Which AI should I use?
A two-minute guide to picking an AI for everyday knowledge work.
For everyday knowledge work, there are two leading choices. Both are good, and both cost about $20 a month for the paid plan, which you'll want: free tiers run out fast and hold back the better models.
Claude
by Anthropic
Our pick if you're not sure. The best-designed app: friendly and easy to find your way around, a bit like Apple. That matters most if you're less technical.
ChatGPT
by OpenAI
More use for your money. For the same $20 you can usually do more before hitting limits. Good if you'll use AI heavily all day.
Why Claude, if you're unsure? Not because it's the strongest model; that changes month to month and is debatable. It's the app. Most knowledge workers won't hit its limits. If you write a lot of code or use AI all day, you may want both.
What about the others? There are plenty of decent models, such as Google's Gemini and open models like DeepSeek, Qwen and Mistral. Claude and ChatGPT are the two leading frontier models and the easiest place to start.
Do I need to learn prompting? No. Just talk to it, as you would to a capable colleague: say what you want, give it the background, and push back when it's wrong.
This is advice for everyday knowledge work, not a general verdict on which AI is best.