ChatGPT’s free plan lists unlimited everyday text chats, web search, data analysis, file and image uploads, image creation and voice. This ranking orders seven chatbots by the breadth of features their free plans list and compares their first paid-plan prices listed in November 2026. ChatGPT is number one because it lists uploads, web search, data analysis, image creation and voice.
One recent change matters for the list. Mistral renamed Le Chat to Vibe on August 12, 2026, keeping existing accounts, plans and conversations.
Key takeaways
- ChatGPT’s free plan lists uploads, web search, data analysis, image creation and voice.
- Entry prices in November 2026 ranged from €4.99 a month for Google AI Plus to €23 for ChatGPT Plus.
- Mistral's Vibe uses chats for model training unless you opt out.
The seven chatbots at a glance
Here is the short version, with the cheapest paid plan each provider listed in November 2026. | Rank | Chatbot | Free plan | First paid plan (November 2026) | |---|---|---|---| | 1 | ChatGPT (OpenAI) | Yes | Go, €8 a month | | 2 | Claude (Anthropic) | Yes | Pro, €18 a month plus VAT in the EU | | 3 | Gemini (Google) | Yes | Google AI Plus, from €4.99 a month | | 4 | Microsoft Copilot | Yes | Microsoft 365 Personal, €10 a month | | 5 | Perplexity | Yes | Pro, $17 a month billed annually | | 6 | Vibe (Mistral AI) | Yes | Pro, $14.99 a month | | 7 | Duck.ai (DuckDuckGo) | Yes | Plus, from €9.99 a month including VAT |
All seven have a free offer, and official information supports access in EU and Nordic markets, although features and availability differ by country.
The ranking
1. ChatGPT: free plan with uploads, voice and web search
The free plan gives GPT-5.6 Luna, unlimited everyday text chats subject to safeguards, web search, data analysis, uploads, image creation and voice. Uploads, images, voice and analysis each have their own limits, and model access pauses once a limit is hit. In November 2026, paid tiers were Go at €8, Plus at €23 and Pro from €103 a month.
2. Claude: file uploads
Claude chat uploads allow up to 20 files per chat at 500 MB each, and PDFs of up to 1,000 pages. Supported formats include PDF, DOCX, CSV, XLSX and EPUB, which fits contracts, reports and long client briefs. In November 2026, Anthropic's EU page listed Pro at €18 a month plus VAT.
3. Google Gemini: paid-plan limits
On personal accounts without a Google AI plan, Google lists Auto or Flash-Lite model access, and paid plans raise models and usage limits. In November 2026, Google AI Plus was listed from €4.99 a month. Two paid features are off in the European Economic Area: Tasks in Gemini and Personal Intelligence. On 9 June 2026, Google AI Plus fell from €8 to €5 a month in Europe, while included storage rose from 200 GB to 400 GB.
4. Microsoft Copilot: Microsoft 365 features
Copilot drafts and summarises in Word, analyses data and creates formulas in Excel, summarises Outlook threads and recaps Teams meetings. In November 2026, Microsoft's Ireland page listed Microsoft 365 Personal with Copilot at €10 a month or €99 a year. In November 2026, the Copilot Business add-on was €15.60 per user per month with annual payment, excluding VAT, through December 31, 2026, instead of €18.20.
5. Perplexity: free Pro Searches
The free plan includes practically unlimited basic searches and three Pro Searches a day. Pro has weekly Pro Search limits described as average-use limits, with no fixed number published in the comparison table. In November 2026, Perplexity's own pricing page showed $17 a month when billed annually.
6. Vibe (formerly Le Chat): paid plans
In November 2026, Mistral listed Free, Pro at $14.99 a month, Team at $24.99 per user a month and Enterprise, with no official euro price. Data is hosted in the EU by default, though a user-selected US endpoint hosts data in the United States. The model language list covers Swedish, Danish, Norwegian and Finnish, among others.
7. Duck.ai: no account needed
Duck.ai requires no account, and its free models include Claude Haiku 5.5, GPT-6 Luna, Mistral Small 4 and Gemma 4 31B. DuckDuckGo says it does not record or store chats by default and removes personal metadata such as IP addresses before sending requests. A daily free limit applies with no published message count, and in November 2026 Plus started at €9.99 a month including VAT.
