Which AI should I use?

There are a lot of AI tools now, and most of them sound alike. This guide compares eight of the ones people ask about most, so you can pick one to start with. You do not need to use all of them. Most people do well with one tool they use every week, plus a second for a specific job.

Start with the quiz above. It takes about a minute and gives you a ranked top three. The rest of this page explains each option in more depth.

The short version

• Already in Google or Microsoft every day? Start with the one built into those apps: Gemini for Google, Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft.
• Want one general assistant for writing, ideas and questions? ChatGPT and Claude are the two most common starting points.
• Need sourced answers? Perplexity shows where its answers come from.
• Want an AI that takes on recurring admin? Muse is designed for that, once you connect your accounts.
• Want to build an app or website? Cursor is for that. Most people do not need it.

How the eight compare

Pricing is subject to change, so treat these as the ranges we generally see, not exact prices: free, $20–$40 a month, or $100+ a month. Check each company’s own pricing page before you pay.

AI	Made by	Best for	Plans
ChatGPT	OpenAI	An all-round assistant for writing and ideas	Free, $20–$40 a month, or $100+ a month
Claude	Anthropic	Long documents and natural-sounding writing	Free, $20–$40 a month, or $100+ a month
Muse	Meta	Recurring admin, once your accounts are connected	Free, $20–$40 a month, or $100+ a month
Grok	xAI	Current news and posts on X	Free, $20–$40 a month, or $100+ a month
Perplexity	Perplexity	Research with sources you can check	Free, $20–$40 a month, or $100+ a month
Gemini	Google	People who live in Gmail, Docs and Drive	Free, $20–$40 a month, or $100+ a month
Microsoft Copilot	Microsoft	People who live in Outlook, Word and Excel	Free, or $20–$40 a month with Microsoft 365
Cursor	Anysphere	Building software, with or without coding experience	Free, $20–$40 a month, or $100+ a month for teams

The eight, one at a time

ChatGPT

ChatGPT is the AI assistant from OpenAI, and it is the one most people have heard of. It is a general-purpose chat: you type a question or request, and it answers, drafts, summarizes or brainstorms. It can also work with files and images on its higher tiers.

It suits people who want one tool for many small jobs. The free tier is useful on its own. Paid tiers add more usage and features, and some lower-priced tiers show ads. For more on the basics, read what ChatGPT is.

Claude

Claude is the AI assistant from Anthropic. People tend to choose it for two things: working through long documents, such as contracts, reports or a stack of notes, and writing that reads naturally. Its answers tend to be careful and clearly structured, and it will often say when it is not sure.

Claude does not connect to your email or calendar by default, so you copy text in and out. For more, read what Claude is.

Muse

Muse is Meta’s personal AI agent. Where a chat assistant waits for your question, Muse is designed to work across the apps you connect, such as messages, calendar and files, and to run tasks in the background. It is the closest of the eight to a helper that takes things off your plate.

The trade-off is privacy. It works best once you connect your accounts, so you are deciding how much it can see. It is also new, and its features and tiers are changing. Read what Muse is before you connect anything.

Grok

Grok is the assistant from xAI, and it is built into X. Its main strength is current news and conversation on X. It is a general chat for everything else too, but many people use it for quick questions about what is happening now. Its heavier-use tiers sit at the top of the price range. For more, read what Grok is.

Perplexity

Perplexity is an AI search tool. You ask a question, and it searches the web and writes an answer with links to its sources. That makes it easy to check each claim, which matters when you are looking up something you will act on.

It is less of a writing partner than ChatGPT or Claude. If your main need is research and fact-finding, it is a strong choice. If you need help drafting a long document, pair it with another tool.

Gemini

Gemini is Google’s AI assistant. If you already use Gmail, Google Docs, Google Drive or Google Calendar, Gemini is designed to work inside those apps. The free tier covers a lot of everyday use. Some of the best features sit on paid plans, so check which Google apps your plan includes.

Microsoft Copilot

Microsoft Copilot is Microsoft’s AI assistant. It works as a standalone chat, and it is also built into Word, Excel, Outlook and Teams. If your office runs on Microsoft 365, that built-in version is often the easiest place to start.

The full set of Office features usually needs a Microsoft 365 plan, and your organization may already have one. Check with whoever manages your Microsoft account before you count on a feature.

Cursor

Cursor is different from the others. It is a code editor with AI built in. People use it to build software: an app, a website, or a small tool. You write instructions in plain English, and Cursor helps write, change and run the code.

You do not need to be a programmer to read about it, and some people learn enough with it to build simple things. But it is a tool for building, not for daily writing or research. If someone says they want to make an app or website, Cursor belongs on the list. If not, you can skip it.

How to choose

Start with the question that takes the most of your time, then look at the app you already use most. Those two answers narrow the list more than anything else.

If you are not sure, pick the free tier of one general assistant (ChatGPT or Claude) and use it for a week on real tasks. Then decide whether you want a second tool for a specific job, such as Perplexity for research. Switching later costs you very little.

Whichever you pick, read the glossary term for hallucination. AI tools sometimes state wrong things confidently, so check anything important before you send it, sign it or act on it.

How we picked

The quiz scores each AI by how well it fits your answers. Each answer adds points to the tools that suit it best, and the top three are shown. The reasons come from the answers you picked. The scoring rules are in the project’s data file, so anyone can see how a result is reached.

We do not use affiliate links. No company pays to be ranked higher, and no tool is listed because a sponsor asked.

Some judgment is involved. For example, we give Gemini extra weight for people who use Google’s apps, and Microsoft Copilot for people who use Microsoft’s. Those are reasonable matches, not guarantees. Where we are making that kind of call, the page says so.

What we checked, and when

This guide was written on 3 October 2026. Pricing is subject to change. The ranges above are what we generally see across these tools, and they may have moved since then. For the current price of any tool, check the company’s own pricing page.

We have not verified every feature claim against the latest product. The descriptions are meant to help you choose, not to replace the company’s own information. If a tool matters a lot to your decision, check it yourself before you pay.