Le Chat vs ChatGPT privacy: what Mistral's EU hosting changes, with Morse alongside
The Morse teamPublished Facts checked 10 min read
On Le Chat vs ChatGPT privacy, Le Chat wins on where your data sits and on keeping your chats out of advertising, and ChatGPT wins on deletion deadlines, but neither is private from the company that runs it. As of November 12, 2026, both train on personal accounts' chats until you switch it off, both keep your history on their own servers until you delete it, and both read your messages in order to answer them. Mistral, the French company behind Le Chat (renamed Vibe on August 12, 2026), hosts your data in the EU by default and says it "does not use the content of your conversations with Vibe for marketing or advertising purposes" (Mistral). OpenAI stores ChatGPT data in the US and wherever its vendors are, shows ads on its Free and Go plans, and is the only one of the two that gives a day count for when a deleted chat is gone.
We read Mistral's privacy policy (effective September 3, 2026), its consumer terms (effective October 12, 2026), its help center pages on training, deletion, zero retention, and data location, its Vibe documentation, its subprocessor list, and its pricing page on November 12, 2026. The same day we read OpenAI's privacy policy (updated September 10, 2026), its help pages on data controls, deleting chats, temporary chat, memory, and ads, its data residency announcement, and its pricing page. We ran no tests. For each app on its own, see is Le Chat private and is ChatGPT private.
Le Chat vs ChatGPT vs Morse at a glance
As of November 12, 2026. Le Chat cells come from Mistral's pages, ChatGPT cells from OpenAI's, and the Morse column from our privacy policy. Prices are the US-dollar prices each pricing page showed us.
| Le Chat (Vibe) | ChatGPT | Morse | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Company in charge of your data | Mistral AI, Paris (Mistral) | OpenAI OpCo, LLC, San Francisco; OpenAI Ireland Limited for the EEA and Switzerland (OpenAI) | Watermark Labs, Inc., which holds your account but not your chats |
| Where your data is hosted | "By default … in the European Union" (Mistral) | "In the United States," or where affiliates and vendors are (OpenAI) | Your chat history stays in your browser, encrypted |
| Trains on personal chats by default | Yes, until you opt out (Mistral) | Yes on Free, Plus, and Pro, until you opt out (OpenAI) | No, on any plan |
| A rated reply after you opt out | Used for training on every plan (Mistral) | "The entire conversation" may be used (OpenAI) | Morse doesn't train on any content |
| How long chats are kept | Until you delete the chat or the account (Mistral) | Until you delete them (OpenAI) | On your device until you delete them |
| After you delete a chat | No day count; backend copies kept "for different amounts of time" (Mistral) | Permanently deleted "within 30 days," with exceptions (OpenAI) | Deleted from your device; Morse can't recover it |
| Temporary chat | Not saved or trained on; Mistral logs "that a Temporary Chat happened" (Mistral) | Not saved or trained on; a copy kept "up to 30 days" (OpenAI) | Kept in memory only |
| Memory | Knowledge "enabled by default," saving details on its own (Mistral) | Draws on past chats, saved memories, files, and connected apps (OpenAI) | Memory across chats comes with Pro |
| Ads | Chat content not used "for marketing or advertising purposes" (Mistral) | On Free and Go (OpenAI) | None |
| Paid plans | Pro $14.99 a month, $5.99 for students (Mistral) | Go $8, Plus $20, Pro from $100 a month (OpenAI) | Pro $19 and Max $49 a month; Free is $0 |
Is Le Chat more private than ChatGPT?
On a few rows, yes, and on the rows most people worry about, they're level. Le Chat keeps your data in the EU by default, and Mistral says it "does not sell or share your personal data for marketing or advertising purposes" (Mistral). Both encrypt data at rest with AES-256 and in transit with TLS 1.2 or later (Mistral, OpenAI). ChatGPT's Free and Go plans show ads, and with ad personalization on, OpenAI says it "may save and use memories and reference recent chats when selecting an ad" (OpenAI).
ChatGPT is ahead on deletion. OpenAI says a deleted chat is scheduled "for permanent deletion from its systems within 30 days," unless it was already de-identified or OpenAI "must retain it longer for security or legal obligations" (OpenAI). Mistral's deletion page says "This operation is definitive on your side," then adds that "we may retain different types of data in our backend systems for different amounts of time" (Mistral). We found no number of days on any Mistral page we read.
