Comparison matrix · By Adam Johnstone · Updated 2026-09-13
Not a feature checklist. These are the rows that actually decide the purchase — what you pay, which model class you get, what stops you, what happens to your data, and how long you have to change your mind. Every cell reflects what the vendor publishes as of 13 September 2026.
The matrix
Green means published and competitive. Amber means partial, approximate or third-party. Red means the vendor does not publish it, or publishes something that counts against them. Scroll sideways on narrow screens.
| Compare on | MultipleChat | ChatHub | Sider | TypingMind | Monica | Merlin | You.com |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Subscription | Subscription | Subscription | One-time licence | Subscription | Subscription | Metered per 1,000 calls |
| Entry paid price | $20/mo | $14.99/mo annual | Not published | $39 once | $9.90/mo (third-party) | ~$19/mo (conflicting) | $5 per 1k calls |
| Top consumer price | $90/mo | $24.99/mo annual | Not published | $99 once + API costs | $99.90/mo (third-party) | Not published | $1,200 per 1k calls |
| Price readable on vendor site | Yes | Yes | No — JS-rendered | Yes | No — none in page text | No — JS-rendered | Yes |
| Free tier | ~15 msgs/day, legacy models | Exists, undocumented | 30 credits/day | No saved chat history | 0 advanced credits | 102 queries/day | 100 queries/day |
| Model generation advertised | Current | Current | Current | Your keys — any | Current, sources disagree | Two generations behind | Not applicable |
| Model class disclosed | Gemini is Flash-class; others not stated | Basic vs Advanced tiers named | Named per model | You choose exactly | No | No | Not applicable |
| Usage cap unit | Messages/day (approximate) | Queries/month (exact) | Credits (allowance not published) | None — provider limits only | Credits (costs stale) | Queries (costs stale) | Calls (exact) |
| Caps published as numbers | Approximate only | Yes | Costs yes, allowance no | Not applicable | Partly | Only for retired models | Yes |
| Context window published | No | No | No | Set by your model | No | No | Not applicable |
| OCR on scanned documents | Yes | Not documented | Yes | Via your model | Image-only PDFs rejected | Yes | Not applicable |
| Exports finished files | DOCX, PPTX, XLSX, PDF | No | Not published | Artifacts and canvas | Not published | Not published | JSON / Markdown |
| Team plan | $25 and $95 per seat | None | Not published | $83–$249/mo, SSO and RBAC | Not launched | $15/seat, 5 min | Enterprise only |
| Written no-training commitment | Yes | Yes | No — reserves broad rights | Yes | Policy silent | Unclear | Not established |
| DPA available | Yes, GDPR Art. 28 | Not documented | Not documented | Yes | Not documented | Yes, on request | Not established |
| Data location stated | Azure Switzerland | Local browser storage | Not stated | Your own browser | Not stated | Not stated | Not established |
| Retention periods published | Full schedule | PDFs 24h | 99 years for account data | 90 days for inactive free | None | 30 days for content | Not established |
| Refund window | Effectively none | Not published | 7 days annual, if <500 credits | 14 days | Not published | 3 days | Not applicable |
| Platform | Web, desktop, Android | Web, extension, desktop, mobile | Extension, desktop, mobile, web | Web / PWA, self-host | Extension, desktop, mobile | Extension, web, mobile | API only |
| Browser extension | No | Yes | Chrome, Edge, Safari | No | Chrome, Edge | Chrome, Edge | No |
| Chrome install base | No extension | 200,000 | 5,000,000 | No extension | 3,000,000 | 900,000 | No extension |
| Independent review footprint | 26 Trustpilot at 3.3, 2 G2 | 12 G2 at 4.2 | 114,300 Chrome ratings at 4.9 | Active changelog, reviewed | Mixed, 3.2–4.4 across sites | 8,800 Chrome ratings at 4.8 | Enterprise press coverage |
| Last shipped (public) | Not published | Extension Aug 2026 | Sep 2026 | Sep 2026 | Extension Aug 2026 | One 2026 changelog entry | 2026 API launches |
Each column links to that tool’s full page, where every figure carries its source. “Not published” means exactly that — the vendor does not disclose it, and no figure has been substituted from a third party without being labelled.
What the table shows
Across all seven tools, not one states a context window for any tier. In a category whose entire pitch is access to large models, the single number that governs how much of your document the model can actually see is missing everywhere.
Sider and Merlin render pricing in JavaScript. Monica publishes no subscription price in page text anywhere, including on G2. A price you cannot read before signing up is a fact about the vendor, not just about the page.
