Pick one assistant (and know what it costs)
Build-along · ~8 min at your own keyboard
An AI assistant is a program you talk to in plain English. It writes, summarizes, and answers. Four are worth knowing. Claude is strong at writing and long documents. ChatGPT is the most widely used and does a bit of everything. Gemini works well if you live in Gmail and Google Docs. Copilot works well if you live in Word and Outlook. All four have a free tier. Free is enough to start. Paid plans start near $5 to $10 a month, and the main plans run about $20. They give you more messages and the newest model. Copilot's personal paid features now come inside a Microsoft 365 plan. Do not sign up for two. Pick one for 30 days, learn it well, then compare.
Ladder · Level 0The long version: Getting started with an AI assistant ↗
Do this
0/5Checkpoints
- ▸You should now see a list of the tools you use every day.
- ▸You should now see a chat box on the assistant's site, and you are signed in.
- ▸You should now see a two-sentence answer from the assistant in your chat history.
The three ways this goes wrong
- You cannot decide between the four. — Pick the one that matches your email: Gmail means Gemini, Outlook means Copilot, neither means Claude or ChatGPT. You are choosing for 30 days, not for life.
- The site asks for a credit card to start. — Close the upgrade prompt. Every vendor here has a free tier that needs no card. Look for 'Continue with free' or just start typing.
- You signed up for all four and now feel scattered. — Keep one tab open. Ignore the other three until day 30. Nothing is lost by leaving the accounts.
Dated facts in this lesson: Claude Pro is $20/month and is the floor plan that includes Claude Code (researched Oct 1, 2026, not yet confirmed by a person: check the source before you rely on it); ChatGPT Plus is $20/month (researched Oct 1, 2026, not yet confirmed by a person: check the source before you rely on it); Gemini has a free tier. Paid plans are Google AI Plus ($4.99/month), Google AI Pro ($19.99/month) and Google AI Ultra ($99.99 to $199.99/month) (researched Oct 4, 2026, not yet confirmed by a person: check the source before you rely on it); Personal Microsoft Copilot is free. Standalone Copilot Pro closed to new buyers in October 2025. Consumer Copilot is now bundled in Microsoft 365 Personal and Family ($9.99 to $12.99/month) and Premium ($19.99/month). Microsoft 365 Copilot for work is a separate, higher-priced plan (researched Oct 4, 2026, not yet confirmed by a person: check the source before you rely on it); ChatGPT plans: Free, Go $8, Plus $20, Pro $100/$200/$500, Business $20 per seat annual or $25 monthly. Secondary source (researched Oct 4, 2026, not yet confirmed by a person: check the source before you rely on it); Claude plans: Free, Pro $20, Max from $100 (5x) to $200 (20x), Team $20 per seat on annual billing. Desktop apps for Mac and Windows, plus iOS and Android (researched Oct 4, 2026, not yet confirmed by a person: check the source before you rely on it); Microsoft 365 Copilot for work: Copilot Business is $21 per user (up to 300 users) and needs a Business plan. Enterprise is $30 per user. Work data is not used for training (researched Oct 4, 2026, not yet confirmed by a person: check the source before you rely on it); Grok plans: Free, SuperGrok Lite $10, SuperGrok $30, Heavy $300, Business $30 per seat. Secondary source. The training toggle name is not confirmed (researched Oct 4, 2026, not yet confirmed by a person: check the source before you rely on it); Perplexity plans: Free, Pro $20, Max $200, Enterprise Pro $40 per seat. Comet browser is free. Voice works on Free. Secondary source (researched Oct 4, 2026, not yet confirmed by a person: check the source before you rely on it).
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