A year ago, most people had only heard of ChatGPT. Now there are dozens of AI tools, each claiming to be the best. The truth is, they are all good at different things -- and knowing which one to reach for can save you a lot of time and frustration.
Here is a straightforward breakdown of the main players, written without the jargon.
ChatGPT: the all-rounder
ChatGPT, made by OpenAI, is the one most people start with -- and for good reason. It is brilliant for everyday tasks: writing emails, drafting social media posts, brainstorming ideas, explaining things in plain English, and helping you plan almost anything. It is free to use, easy to get started with, and handles a huge range of requests confidently.
If you are not sure which tool to use, ChatGPT is a safe bet. Think of it as the Swiss Army knife of AI.
Claude: the thoughtful one
Claude, made by Anthropic, is particularly good when you need careful, nuanced responses. It is excellent at reading and summarising long documents, writing in a specific tone or style, proofreading your work, and handling tasks that require a bit more depth and consideration.
If you have a long report to analyse, a cover letter to write, or a spreadsheet template to build, Claude is often the better choice. It also tends to be more cautious and balanced in its responses, which is useful for sensitive topics.
Gemini: the Google one
Gemini is Google's AI assistant, and its biggest strength is how well it works with Google's tools. If you use Gmail, Google Docs, or Google Sheets regularly, Gemini can work directly inside those apps -- drafting emails, formatting documents, and analysing spreadsheet data without you having to copy and paste anything.
It is also connected to Google Search, which means it can pull in up-to-date information from the web. If you are already in the Google ecosystem, Gemini is well worth trying.
Perplexity: the researcher
Perplexity is different from the others in one important way: it searches the web in real time and shows you exactly where its information comes from. Every answer comes with citations you can click to verify.
This makes it ideal for research tasks, fact-checking, and anything where you need current, reliable information. If you want to know the latest statistics on something, compare products, or do background research on a topic, Perplexity is the one to reach for.
NotebookLM: the document expert
NotebookLM, also from Google, does something quite unique. You upload your own documents -- PDFs, reports, articles, notes -- and it becomes an expert on those specific documents. You can then ask it questions, get summaries, create study guides, and even generate a podcast-style audio summary you can listen to.
It is brilliant for anyone who needs to get to grips with a lot of reading quickly, whether that is for work, study, or personal projects.
Manus: the one that actually does things
Manus is a bit different from all the others. Rather than just answering questions, it can take on complex, multi-step tasks and see them through from start to finish. It can build websites, write and run code, do deep research and produce full reports, manage files, and even browse the web on your behalf.
Think of it less as a chatbot and more as a capable assistant who can actually get things done. You can even set up your own personal AI agent -- like having your own version of Bob -- to help with recurring tasks.
Not sure which to use? Just ask Richmond on the home page. Describe what you want to do and he will point you to the right tool, with a ready-to-use prompt to get you started.
A quick comparison
- →Everyday writing and brainstorming: ChatGPT
- →Long documents, editing, and spreadsheet templates: Claude
- →Gmail, Google Docs, and Google Sheets: Gemini
- →Research with real sources and citations: Perplexity
- →Learning from your own uploaded documents: NotebookLM
- →Building things, deep research, and complex tasks: Manus
The best approach is to try a few and see which ones feel natural to you. Most of them are free to start with, so there is nothing to lose.
