Straico Review: Use 4 AI Models at Once (AppSumo Deal)

What Is Straico and Why Does It Matter?

Straico is an AI chatbot platform with a compelling twist: instead of being locked into a single language model, you can run the same prompt across up to four different LLMs at the same time. That means you could have ChatGPT, Claude, Llama, and Perplexity all generating responses to the same question, then pick whichever output suits you best.

This multi-model approach is Straico's headline feature, but the platform goes well beyond basic chat. It also includes text-to-speech conversion, image generation through both Stable Diffusion and DALL-E 3, a deep template library, and an API for automation workflows. It's back on AppSumo as a deal of the day, which means limited codes at steep discounts — so availability may be tight.

Plans, Pricing, and the Coin System Explained

Straico's AppSumo lifetime deal comes in three tiers, all one-time payments. Tier 1 is $59 for 5,000 coins per month. Tier 2 is $99 for 10,000 coins per month. And Tier 3 is $149 for 40,000 coins per month. The jump from Tier 1 to Tier 3 is only $90 more, but you get eight times the monthly coins — making Tier 3 the clear best value if you plan to use the tool regularly.

One thing worth clarifying: the deal page on AppSumo can be a little misleading. It lists impressive word counts like "126,000 monthly words," but that's the maximum if you only used a single cheap model. The reality is that everything runs on a shared coin pool. Generate 126,000 words in GPT-4 Turbo and you'll burn through your entire monthly balance with nothing left over. Straico's own billing page explains this much more clearly — your coins can be spent across any combination of models, text-to-speech, and image generation.

Choosing and Configuring Your AI Models

When you open a new chat in Straico, the first thing you'll want to do is configure which models you're working with. The defaults are Claude 3 and GPT-3.5, which feel a bit dated at this point. Clicking the pencil icon lets you swap in up to four models from a wide selection that includes Claude 3.5 Sonnet, GPT-4o, Gemini Pro 1.5, Grok Beta, Perplexity, and more.

Each model shows its cost per 100 words, and the range is significant. Something like Claude's Opus model runs 24 credits per 100 words, while lighter models come in at a fraction of that. You'll also want to pay attention to feature icons — some models accept image inputs, and certain ones like Perplexity can browse the web for real-time data. A lightbulb icon flags web-capable models, which is useful if your prompt needs current information. You can toggle browsing on or off to keep all models on an even playing field when you want a fair comparison.

Running Multi-Model Prompts and Comparing Results

Once your models are configured, you type your prompt and hit submit. Straico displays a real-time coin counter as you type, so you know the input cost before sending. Keep in mind that the output also costs coins — a prompt that costs 3.4 coins to send might end up costing 47 coins total once all four models have generated their responses.

The split view is where things get interesting. You can view all four outputs in a grid layout, switch to a column view, or toggle between models individually. This makes it easy to quickly scan openings, compare tones, and spot which model nailed the assignment. If one output is clearly off, you can delete that single response without clearing the whole chat.

Additional quality-of-life features include voice dictation for input, file attachments, and a "smart mode" that automatically enhances your prompt for grammar and clarity before sending it to the models. There's also a share button to generate a public link to any conversation.

The Chat Interface and Managing Conversations

Straico's interface is clean and functional. Chats are saved in a sidebar for easy access, and you can rename, favorite, delete, or clear any conversation. Each individual model response within a chat can be copied as markdown, deleted, or sent directly to the text-to-speech tool.

Coin management is transparent throughout. The running total for each chat is always visible, so you can monitor spending in real time. If a four-model configuration is burning through coins too fast, you can easily scale back to a single model or switch to cheaper options like GPT-4o Mini, which costs roughly a tenth of what premium models charge.

Text-to-Speech: Surprisingly Expressive Voices

Straico includes a built-in text-to-speech engine with six different voices spanning male and female options, mostly younger-sounding with one senior voice (Onyx). You can access it from anywhere in the interface or directly from a chat response.

Each voice comes with standard and high-definition output options. HD costs about double — around 3.6 coins versus 1.8 for standard — but the quality difference is noticeable. The voices are impressively expressive and natural-sounding. During testing with song lyrics, the AI varied its intonation between repeated lines, creating a more poetic delivery rather than robotic repetition.

