Which AI should I use?

How do you choose without a ranking?

Start with the chat already on your screen. If you are new to all of them, the 7-day plan says to pick one free chat and stay with it for a week. ChatGPT for beginners is that first week in one guide. Use AI at work is the same idea on the job, with your company's rule first.

Switch tools when the job changes, not when a video says one name is smarter. Writing from facts you know fits a general chat. A claim you must find on a public page fits Perplexity. A file you already have, and must quote, fits NotebookLM or a summary in Gemini. A button inside Word, Excel, or Outlook is Copilot only when you can see it. A budget or a medical bill is not a reason to pay for a fancier model. You type the numbers you already have, on Money and bills.

If a button this page names is missing, check that company's current plan page. A missing button is often the plan, the region, or an admin setting. It is not a prompt you wrote badly. This site does not list a price, because those numbers change and two of a company's own pages do not always print the same figure.

What does each company say you can start with?

ChatGPT is OpenAI's chat at chatgpt.com. OpenAI's pricing page says the free version is available to everyone, and it lists individual plans named Free, Go, Plus, and Pro, plus Business and Enterprise. The Free column on that page describes text chat, with limits on uploads, image creation, voice, deep research, and memory. A footnote says usage has to be reasonable and follow OpenAI's policies. The same page says the Go plan may include ads. Plus, on that page, adds advanced reasoning, more room for messages and uploads, projects, scheduled tasks, and custom GPTs. OpenAI's Free plan page says you can start on the web or in the mobile app, upload a document or image, and search from the chat. The dollar amount is on OpenAI's page. Do not copy it from a screenshot in a chat.

Claude is Anthropic's chat at claude.ai. Anthropic's pricing page lists a Free plan and paid individual plans named Pro and Max, plus Team and Enterprise. That page says Free includes chat on the web, desktop, and mobile, web search, creating files, and running code, and that prices and plans can change. Read the card on the page before you assume a control is included. The Claude hub on this site covers Projects from Anthropic's help. This page does not copy the price.

Gemini is Google's chat at gemini.google.com. Google's subscriptions page lists a free Gemini experience and paid Google AI plans, including Plus, Pro, and Ultra. What each column includes depends on the country printed on that page. Google One's AI plans page says paid plans add more access to features and models in Gemini Notebook. Free Gemini on this site's guides can read a file you upload. If a control from a video is missing, use the plan page, not a guess. This site does not copy the price.

Copilot is Microsoft's assistant. Microsoft's support article says the free version is available at no cost at copilot.cloud.microsoft, in the Copilot app, and in Edge. It says sign-in is not required, and that signing in with a personal account adds chat history, image creation, longer conversations, and voice. The same article says Copilot inside the desktop apps, for an individual Microsoft 365 plan, depends on the subscription and is limited for people who are not the subscription owner. A work account depends on the license and how the organization is set up. The free site does not open your inbox. This site does not list a price.

Meta AI is the assistant inside Meta's apps. Meta's help says the Meta AI app and website are not available everywhere, and that the assistant can also be used on Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp. The start-a-chat article names Instant, Thinking, and Shopping modes on the Meta AI app, and says a response may be inaccurate or inappropriate and should not be used for an important decision. Those help pages do not publish a Free, Plus, and Pro table. If you cannot see Meta AI, it may not be offered on your account. Do not invent a paid tier to explain a missing button.

Perplexity answers with citations. Perplexity's getting-started help says it searches the web and shows where parts of the answer came from. Perplexity's plan article describes a free Standard plan, Pro, Max, Education Pro, and Enterprise plans. On that article, Free includes search history, what it calls practically unlimited basic searches, a very limited amount of Pro Searches, a model Perplexity picks, and limited file uploads. The same list says Free does not include choosing advanced models, image generation, or premium support. The dollar amount is on Perplexity's pricing page. This site does not copy it. You still open every citation.

