AI assistants are getting better at helping with the work behind the work. But with so many options out there, choosing the right one can feel like a task in itself.

The easiest place to start? What you need help with right now. Maybe it’s a quick answer. Maybe it’s untangling a thought, polishing a draft, debugging a feature or making sense of far too many tabs.

ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini each shine in different moments – whether you’re planning, building, researching or creating.

Here’s how to find the one that fits.

Open ChatGPT when you want help with a bit of everything. It can help you brainstorm, write, research, plan, create images, summarise files or make sense of a topic that suddenly feels bigger than expected.

Its strength is versatility. One moment, you can ask it to polish a message. The next, you can use it to sketch a project plan, compare ideas or break down something complicated into simpler steps.

Try it for:
• Brainstorming ideas, captions, trip plans or study topics.
• Summarising notes, PDFs or long articles.
• Creating images, outlines, checklists or project plans.

When to upgrade: When ChatGPT starts feeling less like a place for one-off questions and more like a workspace for ongoing ideas. ChatGPT Plus gives you more room to work, with expanded access to advanced models, higher file and conversation limits, image creation, deep research, memory, projects, tasks and custom GPTs.

Open Claude when you’re working through a complex idea – especially one you want to build, test or explain clearly. It can help you shape a prototype, understand a technical concept or think through how different parts of a project should fit together.

Claude is also useful when a task starts on one device but needs more time elsewhere. With Dispatch, you can send a task from your phone and continue it on desktop, making it handy when an idea, question or next step comes up away from your desk.

Try it for:
• Turning an app, website or product idea into a simple prototype plan.
• Understanding technical concepts or project trade-offs.
• Sending a task from your phone and continuing it on desktop.

When to upgrade: Claude Pro and Max give you more capacity for longer, more involved work, with access to Claude Code and Claude Cowork. That means you can go from thinking through an idea to building, debugging or delegating tasks across your phone and desktop.

Open Gemini when your work is spread across tabs, emails, files and calendar invites. It is a strong fit if you already use Google products such as Gmail, Google Drive, Docs or Calendar, and want an assistant that can help connect the dots.

Its strength is flow. Gemini can help you find details in your inbox, summarise documents, draft from your notes, turn research into a plan or move from an email thread to a calendar event, so the next step feels less like starting over.

Try it for:
• Finding and summarising information from Gmail, Docs or Drive.
• Turning an email, file or research thread into a next step.
• Managing follow-ups across Calendar, Tasks or Keep.

When to upgrade: Google AI Pro and Ultra expand Gemini with higher limits and access to more advanced Google AI features, including Deep Research, NotebookLM and Veo-powered video tools – useful when you want to go deeper with research, productivity and creative projects.