Verdict
Mistral renamed Le Chat to Vibe on 28 May 2026 and pushed it towards work tasks, though the app still answers everyday questions and Pro costs $14.99 a month. TechRadar called it the cheapest premium assistant from a major provider, but its own user reviews forum is full of users reporting made-up figures and moving back to ChatGPT or Claude. The free tier runs out quickly and Mistral does not publish the limits.
Best for
People who want a European chatbot for emails, translation and simple questions
Skip if
Answers need to be accurate on research, numbers or spreadsheets
Key facts
- Category
- Everyday AI assistants
- Made by
- Mistral AI
- Based in
- France
- Launched
- 2024
- Works on
- iPhone, Android, Web
- In the UK
- Yes
- Price from
- $14.99 a month
- Free plan
- Free plan with limited messages, web searches and coding sessions, basic image generation, up to 5 scheduled tasks; exact limits not published
Pricing
| Plan | Price | Billed |
|---|---|---|
| Pro | £14.99 | month |
| Pro | £149.99 | year |
| Team (per user) | $24.99 | month |
What it does
- chats with Mistral's AI models and searches the web
- transcribes, answers questions about and summarises audio in voice mode
- creates and edits spreadsheets and slides
- generates and edits images
- schedules prompts and agents to run at set times
- writes and edits code through the Vibe coding agent
Ratings
What people say
Users in user reviews say it is fine for everyday writing, translation and search but lags rivals on accuracy, and several describe cancelling after hallucinated data; the May 2026 rename also annoyed long-time subscribers. Store stars (4.58 on Google Play from 46,783) are far warmer than user reviews or Trustpilot (2.4 from 108, thin).
“day to day usage works great for me: writing/improving mails and text documents basic "google-ing" and research to get tips aka "how can i clean my white sneakers"…”
Individual user review, 27 August 2026 · source
“Sadly, I gave up my subscription and migrated to Claude. I seriously didn't want to, but I was loosing A LOT of time with Mistral mistakes, even with safeguard rules and so, it was creating fake data from my spreadsheets.”
Individual user review, 27 August 2026 · source
“Mistral is mostly fine for everyday use and questions. But with all honesty, when it comes to big and important tasks, I go for Gemini or ChatGPT.”
Individual user review, 27 August 2026 · source
“Unironically stopped paying for the subscription because of the new naming. Really liked "Le Chat" and seriously can't stand this "Vibe".”
Individual user review, 19 August 2026 · source
“Here’s the hard truth: Mistral is becoming more and more of a consulting company rather than a state-of-the-art AI lab…”
Post on X, 14 June 2026 · source
Press reviews
- TechRadar 2026-07-10
The most affordable premium AI assistant from a major provider, with strong privacy controls, but the free tier is too restricted to judge it properly.
- heise 2026-05-30
Hands-on with the new Work and Code modes; criticises Mistral for not stating how much more the paid plans actually give.
- The Decoder 2026-05-28
Calls the rename 'more merger than relaunch' and faults the vague usage limits.
Privacy
- Trains on your data
- yes by default for individual Vibe (Free and Pro) users; Team and Enterprise excluded. Thumbs-up/down feedback can always be used for training
- Opt-out
- yes, in-app: Settings > Data & Account Controls > untick 'Enable data sharing'
- Retention
- conversations kept until the user deletes them or the account, then removed after a short grace period; zero data retention not available on the chat app; some account data kept 1-5 years for legal reasons
- Incidents
- CNIL complaint (Feb 2025) that free users could not opt out of training; no CNIL decision found. Italy's competition authority (AGCM) investigated hallucination warnings from 3 Jun 2025 and closed it on 17 Feb 2026 after transparency commitments. No data breach found in searches of news and OECD AI incident monitor.
- Age limit
- 13+, under-18s need parent or guardian permission where required (consumer terms outside the EU)
In court
Lawsuits and regulator actions involving Mistral AI. Claims are the claimant's allegations unless a court or regulator has ruled. The privacy score above was reviewed against this record. Who runs Mistral AI: Arthur Mensch.
AGCM alleged inadequate user information about the possibility that Mistral's AI models could generate inaccurate or misleading outputs.
Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) · PS12968 · Commitments made binding; AGCM closed without an infringement finding on 17 February 2026.
FAQ
What happened to Le Chat?
Mistral renamed it Vibe on 28 May 2026. Existing chats and settings carried over and the app still lives at chat.mistral.ai.
Is Mistral's Vibe free?
Yes, there is a free plan with limited messages, searches and image generation. Pro costs $14.99 a month before tax, and Mistral does not publish the exact free limits.
Does Vibe use my chats for training?
Yes by default on Free and Pro. It can be switched off in Settings under Data & Account Controls, but rating an answer with thumbs up or down always allows training on that chat.
Is Le Chat available in the UK?
Yes. It is on the UK App Store as 'Vibe by Mistral (ex-Le Chat)', on Google Play and on the web.
Le Chat vs ChatGPT?
Le Chat is cheaper and keeps data in the EU by default, but users in user reviews say it makes more mistakes on research and data tasks, and many still prefer ChatGPT for important work.
Scores are based on published evidence, not lab tests. How we score.
Similar tools
ChatGPT
OpenAI's general chatbot, the most used AI app in the UK and worldwide.
Google Gemini
Google's chatbot, built into Android, Gmail and Docs, with a generous free plan.
Claude
Anthropic's chatbot, strong on writing and on pointing out holes in an argument, with a tight free allowance.
DeepSeek
A free Chinese chatbot with no message cap that stores every conversation on servers in China.