“Which AI is best?” is the wrong question. These tools are designed with different jobs in mind. Here’s a practical way to think about them.
What each is built around
- ChatGPT (OpenAI) — a general-purpose conversational assistant used for drafting, explaining, brainstorming, working with files and coding.
- Claude (Anthropic) — also a general-purpose assistant, often used for working through long documents, careful writing and coding.
- Perplexity — an answer engine built around searching the web and replying with links to its sources.
Match the tool to the job
| Job | Good starting point | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Draft an email, post or proposal | ChatGPT or Claude | General assistants are designed for creating and rewriting text |
| Summarise a long report you upload | ChatGPT or Claude | Both work with uploaded documents |
| Answer “what’s the latest on…?” with sources | Perplexity | Built around cited web results |
| Research from your own documents only | NotebookLM | Answers grounded in sources you provide |
| Help with code | ChatGPT or Claude (or a coding tool like GitHub Copilot) | Code assistance is a core use case |
Test them yourself in 20 minutes
Use the same three prompts in each tool:
- A writing task you actually do — e.g. “Rewrite this product description for a South African small-business audience, under 120 words.” Check length with our word counter.
- A factual question you already know the answer to. Did it get it right? Did it show where it got the answer?
- A document task — upload a non-confidential PDF and ask for the five key points and anything that seems missing.
Score each on usefulness, accuracy and how much editing you’d need. Your results on your tasks beat any ranking.
Before you put business data in
Read each tool’s data-use terms, especially whether inputs are used for training and what business plans change. Our checklist on evaluating AI tools walks through it.
The practical answer
Many people end up with two tools: a general assistant for creating and analysing, and a source-first tool for research. Start free, test with your real work, and pay only for the one you reach for every day.
Browse more AI writing tools and AI research tools.