Which AI should you use for writing?

Use the general chat you already open. ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and the free Copilot chat can all draft from facts you paste. Claude's pricing page highlights writing and files on the free plan, which is why a long rewrite is a natural fit for the Claude hub. You still supply the reader, the goal, and the facts. A draft that could belong to anyone is not finished.

Start with Write prompts that get useful work, then Reply to work emails or Write a letter. The same facts for a different reader are Rewrite for a different audience. You send the message. The chat does not.

Which AI should you use for school?

Use it as a tutor, and only if your teacher allows it. Use AI for school the right way is the rule. Study for an exam and Turn lecture notes into a study guide are the practice. You answer in your own words. You do not turn in the chat's paragraphs. The Studying topic holds the set, including math as a tutor.

When the source is your own notes, a PDF, or a reading you uploaded, NotebookLM is built to stay with those sources and show a citation. Google's help says ordinary chat answers use your sources. You still explain the idea yourself. A quiz the tool generates is practice, not the assignment.

Which AI should you use for work in Office?

Look at the ribbon before you look at a website. If Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, or Teams shows Copilot, use the guide that matches the app: Word and PowerPoint, Excel, or Outlook and Teams. Microsoft's support article says that in-app Copilot is not the same thing as the free website.

If the button is missing, do not paste the work file into a personal chat to get around it. Use text you are allowed to paste. Get an Excel or Sheets formula, outline the talk, or draft the reply from one message on Reply to work emails. ChatGPT in the Word ribbon is a different sidebar, on a ChatGPT account. That path is Use ChatGPT in Word.

Which AI should you use for research with sources?

If the facts live on the public web, start with Perplexity and then open every link. The habit is Research a topic with AI. A citation you did not open is not a check. Catch facts the AI made up is the same move in any chat.

If the only allowed source is a file you have, do not ask a web search to fill the hole. Upload it where you are allowed to, and tell the chat to quote the line. NotebookLM is Google's source-grounded notebook. A long report in a general chat is Summarize a long report. The move is Answer only from your sources. Two versions of one file are Compare two documents with AI.

Which AI should you use on a phone, for free?

Use the app you can install without a hunt. OpenAI's Free plan page says ChatGPT works in the mobile app. Anthropic's pricing page says Claude's free plan includes mobile. Google's subscriptions page is about the Gemini app. Microsoft's support article says Copilot has a mobile app. Meta's help says you can use the assistant on Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, or WhatsApp when that feature is available to you, which is often the phone you already carry. Perplexity's site is perplexity.ai. If a store offers an app, the plan article still describes the account. A missing feature means you check the plan page.

A phone chat is still a chat. Find a restaurant with Meta AI tells you to check hours yourself. Do not paste a password because the app was convenient. The beginner path is still one tool and one real task.

Which AI should you use when the paste is private?

Leave the secret out, whichever logo is on the screen. Passwords, one-time codes, government ID numbers, member IDs, account numbers, and someone else's confidential file do not go in the box. Keep your data private with AI walks through the training switches that ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Copilot actually show. A switch is not a promise that a secret is safe to paste. The Privacy topic is that set, including Spot AI scams and deepfakes.

A medical bill is private even after you decide a chat may help you read it. Black out names, member IDs, and account numbers first. The steps are Understand a medical bill with AI. That page is not medical, legal, or financial advice. Google's Gemini Notebook page says personal content is not used to train the product unless you share feedback, and that an organization's data is not used to train it. That is still not a reason to upload an unredacted bill or a client file.

What should you open next?

ChatGPT · Claude · Gemini · Copilot · Meta AI · Perplexity · NotebookLM · Prompt fixer

Official pages for the plan details on this guide: ChatGPT pricing, ChatGPT Free, Claude pricing, Gemini subscriptions, Google AI plans, Microsoft Copilot free and Microsoft 365, Meta AI help, Perplexity plans, and Perplexity pricing.