Poe cut its free tier in March 2026 to 300 points that don't accumulate, down from 3,000 a day. Paid plans start with Starter at $4.99/mo, but points cost different amounts per model, so it's hard to tell how far a plan will go.
Perplexity Pro ($20/mo) gives GPT and Claude models in one subscription without points maths. Genspark is the closest multi-model swap. If you mostly use one model, ChatGPT Go ($8/mo) has unlimited text chats with no points to track.
| App | Free tier | Paid from | Top plan | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poe | Yes | $4.99/mo | $249.99/mo | Power users who want to compare GPT, Claude, Gemini and niche bots without juggling separate subscriptions |
| Perplexity | Yes | $20/mo | $200/mo | Research with verifiable sources, fact-checking, exploring unfamiliar topics |
| Genspark | Yes | $24.99/mo | $249.99/mo | Freelancers and small teams who want one subscription to hand off slides, research, and image/video generation to AI |
| ChatGPT | Yes | $8/mo | $500/mo | Everyday writing, brainstorming, image generation, casual coding |
| DeepSeek | Yes | — | — | Math, logic, coding for users on a budget — or curious experimenters |
Monthly prices in US dollars before tax, from each vendor's official pricing (US list price; weekly-billed plans converted to a monthly figure). Updated November 2, 2026
Perplexity Pro includes GPT-5.6, Claude Sonnet 5 and Sonar 2 behind 300+ Pro searches a day, with unlimited file uploads and image generation.
Pick it if: you used Poe to switch between GPT and Claude and want a simple daily allowance.
Where it falls short: It's search-first, so it's less suited to open-ended creative chat.
Full Perplexity pricing →Genspark routes across 70+ models and adds agents for slides, docs and video. Free refreshes about 100 credits a day; Plus ($24.99/mo) includes 10,000 a month.
Pick it if: you want many models and would also use AI to produce files.
Where it falls short: Heavy tasks like video drain credits fast, and free chat on paid plans is a promotion through June 2027.
Full Genspark pricing →ChatGPT Go includes unlimited text chats, image generation, voice mode, memory and projects for less than most Poe tiers.
Pick it if: you found yourself using one model most of the time anyway.
Where it falls short: You get OpenAI's models only, with Go limited to GPT-6 Luna in chat.
Full ChatGPT pricing →DeepSeek's chat app is free with unlimited usage, chain-of-thought reasoning and no ads or paywalls, on web, iOS and Android.
Pick it if: Poe's 300 free points aren't enough and you don't want to pay.
Where it falls short: Hosted in China, which matters if data residency is a concern, and it's one model family only.
Full DeepSeek pricing →Poe makes sense when you really rotate between many models and niche bots. Check a month of history: if one or two models handle almost everything, a direct subscription to one of them avoids per-model point costs entirely. If you do switch often, compare Poe's Premium points against Perplexity Pro's daily search allowance for the models you use.
Yes, but the free tier now holds at most 300 points at a time with no rollover, down from 3,000 a day before March 2026.
Poe Premium ($19.99/mo) is worth it if you regularly use models from several companies. If you mostly use GPT, ChatGPT Plus ($20/mo) includes unlimited text chats, Deep Research and Codex without points.
How we choose: prices come from each vendor's official pricing page and are re-checked every week. We take no affiliate fees, so rankings aren't for sale.