ChatGPT paved the way for many artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots tailored to various uses, from data crunching to creative writing.
Leveraging such tools can boost your productivity and reduce mundane work, letting you scale content production and expand your workflow without hefty investments.
If you're in the market for a ChatGPT alternative that can make this happen, this guide will help by reviewing some of the most useful AI tools worth checking out. You'll learn how each of them can streamline different tasks and sharpen your competitive edge.
Why ChatGPT alternatives?
Before diving into the best ChatGPT alternatives, it's worth explaining why you need one in the first place. Despite the platform's free version and numerous capabilities, it suffers from a few notable drawbacks.
The first one is downtime.
ChatGPT amassed a large user base in a short timeframe, so it's often overwhelmed during peak hours. When this happens, you'll get a message saying the platform is at capacity.
This is pretty frustrating and inconvenient because it can throttle your research or content creation process and damage your efficiency.
Besides, ChatGPT's free plan might not be capable enough for advanced users.
It's built on GPT-3.5, as opposed to the far more advanced AI model you can access with a paid subscription, GPT-4.
The response time is also longer with the free plan, and you don't get access to useful plugins available with ChatGPT Plus.
While $20/month for an AI tool might not seem like much, it doesn't fit everyone's budget.
That's why our list will include some free ChatGPT alternatives alongside paid ones that offer better value for money thanks to some handy features.
13 ChatGPT alternatives to check out
Whether you need to climb search engine results pages (SERPs), whip up social media posts, speed up your research, or even create code more effortlessly, there's a ChatGPT alternative for you—here are some of the best ones:
Surfer AI—Best for SEO
Surfer AI is an alternative to ChatGPT if you're looking to create long form SEO content at the click of a button. Unlike ChatGPT which has a word limit, Surfer can help you create articles over 3000 words without multiple prompts.
A ChatGPT alternative like Surfer AI removes manual work from the most time-consuming content tasks—writing articles and search engine optimization (SEO).
While there are other ChatGPT substitutes for long-form content, Surfer AI analyzes the top-performing pages for your target keyword to draw information from and uses it to write articles. This way, your content is based on websites that are already ranking for your target search term,
You don't need any technical knowledge or SEO expertise to use Surfer AI.
Unlike other ChatGPT alternatives, you are not restricted by word count.
And you are not required to provide multiple prompts after every generation.
Enter your target keyword and preferred tone of voice to generate optimized content that is ready to rank in search engines, in about 20 minutes.
The AI writing tool also includes related keywords, determines optimal word count, and implements on-page SEO best practices to improve your chances of ranking.
Here's an example of an article I wrote with Surfer AI on "personal finance rules" in about 20 minutes.
Since content generated with ChatGPT can be detected as AI content, you can use Surfer's anti AI detection feature to write articles that will pass off as human written by AI chatbot detectors.
Thanks to advanced natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML), you'll get human-like content in no time.
Surfer AI uses GPT-4 32k, the same AI model ChatGPT's premium version is built on.
If you're worried about Google punishing you for using AI content, don't be.
The search engine giant cares about the quality and relevance of your content, not how it's created. If you need proof, here's what Google's Danny Sullivan has to say on the topic.
Surfer AI lets you create SEO-friendly content for a fraction of the price you'd pay an average writer and SEO specialist.
With all those time and cost reductions, Surfer AI is a great substitute for ChatGPT.
Google Bard—Best for Google integration
Google Bard, the search engine giant's response to ChatGPT, is a user-friendly AI chatbot best suited for those who use Google's existing ecosystem of products.
Even though it had a rocky start after providing inaccurate information during the demonstration, it's evolving into a useful tool.
One of the standout features of Google Bard is its ability to show you different drafts before finalizing responses, offering insights into its thought process.
This can help you understand how the tool's language model works, which is a welcome feature.
Performance-wise, Google Bard is comparable to ChatGPT. You get quick, coherent responses, so the tool can be used for content drafts and research.
The platform also shows you Google searches related to your prompt, which is to be expected because Google still wants users to rely on its search engine.
As mentioned, Bard works seamlessly with Google's other apps and services, such as the Workspace suite, Maps, and Flights.
If these platforms are already a part of your workflow or daily routine, Google's AI chatbot can be a handy addition.
Google Bard is free to use, which is surely a notable advantage. If you have a Google account, you can test it out to see if it's good enough for your needs.
Note that it's still advertised as an experimental conversational AI service, so you should be careful about potential inaccuracies.
Microsoft Bing Chat—Best for Edge/Bing users
Also referred to as Bing AI, Microsoft's Bing Chat is the company's innovative solution for expanding the functionality of the Edge browser and Bing search engine.
It's available in the browser's sidebar, allowing users to ask complex questions and receive comprehensive answers without toggling between tabs.
This makes it a great option for effective research, as you can verify any claims instantly.
Bing Chat also gives you the resources it used to generate the answer, which further contributes to its reliability.
You can scour the web for specific information more quickly and conveniently.
