Deeper Dive: Our Top Tested Picks
EDITORS’ NOTE
December 9, 2025: With this update, our lineup of recommended AI chatbots remains unchanged. We have vetted the existing picks for currency and availability.
(Credit: OpenAI)
(Credit: OpenAI)
Pros & Cons
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More relevant responses than competitors
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Excellent sourcing of up-to-date information
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Impressive deep research and writing skills
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Best-in-class image generation and recognition
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Genuinely useful file processing
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Expensive
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Occasionally incorrect responses
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.
Specs & Configurations
AI Model
GPT-5 and GPT-5 Thinking
Can Resume Prior Conversations
Learn More
ChatGPT Review
(Credit: Google)
(Credit: Google)
Pros & Cons
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Best-in-class value
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Capable of complex reasoning, file processing, and web search
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Helpful, robust integrations with other Google apps
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Paid version includes 2TB of Google One storage
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Standout image editing
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Occasionally incorrect responses
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Inconvenient deep research sourcing
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Unimpressive image generation
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.
Specs & Configurations
AI Model
2.0 Flash and 2.5 Pro
Can Resume Prior Conversations
Learn More
Google Gemini Review
(Credit: Microsoft)
(Credit: Microsoft)
Pros & Cons
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Conversational voice interaction with a Think Deeper research option
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Powerful desktop, mobile, and web apps
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Generates code, knowledge answers, images, and text
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Summarizes up-to-date web information
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Includes links to sources
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A lot of functionality is free
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Some responses are slow
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Underwhelming computer control via the Windows app
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.
Specs & Configurations
AI Model
GPT-4
Can Resume Prior Conversations
Learn More
Microsoft Copilot Review
(Credit: Perplexity/PCMag)
(Credit: Perplexity/PCMag)
Pros & Cons
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Top-notch web search abilities
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Slick user interface
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Variety of models to choose from
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Competent creative writing, file processing, image generation, and voice chat capabilities
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Not clear which models it uses for media generation
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Unimpressive deep research
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.
Specs & Configurations
AI Model
Sonar and Third-Party Models
Can Resume Prior Conversations
Learn More
Perplexity Review
(Credit: Anthropic)
(Credit: Anthropic)
Pros & Cons
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Intuitive design
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Proficient in complex reasoning, creative writing, deep research, and web search
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Intriguing build-your-own-app feature
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Missing features such as image and video generation
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Occasionally incorrect responses
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Now trains on user data by default
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.
Specs & Configurations
AI Model
Opus 4 and Sonnet 4
Can Resume Prior Conversations
(Credit: xAI)
(Credit: xAI)
Best for NSFW Features
Grok
Pros & Cons
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Unique features, such as virtual companions and X searches
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Good at complex reasoning, file processing, and web searches
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NSFW content, if that’s your thing
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Expensive
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Lackluster image and video generation
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Limited research and sourcing abilities
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Occasionally incorrect responses
Why We Picked It
Grok focuses on NSFW features much more than competitors, offering adult image and video generation tools and datable companions. It’s also loose in its moderation, meaning you can chat about a taboo subject or get a neutral evaluation of a hot topic. Grok performs competently at complex reasoning, file processing, and searching the web.
Who It’s For
Grok is worth a try if you’re more interested in a chatbot’s unique (or adult) features than its deep research capabilities or variety of integrations. If you want answers to questions to consider sources from X, Grok does that, too. Just prepare to pay a bit more to use it than alternatives.
Specs & Configurations
AI Model
Grok 3 and Grok 4
Can Resume Prior Conversations
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The Best AI Chatbots for 2026
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Buying Guide: The Best AI Chatbots for 2026
What Are AI Chatbots?
‘AI chatbot’ is somewhat of an umbrella term. An AI chatbot can describe ChatGPT just as it can a customer service bot you talk to before reaching a human. Most recently, however, the term ‘chatbot’ typically refers to services that operate on large language models (LLMs). LLMs enable you to do everything from quickly and efficiently searching the web to having chats with what feels like an actual person.
What Is a Large Language Model?
Large language models are, at their most basic level, artificial neural networks that companies train on massive quantities of data. Think of a large language model like a very complicated, very long equation that you can plug just about any request into and get a response from, whether that’s the answer to a question or a generated image. For example, OpenAI is the developer of ChatGPT, and GPT-5.1 is the LLM that powers it.
What Can AI Chatbots Do?
AI chatbots go far beyond simple question-and-answer text chats. In 2025, AI chatbots can complete tasks for you, such as adding ingredients to a virtual grocery cart, and serve as a personal assistant that helps organize your life. They can also build apps from scratch, create research reports dozens of pages long, and generate lifelike images and videos. If you prefer, you can interact with most chatbots with your voice, rather than over text.
Some chatbots integrate with apps you already use to provide unique functionality, such as Copilot in Microsoft 365 and Gemini in Google Workspace. As an example, Gemini can answer questions based on your Gmail history.