There are minor quirks — some voices occasionally land on odd emphasis at the end of passages — but overall the quality is remarkably human-like. Generation is fast too, producing a full paragraph of audio in about 12 seconds. The main limitation right now is that there's no fine-grained control over pronunciation or emphasis, but it's a strong foundation that will likely improve over time.

Image Generation: Stable Diffusion and DALL-E 3

Straico offers two paths to image generation. The first is a dedicated Stable Diffusion tool accessible from the main interface. You enter a prompt (or have the tool generate a random one), add negative prompts for things you want to avoid, choose a style like cinematic or oil painting, and optionally upload a reference image. Advanced settings are available for Stable Diffusion power users, but the defaults work well.

Image generation costs about 40 coins per batch, making it pricier than text prompts but still reasonable — even Tier 1's 5,000 monthly coins can cover quite a few image generations. The Stable Diffusion output has come a long way from its early days; results are compelling and visually interesting, suitable for creative projects and content illustration.

DALL-E 3 Image Generation via Templates

The second image generation option uses DALL-E 3, and you access it through Straico's template system rather than a dedicated tool. The DALL-E template lets you enter a prompt, choose your output size (portrait, landscape, or square), and select how many variations you want (one through four).

DALL-E 3 tends to produce more photorealistic results compared to Stable Diffusion's more artistic outputs. In testing, a prompt for a taco on a minimalist plate in a luxury apartment produced impressively realistic results with detailed backgrounds. You can favorite any generated image, download it directly, or save the entire output as a favorite message for later reference.

Templates: Pre-Built Prompts with Smart Variables

Straico's template library is one of its underrated strengths. There are dozens of pre-built templates organized by category — SEO, marketing, content creation, image generation, and more. What makes them particularly useful is the variable system.

Rather than just pasting in a static prompt, each template presents you with fill-in-the-blank fields. An SEO keyword research template, for example, asks for your target language, main topic, and how many keywords of each type you want. Once you fill in the variables and hit insert, Straico builds the complete prompt with your specifics baked in. It's a genuinely unique approach that makes templates far more practical than the copy-paste prompts you find elsewhere. You can also favorite frequently used templates for quick access from the sidebar.

Default Preferences and Customization

A small but important quality-of-life feature: Straico lets you set your default AI model so you don't have to reconfigure it every time you start a new chat. Head to your account settings, click preferences, and choose your preferred model. Save it, and every new chat will start with your chosen configuration instead of defaulting back to older models.

This is especially helpful if you've found a model that hits the sweet spot between quality and coin cost for your typical use case.

API Access and the Straico Assistant Extension

For users who want to integrate Straico into their workflows, the platform offers a full API. This opens the door to connecting Straico with automation platforms like Zapier, building custom integrations, or triggering AI generation programmatically. The API documentation is thorough and well-organized.

There's also a third-party Chrome extension called Straico Assistant that hooks into your account via API key, letting you access Straico's capabilities from anywhere on the web. It's worth noting this extension isn't made by the Straico team — it's a community-built tool — but it's free and functional. It's the kind of ecosystem development that suggests an engaged user base.

Straico vs. Merlin: How They Compare

Since Straico and Merlin both appeared as AppSumo deals in the same week, the comparison is inevitable. They're genuinely different tools, though. Straico's standout feature is multi-model prompting — running the same query across four LLMs simultaneously. It also has text-to-speech, which Merlin lacks entirely. Merlin, on the other hand, offers projects and crafts (their version of artifacts), which Straico doesn't have, and its image generation may edge out Straico slightly on quality.

Both are affordable lifetime deals, and there's a reasonable case for grabbing both if you're worried about running out of credits on either platform. They complement each other more than they compete.

Final Verdict: Is Straico Worth It?

Straico earns a 7.9 out of 10. Its multi-model comparison feature is genuinely useful and hard to find elsewhere at this price point. The text-to-speech is surprisingly good, the template system is thoughtfully designed, and the API opens up real automation potential.

The coin-based pricing can be confusing at first, and power users running four premium models will burn through credits quickly. But if you're strategic about model selection and take advantage of the Tier 3 deal for its massive value advantage, Straico delivers a lot of AI capability for a one-time payment. If comparing AI model outputs side by side sounds valuable to your workflow, this one is worth serious consideration.

Watch the Full Video

Prefer watching to reading? Check out the full video on YouTube for a complete walkthrough with live demos and commentary.