Vendor-neutral · Beginner · 6 lessons · about 36 minutes · updated 2026-09-12
Which AI Should I Use? A Beginner's Guide by Need
Six needs, not six brands. For each one: two or three candidate tools, a prompt you can run to feel the difference, and a plain verdict on where to start and when to move.
For people who have used a chatbot once or twice and now face the question everyone asks: ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini, and do I need to pay? No technical background needed. If you have never used AI at all, take AI From Zero first; it is 30 minutes.
Course outline
- 1I mainly write: emails, reports, posts and everything in betweenChatGPT, Claude and Gemini can all write. Here is what each is genuinely good at for writing, one limitation each, a prompt to run, and a clear verdict on where to start.6 min · 3 objectives
- 2I work with documents: summarise, extract, ask questionsLong PDFs, meeting notes, contracts and reports. Which tool handles documents best, what each costs, and a summarising prompt you can run right now.6 min · 3 objectives
- 3I want research with sources I can checkResearch is where a plain chatbot is weakest and a search-first tool is strongest. Compare Perplexity, ChatGPT and Gemini for sourced answers, and practise telling a sourced reply from a confident one.6 min · 3 objectives
- 4I want coding help: from explaining errors to editing real filesFor explaining an error or writing a small script, a free chatbot is enough. For editing real files all day, a coding tool earns its price. Compare ChatGPT, Claude and Cursor, and run a real bug fix.6 min · 3 objectives
- 5I want free: how far $0 actually gets youEvery major AI tool has a free tier, and for most beginners it is enough for months. Here is what free includes, where each one stops you, and how to combine two free accounts instead of paying.5 min · 3 objectives
- 6I want the cheapest that still worksWhen free is not enough, what is the least you can pay for something that actually works? The paid tiers side by side, the cheap API option explained in one paragraph, and a decision flow you can use for anyone.7 min · 3 objectives
Frequently asked
Which AI should a beginner use: ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini?
It depends on what you mainly do. Writing and documents lean Claude; a bit of everything with images and voice leans ChatGPT; living in Gmail and Docs leans Gemini. All three have free tiers, so the honest answer is to try the same prompt in two of them and pick the one you prefer.
Do I need to pay for AI at all?
Most beginners do not, for months. The trigger for paying is hitting a free limit on a day you needed it, more than once in a week. Until then, free tiers are the right price.
What is the cheapest AI that still works?
Free, then ChatGPT Go at $8, then the $20 plans. Climb only when the step below has stopped you. For bursty use, paying per use through the API can be cheaper than any subscription.
Is this guide biased towards any vendor?
No. Prices come from our live catalogue, each tool gets one honest limitation, and every verdict tells you when to move away from the tool we suggested starting with.