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Monica vs Sider

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. Sider publishes a starting price ($10); Monica does not. Both have a free tier. Only Monica ships a public API.

MonicaMulti-model AI assistant living in a browser sidebarSiderBrowser sidebar that puts GPT, Claude, Gemini, and other models next to any page you're reading.

Side by side

FactMonicaSider
CategoryBrowser Extensions & CopilotsBrowser Extensions & Copilots
Pricing modelFreemiumFreemium
Starts at—$10 month
Public APIYesNo
PlatformsWeb, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, API, Chrome ExtWeb, Chrome Ext, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android
CompanyButterfly Effect Pte. Ltd.Sider
Launched2023—
Last verifiedSep 6, 2026Sep 1, 2026

What our research says

Monica

Worth it if you want one subscription that reaches GPT, Claude and Gemini from wherever you already are; pointless if you live inside a single vendor's app and are happy there. The value is the sidebar and the model switching, not the intelligence, which is all rented.

Pros

  • Genuinely wide model roster, including image and video models, under one credit pool
  • Extension plus desktop plus iOS/Android means the same history follows you across devices
  • Separate prepaid developer API at platform.monica.im if you want the same aggregation in code

Cons

  • Prices are only visible after loading the pricing app, and the tier names have already shifted once (Unlimited became Max)
  • Advanced credits reset monthly, so heavy image or video use burns a Pro plan fast
  • You are a reseller's customer — outages, rate limits and model deprecations arrive second-hand
  • monica.cn is a separate China-market build run by a different legal entity, which confuses support and privacy expectations

Sider

Sider puts a chat panel on top of whatever page you're on, so you can ask about an article or PDF without copying it into a separate tab. The catch is that heavier use beyond the free daily cap needs a paid tier, and pricing quoted across review sites is inconsistent, so the entry price is worth confirming before committing.

Pros

  • Works as a sidebar on any web page rather than a separate chat tab
  • Routes one prompt to several models (GPT, Claude, Gemini, DeepSeek, Grok)
  • Ships native apps for iOS, Android, Windows, and Mac plus browser extensions
  • Can chat with PDFs and YouTube videos, not just plain text

Cons

  • Free tier is capped at a small number of daily uses
  • Independent pricing write-ups disagree on exact plan costs depending on where you check
  • No public API for developers

Which one fits

Choose Monica if you need

  • People who compare answers across GPT, Claude and Gemini without paying three subscriptions
  • Reading and summarising foreign-language pages and PDFs in-place while browsing
  • Light users who want AI attached to the browser rather than in another tab

Choose Sider if you need

  • Reading and summarizing long articles or PDFs without leaving the page
  • Comparing answers from several models in one panel
  • People who want one subscription instead of several separate chatbot logins

More comparisons

All Monica alternatives →Browse all Browser Extensions & Copilots →