions and stays in context. Perplexity AI answers most questions and rarely filters content as ChatGPT often does.
You can also generate lists and ideas with it, as well as code from PHP to Python, HTML, and so on. It understands and writes multiple human languages, including German, Italian, and Japanese. In simple terms, you can ask it anything.
Current controls include switching between light and dark modes, as well as starting a new thread. There is also a listing of popular trends on the homepage that you can reload as often as you like.
2. ChatSonic
Highlights: For writers and marketers
Pricing: $12.67 per month
Website: writesonic.com/chat
ChatSonic is an offering from WriteSonic, a platform that provides tools for all types of professionals, including freelancers, writers, bloggers, and so on.
The included Chatbot works just like ChatGPT but includes more up to date information. You can use it to create tweets, generate images, write stories, and even generate factual trending content.
ChatSonic is additionally available as a Chrome browser add-on and a mobile app, so you can use it anywhere. Plus, it works with voice commands and can be run with multiple character personalities from a translator to a math teacher, a poet, and a motivational coach.
Although ChatSonic is included for free with WriteSonic plans, the plans are not free. WriteSonic plans start at $12.67 per month for 60,000 generated premium words. You can also try out the service for free with a 10,000-word credit.
3. YouChat
Highlights: Search engine, AI art, writer, search modules
Pricing: Free
Website: you.com
YouChat is another impressive ChatGPT alternative. Though its UI is not as sleek as Perplexity AI, it comes with tons of features, from a general search engine to an image search, video search, news, social, code search, and more.
The YouChat panel further includes a sidebar that lists your previous conversations, just like on ChatGPT. Plus, it includes references to its answers, and often with pictures, so you can click and check.
You.com also offers many app modules that allow you to further customize your experience. For instance, you could add the Mozilla Developer Network or Android Central and hundreds of other modules to expand each search.
Its AI text generator allows you to select a mode from email to blog, as well as tonality from formal to casual. Then, there is an art generator that takes any prompt and returns Stable Diffusion, Open Journey, or Anime image outputs.
4. GitHub CoPilot
Highlights: For coders, natural language prompt for auto complete
Pricing: From $10 per month
Website: github.com/features/copilot
Yes, ChatGPT can help you to write code for all sorts of programming languages, but GitHub Copilot does a better job. Trained on billions of lines of code, Copilot is a cloud-based system that integrates into your favorite IDE for auto-complete awesomeness.
It works on Visual Studio, VSCode, Neovim, and the JetBrains Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) for languages ranging from Python to Go, Ruby, JavaScript, and TypeScript.
Copilot can read your natural language text and turn it into programming solutions in real-time. Simply explain the procedure as a comment, then name the function, and the rest is history. It can also translate from one programming language to another.
A GitHub Copilot account is available in two plans. You can either get the Individuals plan for $10 per month or the Business plan for $19 per user per month.
5. Character AI
Highlights: Fun, creative characters
Pricing: Free
Website: beta.character.ai
Character AI is an interesting chatbot project that lets anyone create a chatbot character in just 3 steps that you can hold entertaining conversations with. You can also select characters created by others and have fun with them.
Some of the popular characters on the website include a Psychologist, Elon Musk, Tony Stark, Super Mario, and many more popular and category-specific characters.
Character AI is still in beta and is free. It further features a feed that lists chats from other users, which can be quite entertaining.
6. OpenAI Playground
Highlights: For developers & researchers
Pricing: Freemium
Website: platform.openai.com/overview
OpenAI Playground is an AI platform that uses OpenAI’s GPT3 model, from which ChatGPT got developed. While the company released ChatGPT as an end-user application focused on conversations, Playground is more versatile.
You can use Playground for chats, text completion, speech-to-text conversions, code completion, image generation, and embeddings. You can also train the model for a specific use case.
Furthermore, the platform is available through an API, making it a versatile resource for all types of developers to build their tools. And many AI platforms use OpenAI’s Playground. So, if you are an AI developer and looking for something more programmatic, then Playground might be worth a look.
For pricing, you get free credits for a start but will have to buy more when they finish.