Training is a tie. Both train on personal chats by default, both let you switch it off and keep your history, and both make an exception for feedback. Mistral says a thumbs up or down with a comment authorizes it to use "your input and output," whatever your plan (Mistral). OpenAI says the "entire conversation associated with that feedback" may be used, and adds that during Trusted Access sessions like Daybreak Blue it may train on your content "even when 'Improve the model for everyone' is off" (OpenAI). The switch names are Allow your interactions to be used to train our models in Vibe's settings under Privacy, and Improve the model for everyone under ChatGPT's Data controls. Both are listed with every other app's in which AI companies train on your data. Business accounts start opted out on both. Mistral says Vibe Enterprise is "opted out of training by default" (Mistral), and OpenAI says it doesn't train on ChatGPT Business, Enterprise, Edu, or Healthcare workspaces by default (OpenAI).
Does EU hosting make Le Chat more private?
Only for where your chats are stored, and not for every feature. Mistral hosts Vibe data in the EU by default and moves some of it out "depending on the feature you use," as we cover with its training and retention rules in is Le Chat private. Mistral's subprocessor list shows which features those are. We read every Vibe row on Mistral's Trust Center on November 12, 2026:
| What Vibe sends out | Who gets it, per Mistral's list | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Cloud infrastructure | Microsoft; Google; Mistral Compute | Sweden and Norway; the Netherlands and Belgium; France |
| Running the models | CoreWeave; Mistral Compute | The EEA; France |
| Web search | Brave Software, Inc. | United States |
| Image generation | Black Forest Labs | United States |
| Code interpreter | Foundrylabs (E2B) | France, Belgium, and the Netherlands |
| Phone number verification | Twilio Inc. | United States |
| Payments on paid plans | Stripe Inc. | United States |
So a chat that stays text stays in Europe, while a question Vibe answers with a web search, or a picture you ask it to draw, goes to a US company. Verifying a phone number sends that number to a US company too, and so does paying for Pro. Mistral's privacy policy says it prefers EU providers, but "in exceptional cases, we may opt for non-EU providers" (Mistral), and this list is where those cases are named. The Trust Center has a subscribe button if you want to hear when it changes, and we compare the lists every major chatbot publishes in AI chatbot subprocessors.
Where a server sits also doesn't settle which governments can demand what's on it, a limit we go through, with the US law that reaches data abroad, in what is data residency.
ChatGPT has no EU default to weigh. OpenAI's privacy policy keeps personal accounts' data on servers "in the United States" or wherever its vendors are, with OpenAI Ireland Limited as controller for EEA and Swiss users (OpenAI), and the country-by-country picture is in where AI chat data is stored.
Do Le Chat and ChatGPT use your data for ads?
ChatGPT shows ads in the app on Free and Go (OpenAI). OpenAI's privacy policy adds that it receives information "from advertisers and other data partners," such as "information about purchases you make from these advertisers" (OpenAI). Mistral says it "does not use the content of your conversations with Vibe for marketing or advertising purposes" (Mistral). ChatGPT's ad settings, plan by plan, are in how to turn off ChatGPT ads.
Which deletes your data more completely, Le Chat or ChatGPT?
ChatGPT, because it gives deadlines where Le Chat gives none. Here are both companies' rules, read on November 12, 2026:
| You delete | Le Chat (Vibe) | ChatGPT |
|---|---|---|
| A chat | Gone "on your side," with backend copies kept "for different amounts of time" (Mistral) | Permanently deleted "within 30 days," unless de-identified or held for security or legal reasons (OpenAI) |
| Your account | Chats deleted with it; other account data kept for periods that run from 1 to 10 years (Mistral) | Removed "within 30 days," except data kept for legal, security, fraud, or payment reasons (OpenAI) |
Neither promises to pull a chat back out of training once it has been used, so switch training off before you start rather than after.
Which keeps less: temporary chats and memory in Le Chat vs ChatGPT?
Le Chat's temporary chat keeps less, and ChatGPT's memory reaches further. Mistral logs only "that a Temporary Chat happened" (Mistral), while OpenAI may keep a copy for up to 30 days (OpenAI). On memory, Vibe's Knowledge is on by default and saves details by itself (Mistral), while ChatGPT's can draw on "content from connected apps, such as Gmail" (OpenAI). Mistral says Knowledge "doesn't save sensitive personal information (such as political opinions, religious beliefs, or health details) unless you turn on" Sensitive data in Knowledge (Mistral). Each app's switches are in is Le Chat private and is ChatGPT private.
