Arco: the ChatHub alternative without the monthly bill.
ChatHub charges you every month whether you use it or not, and caps your best models when you hit the quota. Arco lets you pick from 400+ models on your own key, pay only for the tokens you actually use, and keeps every chat on your Mac.
The short version
Skip the scroll and get the verdict.
Where Arco wins
- 400+ models via your own OpenRouter key
- Chats stay on your Mac, never uploaded
- Pay only when you use it. No monthly bill, no quotas
Where ChatHub falls short
- Monthly subscription even for occasional users
- Advanced-model queries capped (1,500/month on Pro)
- Chats live on their servers, not yours
The verdict
Pick ChatHub if you're on Windows, iOS, or Android, or if you never want to touch an API key. Pick Arco if you're on a Mac, care where your chats live, and don't want another monthly subscription.
Arco vs ChatHub, feature by feature
Where each tool wins and where it falls short.
Three reasons people switch
The specific things ChatHub can't match.
Your chats stay on your Mac. Not on someone else's server.
Every conversation in ChatHub lives on their infrastructure. You are trusting their retention policy, their security posture, and their access controls with the questions you actually ask. Arco stores everything locally. There is no server between you and the models.
One payment, then it's yours.
ChatHub bills you every month whether you use it twice a day or twice a week. Arco is a one-time thing. You get it once, you keep it. Skip a month and you do not pay for that month.
Ask what you want, when you want. No "you have hit your limit" walls.
ChatHub Pro caps advanced-model queries at 1,500 a month. Every question to GPT-5, Claude 4.5, or Gemini 3 counts against the same pool. Arco uses your OpenRouter key directly. Your only limit is your own token budget, and you set it.
What you actually pay over 3 years
ChatHub bundles its subscription with API access. Arco separates them. You buy the app once and pay OpenRouter directly for the tokens you actually use. Here is the breakdown.
(yearly)
(yearly)
The fine print worth knowing
- Every ChatHub user needs their own subscription. No team-seat discount surfaced on their public pricing.
- Pro tier caps advanced-model queries at 1,500 per month. Hit that ceiling and you either wait or upgrade to Unlimited.
- Arco's ongoing cost is your OpenRouter usage. It can be $0 in a light month. ChatHub bills the flat rate whether you used it or not.
Switching from ChatHub? Here's how you start.
Three steps, about five minutes total.
Download Arco
Free forever tier, no card, no email required. macOS 13 or later, Apple Silicon.
Add your OpenRouter key
Sign up at openrouter.ai (free account) and paste your key into Arco. That's it. One key, 400+ models.
Ask every model at once
Type your question once. Every selected model answers in parallel. Compare, summarize, copy.
What about my ChatHub history?
Questions people ask before switching
Straight answers, including where ChatHub still wins.
When you need a decision, not a subscription.
Arco is a one-time purchase. Skip a month, pay nothing. Your OpenRouter key covers 400+ models with no quotas. So you can stop guessing and start deciding.