The Major AI Tools at a Glance
Four tools, one principle
Section titled “Four tools, one principle”There are four major AI chatbots relevant to knowledge workers today. All are based on LLM Large Language Model — a neural network trained on massive amounts of text that can generate new text. s, all have free versions, and all cost roughly $20/month for a paid individual plan.
The differences aren’t about price — they’re about ecosystem and focus.
Pricing and features as of March 2026. Subject to change.
ChatGPT (OpenAI)
Section titled “ChatGPT (OpenAI)”Best for: Versatility, largest ecosystem
ChatGPT has the largest user base and broadest feature set. It offers web search, image generation, code execution, and Custom GPT A customizable version of ChatGPT with your own instructions and knowledge files — no coding required. s for building your own AI assistants.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | GPT-4o (limited), web search, basic features |
| Plus | $20/month | All models, higher limits |
| Pro | $200/month | Unlimited access to all models |
Free to use? Yes. More than enough for getting started.
Claude (Anthropic)
Section titled “Claude (Anthropic)”Best for: Careful reasoning, long documents, coding
Claude is known for thoughtful, nuanced responses and the largest Context Window The maximum amount of text an AI model can process at once — its short-term memory. on the market (200K tokens, up to 1M on Max plan). Its standout feature: Cowork — where Claude can independently work on your computer, reading and editing files.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Sonnet + Haiku (30-100 messages/day) |
| Pro | $20/month | All models incl. Opus, Cowork, Research |
| Max | $100-200/month | 5-20x higher limits, up to 1M context window |
Free to use? Yes, but without Cowork and without the most powerful models.
Gemini (Google)
Section titled “Gemini (Google)”Best for: Google ecosystem users
Gemini integrates directly into Gmail, Google Docs, Sheets, and Drive. If your workday happens in Google Workspace, Gemini is the most seamless option. Also strong at multimodal tasks (text, image, audio, video).
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Gemini Flash, limited Pro access, Deep Research |
| AI Pro | $20/month | Gemini 3, Deep Research, AI in Gmail/Docs/Sheets |
| AI Ultra | ~$42/month | Gemini 3 Pro, video generation, everything in Pro |
Free to use? Yes. Deep Research is even available on the free plan.
Microsoft Copilot
Section titled “Microsoft Copilot”Best for: Organizations on Microsoft 365
Copilot comes in two flavors: the free chatbot (similar to ChatGPT) and the paid M365 integration embedded directly in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Chat with GPT models, web search, file upload |
| Business | $18-21/user/month | M365 app integration |
| Enterprise | $30/user/month | Full M365 integration, agents, compliance |
Free to use? Yes, but without M365 integration. The real value is in the paid plan.
Which tool fits you?
Section titled “Which tool fits you?”| Your daily work | Recommendation |
|---|---|
| You just want to get started | ChatGPT or Claude (both are universal) |
| You work in Google Workspace | Gemini |
| You work in Microsoft 365 | Copilot |
| You need AI for long documents | Claude (largest context window) |
| You want an AI assistant that works independently | Claude (Cowork) or ChatGPT (Agent Mode) |
Important: You don’t have to pick just one. Many professionals use two or three tools in parallel — depending on the task. They all have free versions, so try several.
Try it yourself
Section titled “Try it yourself”- Pick two of the four tools and create free accounts.
- Ask both the same question: “Write me a professional email requesting a one-week deadline extension.”
- Compare: Which answer better matches your style?
Think further
Section titled “Think further”These tools evolve rapidly. What’s true today may be different in six months. More important than any single tool is understanding the underlying principles — and that’s what this journey teaches you.
In the next lesson, we’ll have our first real conversations with AI.