Artificial intelligence has by now become as much a part of everyday life as the smartphone itself – ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot or Claude show up at the office, on the phone, and even in your own home search. For many people, it remains unclear who is actually behind which name, what using it really costs, and what to watch out for regarding data protection in Germany. This overview page brings order to the most important providers and their AI models – explained simply, without technical jargon, but with enough depth for anyone who wants to know more.
The following table shows ten of the best-known AI providers in direct comparison. The percentage values are deliberately kept simple and describe a comprehensible assessment based on four criteria: how easily can the offering be used without prior knowledge? How privacy-friendly is it from the perspective of a German user? What is the price-to-performance ratio? And how extensive are the features (text, image, voice, video and more)?
These values are a simplified, editorial assessment for rough orientation – not a scientific measurement and not legal advice. For business use with sensitive data, the respective provider article and the current contract terms should always be reviewed.
How quickly can someone without technical knowledge get the hang of it? Most major providers perform similarly well here, because the basic principle – type in a question, get an answer – barely differs between them.
Data protection/GDPR friendliness
This is where the biggest differences show up. What matters most is where a company is headquartered and where its servers are located: providers based in the European Union, such as Mistral AI, don’t need to rely on international supplementary agreements, while US providers depend on the EU-US Data Privacy Framework or Standard Contractual Clauses. For providers with servers outside the EU or the USA, for example in China, particular caution is advisable with personal or business-sensitive data.
Price-performance
How much functionality do you get for the money spent? Free or very inexpensive offerings such as Meta AI or DeepSeek naturally score well here, even if they require compromises elsewhere.
Feature scope
How broad is the offering – pure text answers, or additionally image, voice, video, and the ability to independently handle multi-step tasks?
The best-known name in the field of artificial intelligence. ChatGPT covers text, image, voice and video in a single product and is developed further by OpenAI at short intervals. All the details on pricing and data protection are in the provider article on OpenAI; the individual model versions are explained on the ChatGPT models page.
Anthropic – Claude
Anthropic was founded by former OpenAI employees with a particular focus on safety. Claude is considered especially reliable with long texts and documents. More on this in the provider article on Anthropic and on the Claude models page.
Google – Gemini
Gemini is deeply embedded in Gmail, Google Docs and Search, and is especially practical for anyone already living in the Google ecosystem. Details in the provider article on Google and on the Gemini models page.
Microsoft – Copilot
Copilot is built directly into Windows, Word, Excel, Outlook and Teams, making it especially strong in classic everyday office work. More in the provider article on Microsoft and on the Copilot models page.
xAI – Grok
Grok is closely integrated with the platform X, making it especially current when it comes to up-to-the-minute topics. Details in the provider article on xAI and on the Grok models page.
Meta – Meta AI and Llama
Meta AI is built directly into WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook for free and is financed through advertising rather than a subscription. Its technical foundation, Llama, can also be self-hosted. More in the provider article on Meta and on the Llama models page.
DeepSeek
The Chinese provider impresses with very low prices and strong performance on logic and programming tasks, but is critically reviewed by German data protection authorities because of its server location in China. Details including all models (V3, R1, V4) in the article on DeepSeek.
Mistral AI
The French company is Europe’s most important own answer to the US and Chinese AI corporations and scores especially well on data protection, since servers within the EU can be chosen. More, including all models (Large, Medium, Small), in the article on Mistral AI.
Kimi is the chatbot from the Chinese company Moonshot AI and became internationally known through the openly available model Kimi K2, which performs especially strongly on programming and agentic tasks. As with DeepSeek: with standard use, the data ends up on servers in China. Details in the provider article on Kimi and on the Kimi models page.
Which provider suits whom?
Priority
Recommendation
Highest priority on data protection under German/European law
Mistral AI
Widest possible feature scope for text, image, video and voice
ChatGPT, Gemini or Copilot
Already deep in Google’s everyday tools (Gmail, Docs)
Google Gemini
Already deep in Word, Excel and Outlook
Microsoft Copilot
As inexpensive or free as possible
Meta AI or DeepSeek (for uncritical topics)
Research with traceable source citations
Perplexity AI
Up-to-the-minute topics and social media context
Grok
Programming and agentic tasks with open models
Kimi (Moonshot AI)
Frequently asked questions about AI models
What is the difference between an AI provider and an AI model?
The provider is the company, such as OpenAI or Google. The model is the actual technology behind it, which powers one or more products – at OpenAI, the product is called ChatGPT, while the underlying models carry their own names such as GPT-5.6.
Which AI is the best?
That can’t be answered across the board. Depending on the task, budget and data protection requirements, different providers perform differently well – the comparison table above serves as initial orientation, while the linked individual articles provide the details.
Are all these AI providers allowed in Germany?
In principle, yes – there is no general ban on any of the providers named. However, for individual providers with server locations outside the EU, particular caution is advised with personal or business-sensitive data – details on this are in the respective provider article.
Do I always have to pay for good results?
No. Several providers offer usable free versions, such as Meta AI, DeepSeek, Kimi, or the basic versions of ChatGPT, Gemini and Copilot. For regular or more demanding use, an inexpensive entry-level subscription is usually worthwhile.
What does this have to do with Lukinski?
As a real estate company, we ourselves work intensively with artificial intelligence – for example with Lukinski AI, our own AI assistant for real estate questions, hosted in Germany. This cluster additionally puts the large, general-purpose AI providers into context, so that you can make an informed decision independent of our own offering.
