ChatGPT alternatives from Europe: which one suits your business?

What European ChatGPT alternatives are there?

European alternatives to ChatGPT come in six forms: as a chat such as Mistral Vibe or Lumo, as a business platform such as Langdock, as legal AI for law firms such as Beck-Noxtua or Legora, as a specialist tool such as DeepL, as an open model on your own computer, and as an agent that works with files. On top of that come US services that store data in Europe. The table summarises what the providers themselves state. This comparison was written by Biwak, itself one of the providers; what the others do better is in the last section.

Mistral Vibe, formerly Le Chat: the obvious alternative?

Like ChatGPT, Mistral Vibe is a general chat with the vendor's own models, here from Mistral AI in Paris, in the browser and as an app for iOS and Android. “Le Chat” has been called Vibe since 2026; Mistral carried over accounts, plans and conversations, and the address chat.mistral.ai has stayed the same. Vibe has three modes: Work for multi-step tasks across connected programs, Code for software development and Chat for classic conversation.

• Plans: Free with limited messages, Pro for €14.99 a month, Team for €24.99 per user per month (the price calculator starts at two users), each plus tax; Enterprise by arrangement. According to the price list, SAML sign-in and audit logs are only available in the Enterprise plan.
• Data location: Mistral hosts data in the EU by default. Depending on the feature, it may temporarily go to sub-processors outside the EU; for transfers to countries without an adequacy decision, Mistral cites the Commission's standard contractual clauses.
• Training: by default, Mistral uses inputs and outputs in Vibe, including uploaded documents, for training until you opt out; in the Team plan, administrators can switch this off for everyone. Enterprise customers are excluded from the outset. Anyone who rates an answer with a thumbs up or down releases it for improvement on every plan.
• Contract: for business customers there is a Data Processing Addendum, i.e. a DPA, in the version of 27 July 2026.
• Open models: according to Mistral, most of Mistral's open models are under the Apache 2.0 licence and can also be self-hosted.

Langdock: one platform for models from several vendors

Langdock from Berlin bundles language models from other vendors in one working environment for businesses: chat, custom-built agents, workflows and an API, with models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Mistral, Meta and DeepSeek. Its strength lies in choice and administration: SSO and SAML sign-in, user management via SCIM and, on request, your own API keys from the model providers.

• Data location: according to Langdock, the application runs via Microsoft Azure on servers in the EU, and most models can be operated in the EU. Langdock only offers installation in your own cloud or data centre in the Enterprise plan from 5,000 seats.
• Training: according to Langdock, customer data is never used for training.
• Contract and evidence: a DPA is available for download; Langdock cites ISO 27001 certification and a SOC 2 Type II audit report.
• Prices: in the Business plan, a seat costs €23.20 per user per month with annual billing and €29 with monthly billing, a seat with five times the usage €99 or €119 respectively, each plus VAT; from the 51st seat it gets cheaper. 7-day free trial without a credit card, with €5 of model credit.

Anyone using models from OpenAI or Anthropic via Langdock is still using models from US vendors, even if they run in an EU region. Whether anyone outside the EEA gains access in the process is something you check as you would for any service provider; how to do this is explained in the article US providers and third-country transfers.

What has become of Aleph Alpha?

Aleph Alpha from Heidelberg does not offer a self-service chat on its website. By its own account, the company develops and operates specialised language models together with customers for industry, the public sector and defence, on European infrastructure; the website names no prices or trial access, and the route is via sales. Aleph Alpha still describes its PhariaAI platform with the PhariaAssistant in its documentation, but as of 23 September 2026 it does not appear on the home page.

On 16 September 2026, Aleph Alpha and the Canadian provider Cohere signed a binding agreement on their merger. The combined company is to operate worldwide as Cohere, with headquarters in Berlin and Toronto, and keep Heidelberg as a research site. Completion is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected in 2026; the companies plan to give details on products later.

Lumo, DeepL, local models: alternatives for special cases

For law firms: Beck-Noxtua, Legora or a general chat?

Law firms ask less for a chat for everything than for a tool that backs up its legal references and fits professional secrecy. Two providers are built for this: Beck-Noxtua from Berlin, a joint legal AI from Noxtua AG and the publisher C.H.BECK with access to beck-online, and Legora from Sweden. The table reflects what the providers themselves state on their pages; we checked the statements, not the products.

General chats such as Mistral Vibe are suitable in a law firm for texts unrelated to client matters; they do not come with a legal database. Aleph Alpha only works in customer projects and is aimed at large organisations. Biwak, which wrote this comparison, does not come with a legal database; its DPA with a confidentiality undertaking is available at biwak.ai/avv, and whether it is sufficient for client data is for you to check.

Why “European” alone is no seal of quality

A registered office in the EU or Switzerland does not yet tell you where your data is processed, who can access it and whether the answers are correct. The providers' own statements show this:

• Sub-processors: even with Mistral, data may temporarily leave the EU depending on the feature.
• Infrastructure and models from the USA: Langdock runs its application via Microsoft Azure in the EU and offers models from US vendors.
• Training by default: outside the Enterprise plan, Mistral Vibe uses inputs for training by default, as does the free version of DeepL.
• Owners change: Aleph Alpha is to operate as part of Cohere in future, with headquarters in Berlin and Toronto.
• Biwak, too, uses external, partly international services today: like Langdock, we use Microsoft Azure, and the models run in its EU Data Zone; alternatively they run via PREM SA in Switzerland, which has processing done at Nebius and TensorX in the EU and the United Kingdom. The service providers for the website and account are listed in the privacy policy.

What criteria should businesses use to choose?

The data protection part of this review is described step by step in the article ChatGPT at work; it applies equally to European providers.

Which alternative fits when

What the others do better than Biwak

Biwak, a desktop app from Munich with an AI agent for file work, wrote this comparison. That is why we state explicitly here what the others do better:

• Working together: Langdock and the Mistral Vibe Team plan offer workspaces with central administration; we do not promise a shared workspace.
• Legal content: Beck-Noxtua backs up answers with references from beck-online; we have no legal database.
• On the go and images: Mistral Vibe is available as an app for iOS and Android and generates images; we offer neither.
• Integrations: Mistral names over 100 connectors, Langdock integrations into existing tools; our agent works with files in the folder, such as exports.
• Entirely in-house: with Ollama or LM Studio, the model runs on your own hardware; with us, model requests need an internet connection and an account.
• Evidence and contracts: Langdock, Beck-Noxtua and Legora name certifications, Mistral and Langdock a DPA; with us, a DPA based on the EU standard contractual clauses applies to businesses (biwak.ai/avv), and there is no certification.
• Translation: DeepL specialises in translating and revising texts.

This comparison does not replace an independent test, and it contains no performance comparison of the models. It is based on the providers' public pages, read on 23 and 24 September 2026; plans and terms change quickly. Biwak's data path is described on the security page. We welcome corrections at kontakt@biwak.ai.

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