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Leiolai Guides 5 min read

Best Free AI Plans in 2026: 8 Chatbots Compared

Claude keeps Fable and Opus behind a subscription. Gemini reserves Deep Think for Google AI Ultra. Leiolai’s Free plan includes our most capable model and highest thinking depth, with an earned path to Silicon.

Editorial rendering of a graphite keyboard with a central $0 key, illustrating free AI chatbots.
Original editorial illustration.

Find a free chatbot

  1. LeiolaiLeiolai 1, Plus Ultra thinking, and Silicon
  2. ChatGPTEveryday chat and web search
  3. ClaudeSonnet and Haiku with Artifacts
  4. GeminiFlash and Pro with Canvas
  5. PerplexityWeb answers with citations
  6. GrokLive web and X search, plus voice
  7. Meta AIChat inside WhatsApp and Instagram
  8. CopilotStandalone Microsoft chat and search

Leiolai Free

Leiolai offers a free plan with access to Leiolai 1, our most capable model, and Plus Ultra, our highest thinking depth. Leveling up your chip system to Silicon unlocks our highest tier of intelligence at no added cost to you.

Leiolai 1 runs inference across iPhones, iPads, Macs, Android devices, and PCs. You can earn with Leiolai by contributing computation from the app, then use those earnings to ask questions without a monthly subscription. The Leiolai app is free and no card is required.

Can you reach Silicon on Leiolai Free?

Yes. Your chip system starts at Copper and levels up through Silver, Gold, Diamond, Jade, Amethyst, and Ruby to Silicon. Contributing computation, saving water, and moving up the leaderboard help you progress.

The chip system: Copper to Silicon
  1. Copper
  2. Silver
  3. Gold
  4. Diamond
  5. Jade
  6. Amethyst
  7. Ruby
  8. Silicon

Every rank is reachable on Free. No subscription is required.

Higher ranks give you higher levels of intelligence and increase your earning bonus. Silicon is the highest rank, not a paid membership. A Free user can reach Silicon and select Plus Ultra thinking without changing their subscription.

Paid plans increase usage limits and add earning bonuses.

Leiolai 1
11MToken context windowUp to 11 million tokens · Experimental
∞Continuous generationNo fixed response output limit · Experimental

Leiolai 1 has an experimental context window of up to 11 million tokens. In experimental continuous generation, there is no fixed response output limit.

ChatGPT Free: chat and search, but not GPT-6 Astra in Work

Use ChatGPT to ask questions, draft text, and search the web for current information. A Free account also includes limited ChatGPT Work and Codex access, with GPT-6 Luna at Standard speed in the desktop app as the rollout reaches accounts.

GPT-6 Astra requires a paid plan in Work and Codex. Luna is included on Free; OpenAI’s most powerful model is not. Work and Codex share the same free-plan usage allowance.

Claude Free: Sonnet and Haiku, but no Fable or Opus

Claude Free includes Sonnet and Haiku with web search and file creation. Artifacts let you edit documents and build interactive apps alongside your chat.

Fable 5.1 is not included on Free, and neither is Opus 5.5. Claude’s most capable models require a paid plan. The free session limit resets every five hours, with message allowances that vary with demand.

Gemini Free: Pro is included, Deep Think is not

Gemini’s free tier includes Gemini 3 Flash-Lite, Flash, and Pro. Canvas, Gems, and Deep Research are available without a Google AI subscription. The free app has a 32,000-token context window; Google AI Plus raises it to 128,000, and Pro and Ultra raise it to one million.

Deep Think is exclusive to Google AI Ultra. Free users can select Pro, but cannot use Google’s deepest thinking mode. Gemini’s free compute allowance refreshes every five hours and also has a weekly limit.

Included free usage
Claude5-hour session reset
Gemini5-hour reset + weekly limit
Perplexity3 Pro Searches per day

Perplexity Standard: search without advanced model selection

Perplexity Standard includes basic searches with citations and limited file uploads. Its basic-search allowance is practically unlimited. You also get three Pro Searches a day and one Research query a month.

Advanced model selection requires a paid plan. The three included Pro Searches do not give you access to Perplexity’s advanced model selector.

Grok Free and the SuperGrok upgrades

Grok Free includes real-time web and X search, voice mode, and connectors. Live X search makes Grok worth trying for conversations and posts on X.

SuperGrok adds frontier-model access, including Grok 4.6, and Expert. SuperGrok Plus increases usage further and adds priority access. Grok’s free search and voice offering is not the same as its full paid package.

Meta AI: free chat in WhatsApp and Instagram

Meta AI’s everyday experience remains free, including chat in Meta’s social apps. It does not require a Meta One subscription.

Meta One Core and Premium expand image and video generation and other in-app features. Free everyday chat does not include those higher allowances.

Copilot Free: reasoning is included, paid priority is not

Microsoft Copilot is free as a standalone app. Think Deeper is available without a subscription, and Microsoft says its use is not limited. Smart mode is also available to all users.

Microsoft 365 Personal, Family, and Premium subscribers get priority when Think Deeper capacity is limited. Copilot inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook is a separate benefit of eligible Microsoft 365 subscriptions. The paid distinction here is priority and Office integration, not access to Think Deeper itself.

Does a free chatbot include free API access?

A free chat account is separate from API access. If you’re building an app, compare the cheapest AI API rates in 2026. For higher chat allowances, see what an AI subscription gets you in 2026.

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