Merlin’s CEO confirmed accounts were suspended above roughly $100 a month of usage. ChatHub’s Unlimited tier publishes no fair-use threshold. Assume a soft cap and find it during the refund window.
Six of seven give you text in a chat window. If your work ends in a .docx, .pptx or .xlsx, the comparison collapses to one row and the field collapses to one tool.
By job
| If you need to… | Start with | Why | Check first |
|---|---|---|---|
| Produce finished documents or decks | MultipleChat | The only tool here exporting .docx, .pptx and multi-sheet .xlsx | Gemini is Flash-class; message caps are approximate; refunds are effectively unavailable |
| Compare several models on one prompt | ChatHub | Six panes at once, and the clearest published caps in the category | The free tier is undocumented and there is no team plan |
| Work inside web pages all day | Sider | Largest install base, fastest 2026 release cadence, documented OCR | Prices are not readable, and the policy holds account data for 99 years |
| Keep costs low or data local | TypingMind | One-time licence, your own API keys, data in your own browser | Your API bill scales with context length, not message count |
| Get the widest feature surface | Monica | Agent, deep research, slides, PDF chat, translation in one extension | No published prices, no training clause, no team plans |
| Research with source-restricted modes | Merlin | Academic and Social focus modes genuinely change retrieval | Open the model picker first — the public site advertises nothing current |
| Build an agent that searches the web | You.com | Research API with citations, five effort tiers | It is no longer a consumer subscription at all |
Native plans
A bundle only saves money if it replaces two or more of these. Prices checked 13 September 2026.
| Provider | Entry | Mid | Top | The limit that matters |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | Go $8 | Plus $20 | Pro $100 / $200 | No fixed message cap published; Pro tiers are 5× and 20× Plus |
| Claude | Pro $20 ($17 annual) | Max $100 | Max $200 | 200k context on every tier; rolling 5-hour sessions plus weekly caps |
| Google Gemini | AI Plus $4.99 | AI Pro $19.99 | AI Ultra $99.99 / $199.99 | AI Pro is 4× free limits — and is Pro-class, not Flash |
| Microsoft Copilot | M365 Personal $9.99 | M365 Premium $19.99 | — | AI features are owner-only and cannot be shared with family members |
| Perplexity | Pro $20 | — | Max $200 / $2,000 yr | Max includes 10,000 credits/mo; one mega task can consume 2,400–9,800 |
No bundle reproduces native-only surfaces: Claude Code and Cowork, ChatGPT’s Codex and Sora, Copilot inside Word and Excel, or Perplexity’s Comet. Those are not exposed through the APIs bundles are built on, so a bundle supplements a native plan in those workflows rather than replacing it.
FAQ
ChatHub. It is the only tool here that publishes exact monthly figures for basic queries, advanced queries, image credits and document uploads on both paid tiers. Sider publishes detailed per-action credit costs but never states how many credits a plan includes. Merlin's cost table prices only retired models. MultipleChat's message counts are explicitly approximate.
Three of seven. Sider and Merlin render their pricing pages in JavaScript, so no figure appears in page text. Monica publishes no subscription price anywhere in page text, including on its G2 listing — every Monica price in circulation is third-party. This is unusual enough to be worth weighting in a buying decision.
No. Not one of the seven publishes a context window for any tier. TypingMind is the only partial exception, and only because you choose the model yourself and inherit its native window. For a category selling access to large models, this is a striking gap.
TypingMind structurally — chats and API keys stay in your browser and requests go directly to the provider, so the claim rests on architecture rather than policy. MultipleChat documents the most: a full retention schedule, Swiss hosting and a GDPR Article 28 DPA. Monica documents the least: no retention periods, no training clause, no DPA.
Only MultipleChat, which produces .docx, .pptx and multi-sheet .xlsx files directly. The browser assistants are built for reading and summarising rather than producing. If your output is a finished file rather than a chat transcript, this single row narrows the field to one.
TypingMind Teams from $83 a month for five seats, rising to $249 with SSO, RBAC and audit logs. MultipleChat at $25 and $95 per seat. Merlin Teams at $15 a seat with a five-seat minimum. ChatHub has none, and Monica confirms team plans have not launched.
Merlin at three days. Sider allows seven days on annual plans but only if fewer than 500 credits have been used. TypingMind gives fourteen. MultipleChat's terms state that creating an account before sending any message permanently waives refund rights. Check this before you buy, not after.