Best AI tools for research
4 tools we'd consider, best first.
#1Perplexity
freemiumfreemium · Free tier available
Answers with cited sources; great for fast research.
- Go to perplexity.ai and sign up
- Type your question; check the cited sources under the answer
- Use Spaces to keep research on one topic together
How people use it (1)
Uses Perplexity as a productivity assistant; shares 7 tips that save an hour each morning.
Try: Give me a 5-bullet briefing on today's news in [your industry] with sources
#2ChatGPT
freemiumfreemium · Free tier available
General-purpose assistant; the default starting point for most text tasks.
- Sign up at chatgpt.com with email or Google
- Describe your task in a new chat; attach files if needed
- Save repeat prompts as a Project or custom GPT
#3Google Gemini
freemiumFrom £4.49/mo (AI Plus) · Free tier available ✓ checked 2026-10-16
Best fit if you live in Google Workspace.
- Sign in at gemini.google.com with your Google account
- Ask your question or use @Gmail / @Drive to pull in your files
- Open the response in Docs or Sheets via Share & export
How people use it (1)
Used ChatGPT to write the prompt and Gemini to generate some of the design.
Try: Generate three mobile UI concepts for a habit-tracking app home screen
How people use it
Uses Perplexity as a productivity assistant; shares 7 tips that save an hour each morning.
Try: Give me a 5-bullet briefing on today's news in [your industry] with sources
Used ChatGPT to write the prompt and Gemini to generate some of the design.
Try: Generate three mobile UI concepts for a habit-tracking app home screen
Also worth a look
Claude
freemiumFrom £18/mo (£15/mo billed annually) · Free tier available ✓ checked 2026-10-16
Strong at long documents and careful writing.
- Create an account at claude.ai
- Upload your document or paste text into a chat
- Turn on Artifacts to get editable docs or code alongside the chat
Featured placement on task pages. Clearly labelled, never mixed into our rankings.