They all do the basics well
Drafting, summarising, translating, explaining and brainstorming work well in every major assistant. For everyday use the difference is smaller than the marketing suggests — your prompt matters more than the brand.
Where they differ
- ChatGPT (OpenAI): the most versatile — voice, images, files, web search, many add-ons
- Claude (Anthropic): long documents, careful writing and programming
- Gemini (Google): connected to Gmail, Docs and Google search
- Microsoft Copilot: built into Word, Excel, Outlook and Teams with a work account
- Le Chat (Mistral): a European provider, fast and with an EU focus
- Perplexity: answers with sources — good for research
Free vs paid
Free plans have usage limits and older or smaller models; paid plans (about 20 € per month) give the strongest models, more files and longer conversations. Business plans add a data processing agreement and, usually, no training on your data — that is what a company should use.
Private option: AI on your own computer
Some tasks don’t need the cloud at all. Transcription, OCR, background removal or questions about a PDF can run in your browser — the file never leaves your device. That is ideal for confidential material.
A simple rule for choosing
- At work: the tool your company approved, with your work account
- For research with sources: an assistant with web search, then open the sources
- For long documents: an assistant with a large context window
- For confidential files: a local tool that runs on your device