The best ChatGPT alternatives in 2026

ChatGPT is made by OpenAI, and its pricing page lists a Free plan, with access on the web, iOS and Android. If you are weighing what else is out there, this guide sets out what to look for in an AI app, why we put Raven first, and the other assistants worth a look, each described from its own pages. We make Raven, so read our pick as our view, with our reasons beside it.

What should you look for in a ChatGPT alternative?

• The models on the free plan. Which models you get without paying, and whether the strongest one is among them.
• Work on real websites. A browser the app can use for you, with you signing in yourself.
• Answers you can check. Sources you can open, so a claim takes one click to verify.
• Files you can send. Real documents, slides, PDFs and sheets, not text to copy out.
• Context that carries over. Projects for ongoing work, and a memory you can read, change and bring with you.
• Work that runs on its own. A task you set once that comes back on a schedule.
• Who you are trusting. The company behind the app, and the privacy law your information is handled under.

Why do we put Raven first?

Because it takes the whole job, and its free plan includes both of our models. Raven is our AI app, rebuilt on November 11 and running in your browser at raven.dipoleml.com, on a computer or a phone, with nothing to install. You sign in with Apple, Google or your email address, and one account carries your chats, projects, files and plan.

Raven Free costs $0 and includes Raven Max, our flagship reasoning model, and Raven Flash, built for low latency and high volume, with limits that replenish automatically and a welcome allowance to try Raven Max. The model button in the message box opens Intelligence, where you choose the model and how long Raven thinks first: Off, Standard or Extended. When you want more room, Raven Pro is $20 a month, and every plan is on the pricing page.

What can Raven do in a real browser?

When a task needs a website, such as filling in a form or using a site you are signed in to, Raven opens a real browser in the chat and works through it step by step. You can watch it, take over at any time, and hand it back when you are done.

When a site needs a password, a code, a passkey or a security check, Raven opens the sign-in page and stops, and you sign in yourself. Raven is built not to type into password, card or code fields. Before it presses a button that buys or pays, sends a message, posts, or deletes or cancels something, it stops and asks, and it does not operate banking, payment, cryptocurrency or government account sites. The browser guide has every step.

How does Raven research and show its sources?

Raven searches the web when a question needs something current, and the answer carries numbered markers you can press to see and open each source. For a bigger question, it offers to research it properly: it plans the research, searches the web, reads the sources and writes a short report with its sources under it, which you can save as a Word document, a PDF or slides. A source can be wrong or out of date, so open the ones a decision rests on. Our story on research with sources goes further.

What does Raven make?

• Real files. Ask for a report, a deck, a fixed page or a sheet, and Raven makes a real .docx, .pptx, .pdf or .xlsx in the chat, which you can open, share and download. Our story on files shows it at work.
• Images in Studio. Describe the picture, pick a square, portrait or landscape shape, and Raven makes it. Start from your own photos if you like, then upscale an image to HD, edit it or ask for more like it.
• One place for all of it. Files, in Settings, keeps your media, your documents and the replies you saved.

How does Raven keep your context?

A project keeps related chats and files together, and its instructions and files apply to every chat in it, so you set the context once. Each project can use all your memories, or keep a memory of its own that stays in that project.

Your memories are short lines about you, such as your work and how you like answers, and you read and change them in Settings, Memories, where the page saves as you type. Coming from another assistant? Bring your memories gives you a message to paste into it; paste its answer back, turn off anything you would rather Raven did not keep, and add the rest. How Raven remembers has the details.

Can Raven work on a schedule?

Yes, with routines. A routine is a message Raven sends itself daily, on weekdays, weekly or once, at a time in your own time zone. Each run is an ordinary answer in a new chat, so it can search, research and make files like any other, and you can turn a reply you liked into a routine from its menu.

How does Raven Max do in our published results?

Raven Max is on every plan, Free included. In our published results, which are company-reported and evaluated with maximum reasoning effort, it placed first among the models compared on GDPVal-AA, which measures real economic task completion, at 1,771, ahead of Fable 5 at 1,760.

Raven Max placed first on three of the eight tests in its group. On the other five, another model leads: Fable 5 on AutomationBench, the Intelligence Index and HLE w/ Tools, GPT-5.6 Sol on DeepSWE v1.1, and Kimi K3 on AA-Briefcase v1.1. Every table is in our report on Raven Max.

Who makes Raven, and what happens to your content?

We are a Canadian company, and your personal information is handled under Canadian privacy law. Your content is kept, encrypted at rest, and used to develop, improve and train our own models; it is never sold, never used for advertising and never used to train models for anyone else. Our answer on a Canadian alternative to ChatGPT explains what that means for you, and the Privacy Policy is the full statement.

Which other AI assistants are worth a look?

Each is described here only as its maker describes it, on the pages linked.

• Claude, from Anthropic, is in its maker's words more than an AI assistant: a collaborator you use on the web, on desktop or on your phone. Its pricing page lists a Free plan.
• Gemini is Google's AI assistant, with mobile and web experiences, and Google lists Deep Research among its capabilities. Its plans page names a tier Free of charge.
• Microsoft Copilot is, as Microsoft puts it, one experience across work and life, available on the web, desktop and mobile, with a free tier for anyone with a Microsoft account.
• Perplexity calls itself an AI-powered search engine, and each response includes citations and links to the original sources. Its plans include Standard, which is free.

Comparing free plans only? The best free AI chat apps in 2026 sets them side by side.

How do I switch?

1. Open raven.dipoleml.com and sign in with Apple, Google or your email address, or start from the Raven page.
2. Bring your memories from your other assistant in Settings, Memories, or add what Raven should know yourself.
3. Hand Raven a task on a website, or a question that needs research, and check the answer against its sources.
4. Make a project for work you come back to, and compare the plans on the pricing page when you want more room.

The web app guide covers the rest of the app.

Product names are trademarks of their owners and are used here only to identify the products.