How to Select an AI Chat Tool - Is ChatGPT Still Best? - [6 Step Framework]

If you’re overwhelmed by the amount of AI tools out there, and want to know whether ChatGPT is still the best. Read on…

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There’re now a LOT of AI chat tools available.

I'm talking about standalone AI tools like ChatGPT.

Not AI tools that are built into other apps like Copilot for Office.

I have invested HOURS assessing almost all of them.

So what are your options right now?

There're only 5 companies you need to know about:

1. OpenAI

2. Microsoft

3. Google

4. Anthropic

5. Mistral

All companies have one or more AI tools.

We’ll break down all the tools from these vendors as we go.

But how do you think about selecting the right one for you?

The Framework

1. Budget

Most of the paid for tools start at ~$20 per month.

You generally get what you pay for, but there are still free options.

BONUS – Best free tools at the end.

2. Security

Not all AI tools handle your data in the same way.

Most tools (especially the free ones) will use your data to train their models.

Ones that don't:

1. Microsoft Copilot [Free]

2. Chat GPT Team [Paid]

3. Claude [Free & Paid]

Pro Tip - Don't share sensitive data

3. Internet

Many tools aren’t connected to the internet and rely on their training data.

This means you won’t get up-to-date info.

Web enabled tools:

• ChatGPT [Paid]

• Google Gemini [Free & Paid]

• Microsoft Copilot [Free & Paid]
  
  

4. Files

Lots of AI tools are now multi-modal and can understand files of different types.

Ones that can:

• Claude [Free & Paid] - Docs & PDFs

• Microsoft Copilot [Free] - Images

• Google Gemini [Free] – Images

• ChatGPT [Paid] - Everything
  
  

5. Data

Most tools can give you Python code to manipulate & analyse data.

If you want the tool to run the code for you, your only option is ChatGPT Pro.

Pro Tip - ChatGPT paid plans will also CREATE documents. Just ask it to generate an Excel or Word file.

6. Bots

Building your own bot gives you a dedicated AI for different tasks.

Platforms where you can build bots:

• Poe [Free] – ‘Bots’

• ChatGPT [Paid] – ‘GPTs’

• Microsoft Copilot Studio [Paid] – ‘Copilots’

Pro Tip - Try pre-built bots before creating your own.

Bringing things together

Here’re some examples by job role & task:

1. CFO reviewing contracts:

• Security – Important

• Files – Large documents

Recommended Tool – Claude [Free or Paid]

2. Controller analysing spend:

• Security – Important

• Files – Excel / CSV

• Data – Quick visualisation / scatter diagram

Recommended Tool - Chat GPT Team [Paid]

3. Finance Business Partner holding cross-departmental meetings:

• Security – No sensitive data

• Bots – e.g ‘Presentation Coach Bot’, or ‘Sales Jargon Bot’

Recommended Tool – Poe [Free]

Pro Tip – You can use Poe with multiple models (OpenAI, Gemini, Claude)

BONUS Best Free Tools:

• Poe [Multiple] - Run most LLMs and create bots

• Claude [Anthropic] – Best for short documents

• Le Chat [Mistral] – Powerful AI (no web/docs)

• Perplexity [Multiple] – Best for web search

Plus, Character.ai & Pi.ai for fun

Putting it into practise

1. Head over to Poe.com

2. Click on Explore

3. Hit explore (top left)

4. Work through the ‘official’ bots

Try Gemini with images, Claude with docs, and have a play!

You’ll have a preferred tool in no time!

Is ChatGPT still the best?

If you pay – Yes

If you don’t – No

ChatGPT Pro is the Swiss army knife (files, data analysis & bots)

Poe is the best free platform as it lets you work with multiple AIs.

So, that’s it for this week.

Enjoyed this? The best thing you can do to help me is share it with your friends and colleagues ♻️🙏 

See you next time!

Adam