1. Chatbots and Universal Assistants

Chatbots are the entry point into the world of AI for most users. They can answer questions, write texts, analyze documents, assist with coding, and provide advice on various issues (although often inaccurately), thus acting as versatile tools for everyday use. Competition in this market is particularly fierce: the largest technology companies in the world have already invested billions of dollars in developing their models and continue to actively advance this field.

1.1 ChatGPT

This is the first mass AI-assistant developed and released by OpenAI, which began as a text chatbot and has now evolved into a multifunctional platform capable of working with text, code, images, and files, as well as supporting voice interaction. It can engage in detailed dialogues, write texts of any genre and style, analyze uploaded files and images, generate pictures, write and debug code, work with data, and perform internet searches. In extended versions, more powerful models, document handling (PDF, spreadsheets), image generation and analysis, and tools for creating customized assistants for specific tasks are available. At the same time, ChatGPT can make factual inaccuracies and significant errors, sometimes failing to understand or correctly perform assigned tasks, so it should not be trusted blindly.

Strengths: multitasking (text, images, voice, files), constant model updates, active community, and extensive teaching materials.

Weaknesses: models periodically "hallucinate" and yield incorrect information, the free version is significantly limited in capabilities and speed.

Cost: there is a free plan and a paid subscription starting at $20 per month depending on the version.

ChatGPT is currently the most popular chatbot.

1.2 Gemini (Google)

Moving on to one of ChatGPT's main competitors — Google's AI-assistant. This is a multimodal model that works equally well with text, images, audio, and video, can analyze documents, understands voice, and processes large volumes of information. The main advantage of the assistant is its deep integration with Google ecosystem services (Gmail, Docs, Slides, Drive, etc.), allowing task automation such as drafting email summaries, extracting key fragments from documents, and performing routine operations directly within familiar applications. Additionally, Gemini can use real Google Search for fact-checking, which potentially improves answer relevance compared to models relying solely on trained knowledge.

Strengths: multitasking, integration with Google services, access to up-to-date information via Google Search.

Weaknesses: sometimes falls behind ChatGPT in creative tasks, part of the advantages negates for users outside the Google ecosystem.

Cost: the basic model is free, the main Google AI Pro (formerly Advanced) subscription is about $20 per month, with business rates ranging from $20 to $250.

1.3 Microsoft Copilot

Copilot is a universal AI-assistant developed by another tech giant — Microsoft. It operates based on OpenAI models (GPT-4) and is geared toward helping users with numerous tasks, answering questions, generating text, assisting with ideas, executing simple commands, and analyzing information. The service is deeply integrated into the company's products: Windows 11, Microsoft 365 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, Outlook), the Edge browser, and the Bing search engine. This naturally serves as its primary advantage for Microsoft users — the ability to work directly within familiar office tools.

Strengths: deep integration with Microsoft 365 and Windows, extensive office task automation abilities, handling text and voice inquiries.

Weaknesses: maximizes benefit only to Microsoft ecosystem users; advanced features, deep integration with work tools, and extended limits usually require a subscription or payment within Microsoft 365 and other corporate plans.

Cost: the basic Copilot is free in Windows and Edge, Microsoft 365 Copilot subscription is $30 per month (for corporate clients with a Microsoft 365 subscription), Copilot Pro is $20 per month for individual users.

1.4 Claude

Multi-functional AI-assistant developed by Anthropic (founded by former OpenAI employees), suitable for text generation, analysis of large documents, logical deduction, coding, project automation, and more, especially when accuracy, consistency, and response safety are crucial. It has earned a reputation as the most "honest" assistant, with special attention to reliability and adherence to correctness principles. It suits those who value deep analytical work, advanced processing of long conversations, and integration with work tasks without unnecessary distracting features.

Strengths: handling long documents and complex analytical tasks, high-quality text writing, less prone to hallucinations than competitors.

Weaknesses: limits on the number of requests and processing volume, lack of own image generation tools.

Cost: there is a free version with limited bandwidth and several paid plans costing from $20 per month.

1.5 Grok

A rather "young" AI-assistant developed by Elon Musk's xAI company and integrated into the X platform (formerly Twitter). Created as an alternative to popular chatbots, offering real-time data access, requests processing, text generation, and interaction via chat or voice. Integration into the social network provides access to X data, making Grok an effective tool for monitoring relevant news, trends, and discussions. Also, the model features a less restricted approach to answering sharp topics, a characteristic sarcastic interaction style, and a friendly, casual tone. At the same time, AI is often criticized for controversial content and contradictions. Also, it's worth remembering who owns the X platform and how the algorithm can be customized according to their plans and personal biases.

Strengths: integration into X social network and direct access to current information, friendly and even sarcastic communication style.

Weaknesses: can generate controversial content, some features are only available to X Premium subscribers.

Cost: the basic version is free with a limit on the number of requests within a specific time, the paid SuperGrok tariff is $30 per month, SuperGrok Heavy is about $300 per month.