As for the technicalities, the platform also uses the GPT-4 language model, which makes it an excellent AI tool if you don't want to lose ChatGPT's advanced generative capabilities.
Bing Chat is free to use and accessible from both the desktop and mobile versions of the Edge browser.
It's set to receive handy updates that will enable it to summarize different types of documents, including PDFs and Word docs, and users will soon be able to ask Bing Chat to send an email via Outlook.
Jasper AI—Best for branding
Jasper AI is a versatile ChatGPT alternative focused on content creation.
It's a full-on platform rather than a chatbot and can be particularly useful for marketing teams.
You can train Jasper AI on your style guide, product catalogs, company facts, and brand identity swiftly.
It can scan websites to learn and adapt to different brand styles, ensuring the content it creates stays on tone.
This is one of the platform's main selling points, as it helps you achieve brand consistency across different content campaigns.
Jasper AI uses several AI models, including the best-known ones like GPT-4 and Anthropic.
Still, a potential drawback is that the platform automatically selects the specific language model it will use for the given project, which may not necessarily be GPT-4.
While this shouldn't be an issue in many cases, there have been complaints about Jasper AI not being the best option for long-form content that requires depth.
Starting at $49/month ($39 per month with annual billing), Jasper AI offers decent value for money, especially if you have a larger team. You also get a 7-day free trial to test the platform and see if it's worth the investment.
Semrush AI Writing Assistant—Best for multi-language content
Not to be confused with the Semrush SEO Writing Assistant (SWA), AI Writing Assistant is a collection of over 75 AI-powered tools for different content types. It has a few notable features, such as:
- 28 languages
- Plagiarism detection
- Tone adjustments
- Audience settings
- Creativity adjustments
The platform is straightforward enough for an average user or even beginners.
Choose the content type you want to create, fill out a form-based prompt to set parameters like the language and tone, and the tool will give you a draft in minutes.
AI Writing Assistant comes with a freemium pricing model, as you get 1,500 free credits before having to subscribe to the paid plan.
Each free credit equals one word of AI-generated content, and you can unlock unlimited words for $25/month once you run out.
Claude—Best for high-end business users
Developed by Anthropic, Claude is a capable AI assistant that can perform various tasks, such as:
- Engaging in dialogue
- Writing content
- Automating basic tasks like document formatting
This is a solid ChatGPT alternative for business users, particularly because Claude advertises security as one of its main selling points.
It implements various industry-standard security protocols and claims the model isn't trained on your data, which ensures privacy.
As Claude is more than an AI chatbot, you can integrate it into different workflows to streamline them and boost your productivity.
Still, it may not be for everyone's pocket.
The pricing structure is pretty confusing for non-technical users, as it differentiates between prompt and completion pricing based on the context window (which reflects a language model's ability to understand input and create contextual responses).
To simplify, you have two options, which Claude refers to as "model families:"
- Claude Instant
- Claude 2
Each option uses different language models suitable for specific uses.
Claude Instant is best for simple dialogue and text generation, while Claude 2 can handle more complex tasks like giving code suggestions and engaging in thoughtful dialogue.
Both model families have a context window of 100k tokens, compared to the 32k you get with GPT-4. This makes them more capable but also significantly more expensive:
- Claude Instant—Prompt: $1.63/million tokens; Completion: $5.51/million tokens
- Claude 2—Prompt: $11.02/million tokens; Completion: $32.68/million tokens
You're basically paying for the number of tokens involved in each prompt and response, and you'd have to do some complex math to figure out the total cost based on your needs.
You can use this calculator to simplify the process, though.
Chatsonic—Best for versatile content creation
Chatsonic is a generative AI conversation assistant developed by Writesonic.
It openly advertises itself as a ChatGPT alternative, promising more advanced features than the popular tool, such as:
- Google search integration
- Image generation
- Collaboration features
Another notable feature is the file chat support, which lets you upload PDFs, videos, and other files that Chatsonic will process and generate a response around.
This makes it easy to summarize complex documents or pull the main points from videos without having to watch them.
Chatsonic also offers an extensive prompt library, which makes it easier to use if you're new to AI tools.
It's structured as a simple conversational AI platform, so there's no steep learning curve.
You can add Chatsonic to different browsers, leverage its mobile app, or use the API to integrate it into other tools.
The platform is free to use for up to 10,000 words, after which you'll need to pay $16 per month.
You can also request the demo version of the Writesonic suite tailored to business use to see if it fits your workflow.
YouChat—Best for privacy
YouChat is a part of the You.com suite of AI-powered apps.
It's a search assistant serving similar purposes as ChatGPT, though it offers enhanced privacy that security-conscious users will appreciate.
The platform lets you conduct real-time conversations without storing your personal data, and it scrambles your IP address to keep your prompts and responses private.
By contrast, OpenAI's GPT language generation model gathers large amounts of data, which not everyone is comfortable with.
There's not much difference between YouChat and ChatGPT besides the above.
