10 ChatGPT Alternatives for 2026 (Some Are Actually Better)

Since ChatGPT was introduced in late November 2022, it has made quite a splash. Not just on social media, but also in many major online magazines and newspapers.

And rightly so:

ChatGPT was a small revolution and represented an enormous advancement over AI text generators at the time.

However:

That's no longer the case. There are dozens of ChatGPT alternatives that are just as good or even better than ChatGPT – depending on the use case, a different model may come out on top.

While ChatGPT Plus, the paid version of ChatGPT, still leads in some areas, many users are now turning to Gemini or Claude because they find certain features or prices more attractive.

ChatGPT & Alternatives Overview

ChatGPT Alternatives in Detail

1. Neuroflash

Neuroflash is one of the best ChatGPT alternatives for non-English content. In our text generator test, Neuroflash achieved excellent multilingual text quality.

It is one of the few tools that offers native European language support and as an EU-based company is committed to high European data protection standards:

Neuroflash is GDPR-compliant according to their own statements. Data sent to OpenAI is also not used as training data for language models and remains confidential.

It offers a chat assistant called ChatFlash, which is based on GPT-4o and GPT-4.1-nano. Additionally, AI images can be generated.

ChatFlash is easily and quickly accessible in the right sidebar of the normal text editor in Neuroflash.

You can transfer the generated responses to 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:

ChatFlash unfortunately cannot yet include external sources or search results in its responses, which is a disadvantage compared to other ChatGPT alternatives and ChatGPT itself.

2. Chatsonic

Chatsonic is the AI chatbot from Writesonic and for me currently the best ChatGPT alternative for English texts. It now uses GPT-5, Claude Sonnet 4, and Gemini 2.5 Pro as well as various image generation models.

Although the number of supported languages has been significantly expanded, the Writesonic chatbot particularly shines when you want to generate English texts. For European languages and GDPR-compliant content, Neuroflash is a stronger choice.

A major advantage of Chatsonic:

It can access current Google data in its responses. This means you also get an answer when you ask about a more recent event or fact like "Who is the president of Argentina?":

Chatting with a file or a webpage and uploading documents or images is also now possible with Chatsonic:

3. Claude

Claude is an AI chatbot from Anthropic. It was officially introduced on March 14, 2023.

While the first AI models from Claude (Claude 1 & 2) couldn't quite keep up with those from ChatGPT, Anthropic has caught up to ChatGPT with Claude 3.x:

"Claude Opus 4.1" is Anthropic's most powerful model. Additionally, Claude Sonnet 4 and Claude Haiku 3.5 are available. Claude now also offers web search for current information.

Claude Opus 4.1 and Claude Sonnet 4 are significantly better for writing texts than many other models. We also really like using Claude for brainstorming or coding. A major advantage is also the new web search function for current information.

In terms of usability and feature set, Claude has also caught up to ChatGPT. With features like "Projects," "Artifacts," and the new Voice Mode, it's hardly inferior to ChatGPT.

You can find a comprehensive comparison between Claude and ChatGPT in this article: ChatGPT vs. Claude: The Ultimate Comparison.

4. Microsoft Copilot

Microsoft Copilot (formerly "Bing Chat") is one of the best ChatGPT alternatives. And for good reason:

Copilot now uses GPT-5 and also offers internet access and can generate images. Even the use of some plugins is possible, e.g., Instacart, Kayak, Klarna, OpenTable, Shop, or Suno.

The main advantage:

It's not only completely free but also (with limitations) usable without registration. Not only through the browser but also as a new app for Android or iOS.

It also offers generous usage limits. Without registration, it allows 5 responses per chat, and with registration to a Microsoft account, even 30 (there's no daily limit).

Unlike ChatGPT, with Microsoft Copilot you can even generate images in the free version, which would require a subscription with ChatGPT.

5. Google Gemini

Google's chatbot Gemini, which was introduced in February 2023 and was called "Bard" at the time, was initially not a particularly good ChatGPT alternative.

It had to endure criticism for a long time, mainly because it "hallucinated" a lot, meaning it output a lot of false information.

But Google has worked a lot on its chatbot recently. With the new models Gemini 2.5 Flash and Gemini 2.5 Pro, Google has significantly increased performance and can keep up with GPT-5.

It can also access Google search results, which offers great possibilities.

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

6. Perplexity AI

Perplexity is an AI search engine that represents a great and also free alternative to ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot.

It's particularly well suited for conducting intensive internet research on a topic.

Similar to Microsoft Copilot or ChatGPT in Browsing Mode, the source citations of the generated responses are cited in the form of footnote numbers:

Under the response, similar questions or topics are displayed, and you have the option to ask follow-up questions. By clicking on the underlined links in the response, you can also delve deeper into topics.

I also find the "Copilot" feature brilliant. It doesn't just output AI-generated responses but executes more complex workflows to answer a question or perform an action for you.

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

For example, if you're planning a trip, it asks you intermediate questions to find the best travel route for you:

7. You.com

You.com was the first AI search engine to integrate a chat assistant into the search results.

Meanwhile, You.com has changed its focus and business model and has become a chatbot provider (and a very good ChatGPT alternative).

The big advantage of You.com is that you can choose from many different LLMs. In addition to models from OpenAI (like GPT-4o or GPT-4 Turbo), you can also select various Claude models and Meta's Llama 3 for chatting:

You.com is also very good for research. It can include dozens of websites from the internet in its responses and is thus also a good alternative to Perplexity.ai:

8. OpenAI Playground

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

Including the chat models "GPT-3.5" and "GPT-4," which you can also use in ChatGPT or the paid version "ChatGPT Plus."

It's a good alternative to ChatGPT when the chatbot is down again, 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, like the "Temperature" setting, which lets you determine how creative the responses from GPT-3.5 & Co. should be.

9. Pi

Pi is a free AI chatbot that went online 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 meant to be a friendly, harmless, and compassionate companion characterized by high emotional intelligence.

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

Pi now uses the improved Inflection-3 model, which enables even more human-like and empathetic conversations than its predecessor versions.

10. GitHub Copilot

GitHub Copilot is the best ChatGPT alternative if you only want to generate code and not text.

Like ChatGPT, the tool is also based on the OpenAI API but follows a different principle that is more practical for programming:

It doesn't offer its own user interface or app but is installed as an extension. GitHub Copilot now uses GPT-5, Claude Sonnet 4, Claude Opus 4.1, and Gemini 2.5 Pro. It's available for popular editors like Neovim, JetBrains IDEs, Visual Studio, and Visual Studio Code:

It can handle many different frameworks and programming languages but works best for Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, Ruby, Go, C#, and C++.

GitHub Copilot is available from $10 per month (Pro plan), but also offers a free plan with limited requests as well as Pro+ for $39 with maximum model flexibility.

17 More ChatGPT Alternatives

Here you'll find more alternatives to ChatGPT that sometimes offer different features or have more specialized use cases:

Alternative Language Models

ChatGPT uses GPT-5-nano in the free version. GPT-5 is also available for ChatGPT Plus, Team, and Enterprise users.

However, there are various other language models (LLMs) from other organizations and technology companies that could be considered for developing AI chatbots: