ChatGPT started the AI revolution, but it isn’t the only chatbot worth using. We’ve tested the best AI chatbots to help you determine which one is right for you.
Are all AI chatbots the same? Absolutely not. Each has unique strengths and weaknesses that affect how and whether you should use them. We’ve been testing AI chatbots since their inception, cutting through the hype and assessing what they can really do. On a basic level, they can help you find information, but they can also create images and videos, generate comprehensive research reports, and process files. Furthermore, you can also have conversations with them. ChatGPT is our Editors’ Choice winner for the category because it provides the most accurate and detailed answers out of all the chatbots we’ve tested. However, the field is rapidly evolving, and lots of other options stand out for various reasons. Read on for all of our top picks, followed by what you need to know before choosing the best AI chatbot for your needs.Why We Picked It
ChatGPT, which has almost become synonymous with AI, runs on OpenAI’s powerful 5-series of LLMs. It produces incredibly comprehensive responses with a friendly attitude. From creative writing to deep research, ChatGPT excels at providing you with a foundation of content to build upon and shape as you see fit. It’s especially adept at generating images and providing sources for information in a straightforward way. Sora 2 is quite impressive, but Atlas needs work. Who It’s For
Choose ChatGPT if you want to experience the best that a chatbot has to offer. It’s easy to use, and you can do plenty for free.Why We Picked It
Gemini offers the strongest value of all the AI chatbots we’ve tested. It generally performs well with complex reasoning, file processing, and web search tasks. Its video generation engine can create accompanying audio, while Nano Banana excels at editing images. An impressive suite of useful integrations across pretty much every Workspace app and 2TB (or more) of cloud storage for premium users round out the experience.Who It’s For
If you already rely on Google apps such as Docs, Drive, Gmail, and Sheets, Gemini is the chatbot you should use. Its rich integrations make everything from generating emails to curating playlists as simple as clicking a button.Why We Picked It
Copilot uses powerful LLMs from OpenAI and blends them with Bing web-scraping data for up-to-date responses to your prompts. It’s available via mobile apps, on the web, and within Windows. For an extra subscription fee, Copilot also works inside Microsoft 365 apps, suggesting edits or formulas and even generating illustrated presentations based on your text prompts. Who It’s For
Choose Copilot if you want to leverage AI across the Microsoft ecosystem. It’s an especially good option if you primarily use the Edge web browser and the Microsoft 365 suite.Why We Picked It
Although Perplexity brands itself as an «answer engine» rather than an AI chatbot, it has all the features we expect from one, including complex reasoning, deep research, file processing, image recognition, media generation, and more. It’s less conversational than other chatbots on this list, but it excels at web search, thanks to generally accurate responses and an excellent user interface. Meanwhile, Perplexity’s Comet web browser bakes AI right in.Who It’s For
If you’re less interested in having conversations with AI but still want a better tool for answering questions than Google, Perplexity is worth a look.Why We Picked It
Claude offers a host of unusual integrations, but its defining attribute comes down to how it handles your data. By default, Claude encrypts your personal information and doesn’t use it to train its models. Many competitors do. In general, it deletes your conversation history within a month, too. In a sense, Claude is the opposite of DeepSeek, which allegedly funnels your data to the CCP.Who It’s For
Claude is a great fit if you are interested in trying out AI but have privacy concerns. Many developers find Claude useful for its coding capabilities, but we did not evaluate it for that use case.
