Editor's Picks: The Best AI Tools to Start With
If you only try a handful of AI tools this year, start here. Gemini, ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity cover general chat and research. DeepSeek, Qwen and Kimi are the strongest free and open-weight models. Notion covers notes and documents, and Dreamina covers image and video.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Pricing | Free tier | Best for | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gemini | Freemium | Yes — free tier with lower usage limits and access to smaller models | Google assistant across web and Workspace, multimodal from the start, free to use with pai | Review → |
| ChatGPT | Freemium | Yes — everyday use, with limits on the newest models and features | OpenAI’s general-purpose AI assistant for writing, coding and document work — free tier in | Review → |
| DeepSeek | Free | Yes — the chat app is free, with no paid tier to unlock | DeepSeek's free chat assistant, built on open-weight models and aimed at reasoning and cod | Review → |
| Dola AI | Free | Yes — the web chat is usable without a paid plan | Browser chat assistant for writing, translation and coding questions, free to use without | Review → |
| Qwen AI | Free | Yes — free chat access with usage limits | Alibaba assistant and open-weight model family, free to chat with in the browser and avail | Review → |
| Grok | Freemium | Limited — small free quota, then bundled with X subscriptions | xAI assistant with live access to posts on X, bundled with X subscriptions and sold as a s | Review → |
| Perplexity | Freemium | Yes — free tier with a daily cap on deeper searches | Answer engine that searches the web and cites every source, free to use with paid tiers fo | Review → |
| Claude | Freemium | Yes — free tier with low daily limits | Anthropic assistant with a long context window and careful handling of documents, free tie | Review → |
| DreaminaAI | Freemium | Yes — scheduled free credits, then paid tiers | ByteDance generative media tool for images, video and short narrative clips, aimed at ads | Review → |
| Notion | Freemium | Yes — free plan for individuals, with upload, history and block limits | Block-based workspace that combines notes, documents, databases and project views, free fo | Review → |
| Kimi | Free | Yes — free on web and mobile, with usage caps | Chinese chat assistant from Moonshot AI, free on web and mobile, built for long documents | Review → |
| Z.ai | Freemium | Yes — free chat access, with limits during busy periods | Web assistant built on Zhipu's GLM models, aimed at coding, long task chains and quick ans | Review → |
How to choose
This page is a starting point, not a ranking. Every tool here earned its place because it is either the most capable option in its category, the strongest free one, or both. To use it well, match the tool to the job: reach for a general chatbot when you need to think something through, a reasoning model when the task is code or maths, and a specialised tool when the output has to be an image, a video or a document. If a tool below does not fit your workflow, the category pages go deeper — each one lists every tool we have reviewed in that area.
All 12 tools in Hot recommendations
Gemini
Chatbot and answer what you ask, new version is 4 Argon
Freemium
ChatGPT
Chats, answers questions, writes and debugs code, reads files and images
Freemium
DeepSeek
Free chat assistant with open-weight models, strong at reasoning and code
Free
Dola AI
Chat assistant for conversations, writing, translation and code
Free
Qwen AI
Free and open source AI chatbot powered by Alibaba
Free
Grok
Freemium AI chatbot powered by xAI of Elon Musk
Freemium
Perplexity
Freemium AI chatbot powered by Perplexity
Freemium
Claude
Freemium AI chatbot powered by Anthropic
Freemium
DreaminaAI
Powerful Seedance 2.0 video generator by Bytedance China
Freemium
Notion
Docs, databases and AI agents in one shared workspace
Freemium
Kimi
Long-context chat assistant that also drafts slides and runs multi-step tasks
Free
Z.ai
Chat assistant built on GLM models for code, sites and long tasks
Freemium
Related comparisons
Questions about Hot recommendations
Are these the only AI tools worth using?
No. These are the ones we recommend most often, which makes them a good starting point. Each category page lists the full set of tools we have reviewed for that job.
What is the difference between a chatbot and a reasoning model?
A chatbot is optimised for conversation and quick answers. A reasoning model spends more time working through a problem before answering, which helps on coding, maths and long-document analysis.
Do I need to pay for any of these?
No. Most tools on this page offer a free tier that is enough to evaluate them. Paid plans matter mainly for higher usage limits, team features and commercial licensing.