7. Bing AI
Highlights: For Microsoft users, search engine
Pricing: Free
Website: bing.com
Microsoft has also hopped on to the AI chatbot market with its Bing search engine. The platform integrates a ChatGPT version with the Bing search engine for up-to-date results from around the web.
Integrating ChatGPT makes this new Bing service interesting. However, it is still a Microsoft service, so expect lots of Microsoft stuff.
For example, its web version is currently only available to users of the Microsoft Edge browser. Its mobile app version is reportedly bloated, tries to feed you trending content, and has ads plastered all over.
On the brighter side, Microsoft customers can expect seamless integration with most other Microsoft products, as the company moves to integrate AI into its range of software offers.
8. ManyChat
Highlights: Chat marketing, branding, engaging customers
Pricing: Freemium
Website: manychat.com
ManyChat is a sales and marketing bot that leverages AI technology to stay in touch with your customers and win over new ones. It works on Facebook, Instagram, and Whatsapp. As well as SMS and email.
There are two options to ManyChat’s freemium model. The free plan allows for up to 1,000 engagements, while the Pro plan costs $15 per month and can engage unlimited contacts.
The free plan allows you to segment your customers with up to 10 tags, while the Pro plan offers unlimited tags. The same differences go to keywords, team members, and sequences.
One final difference is the “Powered by ManyChat” branding on the free plan’s chat, which goes away with the Pro plan.
9. Replika
Highlights: AI friend, remembers everything, shares experiences
Pricing: Freemium
Website: replika.com
Replika is the AI companion that cares. It is designed to replicate human companionship, so it will learn from you, see the world through your eyes, and reply to your prompts as a true friend would.
You can chat with Replika about anything from your problems to your relationship issues, discuss your day, make plans, and share precious moments. It remembers everything important to you and is always there when you need an empathetic friend.
Furthermore, you can video chat with Replika, experience AR worlds together, and connect on a truly emotional level. Replika is available online, for Android, iOS, and Oculus for free with the standard bot. But if you want a boyfriend, brother, or some specific characters, then there’s a paid plan.
10. Socratic
Highlights: Mobile app, learning assistant, math & science
Pricing: Free
Website: socratic.org
Designed for students that are 12 years old and above, Socratic is an AI learning app that makes it easy to understand science and math topics.
The app brings all the resources that a student needs together in one place and is put together by a team of teachers and experts in a way that makes it easy to learn.
You can ask it a question by talking or using the camera and the AI will present you with the best results for your query. It works for most high-school subjects and includes expert-created study guides and illustrations.
Socratic is available for the iOS and Android platforms. It has been downloaded 10+ million times on the Play Store and has a 4.8-star rating.
Frequently Asked Questions About ChatGPT Alternatives
Here are some frequently asked questions about ChatGPT alternatives.
How do AI chatbots like chatGPT work?
AI chatbots are trained neural network models that try to interpret prompts and provide their best possible answers. Most newer bots use a transformer model that makes them highly accurate in understanding human intent.
Are chatGPT alternatives reliable?
To a large extent, yes. But ChatGPT itself is not 100% reliable. So, you always need to crosscheck their outputs.
What are the benefits of using ChatGPT alternatives?
There are many reasons and benefits to using ChatGPT alternatives. 1. Many are completely free without waiting. 2. Some are specialized tools, e.g for writers or coders. 3. Some are up-to-date search engines with AI functionality. 4. Many alternatives are not biased like ChatGPT.
Will AI chatbots replace humans in the future?
Yes and No. Yes, they may partially replace some entry-level or assistant positions. But ultimately, they will boost the productivity of most professionals and not replace them, because they will never be human.
Are there potential risks of using AI chatbots?
Yes. Ethical concerns include the privacy of your chat log and data security. There are also concerns about bias, where some models are trained to propagate a given narrative.
What are the limitations of AI chatbots?
AI systems in general lack empathy or the understanding of human emotions. This makes them incapable of handling complex human issues.
Conclusion
Coming to the end of this 10 best ChatGPT alternatives list, you can see that there are quite interesting tools out there for different types of users.
Since we all have different needs, there is no single best alternative here. Rather, it is up to you to pick what can best serve your needs.