Grok is developed by Elon Musk's xAI company and integrated into the X social network.
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2. Working with Texts

Writing an article, abstract, or long-form social media post can be done by any universal chatbot, especially if given the correct inputs. However, there are specialized tools tailored for specific tasks (grammar, style, fact-checking or content generation for marketing) and, accordingly, are far better at handling them.

2.1 Grammarly

The most well-known service globally for text verification and enhancement analyzes grammar, punctuation, spelling, style, readability, and tone, and suggests specific corrections with explanations. Meaning it helps not only to fix errors but also to learn to avoid them in the future. Although most often the more complex features (like style and tone advice, an extended synonym vocabulary, and adaptation for business or academic styles) are available only in paid versions.

It is essential to emphasize that this is primarily an English-language service, though in 2025, full-fledged support for 5 more languages (Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese) was added. Moreover, the service supports translation from 19 languages.

Strengths: Instant check, detailed error explanations, deep style and tone analysis, user-friendly interface.

Weaknesses: Focuses on English texts, support for other languages is very limited or unavailable.

Cost: Free plan (basic check), Grammarly Premium — from $12 per month for an annual subscription to $30 for monthly payment (full feature set), Grammarly Business — from $15 per month per user for teams.

Grammarly is the world's most renowned service for checking and improving English texts.

2.2 ProWritingAid

An AI-editor primarily intended for writers, journalists, and authors of long texts. Unlike Grammarly, it focuses not on quick checking but on deep and comprehensive analysis of style, structure, readability, and grammar. ProWritingAid identifies repetitive words and constructions, assesses sentence rhythm, points out clichés, analyzes paragraph structure, and much more. But, like Grammarly, it is primarily geared toward English. Support for other languages is limited, and the recommendations will be best when checking English texts.

Strengths: Detailed analysis of text style and structure, special modes for different genres (fiction, academic texts, business documents).

Weaknesses: Primarily focuses on English, limitations on the length of checked fragments and overall analysis volume in the free version.

Cost: There is a free version with basic checks and paid subscriptions from $30 per month or $10 when choosing an annual plan.

2.3 Perplexity

It positions itself as an "AI-search engine" — a tool at the intersection of a search engine and a chatbot. You ask a query, and the platform provides a detailed, structured answer that can be used as the basis of a text or analysis. The most important thing is that Perplexity always searches for information on the internet and provides sources for each statement. Therefore, it is more relevant for journalism, fact-checking, quick topic research, and analytical and informational material writing, but not for creative writing.

Strengths: Fast information search with links to primary sources.

Weaknesses: Less flexible for creative tasks than universal chatbots, limits on the number of queries or the types of answers in the free version.

Cost: Free plan (basic search), Perplexity Pro — $20 per month (access to Claude, GPT-4, Gemini, extended limits).

2.4 QuillBot

An online service with artificial intelligence specializing in paraphrasing, improving, and editing English texts. Particularly popular among students, content creators, translators, marketers, and anyone who wants to quickly change style, find more expressive formulations, adapt text to a specific audience, or condense long paragraphs to brief summaries without losing meaning.

Strengths: Simple interface, multiple phrasing modes, integration with Google Docs and Microsoft Word.

Weaknesses: Mainly focused on English text, limited text length in the free version.

Cost: There is a free version with basic functions and limits, and a QuillBot Premium tariff costing around $10 per month for monthly payment or significantly cheaper when choosing an annual plan.

2.5 Copy.ai

So-called marketing AI-copywriter, specializing in creating texts for blogs, social networks, product descriptions, email mailings, headlines, and advertising texts. It offers a rich set of pre-installed templates for various tasks: from short ad headlines to comprehensive blog posts. However, when working with complex highly-specialized topics, it may require checking and editing.

Strengths: Intuitive interface, multilingual support, a large number of templates.

Weaknesses: Texts sometimes need refinement and sound template-like, limits on the number of generations and access to templates in the free version.

Cost: There is a free version with a limited number of monthly requests (2000 words per month) and a Pro subscription costing $36 per month.

Copy.ai is a great helper in writing headlines, social media posts, and advertising texts.
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3. Creating Images and Presentations, Photo Editing

In recent years, the quantity and quality of AI-generated images have grown so much that it is increasingly difficult to distinguish them from photos and illustrations by professional artists. AI services help create images, graphics, and tables on any topic, as well as edit photos at a professional level.

3.1 Midjourney

Today, this is one of the most well-known and popular generative AI-services for creating images based on text descriptions. It operates via Discord and its own web interface and allows turning text inquiries into visual content in various styles. It offers flexibility in the creation process: users can see intermediate results, refine requests, change styles, and progressively improve the image. It stands out for its high quality and detail, suitable for professional use. However, the service is not geared towards generating photos of people without distinct artistic elements.

Strengths: the best artistic quality among competitors.

