The best AI chatbots you can use in 2024

Platforms: Web, Android, iOS

Gemini is one of the nicest AI chatbots you can use today. Released in early 2024, Gemini is an evolution of the Google Bard AI chatbot that promises better and more relevant responses, multimodal capabilities and a gateway to access the Gemini Advanced AI model. 

For all those accustomed to Bard, Google Gemini Pro will continue to serve the same way as before. You can have a casual conversation about any topic, ask it to help you with an email body, summarise a web page, suggest a social media caption and even help with brainstorming on widely known topics. 

The Gemini Advanced variant brings the ability to do reasoning, write complex coding, generate images, roleplay as a character and more. Google says that expanded multimodal capabilities, more interactive coding features and deeper data analysis are coming to this tier soon. To avail of the benefits though, you need to subscribe to the Google One AI Premium Plan which costs INR 1,950 per month. 

Gemini is available on Android as a separate chatbot app that can take over some functions from Google Assistant. On iOS, you will be able to access Gemini from the native Google Search app. Gemini is also available on the web for everyone with a Google account. 

(Image Credits: Google)

Platforms: Web, iOS and Android

OpenAI’s ChatGPT has been around for a while and despite increased competition from Google, Meta and many big players in the industry, it is still considered among the best AI chatbots you can use. 

ChatGPT is available for free to everyone across the world but with obvious caveats. Being free, you only get access to the dated GPT-3.5 model with a knowledge cut-off date of January 2024. The free model mostly deals with simpler text-based interactions. You can ask questions, seek help in writing documents, translate from other languages, help with code snippets and provide general advice. 

With ChatGPT Plus subscription, you get access to GPT-4’s advanced AI processing as well as multimodal capabilities. The plan also gives access to DALL.E 3 image generation bot, browsing, advanced data analysis and more. The plan costs USD 20 per month (approximately INR 1,700 per month).

You can access ChatGPT via the iOS and Android apps on mobile. Additionally, you can also log in to the web version from your PC. 

(Image Credits: OpenAI)

Platforms: iOS, Android, Windows and Web

Microsoft doesn’t have its own AI model but ever since the seeds for AI chatbots were laid by OpenAI, Satya Nadella and his team have been eager to put the latest version of GPT on their Windows and Microsoft 365 products. Thanks to that early move, Microsoft’s offering in this segment is the most well-sorted and productive. 

After the early experimentations with Bing Chat, Microsoft collated all of its AI chatbot efforts into Copilot, a one-stop shop for all your generative AI needs. The standard free plan offers access to GPT-4 and GPT-4 for free during non-peak hours, which means you can enjoy the luxuries of multimodal inputs, image generation with 15 free boosts, webpage summarising, use plug-ins and choose from GPTs. You can even choose the conversation style to be more precise or biased towards creativity.

For INR 2,000 per month, you can subscribe to Copilot Pro and gain priority access to GPT-4 and GPT-4 Turbo even during peak hours. Additionally, the Copilot is enabled in some of the Microsoft 365 apps to draft documents, summarise emails, create presentations and more. You also get 100 boosts for image generation daily. 

The Microsoft Copilot is embedded into Windows 11 PCs, relying on the Edge browser to show search results. Android and iOS users get a dedicated app to avail the services on mobile devices. There’s also a web version available for free and paid users. 

(Image Credits: Microsoft)

Platforms: X 

Despite being in its early stages of development, xAI’s Grok has certain greater advantages that none of its evolved rivals can offer. While ChatGPT Plus and Gemini Advanced are fluent with their multimodal capabilities, Grok marches ahead with a vastly superior knowledge bank that nobody promises. X (erstwhile Twitter) is where most of the world’s news reaches first, complete with expert opinions and a generic public view. For an AI chatbot, this is gold. 

Hence, whether you have concerns about Taylor Swift’s dating history or the latest developments on GTA 6, Grok will have an answer that’s likely to be reliable and useful. Grok’s engineers also designed it to be clever and humorous, two traits openly advertised by Elon Musk a few months ago. 

In the future, Grok will also be able to generate images like DALL.E 3 and Midjoruney, other than growing up to be wittier. 

For accessing Grok, you need to have an account on X and subscribe to the X Premium+ which tags along a price of INR 1,300 per month, or INR 13,600 per annum. That’s more affordable than any other premium AI chatbot service today and you also get several perks on X. 

(Image Credits: X)

Platforms: Web

Claude is a highly promising AI chatbot that has the potential to give ChatGPT and Google Gemini nightmares. While it has yet to get multimodal capabilities, Claude intends to be more human in its approach to answering queries and providing solutions. In its own words, Claude has been designed by Anthropic to be helpful, harmless and honest. 

Out of the box, Claude can answer most general knowledge questions by searching the internet, having discussions on open-ended topics and recalling facts from earlier in the conversation. However, where the chatbot shines is in its ability to provide different perspectives on a topic, clarify a confusing question, admit mistakes and humbly look for correct responses. It can even reject inappropriate requests politely. 

In essence, Claude is anti-Grok. 

The free plan limits the number of queries and increases waiting periods during high loads. For USD 20 per month (approximately INR 1,700), you get access to faster speeds during peak hours, get early access to new features and level up your Claude usage. 

(Image Credits: Anthropic)