Habr AI lists nine AI services for web search and PDFs: DuckDuckGo, BotHub, GigaChat

Habr AI released a review of nine services that can already do more than just search for links — they gather answers from the web, PDFs and office files. The selection includes both universal platforms like BotHub and Perplexity, as well as more specialized tools — from ChatPDF to privacy-focused DuckDuckGo and Brave.

Who's included in the review

The material compares BotHub, Brave Search, ChatPDF, GigaChat, Felo AI, iAsk, Komo, Perplexity and DuckDuckGo. The common idea is the same for all: a user asks a question in natural language, and the service decides where to search for the answer — on the internet, in an uploaded document, or across multiple sources at once. This format is already moving far from classic keyword-based search: the models paraphrase what they find, compile summaries and in some cases immediately show which pages, articles or files they relied on.

• BotHub — a model aggregator with web search and legal mode through the Garant database.
• Perplexity — deep search with citations, source type filters and deep research mode.
• ChatPDF — chat with PDF and DOCX that links to specific pages.
• DuckDuckGo and Brave — a bet on privacy and fast web answers without excessive ecosystem.
• Felo AI, iAsk, Komo and GigaChat — an intermediate layer between search engine, analyst and assistant.

The review clearly shows that there is no universal leader for all scenarios yet. If you need to verify a law, understand a report and compare it with fresh data from the network, the choice will be one. If it's more important to quickly get a short answer without tracking and without working with files, completely different products will work. This is why the author analyzes not only the quality of the answer, but also search modes, attachment support, prices, free plan limits and even how convenient it is to enable AI search in the interface itself.

How the market split

On one end are services that bet on privacy and minimalism. Brave Search leaves the user with a classic search results page and adds AI as an overlay for quick context, while DuckDuckGo transfers the same logic to Ask AI mode. Both solutions look more like an evolution of a search engine than a full-fledged research environment: they're good when you need operational web answers, but noticeably weaker when it requires collaborative work with multiple documents, sources and a long chain of clarifications.

On the other end are platforms for deeper research. Perplexity can combine web, scientific papers, social media, forums and even email, while BotHub brings several large models under one roof and stands out separately with integration with Garant for legal queries. GigaChat adds Giga, Research and Reasoning modes, Felo AI bets on multilingual search and answer translation, and iAsk allows you to pre-limit source types. For point-specific work with files, ChatPDF stands out: its strength is not breadth of coverage, but confident document navigation with page binding.

"The main thing that unites these tools is the desire to save our time."

The picture with prices and limits is also uneven. ChatPDF has Plus with expanded limits, Perplexity has paid Pro and Max tiers, Komo's entry to advanced modes starts at around $17 per month, and Felo AI's free access is built on daily credits. In free tiers, they most often cut either the models, file size, or the number of deep searches. Therefore, comparing such services only by answer quality is already pointless: the cost of a specific work scenario is also important.

What it means

The AI search market is rapidly fragmenting into clear segments: private search, research assistants with citation and document analysis tools. For users this is good news: instead of one compromising service, you can choose a product for the task — from quick web answers to checking a large report, presentation or PDF with reference to specific pages. The next stage of competition seems to be already not about the fact of "smart search" itself, but about the quality of sources, depth of analysis and convenience of the workflow.