LongCat
Meituan’s free chat on its own LongCat models, with Think, Search, Image, Video and Deep Research modes.
What LongCat is best for
The categories LongCat is listed in, and how strong a fit it is in each.
General-Purpose AI Assistants
Questions, brainstorming, explanations, everyday tasks, decision-making, general advice.
Strong fit
LongCat’s biggest strengths
General-Purpose AI AssistantsMeituan’s free chat on its own LongCat models, with Think, Search, Image, Video and Deep Research modes.
Where it may not be the best fit
General-Purpose AI AssistantsBuilt for China first: the service runs from mainland China, data collected there is stored there, and its terms forbid commercial use of what it produces without Meituan’s permission.
LongCat pricing
LongCat has a free plan. Free to use at longcat.chat
FreeFree to use at longcat.chat
$0Read by hand off the provider’s own pricing page on 15 October 2026. This listing is not on the automatic monthly re-check, so confirm there before spending.
Who makes LongCat
The AI team inside Meituan that builds the LongCat models, several of them released with open weights, and runs the free LongCat chat. The service is run from mainland China.
CompanyMeituan LongCat
Based inBeijing, CN
SectorFoundation models
ModelLongCat (several with open weights)
StatusSubsidiary
Free planYes
InvestorsMeituan
Public listingPart of Meituan (HKEX: 3690)
Best alternatives to LongCat
Tools that do comparable work, best fit first, drawn from the catalogue rather than hand-picked. Every one is listed whether or not there is money in it for us.
ChatGPT
Free
The broadest feature set — voice, images, files, a large app ecosystem. Usually the easiest starting point.
View ChatGPT →Claude
Free
Long documents and reasoning that holds together over many pages. Handles large uploads well.
View Claude →Gemini
Free
Sits inside Gmail, Docs and Drive, so it already has your context. Very large context windows and a generous free tier.
View Gemini →Poe
Free
One subscription across most of the major models, so you can put the same question to several and compare rather than committing to one lab.
View Poe →Amazon Q
Free
The assistant that already has your AWS account in context, which makes it the practical choice for questions about infrastructure you actually run.
View Amazon Q →DeepSeek
Free
Capable reasoning at no cost, with open weights you can download and run yourself.
View DeepSeek →LongCat by job
Where LongCat sits in the wider category pages.
Best AI Assistants
Strong fit — Questions, brainstorming, explanations, everyday tasks, decision-making, general advice.
Questions about LongCat
Is LongCat free?
Yes — Free to use at longcat.chat. There is no paid tier above it.
What is LongCat best at?
Meituan’s free chat on its own LongCat models, with Think, Search, Image, Video and Deep Research modes. It is listed under General-Purpose AI Assistants.
What should I watch out for with LongCat?
Built for China first: the service runs from mainland China, data collected there is stored there, and its terms forbid commercial use of what it produces without Meituan’s permission.
What are the alternatives to LongCat?
6 tools do comparable work: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Poe, Amazon Q, DeepSeek. 6 of them have a free plan.
How current is this LongCat pricing?
The prices above were read by hand off LongCat's own pricing page on 15 October 2026. This listing is not on the automatic monthly re-check, so confirm there before spending.