Decision Guide

Which AI should I use? A guide for every situation.

There are dozens of AI tools available. You don’t need to try them all. This guide tells you exactly which AI to use for your specific situation — with no jargon and no wasted time.

Stuck at any point? Ask an AI about this page →

Decision guide Updated September 2026

Tell me what you want to do

Click your situation — jump straight to the answer.

Emails, essays, copy

Slides, decks, pitches

Create, edit, design

Find facts, summarise

Spreadsheets, reports

Learn, revise, explain

Write, debug, explain

Narration, podcasts

✍️

Writing — emails, essays, copy, articles

Excellent for first drafts. Give it context, tone, and purpose. Free tier sufficient for most writing tasks.

Produces noticeably more nuanced, well-structured writing. Better for long-form content and complex topics.

If you use Google

Built directly into Google Docs. Write, improve, and summarise without leaving your document.

Ready-to-use writing prompt

Write a [type of content] for [audience]. The purpose is [goal]. Tone should be [formal/conversational/warm]. Key points to include: [list]. Length: approximately [word count]. Do not use jargon.

📊

Presentations — slides, decks, pitches

Type your topic, get a full presentation with design, images, and layout. Free tier available. No design skills needed.

If you use PowerPoint

Copilot in PowerPoint

Requires Microsoft 365 subscription. Creates presentations from a Word document or a prompt, directly inside PowerPoint.

Best for content

ChatGPT → then design

Use ChatGPT to create the structure and content, then paste into Canva or PowerPoint. More control over design.

Presentation structure prompt

Create a presentation outline for [topic]. Audience: [who they are]. Purpose: [inform/persuade/sell]. Duration: [X minutes]. Format: [number] slides with a title, 3 key points per slide, and a clear call to action at the end.

🌄

Images — create, edit, design

The most powerful image generator available. Stunning artistic quality. Works via Discord. Paid plans from $10/month.

DALL‑E 3 in ChatGPT

Type your description in ChatGPT and ask it to create an image. No extra app needed. Available on ChatGPT free tier.

For social media

Built into Canva. Generate images, remove backgrounds, and design posts in one place. Free tier available.

🔍

Research — find facts, understand topics, summarise

Best for current info

Searches the web and gives you an answer with sources linked. Best for current events and factual questions. Free to use.

Best for documents

Upload a long PDF or document and ask questions about it. Best for understanding contracts, reports, and research papers.

For general questions

Excellent for explaining topics in depth. Note: verify facts independently — AI can confidently state incorrect information.

💻 Coding — write, debug, explain, review

VS Code-based IDE with Claude/GPT built in. Autocomplete, chat, inline edits. The most popular AI coding environment.

Best for explanation

Explain unfamiliar code, debug errors, write functions from a description. Strong at all major languages.

Best for large codebases

200k context window — paste an entire codebase. Best for reviewing, refactoring, and understanding large projects.

If you use VS Code

Inline autocomplete and chat inside VS Code and JetBrains. $10/month. Deep GitHub integration.

🎙️ Voice & Audio — narration, transcription, music

Best for voiceovers

Most natural AI voices. Voice cloning from 1 minute of audio. Best for narration, audiobooks, content creation.

Best for transcription

OpenAI's open-source speech-to-text. 99 languages. Free to run locally or $0.006/min via API. Industry standard.

Complete songs from a text prompt — lyrics, vocals, production. Free tier (10 songs/day).

Best for e-learning

Professional TTS for voiceovers. 120+ voices, video sync, team workspace. From $29/month.

🎬 Video — create, edit, generate

Easiest for content creators

Type a prompt, get a complete video with stock footage, voiceover, and captions. Social and YouTube content.

Best AI footage

Luma Dream Machine

Physically realistic AI video clips (5-10 sec). Text-to-video and image-to-video. Best motion quality.

Best for editing

AI video generation plus editing tools — remove objects, repaint backgrounds, inpainting. Professional workflow.

Best for avatars

Realistic AI presenter avatars for corporate videos, product demos, and training content.

🤖 Agentic AI — AI that completes projects, not just answers

Most widely used framework

LangChain / LangGraph

Build AI agents and pipelines. 1000+ integrations. LangGraph for complex multi-step workflows.

Easiest to start

Role-based multi-agent teams. Simplest learning curve. Each agent has a role, goal, and backstory.

No-code automation

Visual workflow automation with AI nodes. Self-hosted option. Connect any app, trigger on events.

What is Agentic AI?

Full guide to how AI agents work, the four components, and when to use them.

📊 Data analysis — no coding needed

Upload any spreadsheet or CSV, ask questions in plain English. Charts, stats, cleaning — no coding needed.

If you use Google Sheets

Gemini Advanced

Works directly inside Google Sheets. Ask questions about your data without leaving the spreadsheet.

🏗️ Building apps — no coding required

Best for web apps

Full-stack web apps from text prompts. React + Supabase backend. Deploy instantly. No code required.

Best for scripts and bots

Build anything that runs as code — scripts, automations, Telegram bots, APIs. Browser-based. 200+ languages.

What is Vibe Coding?

Building software by describing it. Full guide to the tools, what you can realistically build, and the limits.

📞 Voice agents — AI that handles phone calls

API-first. 400ms latency. Any LLM, any voice, any telephony. Best for teams with developer support.

Easiest to set up

No-code visual builder + analytics dashboard. Get a working agent faster without deep engineering.

Indian languages

TTS and STT for Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and 7 more Indian languages. Handles code-switching naturally.

New to AI? Read: What is Fine-Tuning? · What is Vibe Coding? · How to Make Money with AI

📱 Meta AI / WhatsApp AI — quick help in your existing apps

If you use WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, or Messenger — Meta AI is already built in. Type @MetaAI in any chat. Free, no new app, works in 99 languages. Powered by Llama 3.

Full Meta AI guide →

Quick comparison — the main AI tools

AI Tool	Made by	Best for	Free?
ChatGPT	OpenAI	Writing, coding, general tasks	Yes
Claude	Anthropic	Long docs, careful analysis, quality writing	Yes
Google AI Pro	Google	Google Workspace, 1M context, Deep Research	No ($19.99/mo)
Copilot	Microsoft	Microsoft 365, Office, Windows	Yes (basic)
Meta AI	Meta	WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook — already built in	Yes
Perplexity	Perplexity AI	Research with cited sources, current news	Yes
Midjourney	Midjourney Inc.	AI image generation (artistic quality)	No (from $10/mo)
Flux.1	Black Forest Labs	AI images — best prompt adherence, open source	Yes (Schnell)
ElevenLabs	ElevenLabs	AI voice cloning and narration	Yes (limited)
Suno	Suno AI	AI music — complete songs from text	Yes (10/day)
Runway	Runway AI	AI video generation and editing	Yes (limited)
Cursor	Anysphere	AI code editor — best for developers	Yes (limited)

Ask an AI about this page

Opens your assistant with this page as the source, and a question rather than a summary. It will ask what you are building before it answers.

ChatGPT Claude Gemini Perplexity Grok

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