[Reka]: The "Everything" AI That Actually Watches Your Videos
Reka isn’t just another chatbot trying to write your emails; it’s a multimodal powerhouse designed to see and hear the world like you do. The best part? They hand you $10 in monthly credits for free, which translates to hours of video analysis or millions of words of text.
🎨 What It Actually Does
- Video "Ctrl+F": Upload a webinar or Zoom recording, and Reka can find the exact timestamp where someone mentioned "Q4 Budget." – Saves you from scrubbing through hour-long footage.
- Transparent Thinking: The new "Flash 3.1" model uses visible reasoning tags to show you how it reached an answer. – Helps you trust the output rather than guessing if the AI is hallucinating.
- True Multimodality: It processes text, images, audio, and video simultaneously, not as separate attachments. – Perfect for analyzing complex inputs like a video of a broken appliance with a voiceover explaining the sound.
The Real Cost (Free vs. Paid)
Reka uses a "credit" system rather than a simple "chats per day" limit. It’s flexible but requires you to pay attention.
| Plan | Cost | Key Limits/Perks |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $10/mo credits (approx. 160 mins of video analysis or ~4M text tokens). |
| Pay-as-you-go | Variable | Pay only for what you use. No fixed subscription. |
How It Stacks Up
- vs. Google Gemini 1.5 Flash: Google also offers a massive context window (up to 1M tokens) and is free in AI Studio. However, Reka’s specialized "Vision" features often feel more precise for granular video search tasks.
- vs. ChatGPT (GPT-4o): ChatGPT is the king of general conversation, but its strict message caps (e.g., 40 messages/3 hours) can be annoying. Reka’s credit model lets you binge-work on a big project without hitting a sudden wall.
- vs. Mistral: Mistral is fantastic for open-source purists and text, but Reka leaves it in the dust when you need to analyze a 45-minute video file.
The Verdict
Reka feels like the tool we’ll all be using when the novelty of "chatting" wears off and the need for "processing" begins. It’s less of a creative writing partner and more of a highly efficient analyst that can watch, listen, and summarize your digital clutter. If you work with media files or need an AI that doesn't just read but observes, Reka is the sleeper hit of 2025 you need to bookmark.
