15 AI Tools to Know in 2026
Developed by OpenAI, United States
I use ChatGPT for everyday questions, to boost my creativity, to rewrite sentences, to write web and social media copy, and to translate text. I’ve also used it to create a few infographics. While the design wasn’t great, the overall structure ChatGPT produced was actually quite strong. Some of my friends say chatGBT is the best at brainstorming ideas.
In my opinion, ChatGPT is a great complement to our own intelligence. Definitely not the final decision maker.
Just an FYI here – ChatGPT also offers ChatGPT Atlas, which can be downloaded from this link. I have an Intel Mac, which does not support ChatGPT and ChatGBT Atlas. I’ll let you explore it.
Developed by Anthropic, United States
Claude is an Artificial Intelligence assistant created by Anthropic, founded in 2021 by former members of OpenAI.
One of Claude’s greatest strengths is its ability to process large volumes of text such as books, thesis papers, legal texts, documentation, and maybe meeting recordings.
New Claude versions have been created to solve complex problems, perform analysis, plan, and handle multi-stage operations.
Claude users on Reddit say, ” The way it thinks, works, and reasons. It feels more human-like. It seems genuinely smart “
Just an FYI here – Claude also has a desktop app, which can be downloaded via the link below.
Claude offers FREE, Pro ($17/month), and Max (from $100) versions. Note that it has usage limits (very limited) on the FREE tier, and apparently there is no mid-tier plan… huge gap between $ 17 and $ 100.
Developed by Google, United States
Google offers four tiers: Free for basic everyday use, AI Plus for a modest upgrade in access and storage, AI Pro for heavier use with broader features, and AI Ultra for the highest level of access and limits. In general, the higher you go, the more you get for Gemini, NotebookLM, video/image tools like Flow – Nano Banana Pro, and storage benefits, with Ultra aimed at power users who want the most advanced features.
if you’re into the Google ecosystem, this is the best choice for you.
Developed by DeepSeek, China
DeepSeek is a class of AI models that were created by DeepSeek, an AI research firm from China founded in 2023.
Certain DeepSeek models are available for download and can be operated locally on your computer for enhanced privacy.
It’s FREE. No paid consumer plans.
Developed by X AI, United States
Owned by Elon Musk and launched in November 2023 – “To grok something” means to understand it fully.
Grok integrates real-time data from the web and X. When subscribed, users access the Grok AI feature within the X app, enabling Grok to be a useful tool for analyzing specific trends on X. Very useful for marketers.
Grok comes with a built-in sense of humor and a rebellious tone, which makes it sound less robotic and more friendly. A conversationalist!
You can also download the Grok AI app from the Google Play or the Apple Store.
Developed by Alibaba Group, China
It’s FREE to use. Plus, it includes Qwen Studio, where you can create images.
You can also download the app for FREE on your desktop or mobile.
Maximum privacy: If you don’t want your data to leave your machine. You can also download many of the Qwen models (their open weights/files) and run them entirely on your own computer. A local Qwen model can still be very capable, but the experience depends on your hardware and the model size you choose.
Developed by Microsoft, United States
Copilot is an AI chatbot you can talk to by text or voice. Copilot can help with deep research, generating images and videos, handling complex reasoning, writing creatively, processing files, searching the web, and much more.
You should consider Copilot if you want to stay within the Microsoft ecosystem.
Copilot is available on the web, desktop, and mobile, and it’s also built into Bing, Edge, Windows, Microsoft 365 apps, and GitHub.
Microsoft Copilot has a free version, so you don’t have to pay. You only need to pay if you specifically want the Microsoft 365 integration or other premium capabilities.
Developed by Mistral AI, France
Le Chat is developed by Mistral AI, based in France, so it operates under European privacy laws such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). That gives users rights like requesting access to or deletion of personal data.
On the free plan, conversations may be used to improve Mistral’s models, but you can opt out in your privacy settings. If your conversations include highly sensitive content such as legal documents, medical records, unreleased business information, or proprietary source code, the best option for privacy is to run an open-weight model locally on your computer. This way your data never leaves your machine.
Le Chat has a free plan. It also offers paid plans if you need higher limits or advanced features.
Developed by Moonshot AI, China
Kimi AI is an AI assistant from Moonshot AI, a Chinese startup founded in 2023. It is known for its superior ability to process very long documents and has become one of the most popular AI assistants in China.
Kimi has a free version with plenty of capability for general use. Usage limits may apply, as with most AI services, and some advanced features or higher quotas may require a paid plan.
As mentioned earlier, Kimi is owned by a Chinese corporation. The privacy policy of the app reveals that the data collected includes the following:
– Your inputs and chats
– Account data
– Usage data
– Files uploaded
Developed by Proton, Switzerland
Lumo AI is an AI assistant by Proton, which is the company that produces services like Proton Mail, Proton VPN, Proton Drive, and Proton Pass.
There is a free version available, and you don’t have to register to use that one. Paid versions give access to more usage limitations and other bonuses.
While other AI assistants focus more on their performance, privacy is what sets Lumo apart.
Privacy features include:
– Your messages will not be used to teach AI models.
– No conversation logs will be kept by Proton once your messages have been processed.
– Your chat history is encrypted using zero-access encryption, which means that Proton claims it is not able to read your saved messages.
– Complies with Swiss and European privacy laws, both of which provide good privacy protection.
– Web search can be turned off and will not occur unless you choose it to.
Developed by Meta Platforms, the United States
Meta AI is Meta’s AI assistant for consumers, using models from the Llama series.
Llama (abbreviation for Large Language Model Meta AI / the AI Engine) is a family of models created by Meta Platforms, Inc. It is one of the most influential model families in terms of open weights (files) and competes with Qwen, DeepSeek, etc. An open-weight AI model family is a set of AI models in which the creators make the trained weights available for others to download, use, modify, and apply in their own applications.
Meta AI is Meta’s response to ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Copilot. Meta AI is an integrated AI chatbot inside Meta applications, which include: Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger.
You can generate images, start a chat, get writing assistance, and ask AI while you are in a chat on WhatsApp without installing a separate app.
Research-Focused AI Tools
Developed by Google, United States
NotebookLM is designed to work from the sources you provide, like documents, notes, PDFs, or transcripts, and it answers based on that material rather than pulling in unrelated information.
You can feed several research papers, a podcast transcript, and your own notes into NotebookLM and let it generate an FAQ. Since the tool only works with the material provided, it helps minimize unsupported responses and keeps the output grounded in the source content.
As an AI tool that makes reading and research more efficient without losing substance.
There is a free version that has limitations on the number of notebooks, sources, and usage. Google provides another variant of NotebookLM – NotebookLM Plus, which not only expands these limitations but also provides extra features, usually with Google Workspace/Google One AI plans.
Developed by Perplexity AI, United States
Perplexity AI, founded in 2022, is an AI-driven search and answer engine that operates between a classic search engine like Google and a conversational bot such as ChatGPT. Its greatest advantage is research with web references.
– Free plan: Limited but available.
– Perplexity Pro: Paid plan with increased limits and advanced models.