Does paying for Le Chat Pro or ChatGPT Plus buy more privacy?
No, except that ChatGPT Plus, at $20 a month, drops the ads (OpenAI), while training stays on by default as on Free (OpenAI). Le Chat Pro, at $14.99 a month, buys more usage (Mistral), and Mistral's training page names Vibe Enterprise, not Pro, as the plan that starts opted out (Mistral).
How Morse keeps your chat history off both companies' servers
Choosing between Le Chat and ChatGPT chooses which company keeps your chat history on its servers, under your account, and which country's servers hold it. Every difference above, from the training switch to the deletion deadline, is a rule about that stored copy, and Morse is built not to keep one.
- Private, for chats no host should keep. It's the default for a new chat, running open-weight models like DeepSeek, Kimi, and GLM, plus xAI's Grok. Morse has zero data retention agreements with its inference, search, and other providers, so they keep nothing. Where a provider confirms zero retention on each reply, Morse checks it and refuses a reply that doesn't. Mistral says zero retention "is not available for Vibe Work or Chat, regardless of your subscription plan" (Mistral).
- Anonymous, for GPT without an OpenAI account. Our proxy removes your account, email, and IP address and sends the message under Morse's own account, so OpenAI answers without knowing it's you. OpenAI may keep the message for a limited time to check for abuse, under its own policy, so leave out names and details that point to you.
- E2EE, for anything you'd keep from every server, in Europe or anywhere else. Your browser checks the secure enclave's hardware attestation before anything leaves your device, then encrypts the message so only that enclave can read it. Our servers relay ciphertext they can't read. The enclaves are run by third-party providers, not by Morse, and the guarantee rests on the enclave hardware and attestation working as designed. E2EE chats come with Pro, at $19 a month. Read how end-to-end encrypted AI chat works.
In every mode, your chat history is stored in your browser, encrypted, and locked when you sign out, so there's no copy on our servers waiting out a 30-day window or an unstated grace period. Morse doesn't train AI on your content, sell your data, or show ads, so there's no switch to find and no ad picked from your chats. Temporary chats are kept in memory only, and attached files are sent with the message and never stored by us. Because we don't store chats, we usually have very little to give authorities. Clearing your browser, losing the device, or deleting your account deletes your chats, and Morse can't recover them, so keep a copy of anything you need.
Choose Le Chat, ChatGPT, or Morse
- Choose Le Chat if you want a European company's assistant with your data hosted in the EU by default, your chats kept out of advertising, and memory that skips health details unless you allow them, and you'll switch off training yourself.
- Choose ChatGPT if you want a 30-day deletion deadline, a temporary chat with a stated retention limit, and OpenAI's models in OpenAI's own app, and you'll pay for Plus to drop the ads.
- Choose Morse if you want GPT without OpenAI knowing it's you, open-weight models on hosts that keep nothing, E2EE that your own browser checks, and history that stays encrypted on your device, with no training or ads on any plan.
You can send a first message from the Morse home page without an account, or start free with no card.
Morse publishes this comparison. We've tried to keep it fair; if something's wrong or out of date, email hello@trymorse.ai.
Le Chat is a trademark of Mistral AI. Morse is not affiliated with or endorsed by Mistral AI.
ChatGPT is a trademark of OpenAI. Morse is not affiliated with or endorsed by OpenAI.
Common questions
Is Le Chat or ChatGPT more private for someone in Europe?
On location, Le Chat. Mistral, a Paris company, hosts Vibe data in the EU by default, while OpenAI Ireland Limited answers for EEA and Swiss ChatGPT users but OpenAI's privacy policy keeps their data in the US or wherever its vendors are. Training and history work much the same in both.
Do Le Chat and ChatGPT encrypt my chats?
In transit and at rest, yes. Both cite AES-256 at rest and TLS 1.2 or later in transit, on the pages linked in the section on which is more private. Neither describes its chat app as end-to-end encrypted, and each company's systems decrypt your message to answer it.
Is Le Chat or ChatGPT better for a company's staff?
On training, they're level. Both start business accounts opted out, as their training pages linked above say. That means Vibe Enterprise on Mistral's side, and Business, Enterprise, Edu, and Healthcare workspaces on OpenAI's.