Le Chat is Mistral AI's chatbot, and it now goes by the name Mistral Vibe. Its free plan is useful, with image tools, more than 100 connectors and up to 5 scheduled tasks, but Mistral does not publish the free message limits. It is worth a try if you want a European alternative or a cheaper paid plan, while ChatGPT and Gemini give more on their free tiers.
What Le Chat is
Le Chat is the AI assistant from Mistral AI, a French AI company. Mistral has since renamed it Vibe. THE DECODER reports that existing conversations and settings carry over to Vibe, but that pricing is new THE DECODER ↗. Mistral's pricing page now lists the plans under the Mistral Vibe name, and Le Chat appears only as an older name Mistral pricing ↗.
The old name still shows up in places. The iPhone app link on Mistral's site still reads le chat by mistral ai, and Mistral lists apps for both iOS and Android under the heading Get Mistral Vibe Mistral AI ↗. On the web, the assistant lives at chat.mistral.ai Mistral AI ↗.
Over the past year, Le Chat added Deep Research, voice mode, image editing, MCP integrations and memory, and Vibe bundles those with newer work and coding features THE DECODER ↗.
What it does well
The free plan covers more than plain chat. Mistral lists basic image generation and editing, more than 100 connectors, web and mobile access, access to Mistral Studio and up to 5 scheduled tasks on the free tier Mistral pricing ↗. Scheduled tasks are rare on free chatbot plans, and they let the assistant run a job daily, weekly or monthly THE DECODER ↗.
Connectors are a real strength. Mistral says Vibe works with more than 100 tools, including email, calendar, Slack, GitHub and Jira, with full MCP compatibility Mistral Vibe ↗. Deep research can search the web, internal documents and connected tools to compile a sourced analysis Mistral Vibe ↗.
The paid plan is cheaper than the big three. Pro costs $14.99 a month before tax Mistral pricing ↗, while ChatGPT Plus costs $20 a month in the US ChatGPT pricing ↗. Verified students pay $5.99 a month for up to 12 months, if they have not used Vibe or Le Chat before Mistral pricing ↗.
It also gives you a European provider. Mistral offers a data processing agreement and a trust center, and enterprise customers can deploy on premises, in a private cloud or on Mistral Cloud Mistral AI ↗ Mistral Vibe ↗. Hands on testing on our side is in progress.
Where it falls short
Free limits are not numbered. Mistral says the free plan has limited messages, web searches and coding sessions, but it does not say how many Mistral pricing ↗. THE DECODER points out that Mistral states paid limits only as multiples of the free plan, such as up to six times as many messages, without giving the base number THE DECODER ↗.
The rivals do more for free. ChatGPT's free plan gives unlimited text chats and chat history within OpenAI's abuse guardrails, plus web search, projects and study mode ChatGPT pricing ↗. Google's free Gemini plan includes Deep Research, Gemini Live voice chats, Canvas, image generation and 15 GB of storage Gemini plans ↗.
The rename adds confusion. Vibe was already the name of Mistral's coding tool, and THE DECODER calls the switch confusing THE DECODER ↗. Search results, app listings and help pages may use either name for a while.
Pricing and plans
Free: $0. Limited messages, web searches and coding sessions, basic image generation and editing, more than 100 connectors, web and mobile access, Mistral Studio access and up to 5 scheduled tasks Mistral pricing ↗.
Pro: $14.99 a month, excluding tax. Up to 6 times the free message limit and 5 times the search limit, faster responses, all day coding in the CLI, IDE or web, up to 40 times the free image generation, up to 15 GB of library storage, unlimited task scheduling, $15 a month in API credits, and chat and email support Mistral pricing ↗.
Students: verified students at accredited higher education institutions pay $5.99 a month for up to 12 months Mistral pricing ↗. THE DECODER describes this as half off Pro THE DECODER ↗.
Team: $24.99 per user a month before tax, with even higher limits, up to 30 GB of storage per user, domain verification and data export Mistral pricing ↗. THE DECODER reports Team drops to 19.99 euros per user with annual billing THE DECODER ↗. Enterprise is custom priced and adds private deployments, SAML SSO, audit logs and an admin API Mistral pricing ↗.
Mistral does not list a free trial for Pro Mistral pricing ↗.
Who should (and shouldn't) use it
- Good fit: people who want an AI assistant from a European company Mistral AI ↗ Mistral Vibe ↗.
- Good fit: anyone who wants scheduled tasks and many connectors without paying Mistral pricing ↗.
- Good fit: students who can get Pro for $5.99 a month Mistral pricing ↗.
- Skip it if: you want the most generous free tier; ChatGPT and Gemini give more ChatGPT pricing ↗ Gemini plans ↗.
- Skip it if: you need to know your exact free limits before you commit Mistral pricing ↗ THE DECODER ↗.
Alternatives worth a look
- ChatGPT: our pick for the best free chatbot, with unlimited text chats and a wide set of free features ChatGPT pricing ↗.
- Gemini: our runner up, with Deep Research, Gemini Live and image tools on the free plan Gemini plans ↗.
- Claude: our pick for writing, with web search, file creation, memory and connectors on its free plan Claude pricing ↗.
- Mistral Vibe: the same assistant under its new name; read our Vibe review for the work and coding features THE DECODER ↗ Mistral Vibe ↗.
Where it appears
ComparedThe Best Free AI ChatbotWhat’s good
- Many connectors
- Cheaper Pro plan
- Student pricing
What to know
- Free limits not numbered
- Smaller ecosystem
Key features
- Web and mobile access
- Basic image generation and editing
- 100+ connectors
- Up to 5 scheduled tasks on free
- Document upload (limited on free)
Works with
Questions people ask
Is Le Chat the same as Mistral Vibe?
Yes. Mistral renamed Le Chat to Vibe, and existing conversations and settings carry over THE DECODER ↗.
Is Le Chat free?
Yes. The free plan includes limited messages and web searches, basic image tools, more than 100 connectors and up to 5 scheduled tasks Mistral pricing ↗. Mistral does not publish the exact message limits Mistral pricing ↗.
How much does Le Chat Pro cost?
Pro is $14.99 a month before tax, and verified students pay $5.99 a month for up to 12 months Mistral pricing ↗.
Is Le Chat better than ChatGPT?
On free features, no. ChatGPT's free plan offers unlimited text chats within guardrails ChatGPT pricing ↗, while Mistral does not state its free limits Mistral pricing ↗. Le Chat's Pro plan is cheaper, at $14.99 against $20 a month Mistral pricing ↗ ChatGPT pricing ↗.
Where this comes from
Checked Oct 9, 2026. Vendor pages describe their own products; independent sources add outside views. Hands on testing is in progress.
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