Tools we cover today
The big four (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot) are just the start. Here's a wider set with free tiers. Different tools handle different tasks differently.
by OpenAI
Best for: General writing, the most widely-used option. Strong free tier, paid tier unlocks newer models.
Probably the most familiar name to people in your life. Free account gets you a solid daily allowance.
Visit ChatGPTby Anthropic
Best for: Longer documents, careful writing, and reading long pastes. Very good at resumes and cover letters.
Free tier has a shorter daily limit than ChatGPT but is often preferred for writing quality.
Visit Claudeby Google
Best for: If you already live in a Google account. Integrates with Gmail, Docs, and Drive.
Sign in with your regular Google account. The free tier is generous.
Visit Geminiby Microsoft
Best for: If you already use Outlook or a Microsoft Office account.
Free to use with a Microsoft account. Uses a version of GPT under the hood.
Visit Microsoft Copilotby Perplexity AI
Best for: When you need the AI to cite its sources. Good for research-heavy prompts (checking facts about an employer, researching a role).
Returns answers with links. Most useful when you need to verify what the AI says.
Visit Perplexityby xAI
Best for: Conversational, less filtered than the big three. Works well with current events.
Free with an X account. Quality improves with paid.
Visit Grokby Moonshot AI
Best for: Extremely long documents. Kimi handles very large pastes.
Free to use. Quality is competitive with the big names on most writing tasks.
Visit Kimiby Z.ai (Zhipu)
Best for: A free alternative chat built on strong open models. Good for general writing.
No account required for basic use, as of this writing.
Visit Z.aiby Hugging Face
Best for: Free access to a rotating set of high-quality open-source models. Useful when you want to compare responses.
Free with a Hugging Face account (also free).
Visit HuggingChatby Quora
Best for: One interface for dozens of models (Claude, GPT, Gemini, and more). Free tier lets you try them without multiple signups.
Great for comparing the same prompt across models quickly.
Visit PoeFor most of what you'll do today, one tool is enough. Pick the one whose voice you like. When you hit a wall, or when the output feels generic, that's the signal to paste the same prompt into a different tool and see what you get.
If you want to compare many models at once without signing up for each, Poe gives you one interface over a dozen.
Paid-only or free-trial-only tools that are otherwise excellent. Professional headshot services, video tools, music tools, the premium tiers of every chatbot above. We stick to "you can use it today for free" on this page. The AI headshots guide covers some of the paid image services if that's what you need.
Facilitated by Lemieux Consulting. Hosted by the Urban League of Louisiana.