Quick Answer
- Maple AI is the most privacy-focused—end-to-end encrypted chat with zero logging, auditable code, and confidential document uploads. The free service is limited but available.
- Bearly AI is good for private research – your queries are submitted anonymously to popular AI models. See more details on their privacy page. A very limited free service is available.
- Perplexity AI is best for web research with live citations and rapid fact-checking. The free tier is robust enough to be used for daily search. There are some allegations that your data is being sent to Google for analysis, so this service can’t be considered private.
All these services can be accessed for free. Subscriptions are available for $20 / month.
How Maple AI, Bearly AI, Perplexity AI Compare
These AI assistants have different privacy levels and use cases. Here’s a detailed look at their features:
| Feature | Bearly AI | Perplexity AI | Maple AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Multi-Model Support | Yes (GPT 5.4, Claude 4.6, Gemini 3.1 Pro, Grok 4.1, Kimi K2.6, Deepseek V3) | Yes (GPT 5.4, Claude 4.6, Gemini 3.1 Pro, Kimi K2.5) | Yes (Deepseek V4 Pro, Llama 3.3, Kimi K2.6, GPT-OSS, GLM 5.1, Qwen 3, Gemma 4, Mistral) |
| Privacy Level | Strong (zero logging, encryption) | Standard (data may be logged) | Strongest (end-to-end encrypted, open-source, auditable) |
| Real-Time Web Search | No | Yes, with inline citations | Yes |
| Document Upload | Advanced (PDF, Office, code, audio) | Basic (file Q&A, smaller files) | Confidential (PDF, DOCX, Excel, images—fully encrypted) |
| Workflow Tools | Artifacts, Canvas, Code Interpreter | Collections, Spaces | Basic chat organization, device sync |
| Interface | Desktop app + Web + Chrome extension | Web + Mobile app | Web + Desktop + Mobile (iOS/Android) |
| Pricing (Pro) | $20/month | $20/month (Pro), $50/month (Max) | $20/month (Pro), 25 messages/week free |
| Best For | Multi-document analysis, automation, privacy-conscious pros | Real-time research, citations, fact-checking | Ultra-private work, sensitive data, therapists/lawyers |
Maple AI
Maple AI is for people who want a high level of security on every chat. It uses end-to-end encryption,and uses secure enclaves — these are isolated hardware environments inside a processor. This means even Maple’s own team can’t read your conversations.
Maple is made with open-source code that you can audit yourself.
The free plan gives you 25 messages per week with the Llama 3.3 70B model. The Pro plan ($20/month) unlocks seven AI models, document uploads, and image analysis—all fully encrypted.
Bearly AI
Bearly AI is built for professionals who want to upload multiple documents and need AI automation without sacrificing privacy. Bearly doesn’t log your data and encrypts your chats. See more details on their privacy page. Privacy enthusiasts note that your queries are still sent to third-party AI models (albeit anonymously).
The standout features are Artifacts that allow you to build interactive dashboards or calculators directly in chat) and Canvas (long-form writing and editing workspace). .
Perplexity AI
Perplexity is good for timely information with trustworthy sources. It’s basically an AI-powered search engine that synthesizes web results and provide citations.
Perplexity may be sending data to Google — there’s an ongoing legal case about this issue. Also note that Perplexity stores your IP address, device info, browser type, and location data.
The Pro plan ($20/month) gives you 300+ daily searches using premium models, unlimited file uploads, and image generation. There’s also a free plan with unlimited basic searches and limited “Pro” searches.
