Merlin AI Pro Too Pricey? Lower-Cost Alternatives
Merlin bundles many AI models, but Pro still has usage caps. These alternatives cost less or do one job better.
Updated
Merlin AI (by Foyer) is a browser assistant that bundles 10+ AI models from ChatGPT, Claude, DeepSeek and others into one extension and app. You can chat, research, write and summarize on any tab. It’s a good product, but two things send people looking for an alternative: price and limits.
As of October 2026, Merlin’s pricing page lists Pro at $19/month billed annually ($228/year). Pro gives unlimited use of basic models, but the more capable “Plus-level” models are capped under a fair-use policy, and Merlin’s own FAQ answers “Is this plan unlimited?” with “No”. Each request also costs a different number of queries depending on the model, which makes usage hard to predict.
If you mostly use one part of Merlin, one of these tools may suit you better:
- Same idea, lower price: Monica, Sider or Voila
- Research with sources: Perplexity
- Automating browser tasks: HARPA AI
- Quick replies and translation: MaxAI
- Summarizing videos, podcasts and articles: TubeOnAI
Merlin AI alternatives compared
Prices are from each tool’s official pricing page, in US dollars, as of October 2026.
| Tool | Best for | Free plan | Cheapest paid plan | AI models |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Merlin AI (for reference) | Many models in one extension | Limited | Pro, $19/mo billed annually | 10+ models (ChatGPT, Claude, DeepSeek and more) |
| Monica | All-in-one multi-model assistant | 40 basic uses/day | Pro, $99/yr (about $8.30/mo) | GPT, Claude, Gemini and others |
| Sider | Multi-model sidebar with agent features | Limited free tier | Nano, $10/mo | Several models |
| Voila | Simple writing and research help | 250 free requests | Premium, $10/mo ($8/mo billed annually) | OpenAI only |
| Perplexity | Research with citations | Yes | Pro, $20/mo ($17/mo billed annually) | 15+ models |
| HARPA AI | Browser automation | 10 messages/day | S1, $12/mo | ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, DeepSeek, or your own API key |
| MaxAI | Replies and translation on any site | Daily-limited | Pro, $20/mo | Several models |
| TubeOnAI | Video, podcast and article summaries | Yes (400 credits) | Essential, $9/mo | Several models (GPT-5 family, DeepSeek, Grok) |
Monica
Monica is the most direct Merlin replacement: a multi-model assistant with GPT, Claude and Gemini in a sidebar for Chrome, Edge and Safari, plus apps for iOS, Android, Mac and Windows. It adds Deep Research, slide creation, an image studio and a side-by-side comparison of answers from different models.
It is cheaper on annual billing (Pro is $99/year), but it also counts usage: Pro includes 5,000 basic and 200 advanced model queries a month, and some features use separate credits. We cover its limits in our Monica AI alternatives guide.
Choose it if: you want Merlin’s multi-model approach for less money per year.
Sider
Sider is another multi-model browser sidebar, with a browser agent (Sider Hand), group chat with several models at once, and Deep Research. Since June 2026 its plans deduct credits based on the actual tokens each request uses. Plans start at Nano, $10/month for 7,500 credits. See also our Sider AI alternatives.
Choose it if: you want a low monthly entry price and agent features.
Voila
Voila offers an easy-to-use alternative to Merlin by focusing on simplicity. Where Merlin connects you with many AI models, such as GPT, Claude and DeepSeek, Voila uses OpenAI models only (GPT-5.6, then GPT-5 mini after a fair-use allowance), or your own OpenAI API key.
It works in your browser and on desktop and mobile (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari, iOS, Android, macOS and Windows), so you can write, summarize and research right where you are. Its prompt library helps you quickly draft emails, blog posts and social media updates, and you can chat with websites, documents and images.
The free plan includes 250 requests. Premium is $10/month ($8/month billed annually) with 3,000 requests a month, and Ultimate is $20/month with unlimited requests. For a closer look, see TubeOnAI vs. Voila.
Choose it if: you don’t need model choice and want a simple assistant with a clear request allowance.
Perplexity
If you use Merlin mainly to research the web, Perplexity is the specialist. It answers questions with citations to its sources, offers Deep Research, and lets you choose from 15+ frontier models. Its Comet browser is free and runs on Mac, Windows, iOS and Android.
The free plan includes unlimited basic searches with limited Pro searches. Pro costs $20/month, or $17/month billed annually.
Choose it if: you care more about sourced answers than about writing tools on every website.
Harpa AI
Harpa AI is a good alternative to Merlin if you want automation, not just chat. It is an AI sidebar with ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and DeepSeek, and you can bring your own API key. With 100+ commands, you can summarize webpages, PDFs and YouTube videos, monitor pages and prices, and schedule repeating web tasks.
The free “Demo” plan allows 10 messages a day. S1 is $12/month, S2 is $19/month, and there is a one-time lifetime option. It runs on Chrome, Edge, Brave, Opera and Firefox on desktop. Read our TubeOnAI vs. HARPA AI comparison for more on how it handles summaries.
Choose it if: you’re a marketer, researcher or analyst who wants to automate repetitive browsing.
MaxAI
MaxAI focuses on helping you read and write faster on the sites you already use. It drafts instant replies in Gmail, Outlook, LinkedIn, WhatsApp and Slack, translates pages bilingually in one click, and lets you chat with PDFs, YouTube videos and screenshots. The free plan has daily-limited fast responses; Pro is $20/month and Elite is $19/month billed yearly. It works in Chrome, Edge and on the web.
Choose it if: most of your Merlin use is replying to messages and translating.
TubeOnAI
TubeOnAI is an alternative to Merlin’s summarization feature specifically. It summarizes YouTube and other public video and audio links, podcasts, web articles, PDFs, and Google Docs, Slides and Drive files, including long videos and YouTube videos without a transcript. Its Chrome extension lets you summarize without switching tools.
Beyond summaries, it helps you repurpose content: turn a video into a blog post, X thread, newsletter or LinkedIn post using 150+ templates, ask follow-up questions in Magic Chat, or listen to a summary as audio. It’s not a general writing sidebar for every website, so it complements a chat assistant rather than fully replacing Merlin.
Pricing: free Starter plan (400 credits); Essential $9/month, Pro $19/month; 7-day free trial on paid plans.
Choose it if: you mostly use Merlin to get through long videos, podcasts and articles, or to create content from them.
Which Merlin alternative should you choose?
- Keep multi-model chat but pay less per year: Monica.
- Lowest monthly entry price for a multi-model sidebar: Sider (Nano, $10/month).
- Simple, predictable request allowance: Voila.
- Research with sources: Perplexity.
- Browser automation or your own API key: HARPA AI.
- Replies and translation: MaxAI.
- Summarizing and repurposing videos and podcasts: TubeOnAI.
If you rely on Merlin’s Projects (custom bots trained on your Drive or Notion files) and use several premium models daily, staying on Merlin may still be the best value; check how close you get to its fair-use limits first.
