Questions about AI from our clients keep coming in, with many asking which tools to choose. It’s understandable confusion—the number of AI chatbots has skyrocketed, and lesser-known ones are often highlighted or promoted on social media as the next big thing. The rapid pace of change in the field can be overwhelming, with major announcements happening every month.
For those who don’t want to spend time getting to know all the different AI tools, here’s our advice on the best options right now. This isn’t an area to go for an underdog—if you want to get serious work done, stick with one of the major systems. That means choosing from these five, which make up about 90% of the market:
- ChatGPT from OpenAI
- Gemini from Google
- Claude from Anthropic
- Copilot from Microsoft
- Perplexity from Perplexity AI
That’s roughly the order in which we recommend you choose, although there are particular areas where one outperforms the others. Realistically, though, you’ll be fine with any of them, so the decision may come down to which feels the best during your interactions on the Web and through the system’s mobile app.
Although you can test all five chatbots for free, you’ll get much better results if you pay for an account to unlock unlimited access to all models and features. The free accounts use older, less advanced models and will cut you off if you try to use them too much in a day. All these chatbots cost $20 per month, other than the full version of Microsoft 365 Copilot, which is $30 per month and requires an annual commitment.
Let’s explore different usage scenarios that could make one chatbot a better fit for your needs.
General Purpose Usage: ChatGPT and Gemini
If you’re unsure about what you want to do with a chatbot but want to explore all options, the best overall choice is ChatGPT, with Gemini as a close runner-up. Both excel at generating text and images, can include content from real-time Web searches in their responses, offer a voice mode that lets you speak and hear responses, provide a choice between fast and advanced models, and can conduct in-depth research.
Writing and Editing: ChatGPT and Claude
ChatGPT is regarded by many as the top choice for writing, thanks to its fluency across different styles. It provides excellent rewriting and summarizing capabilities, and its GPT-4.1 model is currently the favored option in the AI-enhanced Lex word processor, which merits honorable mention for those who do a lot of writing. Claude also performs well with writing, especially when you’re interested in a deep understanding of structure, tone, and intent. If your writing mostly happens in Microsoft Word and Outlook, the Copilot add-on offers useful integration. Likewise, if you live in Google Docs, you might prefer Gemini for its integration.
Research and Current Information: Perplexity and ChatGPT
Many people think of—and interact with—chatbots as souped-up search engines. That’s not entirely helpful because chatbots can do vastly more than search the Web, but incorporating current information from the Web is essential for many tasks. Although most chatbots can now access the Web, you’ll get the best results from Perplexity and ChatGPT, with Gemini being a close second. Claude had the weakest search in our experience.
Image and Video Generation: ChatGPT
ChatGPT shines here as the front end for OpenAI’s DALL-E 3. What makes it stand out from most other chatbots is its prompt understanding—how well it translates your request into a desired image—and its ability to do “inpainting.” Before DALL-E 3, most artbots refined images by changing the prompt and starting over each time, which often led to frustrating results when all you wanted was a specific change. With inpainting, you can ask ChatGPT to modify an image—such as changing a person’s hair color—without affecting the rest of the picture. Although generating videos with a chatbot is mostly a gimmick right now, using Sora through ChatGPT will also provide the best results.
Voice Mode: ChatGPT and Gemini
One of the most impressive tricks of chatbots is their ability to engage in natural conversations with you about nearly any topic. ChatGPT’s Voice Mode is generally regarded as the best, and its speech can be highly realistic, down to pauses, occasional “um” insertions, and varied inflection. Gemini is also good, and both are noticeably better than Claude at this time. When you use voice mode in the chatbot’s iPhone app, you can turn on the camera and ask it questions about what it sees.
Coding and Data Analysis: Claude and ChatGPT
Here’s where Claude takes top honors. Many developers say that Claude does the best job of helping you write code, providing a nuanced understanding of existing code and top-notch capabilities for solving complex coding problems. ChatGPT also performs well with coding if your needs tend more toward smaller and more specialized development environments like AppleScript, shell scripts, and Shortcuts.
Deep Research: Perplexity, ChatGPT, and Gemini
Most chatbot responses are quick and relatively brief, but if you want a much more detailed answer on a topic, enable a “deep research” option. That causes the chatbot to break the task into smaller steps, perform each one in order, and assemble the result into a detailed report. It might take 10–15 minutes or longer. Perplexity, ChatGPT, and Gemini are the top tools in this area and are worth trying for a range of possibilities, from gift ideas and travel plans to background information on home projects.
Choosing Your AI Assistant
If you’re just getting started with AI chatbots, we recommend beginning with ChatGPT. It’s the most well-rounded option, excelling in most categories and providing a solid foundation for exploring what AI can do for you. It’s also easy to start with Perplexity even without subscribing to the Pro plan, especially if you want to use the chatbot primarily as a research assistant. Gemini and Microsoft Copilot may be better options if you’re heavily invested in the Google or Microsoft ecosystems, though Copilot costs more than the others. Claude isn’t quite as consumer-focused as the others, but it may be your best option if you plan to do extensive coding and data analysis.
Keep in mind that these tools are advancing rapidly, with new features and capabilities emerging on a monthly basis. The best approach is to choose one that feels comfortable and learn how to use it well, rather than constantly switching between options. All are quite capable, and the differences are often less important than your familiarity with their particular quirks and capabilities.
(Featured image by Adam Engst)
