Best AI chat and research assistants

General assistants and research tools for getting answers, drafting and digging into sources. Some aim to be your everyday assistant; others focus on answers you can cite.

Ranked by score on our 100-point rubric (how we score). Scores are initial editorial estimates from public information, not hands-on tests. Pricing is labeled verified (checked on the vendor's official pricing page, with date) or unverified. Prefer the visual version? See the Chat & research tier list.

Quick picks

#	Tool	Tier	Score	Free tier	Pricing
1	ChatGPT General AI assistant from OpenAI	S	88	Yes	unverified
2	Claude AI assistant from Anthropic	S	88	Yes	verified
3	Gemini Google's AI assistant	A	82	Yes	unverified
4	Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) Research notebook grounded in your sources	A	80	Yes	unverified
5	Perplexity AI answer engine with citations	A	80	Yes	unverified
6	Grok xAI's assistant with real-time X data	A	75	Yes	unverified
7	Kimi Moonshot AI's assistant	B	69	Yes	unverified
8	Microsoft Copilot Microsoft's consumer AI assistant	B	67	Yes	unverified
9	Consensus Answers from scientific research	B	65	Yes	unverified
10	Elicit AI research assistant for papers	B	65	Yes	verified
11	Vibe by Mistral (formerly Le Chat) Mistral's AI assistant	B	65	Yes	unverified

The ranking

1
ChatGPT
General AI assistant from OpenAI

S88/100

Assistant with search, deep research, file analysis, image generation and agent mode.

Best for
You want one assistant that does almost everything.

Skip it if
You need strict on-prem privacy.

Pricing
Free tier; paid Plus and Pro plans
unverified editorial summary, not yet confirmed on an official pricing page

Platforms
web · Mac · Win · iOS · Android

Full review → ChatGPT alternatives →
2
Claude
AI assistant from Anthropic

S88/100

Assistant known for writing, coding and long documents, with projects, artifacts and research.

Best for
You want strong writing, analysis and coding help.

Skip it if
You need built-in image generation.

Pricing
Free plan; Pro $20/mo monthly or $17/mo billed annually; Max from $100/mo
✓ verified on the official pricing page, Oct 18, 2026

Platforms
web · Mac · Win · iOS · Android

Full review → Claude alternatives →
3
Gemini
Google's AI assistant

A82/100

Assistant integrated with Google apps, with deep research and multimodal features.

Best for
You live in Google Workspace.

Skip it if
You want minimal data sharing with Google.

Pricing
Free tier; paid Google AI plans
unverified editorial summary, not yet confirmed on an official pricing page

Platforms
web · iOS · Android

Full review →
4
Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM)
Research notebook grounded in your sources

A80/100

notebooklm.google now redirects here. Google research tool that analyzes your uploaded sources, answers grounded questions and turns content into overviews.

Best for
You want to study or synthesize your own documents.

Skip it if
You need open-web research.

Pricing
Free; higher limits with Google AI plans
unverified editorial summary, not yet confirmed on an official pricing page

Platforms
web · iOS · Android

Full review →
5
Perplexity
AI answer engine with citations

A80/100

Search assistant that answers with cited sources and offers deep research.

Best for
You want fast, cited answers instead of ten blue links.

Skip it if
You need long-form creative writing.

Pricing
Free tier; paid Pro plan
unverified editorial summary, not yet confirmed on an official pricing page

Platforms
web · Mac · Win · iOS · Android

Full review →
6
Grok
xAI's assistant with real-time X data

A75/100

Assistant built by SpaceXSI (x.ai) with real-time web and X answers, image creation and coding help.

Best for
You want real-time takes from X and the web.

Skip it if
You want the most conservative, enterprise-ready assistant.

Pricing
Free tier; SuperGrok and X Premium plans
unverified editorial summary, not yet confirmed on an official pricing page

Platforms
web · iOS · Android

Full review →
7
Kimi
Moonshot AI's assistant

open source B69/100

Assistant from Moonshot AI with long context, search and agentic features, backed by open-weight models.

Best for
You want a strong free assistant backed by open models.

Skip it if
Data jurisdiction is a concern for you.

Pricing
Free tier; paid plans
unverified editorial summary, not yet confirmed on an official pricing page

Platforms
web · iOS · Android

Full review →
8
Microsoft Copilot
Microsoft's consumer AI assistant

B67/100

Assistant built into Windows and Edge with web search, voice and image generation.

Best for
You are on Windows and want a free built-in assistant.

Skip it if
You want the strongest standalone model experience.

Pricing
Free; Microsoft 365 plans add more
unverified editorial summary, not yet confirmed on an official pricing page

Platforms
web · Win · Mac · iOS · Android

Full review →
9
Consensus
Answers from scientific research

B65/100

Search engine that finds and summarizes peer-reviewed studies to answer questions.

Best for
You want evidence-backed answers (great for health topics).

Skip it if
You need non-academic sources.

Pricing
Free tier; Premium paid
unverified editorial summary, not yet confirmed on an official pricing page

Platforms
web

Full review →
10
Elicit
AI research assistant for papers

B65/100

Searches and extracts data from academic papers to support literature reviews.

Best for
You do literature reviews or evidence summaries.

Skip it if
You need general web research.

Pricing
Basic free; Plus $11/user/mo billed annually; Pro $39; Scale $89
✓ verified on the official pricing page, Oct 18, 2026

Platforms
web

Full review →
11
Vibe by Mistral (formerly Le Chat)
Mistral's AI assistant

B65/100

Mistral's assistant, now branded Vibe, positioned as an AI agent for work and code.

Best for
You want a fast European assistant.

Skip it if
You need the deepest reasoning.

Pricing
Free tier; Pro paid
unverified editorial summary, not yet confirmed on an official pricing page

Platforms
web · iOS · Android

Full review →

Head-to-head comparisons

FAQ

What is the best AI tool for AI chat and research assistants?

ChatGPT ranks first with 88/100 (S-tier). General AI assistant from OpenAI. Use it when you want one assistant that does almost everything. Next in our ranking: Claude (88/100, S-tier) and Gemini (82/100, A-tier).

Which AI tools for AI chat and research assistants have a free tier?

In our pricing data, ChatGPT (unverified), Claude (verified), Gemini (unverified), Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) (unverified), Perplexity (unverified), Grok (unverified), Kimi (unverified), Microsoft Copilot (unverified), Consensus (unverified), Elicit (verified) and Vibe by Mistral (formerly Le Chat) (unverified) list a free tier. "Unverified" means it is an editorial summary we have not yet confirmed on the vendor's official pricing page, so check the vendor before relying on it.

Are there open-source options for AI chat and research assistants?

Yes. Kimi is listed as open source or open weights. Check each project's license before commercial use.

How are these tools ranked?

Each tool is scored out of 100 on our public rubric: job fit (30), ease (15), value (15), momentum (15), openness and portability (10), trust and maturity (10) and a builder/gamer bonus (5). S-tier is 85+, A-tier 70–84, B-tier 55–69 and C-tier below 55. Current scores are initial editorial estimates from public information, not hands-on tests, and sponsors can't buy points.

Related guides

Other jobs

✨ Vibe coding ⌨️ Coding agents 🧩 Agent frameworks 🖱️ Browser agents 🔌 MCP & tools 🧠 LLMs & APIs 🎨 Image 🎬 Video 🎙️ Voice & audio 🎮 Game dev ✍️ Writing & marketing 📅 Productivity 📄 Data & docs