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Side-by-side comparison · AI Assistants & LLMs

Duck.ai vs LMArena vs Qwen Chat

Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.

Duck.ai

4.0

From $9.99/mo or $99.99/yr

LMArena

3.8

Free to start

Qwen Chat

4.0

From $4/mo

Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.

At a glance

Easiest to use

Pick it if: Anyone who wants quick AI help without an account or a record of what they asked.

Best value

Pick it if: Anyone choosing between AI tools, and people who want to know which model is leading right now.

Pick it if: Anyone after a capable free assistant with image, video, slides and website tools, and developers who want open models.

Overview

AttributeDuck.aiLMArenaQwen Chat
In one lineDuckDuckGo's private AI chat: no account, no stored prompts, free to use.Free site where you compare AI models side by side and see which ones people rate best.Alibaba's generous free assistant for research, slides, websites, images and video.
Pricing modelFreemiumFreeFreemium
Starting price$9.99/mo or $99.99/yrFree$4/mo
Free plan Yes Yes Yes
Works with Claude Code No No No

Rating breakdown

Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.

AttributeDuck.aiLMArenaQwen Chat
Overall rating4.03.84.0
Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it.
4.5
3.5
4.0
FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together.
3.0
4.0
4.0
Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them.
3.5
3.5
4.0
Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan.
4.5
5.0
4.5
Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over.
4.5
3.0
3.5

Feature comparison

A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.

AttributeDuck.aiLMArenaQwen Chat
Access & platform
Free plan Yes Yes Yes
Mobile app Yes No Yes
Desktop app Yes No No
Browser extension Yes No No
API access No No Yes
Teams & business
Team workspace No No No
Enterprise plan or SSO No No No
Connects to other apps No No No
Open source or self-hosted No No Yes
AI abilities
Works with your files Yes Yes Yes
Understands images Yes Yes Yes
Makes images Yes Yes Yes
Makes video No Yes Yes
Writes code Yes Yes Yes
Runs agents or automations No No Yes
Learns your brand or style No No No
Works in many languages Yes Yes Yes
Capabilities score9/ 177/ 1711/ 17

Pricing

Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.

AttributeDuck.aiLMArenaQwen Chat
Plans

FreeOur pick

Free

Quick private questions with no sign-up.

FreeOur pick

Free

Everyone.

FreeOur pick

Free

Most people. The free limits are generous for chat and research.

Plus

$9.99/mo or $99.99/yr

Regular users who also want a VPN.

Go

$4/mo

Regular users who want higher chat limits.

Pro

$19.99/mo or $199.99/yr

People who want the top models privately.

Plus

$19/mo

Creators making images and video most days.

Pro

$99/mo

Heavy video and image users who need priority.

Which plan to pickStay on Free unless you also want a VPN. Plus is good value if you'd pay for a VPN anyway. Pro is $19.99, the same as ChatGPT Plus or Claude Pro, so only pick it if anonymity matters more to you than features.There's nothing to buy. Use it free, and pay for whichever assistant comes out best for your work.Start free; most people never need to pay. Go at $4 is cheap if you hit the chat limits. Prices are App Store prices, so check the in-app screen before you subscribe.

Key features

AttributeDuck.aiLMArenaQwen Chat
Standout features
  • No account needed
  • Anonymised prompts
  • Choice of models
  • Voice chat and images
  • Local chat history
  • Built into the browser
  • Battle mode
  • Side by side
  • Direct chat
  • Leaderboards
  • Agent mode
  • Early access
  • Deep Research
  • Web Dev
  • Slides
  • Image and video
  • Thinking mode
  • Open models

Pros and cons

AttributeDuck.aiLMArenaQwen Chat
Pros
  • No account, and prompts are anonymised and not used for training
  • Free access to models from OpenAI, Anthropic and Mistral in one place
  • Fast, clean and easy for anyone to use
  • Paid plans bundle a VPN and identity protection
  • Free access to the leading models, often before release
  • Blind voting makes it easy to judge models on output alone
  • Leaderboards cover text, code, images, video and agents
  • Real people's preferences are harder to game than lab benchmarks
  • One of the most generous free plans in the category
  • Broad toolkit: research, slides, websites, images and video in one place
  • Top Qwen models rank near the best US models
  • Open models you can run yourself
  • International service is run from Singapore
Cons
  • Free models are the small versions, so answers trail paid ChatGPT or Claude
  • No projects, connectors or spreadsheet uploads, and PDFs are capped at 15 to 50 pages
  • Usage limits aren't published as numbers
  • Privacy rests on DuckDuckGo's contracts with the AI companies, and some users report chat sync errors between devices
  • Rankings favour answers that look good, and labs have been caught testing private versions to climb the board
  • Conversations are collected and partly shared with model makers, so keep private work out
  • Frequent "something went wrong" errors, captchas, logouts and models removed without notice
  • Direct chat is being narrowed, with newer models only available in random battles
  • The company now sells evaluations to the labs it ranks, which raises questions about neutrality
  • Avoids or slants topics sensitive to the Chinese government
  • Thinking mode on the newest models can be very slow
  • Paid plans are new and the free limits aren't published, so it's unclear how long the free plan stays this generous
  • Chats can be used, de-identified, to improve the service; you have to email to opt out of training
  • No connections to business apps

Who each one is for

AttributeDuck.aiLMArenaQwen Chat
Best for
  • Quick private questions
  • Using AI without signing up
  • A shared or work computer
  • Voice chat and simple image making
  • Choosing between AI models with your own prompts
  • Checking which model leads after a launch
  • Trying top models for free
  • Comparing image and video models
  • A free assistant that does a bit of everything
  • Quick webpages and slide decks from a prompt
  • Free image and short video generation
  • Deep research reports
  • Developers who want open models
You'll find it used by
  • Privacy-minded professionals
  • DuckDuckGo users
  • Casual AI users
  • Students
  • AI enthusiasts
  • Developers
  • Product teams
  • Journalists
  • Students
  • Developers
  • Budget-conscious founders
  • Content creators

Questions people ask

Which is better, Duck.ai, LMArena or Qwen Chat?

They tie on our overall rating (Duck.ai 4.0/5, LMArena 3.8/5 and Qwen Chat 4.0/5). Duck.ai is best for quick private questions and Using AI without signing up. LMArena is best for choosing between AI models with your own prompts and checking which model leads after a launch. Qwen Chat is best for A free assistant that does a bit of everything and quick webpages and slide decks from a prompt.

Which is cheaper, Duck.ai, LMArena or Qwen Chat?

Duck.ai: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $9.99/mo or $99.99/yr. LMArena: It's free to use. Qwen Chat: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $4/mo.

Which is easier to use, Duck.ai, LMArena or Qwen Chat?

Duck.ai rates highest for ease of use in our scores. Anyone who wants quick AI help without an account or a record of what they asked.

How we compare

Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability.

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