AI Resources

An up to date comparison of the best AI models

Last updated February 25, 2026.

Models

The current top model is Claude Opus 4.6, followed by Gemini 3.1 Pro, and ChatGPT 5.2 Thinking. There are others, but you don’t need them. These are all available for $20/month and worth it.

General Tools

ChatGPT might still the best choice for most people who will only pay for one AI tool, but I’m not sure anymore. Claude is so much better and includes Claude Code, Claude Cowork, and Claude in Powerpoint, Excel, and Chrome. Gemini Pro includes Gemini in all other Google products (including Chrome) and more and better NotebookLM. I realize not everyone can spend $60/month on AI subscriptions to have them all, but I really do think you’ll find it a good investment if used right.

The tool with the most unique capabilities is Google’s NotebookLM. If you haven’t tried it yet, you really should! Just give it some big documents you know very well and have it make you audio and slides. I promise you will be impressed! Same for Claude Cowork!

Specialized Tools

Perplexity.ai is still best for search. I literally never use Google Search anymore. Even free users get 3 daily pro searches and deep research reports! $20/month users now get access to their agentic browser, Comet, which in my testing is by far the best AI browser. Be careful with AI browsers though!

The best image generator now is  Google Whisk that includes both Imagen 4 and Nano Banana.

If you are looking for a resource for learning how AI works and how to work with it, I recommend my Tulane Applied AI Literacy course that is available for free on YouTube.