Which AI Tool Should I Use?
Five questions about the work you actually have, and one recommendation — ChatGPT, Claude, DeepSeek or Gemini — with the reasoning spelled out and a runner-up, because the top two are usually close.
Question 1 of 5
What this tool does
Most "which AI should I use" articles rank tools by benchmark scores, which is a poor proxy for your work: a model that tops a reasoning leaderboard can still be the wrong choice if your inputs are 400-page PDFs or if your data cannot leave your own servers. This quiz asks about the constraints that actually eliminate options — document size, existing software, privacy requirements and budget — and scores ChatGPT, Claude, DeepSeek and Gemini against your answers.
It deliberately shows a runner-up rather than a single winner, because in practice the top two are usually within a few points and the tie-break is personal taste. It also knows only the five things you told it: nothing about your team, your existing subscriptions or how a tool feels to use day to day. Treat the result as a shortlist to trial, not a verdict — running one real prompt through two free tiers will teach you more than any quiz, including this one.
How to use it
- Answer all five questions. Each one is single-choice, and you can change any answer before the result appears.
- Be honest about input size. "Entire codebase or book" is the answer that most often changes the recommendation, because context window is a hard technical limit rather than a preference.
- Answer the privacy question carefully. If your data legally cannot leave your infrastructure, that single answer rules out three of the four models.
- Read the reasoning under the result, not just the name. It tells you which of your answers drove the pick, so you can judge whether the logic matches your situation.
- Try the runner-up too. Run the same real task through both free tiers before paying for anything.
Common use cases
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Picking your first AI subscription
Avoid paying for the wrong one for a year because a review site ranked it first.
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Standardising a small team
Get everyone on the same tool, chosen against the work the team actually does rather than personal preference.
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Working with sensitive data
Find out which option still works when the requirement is that nothing leaves your own servers.
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Choosing a model for an API product
Cost per token and context window decide more API architecture than raw benchmark scores do.
Frequently asked questions
How does this quiz decide which AI tool to recommend?
Each answer carries points toward the four models, weighted by how much that factor actually matters. Asking for a million-token context window scores heavily for Gemini; saying the data must stay on your own servers rules everything out except DeepSeek's open weights. The recommendation is the highest scorer, and the page always shows the runner-up too, because the top two are usually close.
Can I trust the recommendation?
Treat it as a shortlist, not a verdict. It knows only what you told it in five questions — nothing about your existing workflow, your team, or how a tool actually feels to use. The genuinely reliable test is to run the same real prompt through two free tiers for a day. That will tell you more than any quiz, including this one.
Do I need to pay for any of these tools?
No. All four have free tiers that are genuinely usable rather than crippled demos, and for occasional work they are usually enough. Paid plans buy higher usage limits, access to the newest models and longer context. If you consistently hit rate limits, pay; otherwise the free tier is the better use of money.