Remember when ChatGPT dropped and everyone thought they were going to replace every developer? Two years later and we're all still employed, but now we have 20 different AI tools that mostly suck. I've blown $400+ testing them because I hate myself, apparently.
Perplexity AI: Actually Good at Research (When It Works)
The Good: Perplexity is the only AI tool that doesn't completely make shit up when you ask about current events. It actually searches the web in real-time and gives you citations, way more accurate than ChatGPT from what I've seen, which is revolutionary in a world where other AIs confidently tell you about events that never happened.
What Actually Happens: You ask a question, it searches the web in real-time, then gives you an answer with actual sources you can click. Sometimes it even finds Reddit threads that solve your exact problem. It's like having a research assistant who doesn't sleep.
The Catch: It still hallucinates sources sometimes. I cited a "study" to my boss that literally didn't exist - had to do the walk of shame back to his office. Even with citations, verify before you stake your reputation on it. The free tier's 5 Pro searches sounds good until you burn through it in your first coffee break.
Who Should Use It: If you're a consultant, researcher, or anyone who needs to look smart in meetings, Perplexity Pro at $20/month pays for itself with unlimited searches. They also launched a $200/month Max tier in 2025 for people with unlimited research budgets (aka enterprise consultants).
ChatGPT: Still King of Code, But Rate Limits Suck
What It's Actually Good At: ChatGPT still writes the best code. Period. Need a React hook that doesn't break? ChatGPT. Debugging a weird Node.js error at 2am? ChatGPT. It's like having that senior dev who actually knows their shit and doesn't make you feel stupid for asking. GPT-4o handles multimodal stuff well - throw it a screenshot of an error and it'll tell you exactly what's fucked up.
The Search Problem: SearchGPT exists but it's janky as fuck. Half the time I forget to enable it, then I'm wondering why ChatGPT doesn't know about last week's framework update. When it does work, it's decent but nowhere near as smooth as Perplexity. Feels like they duct-taped a search engine to GPT-4.
Rate Limits Are Your Enemy: The free tier cockblocks you right when you're in flow state. Upgraded to Plus for $20/month and it's way better, but I still hit walls during crunch time. Context window fills up mid-conversation and suddenly it's like talking to someone with amnesia. Infuriating when you're debugging something complex.
Bottom Line: If you write code or need help thinking through problems, ChatGPT Plus at $20/month is worth every penny. For research? Use Perplexity instead - G2 ratings show it leads in content accuracy.
Claude: Document Analysis God
The Context Window is Insane: Claude Sonnet 4 can handle a million fucking tokens. That's like feeding it our entire React codebase (48k lines) and it remembers every single component. I tested this - uploaded a 200-page API spec and asked it to find inconsistencies. Found 8 places where examples didn't match the schema. Would've taken me days to catch those manually.
What's Actually Good: Claude reads between the lines. Asked it to review our user agreement and it flagged a clause that basically let us be dicks to customers. Legal missed it, I missed it, but Claude caught it immediately. The safety features don't get in your way like other AI tools.
What Fucking Sucks: Zero web search. Ask about anything current and it apologetically shrugs. Want to know if Next.js 14 broke something? Tough shit, go Google it yourself then paste the results back. It's like having a brilliant researcher who's been locked in a basement since 2024.
Who It's For: Anyone drowning in documents - lawyers, researchers, developers doing code reviews. At $20/month, it's cheaper than hiring an intern and way more reliable.
Google Gemini: It's Free, You Get What You Pay For
The Google Tax: If you already live in Google's ecosystem (Gmail, Docs, Drive), Gemini is genuinely convenient for integrated workflows. It can read your emails, summarize your documents, and schedule meetings without you having to copy-paste everything. That's legitimately useful.
Search is Hit or Miss: You'd think Google's AI would be amazing at search since they, you know, own the world's best search engine. But Gemini often gives you basic summaries when you need detailed information. It's like they're holding back the good stuff.
Pricing Reality: The free tier is actually pretty generous - more useful than ChatGPT's free version. Google One AI Premium is $20/month if you want the advanced features, but honestly, the free version handles most casual use cases.
When It Breaks: Gemini occasionally gets confused about which Google account you're using, or can't access a document it should be able to read. Google's typical "works perfectly until it randomly doesn't" experience.
Meta AI: Free Garbage (You're the Product)
It's "Free": Meta AI costs nothing upfront because you're paying with your data. Zuckerberg's watching everything you type and using it to sell you shit. Built into their apps, so it's convenient if you live in the Facebook ecosystem.
Actually Decent at Images: The image generation doesn't suck. Asked it for a "professional headshot of a developer" and got something usable. For free image gen, it beats DALL-E's rate limits.
Don't Trust It With Facts: Meta AI lies constantly. Asked about React 19 features and it confidently described shit that doesn't exist. It's optimized for engagement, not accuracy. Made me look stupid in a Slack discussion.
Privacy Nightmare: Every query goes into Meta's advertising machine. Asked it about database optimization once, now I'm getting ads for MongoDB consulting. Don't use it for anything work-related unless you want targeted ads forever.
What Actually Happens When You Use These Tools
For Research: Perplexity kicks ass, ChatGPT with SearchGPT is okay, everything else sucks. If you need citations that won't embarrass you in a meeting, use Perplexity. I've tried using Gemini for research and it's like asking a helpful but clueless intern - lots of enthusiasm, not much depth.
For Coding: ChatGPT is still king. Claude is excellent for explaining complex code, but ChatGPT actually writes code that works. I've used both to debug production issues at 3 AM, and ChatGPT consistently finds solutions faster.
For Long Documents: Claude is unbeatable with its 1 million token context window. Feed it a 100-page contract and it'll find every gotcha. ChatGPT gets confused after a few pages, and Perplexity can't handle document analysis at all.
For Free Users: Google Gemini is your best bet if you need something that doesn't suck. Meta AI is fine for generating memes, but don't trust it with anything important. ChatGPT's free tier is so limited it's basically a demo.
The Real Cost of AI Tools
What I actually spend each month:
- Perplexity Pro: around $20 (worth every penny for research)
- ChatGPT Plus: $20 (essential for coding)
- Claude Pro: $20 (only when I have lots of documents to analyze)
- I probably spend like $40-60/month on these tools, sometimes more when I'm busy
The Hidden Costs:
- Time learning each tool's quirks and limitations
- Switching between tools because none does everything well
- Double-checking AI output because hallucinations are still a real problem
- Mental overhead of remembering which tool is good for what
Most people end up with 2-3 subscriptions because no single tool does everything well. Budget $40-60/month if you use AI professionally, or pick one based on your primary use case.
