European AI: Chatbots, Language Models and AI Companies from Europe (2026)
Last updated October 12, 2026 7 min read
"European AI" is searched for in several senses: as a European alternative to ChatGPT, as a language model developed in Europe, or simply as AI companies based in Europe. This guide sorts these meanings out. It covers the AI assistants from European companies that are listed on buy-european.net, the most important European model makers and the limits worth knowing about. Status: October 2026.
What does "European AI" mean?
In everyday use three criteria are mixed together, and they do not always point the same way:
- Company seat: the company behind the product is headquartered in Europe. This is the criterion used for the listings on this site.
- Model origin: the language model itself was developed in Europe. Of the assistants below, only Mistral Vibe runs on its provider's own models.
- Hosting and data handling: where requests are processed and whether conversations are stored or used for training. Each provider states this in its privacy policy, and it matters most for privacy.
A European seat helps with jurisdiction and with the question of data transfers to third countries, but it does not guarantee a particular standard on its own. The GDPR applies to every provider that processes personal data of people in the EU, wherever it is based. The EU AI Act (Regulation (EU) 2024/1689) also covers providers from outside the EU if they offer AI systems on the European market. Its obligations for providers of general-purpose AI models have applied since August 2025, while other deadlines were postponed in 2026, so current dates are worth checking. Switzerland, home of two assistants below, is part of Europe but not of the EU.
European AI chatbots and assistants
Four assistants are listed in the category European AI chatbots. The statements below come from the providers' own websites and are not independent audits.
Mistral Vibe (formerly Le Chat), Mistral AI, France
Mistral AI was founded in April 2023, is registered in Paris and develops its own language models, some of them as open-weight models. On 28 May 2026 Le Chat was renamed Vibe, while the address chat.mistral.ai, accounts and conversations stayed the same. Vibe combines a chat mode, a work mode for multi-step tasks across connected apps and a code mode. A free plan with limited messages and web searches exists, and Pro, Team and Enterprise plans are paid. It comes closest to ChatGPT in feature range, though casual users may find it broader than they need.
Euria, Infomaniak, Switzerland
Infomaniak, a Swiss provider founded in Geneva in 1994, launched Euria in December 2025. It runs only on Infomaniak's own servers in Switzerland, and the company says conversations are not used for training. Euria uses open-source models, among them Mistral, DeepSeek and Llama according to Infomaniak. It summarises and translates documents and transcribes audio. Use is free within a rolling 24-hour message quota, in the browser, as an app and inside kSuite. The service is not available in a list of countries, including India and Indonesia.
Lumo, Proton, Switzerland
Proton launched Lumo in July 2025. Proton says it keeps no logs of conversations, does not train on them and encrypts saved history so that Proton cannot read it. Ghost Mode discards a chat when the session ends. Lumo runs open-source models on servers that Proton controls in Europe. There is a free plan, which can also be used as a guest without an account, and a paid Plus plan. Lumo is leaner than the big assistants and suits questions where privacy counts more than integrations.
Ecosia AI Chat, Ecosia, Germany
Ecosia, the Berlin search company founded in 2009, added AI Chat as an optional mode next to its search. Ecosia names Mistral Small 4 as the model, so requests are forwarded to Mistral. Chat content is stored in the browser and, for users who opt in to history, in encrypted form on Ecosia's servers. Ecosia advises against entering sensitive personal information and says the feature is still being rolled out to some users.
European model makers and AI companies
Not every European AI company offers a chatbot for private users. These companies matter for the question where models come from:
- Mistral AI (Paris): the most prominent European developer of language models. In its Series D round the company announced €3 billion at a post-money valuation of more than €21 billion and describes its approach as open-weight models plus infrastructure and products. Mistral models also run behind Ecosia AI Chat, and Infomaniak lists Mistral among the models used for Euria.
- DeepL (Cologne): DeepL SE is known for machine translation. It offers a free version with monthly limits and paid plans for individuals, teams and enterprises. See DeepL in the translation category.
- Black Forest Labs (Freiburg): BFL GmbH develops the FLUX image models and sells access through an API. It raised a $300 million Series B at a valuation of $3.25 billion. It is not a chatbot and is not listed on this site, but it is the name to know for AI-generated images from Europe.
- Apertus (Switzerland): a public, fully open multilingual language model released on 2 September 2025 by EPFL, ETH Zurich and the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre under the Apache 2.0 licence. It is a research and infrastructure project, not a consumer app.
- Aleph Alpha (Heidelberg): long counted among Europe's AI hopefuls, it signed a merger agreement with the Canadian company Cohere in September 2026. The combined company is to operate as Cohere with headquarters in Toronto and Berlin, so Aleph Alpha is not listed here as a European provider.
Comparison of the listed European AI products
| Product | Type | Company and seat | Models | Free use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mistral Vibe (Le Chat) | Assistant for chat, work and code | Mistral AI, Paris, France | Own Mistral models | Free plan with limits, paid Pro, Team and Enterprise |
| Euria | Assistant, documents, transcription | Infomaniak, Switzerland | Open-source models, hosted in Switzerland | Free within a 24-hour message quota |
| Lumo | Privacy-focused assistant | Proton, Switzerland | Open-source models on Proton servers in Europe | Free, also as guest, paid Plus plan |
| Ecosia AI Chat | Chat mode within a search engine | Ecosia, Berlin, Germany | Mistral Small 4 (named by Ecosia) | Part of Ecosia search |
| DeepL | Translation and writing | DeepL SE, Cologne, Germany | Own models | Free version with monthly limits, paid plans |
Limits compared with ChatGPT
- Feature range: ChatGPT bundles many functions in one product. Euria and Lumo are leaner, Ecosia AI Chat is an addition to search, and only Mistral Vibe comes close in scope.
- Model origin: most European assistants do not run exclusively on models developed in Europe. Euria and Lumo use open-source models of varying origin, and Infomaniak names DeepSeek and Llama next to Mistral. If model origin is the deciding criterion, check each provider's current model list.
- Quality per task: training a competitive large model takes a lot of computing power and capital. Which assistant answers best changes with every model release and can only be judged with your own questions, which the free versions allow.
- Free plans are limited: by message quota, by countries (Euria) or by rollout (Ecosia AI Chat).
- Errors: answers from any assistant can be wrong or outdated.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a European alternative to ChatGPT?
Yes. Mistral Vibe from France, Euria and Lumo from Switzerland and Ecosia AI Chat from Germany are listed. The page European alternatives to ChatGPT shows which one suits which task.
Which European AI is the best?
There is no single best one. Mistral Vibe has the widest feature set, Lumo and Euria make the strongest privacy statements, and Ecosia AI Chat is the easiest entry if Ecosia is already the search engine. Quality varies by task and changes quickly, so a short test with the free versions is more reliable than a ranking.
Does European AI mean my data stays in Europe?
Not automatically. Euria runs only in Switzerland, Lumo on servers in Europe, but Ecosia forwards requests to Mistral. Hosting, storage of conversations and use for training are set out in each provider's privacy policy.
Is there an open European LLM?
Yes. Mistral publishes some models as open-weight models, and the Swiss project Apertus is released under the Apache 2.0 licence. Such models can be run on own or European infrastructure.
Is Le Chat now called Vibe?
Yes. Mistral AI renamed Le Chat to Vibe in May 2026. The address chat.mistral.ai, accounts and conversations stayed the same. On this site the product is still listed as Mistral Vibe (Le Chat).
Find European alternatives
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