Alternatives · Merlin
Updated · By llmwise, AI-assisted.
Merlin alternative: plans, limits and who should pick which
Merlin's cheapest paid plan is $180 a year per seat ($15 a month). It names no message count for any paid plan, so there's no price per message to compare. For $20 a month, llmwise Pro counts every model: up to 31 GPT-6 Astra messages a month ($0.65 each).
Checked : Merlin pricing.
Merlin, in Merlin AI's words
“Merlin brings the power of OpenAI ChatGPT to all your favorite websites.”
Source: Merlin pricing
“The context window for Pro is currently 100k tokens.”
Source: Merlin pricing
“Merlin Pro works on the web, in Chrome, on your Mac and on your phone, with your chats synced across all of them.”
Source: Merlin pricing
“We enforce Fair Use limits that are directly proportional to the price you pay after discount.”
Source: Merlin pricing
Merlin's plans
Apps like Merlin reprice often; each row quotes its plan as the page put it.
| Plan | Price | Merlin's line | Messages it states |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pro (yearly) | $228 a year ($19 a month) | “Billed $228 for a year” (Merlin pricing) | None published |
| Teams (yearly) | $180 a year per seat ($15 a month) | “Billed $180 for a year” (Merlin pricing) | None published |
Which costs less per message, Merlin or llmwise?
Merlin publishes no price and count together, so there's no price per message to set beside llmwise's. Here's llmwise Pro's ($20), model by model.
| Plan and model | Count | Per message |
|---|---|---|
| llmwise Pro, GPT-6 Astra | Up to 31 a month | $0.65 |
| llmwise Pro, Claude Opus 5.5 | Up to 62 a month | $0.32 |
| llmwise Pro, Claude Sonnet 5 | Up to 125 a month | $0.16 |
Behind those counts sits Pro's fair-use limit, $7.50 of AI cost a month. Typical messages stay under it for the whole month; very large prompts and heavy research may not. Every limit, explained.
Which of these models passed our test prompts?
GPT-6 Astra, Claude Opus 5.5, and Claude Sonnet 5, each sent our 50 test prompts.
| Prompt type | GPT-6 Astra | Claude Opus 5.5 | Claude Sonnet 5 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Writing | 5 of 5 | 4 of 5 | 4 of 5 |
| Summarization | 5 of 5 | 5 of 5 | 3 of 5 |
| Data analysis | 5 of 5 | 5 of 5 | 4 of 5 |
| Support replies | 3 of 5 | 5 of 5 | 5 of 5 |
| Overall | 48 of 50 | 49 of 50 | 46 of 50 |
Full marks all round on coding, math, translation, SQL, answering from documents, and tool use. Each cell counts passes out of 5, from our runs of September 27, 28, 29 and October 2, 7, 8, 9, 15, 2026. The prompts, with every answer.
Should you pick Merlin or llmwise?
This part is our opinion; the quotes above are Merlin's.
Pick Merlin if…
You want an AI in your browser on every page you visit, a Mac app and video generation, for a yearly price.
Pick llmwise over Merlin if…
You want a published count per model rather than a fair-use limit you find out about when you reach it.
What Merlin adds
A Chrome extension that works on the pages you visit. Video generation models.
Other multi-model chat apps
Also from primary sources: Merlin's Chrome Web Store listing (an extension that opens as a sidebar on any website). Merlin's App Store listing (Merlin Pro at $20.00 a month there). Read .
Questions about Merlin
How much does Merlin cost?
Pro (yearly): $228 a year ($19 a month); Teams (yearly): $180 a year per seat ($15 a month) (from Merlin AI's own page, checked September 2026).
Per message, which is cheaper: llmwise or Merlin?
Without a message count from Merlin, its price per message can't be worked out. llmwise Pro gives up to 31 GPT-6 Astra messages a month ($0.65 each).
What can Merlin do that llmwise can't?
A Chrome extension that works on the pages you visit. Video generation models. llmwise's answer: You want a published count per model rather than a fair-use limit you find out about when you reach it.
Merlin or llmwise? Count the messages first
Merlin publishes no message count to price. On llmwise Pro ($20), a GPT-6 Astra message costs as little as $0.65, and a Claude Opus 5.5 one $0.32.