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Merlin AI vs Poe

Two fact sheets from our own research, side by side — pricing, platforms, API access and status re-checked by us rather than quoted from the vendors.

The short answer

Free plan
Both have one
Public API
Poe has one; not confirmed by us for Merlin AI
Best fit
Merlin AI: People who compare answers across frontier models before trusting one · Poe: People who want several vendors' models under one login and one bill
Platforms
Merlin AI: Web, Chrome extension, iOS, Android · Poe: Web, iOS, Android, macOS, Windows
Trust score
About even — Merlin AI 90, Poe 90

From our own records as of each tool's last check. Anything we have not confirmed is left out rather than guessed. How we verify

Merlin AIBrowser sidebar running many chat models on any pagePoeOne subscription across many third-party models

Side by side

FactMerlin AIPoe
CategoryBrowser Extensions & CopilotsMulti-model Chat Aggregators
Pricing modelFreemiumFreemium
Public APINot confirmedYes
Trust score90 / 10090 / 100
PlatformsWeb, Chrome extension, iOS, AndroidWeb, iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, API
CompanyFoyer Tech Inc.Quora
Launched2022—
Last verifiedSep 6, 2026Sep 6, 2026

What our research says

Merlin AI

Buy it if you genuinely rotate between GPT, Claude and Gemini and resent paying three subscriptions — the aggregation is the whole value. If you live inside one model, its native app is faster, cheaper and gets features first.

Pros

  • One subscription reaches a dozen-plus frontier and open models
  • Extension surfaces the assistant directly on Gmail, YouTube, Google and LinkedIn
  • Mobile apps sync history, so the browser session continues off desktop
  • Real free tier for evaluating before paying

Cons

  • 'Unlimited' paid plans are governed by an opaque fair-use credit budget users hit without warning
  • Extension is desktop-Chromium only; mobile browsers get a reduced web app
  • Feature parity with each underlying model's own app is never complete
  • No developer API

Poe

Poe makes sense if you want to compare frontier models side by side without paying each vendor, and the custom-bot layer is a cheap way to publish a prompt as a product. The catch is the points meter: one subscription buys wildly different quantities of use depending on which bot you pick, and per-bot costs are Poe's to change, so the plan you buy is not necessarily the plan you keep.

Pros

  • One subscription spans models from several vendors plus image and video generators
  • Custom bots can be built from a prompt and shared or monetised
  • Apps on web, iOS, Android, Mac and Windows
  • A creator API exists for developers

Cons

  • Points pricing makes real capacity hard to predict across models
  • Per-bot point costs and allowances are set by Poe and change over time
  • The home page blocks automated access and the subscription page shows regional prices, so USD figures could not be confirmed from the vendor
  • No team or enterprise tier is visible

Which one fits

Choose Merlin AI if you need

  • People who compare answers across frontier models before trusting one
  • Heavy in-browser workflows: summarising videos, articles and inbox threads in place
  • Users who want one bill instead of separate OpenAI, Anthropic and Google subscriptions

Choose Poe if you need

  • People who want several vendors' models under one login and one bill
  • Creators publishing custom bots without hosting anything
  • Comparing model answers side by side before committing to one vendor

Merlin AI vs Poe: the questions people ask

Does Merlin AI or Poe have a free tier?

Both: Merlin AI has a free tier, and Poe has a free tier.

Which has a public API, Merlin AI or Poe?

Poe ships a public API, as of our last verification. A public API for Merlin AI is not confirmed by us — check its developer docs before you plan an integration.

More comparisons

All Merlin AI alternatives →All Poe alternatives →Browse all Browser Extensions & Copilots →