# Best Free AI Search Engines in 2026

Source: https://listme.name/best/ai-search-engines/free

AI search engines pair a search index with written answers. This ranking weighs whether the search runs on its own index, how answers are sourced, whether the search is free, and how well each tool fits general or academic questions.

## 1. Perplexity (score 90.5)

Built around cited answers rather than chat, so every claim links to a page you can open. The free plan is limited and the heavier research modes need a paid plan, unlike Brave Search's free AI answers.

- Best for: Researching a question with sourced answers
- Free plan, paid upgrades | Web, iOS, Android, macOS
- Website: https://www.perplexity.ai/
- Page: https://listme.name/software/perplexity

## 2. ChatGPT (score 88.5)

Web search, images and voice in one assistant, with search on the free plan. Its answers are chat-style, so it is less of a link-first search engine than Brave Search or Kagi.

- Best for: Search questions answered inside a chat
- Free plan, paid upgrades | Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android
- Website: https://chatgpt.com/
- Page: https://listme.name/software/chatgpt

## 3. Gemini (score 87.0)

Google's assistant with web search and Deep Research on the free plan, tied into Google apps on paid plans. Plan prices vary by country, and answers come as chat rather than a list of results.

- Best for: Research questions with Google account integration
- Free plan, paid upgrades | Web, iOS, Android
- Website: https://gemini.google.com/
- Page: https://listme.name/software/gemini

## 4. Brave Search (score 86.0)

A free search engine with an independent index and AI answers in its results. The developer API is a separate product, billed per request with monthly free credits.

- Best for: Independent web search with AI answers
- Free plan, paid upgrades | Web
- Website: https://search.brave.com/
- Page: https://listme.name/software/brave-search

## 5. Microsoft Copilot (score 84.5)

A free assistant that answers questions with trusted sources, tied to a Microsoft account. Its answers are less link-focused than a traditional search engine's results page.

- Best for: Sourced answers for people on Microsoft accounts
- Free plan, paid upgrades | Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android
- Website: https://copilot.com/
- Page: https://listme.name/software/microsoft-copilot

## 6. Elicit (score 80.0)

Search and data extraction for academic papers, with unlimited free search. It is not a general web search tool, so it ranks below the general engines for everyday queries.

- Best for: Literature searches and data extraction from papers
- Free plan, paid upgrades | Web
- Website: https://elicit.com/
- Page: https://listme.name/software/elicit

## 7. Semantic Scholar (score 79.0)

Free AI-assisted search for scientific papers with a public research API, which makes it the free research search here. It covers papers rather than the open web, so it does not answer everyday questions.

- Best for: Free search across scientific papers
- Free | Web
- Website: https://www.semanticscholar.org/
- Page: https://listme.name/software/semantic-scholar

## 8. Liner (score 77.0)

AI research workspace with cited answers, paper search and writing tools, on web, iOS and Android. The free plan runs on limited credits, so heavy research moves to a paid plan. It ranks below the citation-focused tools here.

- Best for: Cited research answers with writing and citing tools
- Free plan, paid upgrades | Web, iOS, Android
- Website: https://liner.com/
- Page: https://listme.name/software/liner