Meet the Current Models

This is the “who makes what” page. The rest of the course teaches skills that work with any AI tool, so those chapters stay general on purpose. When they say “open your AI tool,” this is where you come to see the actual tools, what they cost today, and how to pick one.

Two things to know before you read on:

This page goes out of date faster than any other in the course. Names, prices, and features change month to month. Every fact below carries a “checked on” date so you can see how fresh it is. When in doubt, open the tool’s own pricing page and trust that over anything written here.
This is not a ranking. There is no single “best” AI. The right one for you depends on what you want to do, which we walk through in the “Picking a starting model” section.

The major players

A handful of companies make the AI chat assistants most people use. Here is what each is broadly known for, in plain language. All of them do the same core thing: you type a question or request, they write back. The differences are in the extras and the personality.

ChatGPT (made by OpenAI). The one most people have heard of, and for many the first AI they ever tried.

It is a strong all-rounder: writing, explaining, brainstorming, working with images and documents. It also has a large library of “custom GPTs,” which are mini-assistants other people have set up for specific jobs.

Claude (made by Anthropic). Known for clear, careful writing and for handling long documents well.

People often reach for it when they want a thoughtful draft, help understanding a long report, or a second read on something they wrote.

Gemini (made by Google). Built into things you may already use, like Google Search, Gmail, and Android phones.

If you live in Google’s world, it is the one that shows up where you already work. It is also strong at pulling in current information from the web.

Copilot (made by Microsoft). Microsoft’s assistant, woven into Windows and the Office apps like Word, Excel, and Outlook.

If your day runs through Microsoft Office, this is the one that sits right next to your documents and email.

Perplexity. Less a chatbot, more an “answer engine.” It searches the web for you and answers with numbered links back to its sources, so you can check where the answer came from.

A good fit when your main job is looking things up and you want to see the receipts.

Grok (made by xAI). The assistant tied to the X social network (formerly Twitter), with a deliberately more casual, opinionated tone.

It leans into real-time chatter from X and a looser style than the others.

You will also see AI helpers baked into apps you already have, like Meta AI inside WhatsApp and Instagram, or the assistant on your phone. Those count too. You do not have to pick just one, and trying two or three is a fine way to learn what you like.

Free vs. paid: what you actually get

Nearly every tool above has a free version that is genuinely useful. You can learn everything in this course without paying a cent. Paid plans mostly buy you three things: higher limits (more messages before you hit a cap), access to the smartest version of the model, and extra features like deeper research, image generation, or connections to your files.

Here is the shape of the market as of July 2026. Treat these as rough bands, not exact quotes, and always confirm on the tool’s own page.

Free tier ($0). You get a capable, everyday version of the assistant. It is enough for questions, drafting, summarizing, and learning. The catch is usage limits: after a certain number of messages in a few hours, you may be asked to wait or switch to a simpler model. Some free tiers now show ads.

Budget paid tiers (about $5 to $10 a month, as of July 2026). A newer middle step. You pay a little to lift the limits and unlock some extras, without jumping to the full price. Examples in this band include ChatGPT Go (around $8 a month) and Google AI Plus (around $5 a month).

Standard paid tiers (about $20 a month, as of July 2026). The most common “serious user” plan, and the one most tools have settled on. This is the sweet spot for regular use: much higher limits, the smartest model, and the full set of features. ChatGPT Plus, Claude Pro, Google AI Pro, and Perplexity Pro all sit right around $20 a month.

Several offer a discount if you pay for a year up front, which brings the monthly cost down to roughly $17.

Power-user tiers (about $100 to $300 a month, as of July 2026). Built for people who use AI all day for demanding work. They pile on very high limits and early access to new features. Most beginners never need these. Examples include ChatGPT Pro, Claude Max, and Google AI Ultra, which run from around $100 up to $200 or more a month.

One more note on cost. If you already pay for something like Microsoft 365 or Google One, an AI plan may be bundled in or offered at a discount, so check what you already have before adding a new bill.

Picking a starting model

Skip the question of “which is best.” Ask “what do I want to do first?” Then start with the free tier of whatever matches. You can always switch.

You want the popular default and lots of how-to help online. Start with ChatGPT. It is the most widely used, so guides and examples are easy to find.
You want careful writing help or to work through a long document. Start with Claude. It is known for clear drafts and handling long text.
You already live in Gmail, Google Docs, or an Android phone. Start with Gemini. It shows up inside the Google apps you already use.
Your work runs through Microsoft Word, Excel, and Outlook. Start with Copilot. It sits right next to those files.
You mostly want to look things up and check the sources. Start with Perplexity. It answers with links you can follow.

Two habits that matter more than the brand you pick:

Try the same request in two tools. You will feel the differences in minutes, and you will learn what “good” looks like for you.
Do not pay on day one. Live on the free tier until you hit its limits for real. Only then does a paid plan make sense, and by then you will know which one.