A new crop of AI web browsers goes all in on AI chatbot features and AI agents, meaning you can take advantage of AI capabilities on every web page you visit.
How Much Do AI Chatbots Cost?
All the chatbots we test have free versions. Paid plans start around $20 per month, which has become the standard for a premium chatbot subscription. Most chatbot features are available for free, albeit with usage limits; however, you need to pay extra for certain features, such as integrating Copilot or Gemini across their respective app ecosystems.
What’s the Best Free AI Chatbot?
Generally, Google Gemini is considered the best free chatbot. Gemini provides access to its latest models, including the 3 Pro and Veo 3.1, along with deep research and voice chat features, all for free. You also get 15GB of cloud storage via Google Drive. Many other services put their most advanced models behind paywalls, while luxuries like cloud storage are a rarity, even with paid plans.
Are AI Chatbots Conscious?
You can chat with an AI chatbot like you would a person, so some think chatbots are conscious, but they absolutely are not. An AI chatbot is akin to a video game character, offering various dialogue options. Our point is that chatbots are merely complicated prompt-response machines and not sentient in any way. So, you can’t have real relationships with them, nor can they truly be your friend or therapist.
Where Can You Learn More About AI?
You can query Google or any of the chatbots on this list to find information about how AI (or AI chatbots) works, but a number of more formal resources are available online for you to check out. Ironically, AI chatbots themselves aren’t great at explaining how they work, so make sure you verify what they tell you with other sources.
Is Alexa or Siri an AI Chatbot?
We don’t consider Alexa or Siri AI chatbots. However, these virtual assistants continue to receive more and more AI functionality, so that might change. Apple has promised a ‘conversational Siri’ for a while now, which allegedly will turn Siri into something that more closely resembles a chatbot. Alexa+ seems promising, too.
How Can You Tell If Something Is AI-Generated?
The unfortunate answer here is that often, you simply cannot. Many online services attempt to analyze text to determine if it was generated by AI, but they are imperfect. Some quirks, such as a heavy reliance on em dashes, are hallmarks of AI generation, but just seeing an em dash isn’t enough to tell if something is AI-generated. In general, we recommend sticking with sources you trust to avoid AI-generated content. If you want to know if an image or a video is AI-generated, we have tips and tricks on spotting both fake images and videos.
Are AI Chatbots Censored?
Yes, every AI chatbot has some amount of censorship. This ranges significantly, though. For example, DeepSeek has some absolutely egregious censorship where it won’t talk about certain historical events, such as the Tiananmen Square massacre, to keep its responses in line with Chinese propaganda. Meanwhile, Grok is extremely permissive, allowing you to generate images and videos of real people.
Which AI Chatbot Allows Explicit Content?
Of all the chatbots on this list, Grok is the only one that truly allows explicit content. You can use Grok to generate NSFW images and videos, as well as have explicit relationships with its virtual companions, such as the anime character Ani. That said, Grok isn’t necessarily the best place on the internet for either AI companionship or porn, even though it’s the only full-service chatbot on this list to allow that. You might be better off looking for a dedicated AI service if you primarily want to generate explicit content.
Recommended by Our Editors
Can the Law Use AI Chats Against You?
Yes, courts can and will use your conversations with chatbots against you, so don’t act as if you’re anonymous. If you talk to a chatbot about committing a crime or admit to committing crimes, the law might compel AI companies to hand over your conversations. Even if you haven’t committed a crime but end up in a lawsuit, your conversations might come up.
How We Choose the Best AI Chatbots
We focus on full-service web-based chatbots, rather than those that you can run locally on your computer. The latter requires a fairly significant time investment and relatively powerful hardware. We also exclude single-use chatbots that specialize in a particular use case at the expense of most others, such as AI companions.
To test AI chatbots, we provide each with a series of prompts and compare their responses against one another, evaluating accuracy, consistency, complexity, and depth. Each chatbot is different, though, so we tailor our testing to the specific features it offers. That said, we generally evaluate their voice chat, web search, deep research, image generation, image editing, video generation, file processing, creative writing, complex reasoning, and integration abilities.
Of course, it’s impossible to fully vet the scope of an AI chatbot. One person might have a niche use case related to their work, while another might have zero use for that same functionality. It would require an army of experts in every field to fully evaluate these tools, and even then, what works well one day might not the next after an update. That said, we notice some clear differences in testing, and we routinely update our reviews as chatbots evolve. Keep in mind that our reviews are accurate as of their publication date.
While coding-related features are often a focus of AI chatbots, these features are outside the scope of our reviews, so they’re outside the scope of this list, too. If you’re looking for ways to leverage AI to help you code (or even code for you), you can test out a chatbot’s coding ability for yourself.
Disclosure: Ziff Davis, PCMag’s parent company, filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in April 2025, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.