You get a clean interface similar to ChatGPT's alongside an option to either use the GPT-3.5 language model for free or GPT-4 with the paid version.
As of this writing, YouChat is running a discount on the YouPro plan, which currently comes at $9.99/month, regardless of whether you choose monthly or annual billing.
If you upgrade, you'll get better uptime and unlimited searches, image generations, and writing generations.
You'll also get access to Stable Diffusion XL, an advanced AI model that creates photorealistic images quickly.
Perplexity AI—Best for research
Even though it's been around for just over a year, Perplexity has gained lots of traction in the AI space.
It's a ChatGPT alternative focused specifically on search, promising to provide accurate, up-to-date information using real-time web searches.
The platform was founded by a team of experts who'd previously worked on the development of large language models at Google AI.
It's powered by several LLMs, including OpenAI’s GPT technology, so it can understand the context of questions and fetch relevant answers from a plethora of sources, which are cited in the response.
Perplexity is easy to use and accessible through browsers and a dedicated iPhone app.
It offers a free plan suitable for basic research, with the more capable models like Claude 2 and GPT-4 being available with the paid tier.
For $20/month or $200/year, you can ask over 300 daily questions that will be answered using the advanced language models.
You can also upload unlimited files for Perplexity to use as resources, which makes it easy to find specific information in large documents.
The paid plan comes with a 7-day free trial, so you can test it out to see if the platform lives up to the advertised benefits.
Character AI—Best for entertainment
If you're looking for alternatives to ChatGPT that put a fun twist on AI conversations, Character AI can be an excellent option. As the name implies, it lets you create AI characters and chat with them as you would with a real person.
The available AI personalities range from historical figures like Napoleon to fictional characters like Super Mario and Batman.
Besides chatting with individual characters, you can set up multi-bot conversations and talk to a group of AI personas.
While the chats you'll have will undoubtedly be fun, they shouldn't be taken seriously.
As soon as you enter the platform, you'll see a disclaimer stating that everything AI characters say is made up and may be inaccurate or even offensive.
With this in mind, it's clear that Character AI should be used for some lighthearted fun instead of actual research.
It may also not create content you can use for any purpose other than entertainment.
The platform is free to use, though there is a paid plan that comes at $9.99/month.
It offers better response times and early access to new features, so it might be worth the commitment if you end up enjoying it.
Elicit—Best for data extraction and summarization
Elicit is an AI-powered assistant focused on extracting and summarizing data from research papers.
Its main selling point is the ability to browse an extensive database of 200 million papers to find the specific information the user is looking for.
You can also upload local PDFs to get a quick summary of the paper's findings alongside one-sentence abstract summaries.
This makes the tool particularly useful for college students, researchers, and academics who want to speed up their research process.
Another notable feature is Elicit's ability to extract specific data and structure it in a table, giving you a clear, comprehensive overview.
The platform warns about AI hallucinations, which can be particularly dangerous in scientific research.
That's why it makes sure to only browse existing papers and cite the source so that users can verify the answers.
Elicit gives you 5,000 free credits, after which you can use the pay-as-you-go pricing model to buy 1,000 credits for $1. There's also the Enterprise tier aimed at organizations, with pricing available upon inquiry.
Learnt.ai—Best for education
Learnt.ai is a platform that leverages AI language models to assist education professionals in content creation.
Users can create lesson plans, homework assignments, and various other types of educational content tailored to students of different levels.
The platform offers a straightforward three-step process: users select a tool, input a prompt, and then generate AI-crafted content, which can be easily integrated into their educational projects.
Learn.ai relies on the GPT language model and provides a familiar prompt-based workflow.
It advertises itself as an augmentative tool aimed at fostering creativity rather than replacing educator's tasks, so it can be a valuable addition to a standard curriculum.
The tool is free to use and gives you access to 10 AI tools designed for different tasks.
To unlock over 50 tools and additional features, you can choose between two plans:
- Essentials—$9/month ($7/month with annual billing)
- Professional—$99/month ($79/month with annual billing)
GitHub Copilot—Best for coding
GitHub Copilot is an AI-driven tool designed to work alongside developers, acting as their AI pair programmer.
It's widely adopted among developers and has generated billions of lines of code in different programming languages.
Some of the tool's main features include:
- Turning natural language prompts into code
- Multi-line function suggestions
- Filtering out common vulnerable coding patterns
You can also use the Copilot Chat beta, an experimental AI conversational service that gives you a chat interface for interacting with Copilot more easily.
This feature is currently available with the Copilot for Business tier, which comes at $19/month per user.
There's also an individual plan for $10/month or $100/year. You can use the free trial to see Copilot in action and see if it can genuinely improve your coding workflow.
Conclusion
Now that you've seen various alternatives to ChatGPT suitable for different uses, it's time to announce the winner. If you want the most well-rounded tool that not only creates human-like content but also ranks it well in Google search, Surfer AI is a no-brainer.
A growing number of businesses that have achieved astonishing results after using our SEO tools are a good indicator of Surfer's ranking capabilities.