Free or paid: what the money buys
Free plans cover occasional drafting, questions and light file work. The paid step shows up in the limits. On ChatGPT, model access pauses at its limit until reset. Mistral says Pro and Team offer up to six times the free message allowance and up to five times the free web-search allowance, subject to fair use. On Duck.ai, Pro subscribers get twice the limits of Plus. At the top end, OpenAI's October 29 release notes introduced a $500-per-month Pro 500 plan and raised included Work and Codex usage on specified Pro and Business Premium plans.
What official pages say about your work files
Data settings differ by provider and by plan, so the same file is not treated the same way everywhere. Mistral says Vibe conversation input and output are used for model training by default unless you opt out, and chat data is kept for conversation history. Enterprise customers are opted out of training by default. DuckDuckGo says neither it nor its model providers use Duck.ai conversations to train chat models, and providers agree to delete prompts and responses after replying. It also says it may store and review a chat if you share it as feedback. Size matters too: Claude Project files are capped at 30 MB each, well below the 500 MB chat limit.
Chatbot, AI agent or support bot
A chatbot answers and drafts. An AI agent carries out multi-step tasks for you. A support bot answers your customers on your website. On October 8, Google announced its Gemini agent for work, a universal work assistant designed to route tasks across Gemini and Claude models, describing the product rather than a completed consumer rollout.
Verdict
For most readers, ChatGPT is the better pick because its free plan lists uploads, data analysis, image creation and voice.
- Pick ChatGPT if you want those tools on a free plan.
- Pick Microsoft Copilot if your work sits in Word, Excel, Outlook and Teams, from €10 a month in November 2026 with Microsoft 365 Personal.
- Pick Perplexity if you want searches with sources and three Pro Searches a day on its free plan.
Frequently asked questions
Which chatbot works without an account?
Duck.ai. DuckDuckGo says it does not require an account. The free models in November 2026 were Claude Haiku 5.5, Mistral Small 4, GPT-6 Luna, GPT-5.4 mini, gpt-oss-120b and Gemma 4 31B. Plus adds GPT-5.6 Terra and Claude Sonnet 5.5, and Pro adds Claude Opus 5.5 and GPT-5.6 Sol.
Do I need a Microsoft 365 subscription for Copilot?
For the licensed experience, yes. Microsoft says licensed Copilot features require an eligible Microsoft 365 base subscription and an assigned Copilot licence. Outlook mailbox features need Exchange Online, and Teams needs transcription or recording enabled for Copilot to reference a meeting afterwards. Copilot Business is aimed at organisations with up to 300 users.
What do the most expensive plans cost?
In the United States in November 2026, Claude listed Pro at $20 a month, Max at $100 and Ultra at $200. ChatGPT Pro options were displayed at €103, €229 and €510 a month. OpenAI also introduced a $500-per-month Pro 500 plan on October 29, 2026.
Are any Gemini features missing in Europe?
Yes. Google says Tasks in Gemini are unavailable in the European Economic Area, even though the workflow needs a Google AI Pro or Ultra subscription. Personal Intelligence, which connects Gemini to your Google apps, is also unavailable there. Video-to-video editing uploads are unavailable in the EEA and Switzerland.
Which option keeps data in the EU by default?
Mistral's data-governance page says data is hosted in the EU by default. A user-selected US API endpoint hosts data in the United States, and some features may temporarily transfer data outside the EU. Prices for Vibe are shown in dollars, with Pro at $14.99 a month and Team at $24.99 per user a month.
Sources
- OpenAI: ChatGPT plans and pricing (2026)
- Anthropic: Upload files to Claude (2026)
- Heise: Google reduces price for AI Plus subscription and doubles storage space (9 June 2026)
- Microsoft: Microsoft 365 Copilot pricing for business without Teams (2026)
- Perplexity: Perplexity Pro and free plan search limits (2026)
- Mistral AI: Do you use my user data to train your artificial intelligence models? (2026)
- DuckDuckGo: Duck.ai privacy (2026)
- Mistral AI: Pricing (2026)
Cover photo by Mohamed Nohassi on Unsplash.
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