Getting set up in about 10 minutes

The steps are nearly the same for every tool.

Open the tool’s own website or app. Go to the official site (for example, the maker’s own address) or download the app from your phone’s official app store. Be careful of copycats with similar names; stick to the real maker.
Create an account. Most let you sign up with an email address or an existing Google or Apple login. You do not need to enter a credit card to use the free tier.
Start your first conversation. Type a real question you actually have. Good first tries: “Explain compound interest like I’m new to it,” or “Help me write a friendly email asking my landlord to fix the sink.” Notice that you can just talk normally.
Ask a follow-up. The magic is in the back-and-forth. Tell it what to change: “shorter,” “more formal,” “add a line about the deadline.” This is the single most useful habit to build.
Find these three settings, which matter more than the rest:
- Voice or talk mode, if you would rather speak than type.
- File or photo upload, so you can hand it a document or picture to work with.
- New chat vs. continue, so you know how to start fresh versus keep going in the same thread.

That is enough to be productive today. Everything else you can discover as you go.

Skills and custom instructions: where to find them

Chapter 10 shows you how to save instructions once so the AI applies them for you every time. Every major tool has a place for this, though each calls it something different and puts it in a different spot. Look in your tool’s settings for a feature named along these lines:

Custom instructions or personalization — a box where you describe yourself and how you want replies, applied to every chat.
Projects, spaces, or gems — a saved workspace that carries its own instructions and files for a recurring job.
Saved skills or memory — the tool remembers preferences across chats.

The exact button moves around as tools update, so the reliable path is to open your tool’s settings and search its help pages for “custom instructions” or “skills.” The idea is the same everywhere: write it down once, and the AI stops making you repeat yourself.

Privacy defaults to change on day one

By default, many AI tools may use your conversations to help train future versions of the model, and they keep a history of your chats. Whether that bothers you is a personal call, and Chapter 9 walks through the why in full. Here is the practical what, so you can decide before you start typing anything sensitive.

Look in Settings, usually under a section named Data controls, Privacy, or Data & privacy. There you can typically:

Turn off using your chats to train the model. Often a single switch.
Turn off or clear chat history, if you would rather it not keep a record.
Delete individual conversations or your whole account, if you change your mind later.

A simple rule while you learn: do not paste anything you would not want a stranger to read (passwords, full account numbers, other people’s private details), no matter what the settings say. The settings reduce risk. This habit removes it.

For the full reasoning on privacy, training data, and what “off” really means, see Chapter 9.

Handy tools for specific jobs

Besides the all-purpose chat assistants above, there are tools built for one job in particular. These change fast and every one has alternatives, so treat the names here as examples to start from, not a fixed list. Most have a free tier you can try before you spend anything.

Meeting notes and transcription. Tools like Otter.ai and Fireflies.ai can join a video call, write down who said what, and hand you a summary with action items afterward.

Handy for a volunteer taking meeting minutes or a coach who would rather watch the room than scribble notes. Alternatives exist, and many video-call apps now include their own note-taker.

Notes and workspace. Notion keeps your notes, plans, and documents in one place, and its built-in helper, Notion AI, can summarize a page, draft text, or answer questions about what you have saved.

Useful for a parent organizing a household or a student keeping class notes together. Other note apps offer similar AI helpers.

Slides and visuals. Canva helps you make posters, flyers, and slide decks from templates, and its AI features can rough out a first design from a short description.

Good for a coach making a team flyer or a student building a class presentation. The common presentation apps, including PowerPoint and Google Slides, now have similar AI helpers built in.

Research with citations. Perplexity searches the web and answers with numbered links to its sources, so you can click through and check where each fact came from.

Helpful for a student writing a report or anyone who wants to see the receipts before trusting an answer. It also appears in the chat-assistant list above.

Spreadsheets and data. The common spreadsheet apps now have AI built in. Copilot in Microsoft Excel and Gemini in Google Sheets can write a formula from a plain-English description or explain one you do not understand.

Useful for a treasurer tracking a budget or a parent sorting a sign-up list.

Writing and grammar help. Grammarly checks spelling, grammar, and tone as you type across email, documents, and the web, and can rewrite a sentence to sound clearer or more polite.

Handy for a student polishing an essay or a volunteer sending a careful email. Some word processors and the chat assistants above can do much of the same.

One note on the big chat assistants, as of July 2026: people tend to reach for different ones for different jobs. Claude has a reputation for careful long-form writing and for working through spreadsheet logic, Copilot is valued for living inside the Office apps many people already use, and Perplexity is known for web research with sources you can check.

These are general reputations, not a ranking, and they shift with every update, so try a couple yourself.

This module was developed with AI assistance and reviewed by a human editor. It’s educational, fact-checked where applicable, and may contain minor errors. It’s not a substitute for professional advice. Model details change fast; check the “as of” dates.