Last updated: 2026-09-23
CLOVA X is Naver's Korean-language AI chatbot, built on the 82-billion-parameter HyperCLOVA X model that scored 84.14 on the HAE-RAE Bench versus 68.2 for competing LLMs. It supports plugin-based function calling into Naver Search and Shopping, image understanding, and up to 128,000 tokens of context in its THINK variant.
About CLOVA X
CLOVA X is Naver Corporation's Korean-language AI chatbot, launched in beta on August 24, 2023 and built on the company's in-house HyperCLOVA X large language model. The base HyperCLOVA X model runs at roughly 82 billion parameters with a Korean-optimized tokenizer that NAVER says processes Korean text up to twice as fast, and at lower cost, than English-centric models built for a different language first.
The chatbot works through a plugin system: instead of answering purely from training data, CLOVA X can call Naver Search, Naver Shopping and other first-party Naver services mid-conversation to pull in current information, similar to how ChatGPT calls browsing or code-execution plugins. On Korean-language benchmarks NAVER reports HyperCLOVA X scoring 84.14 on the HAE-RAE Bench against 68.2 for the LLMs it compared against, and 93.8% accuracy translating English into Korean versus GPT-4's reported 89.0%, though NAVER has not published the equivalent SWE-bench, GPQA or MMLU-Pro scores that Western frontier labs disclose.
Beyond the consumer chatbot, NAVER has released the HyperCLOVA X SEED family (0.5B, 1.5B, 3B, 14B and 32B parameters) under a commercial open-source license for developers who want to self-host, and a separate HyperCLOVA X THINK model with a 128,000-token context window for longer Korean and English reasoning tasks. SEED 32B Think reportedly scored a Grade 1 on Korea's 2026 College Scholastic Ability Test, with perfect marks in English and Korean History, a result NAVER points to as evidence of strong domestic-curriculum reasoning.
CLOVA X's consumer chatbot is free with a Naver account and carries no published subscription tier. Developers who want programmatic access go through CLOVA Studio, NAVER's LLMOps platform for building and deploying HyperCLOVA X applications, where pricing is usage-based but not listed on a public per-token rate card; NAVER Cloud, the infrastructure layer behind both products, holds ISO 27001, ISO 27018 and SOC 1/2/3 certifications alongside a GDPR-aligned privacy policy.
For teams inside Korea's regulatory environment, HyperCLOVA X also supports on-premise and private-cloud deployment so data stays under the customer's own infrastructure rather than a foreign LLM provider's servers, a distinction NAVER markets as sovereign AI.
Pricing
com is free with a Naver account and has no published subscription tier. CLOVA Studio, the developer API for HyperCLOVA X, bills on usage but NAVER has not published a per-token rate card; teams contact Naver Cloud sales for enterprise pricing.
Key Features
- Korean-optimized tokenizer: A Korean-first tokenizer keeps token counts lower than English-centric models handling the same text, reducing inference cost for Korean-language conversations.
- Plugin-based function calling: CLOVA X reaches into Naver's own search and shopping index mid-conversation, answering with sourced, current information instead of training data alone.
- Multimodal image understanding: The HyperCLOVA X SEED 8B Omni variant reads and discusses images and tables inside the chat, not just plain text.
- 128,000-token context window: The HyperCLOVA X THINK model holds up to 128,000 tokens of context for long documents and extended Korean and English reasoning.
- Open-weight SEED family for developers: NAVER releases a range of smaller HyperCLOVA X SEED checkpoints for self-hosting under a commercial open-source license through CLOVA Studio.
Pros
- Beats the rival LLMs NAVER cites on its own Korean-language benchmark suite by the widest margin HokAI found in any source for this record.
- Free to use with a Naver account, with no separate CLOVA X subscription fee published on the consumer app.
- NAVER's largest SEED reasoning checkpoint reportedly earned top marks, including a perfect score in English and Korean History, on Korea's 2026 national college entrance exam.
- Naver Cloud, the infrastructure CLOVA X runs on, carries international security certification and a GDPR-aligned privacy policy covering the underlying data centers.
Cons
- NAVER publishes far fewer English-facing SWE-bench, GPQA or MMLU-Pro scores than Western frontier labs, making cross-language comparison harder.
- CLOVA Studio's per-token API pricing is not published on a public rate card, unlike OpenAI's or Anthropic's per-million-token tables, so budgeting the developer API means contacting Naver Cloud sales.
- The chatbot requires a Naver account to use, tying usage to Naver's Korean login system rather than a global OAuth or email signup.
Data Handling
- Training-data policy
- Trained on NAVER's own Korean-language data from search, blog and Knowledge iN content; Naver Cloud enterprise deployments offer on-premise and private-cloud options that keep customer data off shared infrastructure.
- Compliance
- SOC 1/2/3 · ISO 27001 · ISO 27018 · ISMS-P · CSAP · GDPR-aligned privacy policy (Naver Cloud infrastructure)
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does CLOVA X cost in 2026?
CLOVA X's consumer chatbot at clova-x.naver.com is free to use with a Naver account. NAVER has not published a per-token rate card for the CLOVA Studio developer API; teams that want programmatic access need to contact Naver Cloud sales for enterprise pricing.
Is CLOVA X free to use?
Yes. The consumer chatbot has no published subscription tier or paywall; every conversation runs on a free Naver account login. Enterprise and on-premise deployments of the underlying HyperCLOVA X model are priced separately through Naver Cloud.
What are the best alternatives to CLOVA X?
ChatGPT and Gemini cover more languages and publish frontier benchmark scores like SWE-bench and GPQA that CLOVA X does not. Wrtn is a Korean alternative built on multiple third-party models rather than NAVER's own HyperCLOVA X, useful if you want template-driven workflows instead of a first-party ecosystem.
How does CLOVA X compare to ChatGPT in 2026?
CLOVA X scores 84.14 on the HAE-RAE Bench versus 68.2 for the LLMs NAVER benchmarked it against, and plugs directly into Naver Search and Shopping. ChatGPT publishes broader English-language and coding benchmarks and has a far larger third-party plugin and API ecosystem outside Korea.
How do you get started with CLOVA X?
Sign in at clova-x.naver.com with a Naver account and start chatting; no separate signup or credit card is required. Developers who want API access to HyperCLOVA X instead sign up for CLOVA Studio through the Naver Cloud Platform console.
Top Alternatives
- ChatGPT: Pick CLOVA X if you need a Korean-first chatbot integrated with Naver Search and Shopping; choose ChatGPT for broader English-language and published benchmark coverage.
- Gemini: Pick CLOVA X for Korean-language plugin integration with Naver's own services; choose Gemini for deeper Google Workspace integration and multimodal video support.
- Wrtn: Pick CLOVA X when you want NAVER's own first-party model and ecosystem; choose Wrtn if you want a template-driven Korean assistant built on multiple third-party LLMs.