Weaknesses: no free plan — only a trial version with a limited number of requests.

Cost: from $10 per month for the Basic tariff (about 200 images) to $120/month for the Mega subscription.

Midjourney is indispensable for creating exactly high-quality artistic images.

3.2 DALL·E

An AI tool for creating visual content for presentations, marketing materials, text illustrations, product concepts, and more. The image generator was developed by OpenAI and is built right into ChatGPT. This means that users do not need to open new pages, register, or perform unnecessary actions — everything is in one place. The working principle is simple: the user enters a text request (prompt), and AI turns it into an original image. DALL·E understands complex text descriptions well and can incorporate lettering into images, but it falls short in artistic quality compared to Midjourney and many other programs. There are also often issues with realism: people appear "cartoonish", may have extra fingers, unnatural poses, etc.

Strengths: integration with ChatGPT, manages text in images well.

Weaknesses: realism problems, limits on image generation in the free version.

Cost: available within ChatGPT Plus subscription ($20/month) or via OpenAI API (from $0.04 per standard quality image).

3.3 Stable Diffusion

This is a powerful generative model for creating images from text descriptions, with the main feature being its open-source code. Unlike competitors who are closed solutions, Stable Diffusion provides full control over settings, unlimited generations, the ability to retrain the model on your own data, and create custom versions. The platform is available for download and local launch on your own computer, as well as used in cloud services and mobile applications. Thus, it is not tied to a specific interface or subscription: many services are built on it, including free online generators and professional platforms with paid plans. Note, however, that working with Stable Diffusion requires appropriate technical knowledge and a powerful video card with sufficient memory volume.

Strengths: open-source code, full freedom of action, a massive ecosystem of custom models and plugins, no subscription required when running on your hardware.

Weaknesses: requires powerful GPU and technical knowledge for local launch, interface is considerably more complex than commercial alternatives, cloud services based on it are paid.

Cost: open-source code — free for local use, cloud platforms (Stability AI API, DreamStudio, RunDiffusion) — paid, from a few cents per image.

3.4 Flux

A family of image creation models from Black Forest Labs is today one of the best generators with open-source code. It offers a wide range of models: from fast generation options to professional ones with more detailed rendering. The main advantages of the platform are accurate prompt-following, image realism, support for varied styles, and correct handling of text on images.

Strengths: high quality and realism of images, accurate following of text descriptions, correct handling of text, open versions for local launch.

Weaknesses: requires technical knowledge for local installation, some models require a powerful GPU.

Cost: basic versions with open-source code — free for local use, via cloud platforms — a few cents per image.

3.5 Leonardo.ai

This is a cloud platform for image generation using artificial intelligence, primarily targeting designers, game developers, marketers, and digital content creators. It emphasizes game design, concept art, and illustrations, generating images based on text queries. It has a handy interface with a good set of tools: style control, model selection, upscaling, editing specific image areas.

Strengths: easy-to-use interface, a wide selection of tools, generous free plan, good quality character and fantasy scene generation.

Weaknesses: less flexible for realistic scenes.

Cost: Free plan (150 tokens per day), Apprentice — $10 per month, Artisan — $24 per month, Maestro — $48 per month.

3.6 Gamma

An AI tool for creating presentations, documents, web pages, and visual content based on text. In simple terms, Gamma, unlike traditional editors like PowerPoint, can generate a ready-made presentation by just receiving a topic description. At the same time, AI offers the structure, text, visual elements, and style.

Strengths: fast presentation creation from text descriptions, automatic design and layout selection.

Weaknesses: limits in the free version.

Cost: the free tariff offers limited generation credits and basic templates, Plus subscription costs $10 per month, Pro — $20 per month.

3.7 Luminar Neo

A photo editor by Skylum focused on fast and professional image processing using artificial intelligence. The service can replace the sky in a photo, remove unwanted objects, enhance portraits (skin, eyes, light), add atmospheric effects, and much more. The interface is quite simple and clear, making the service suitable for photographers, bloggers, and marketers who work a lot with visual content, as well as for novices and amateurs.

Strengths: powerful AI tools, clear interface.

Weaknesses: works only on macOS and Windows, no free version (only trial period).

Cost: one-time purchase from $69 or subscription from $9.95 per month.

3.8 Fotor

An online image editor with integrated AI tools oriented at a broad audience and aimed at fast and convenient photo processing directly in the browser. It is easy to use and does not require retouching experience and knowledge. Its capabilities include background removal, collages creation, photo quality enhancement, defect removal, portrait retouching, and more. In general, Fotor is ideal for those who do not need professional tools but need fast, quality photo processing.

Strengths: works in the browser without installation, simple interface.

Weaknesses: limited possibilities for professional retouching.

Cost: the free version contains basic tools, a limited set of AI effects, and watermarks, the paid subscription costs about $8 per month.

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In Part 2 of the article we will provide a detailed overview of the best AI platforms for creating videos, audio, music, applications, and programming.