AI Tools — picker's guide
AI assistants we cover
Live from the Tech Horizon tools directory — sorted alphabetically.
ChatGPT
OpenAI's conversational AI for writing, analysis, coding, and general assistance. 800M+ weekly users.
- Best for: Everyone - writing, research, coding, analysis
- Pricing: Free, Plus $20/month, Pro $200/month
- Features: Code interpreter, DALL-E 3, GPTs, Vision, Voice
- Link: https://chat.openai.com
Claude
Anthropic's AI assistant known for nuanced reasoning, safety, and 200K context window.
- Best for: Long documents, research, nuanced analysis
- Pricing: Free, Pro $20/month
- Features: 200K context, Artifacts, Projects, Vision, Safe AI
- Link: https://claude.ai
Google Gemini
Google's multimodal AI integrated with Workspace. Deep integration with Google ecosystem.
- Best for: Google Workspace users, research
- Pricing: Free, Advanced $25/month
- Features: 2M context, Workspace integration, Code execution, Multimodal
- Link: https://gemini.google.com
Microsoft Copilot
AI assistant integrated across Microsoft 365 - Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams.
- Best for: Microsoft 365 enterprises
- Pricing: Free tier, M365 Copilot $30/user/month
- Features: Word drafting, Excel analysis, PowerPoint creation, Email writing
- Link: https://copilot.microsoft.com
Perplexity
AI-powered search engine that provides cited answers. Great for research and fact-checking.
- Best for: Researchers, journalists, fact-checkers
- Pricing: Free, Pro $20/month
- Features: Web search, Citations, Focus modes, File analysis
- Link: https://perplexity.ai
Pick the best tool by job
| Capability | Best tool | Runner-up | |---|---|---| | Code generation / debugging | Claude | GitHub Copilot | | Creative writing / brainstorming | ChatGPT | Claude | | Long document analysis | Claude | Gemini | | Real-time research with sources | Perplexity | ChatGPT | | Google Workspace integration | Gemini | N/A | | Microsoft 365 integration | M365 Copilot | N/A | | Mathematical reasoning | ChatGPT | Claude | | Safety / low hallucination | Claude | Gemini | | Image generation | ChatGPT (DALL-E) | Gemini | | Enterprise knowledge management | Perplexity | Claude | | Custom agent building | Copilot Studio | Claude Code | | Cost efficiency | Gemini (bundled) | Perplexity Pro |
Before / After: a typical Australian SME stack
Before: Office 365, a CRM nobody updates, three Slack channels, manual email replies, founder writes everything.
After: Same Office 365 + CRM, plus Claude as drafting partner for every email/proposal/SOP, ChatGPT for images and brainstorming, Perplexity for any research, one MCP server (Tech Horizon) plugged into Claude so prompts and skills auto-load, and one weekly workflow handed off to an AI agent (e.g. inbox triage).
The point isn't more tools — it's making the existing humans 3× more effective with the same headcount.