AI Tool Watch

Advanced Voice Mode enables natural, real-time conversations with GPT-4o. Available on Windows, iOS, Android, and web. macOS desktop voice was retired January 15, 2026—Mac users should use the web version instead.ℹ️macOS Desktop Deprecation (January 15, 2026): OpenAI retired ALL voice functionality from the ChatGPT macOS desktop app on January 15, 2026, including Advanced Voice Mode. This was done to "focus on more unified and improved voice experiences across our apps." Mac users can still access Advanced Voice Mode via: • Web browser at chatgpt.com (Safari, Chrome, etc.) • iOS app on iPhone/iPad • Windows app (if using Parallels or Boot Camp) OpenAI has indicated this may be temporary, with voice potentially returning to macOS in an improved form later.

ChatGPT's Agent Mode lets it browse the web and take actions on your behalf. It's available on Plus ($20/mo) and higher—the new $8 Go plan does NOT include it. Plus gives you 40 agent tasks per month; Pro gives you 400. Now available in EEA—basic agent tasks rolled out to Europe in late July 2025; some Connector features remain restricted.

Atlas is OpenAI's AI-native browser. Right now it's macOS only—Windows is expected in the next couple months. You can use the browser on the free plan, but Agent Mode inside Atlas requires Plus or higher.

Canvas is ChatGPT's split-screen workspace for writing and coding projects—edit inline, get suggestions, and refine together. Available on all plans including free, but currently desktop and web only. Mobile is coming soon.

ChatGPT Search provides real-time web results with cited sources—news, weather, stocks, and more. Available on all plans including free and even logged-out users. Powered by Bing and partner publishers.

Codex is ChatGPT's coding agent that can write, run, and debug code autonomously. Normally requires Plus or higher, but Free and Go users have temporary promotional access (limited). Available via web, desktop apps, and CLI (`npm i -g @openai/codex`) on macOS, Linux, and Windows (WSL).

Codex Security is OpenAI's AI security agent—it connects to your GitHub repos, builds a codebase-specific threat model, validates vulnerabilities in sandboxed environments, and generates fix PRs. Requires Pro ($200/mo), Enterprise, Business, or Edu—not available on Plus or lower. Launched March 6, 2026 as a research preview with free usage for the first month.

Custom GPTs let you create specialized AI assistants with custom instructions, knowledge files, and Actions for external API integrations. Actions replaced the old plugin system in April 2024. Anyone can use public GPTs, but creating your own with Actions requires Plus ($20/mo) or higher.

DALL-E image generation is available on all plans including free, but free users get very limited generations per day. Plus and Pro have much higher or unlimited limits.

Deep Research lets ChatGPT spend minutes researching a topic thoroughly. Now available on all plans including free—free users get 5 lightweight queries/month (powered by o4-mini). Plus gets 10 full + 15 lightweight per month; Pro gets 125 + 125.

Memory lets ChatGPT remember your preferences and context across conversations. All plans get saved memories; Plus/Pro also get full chat history reference for richer personalization.

Projects let you group related chats, files, and custom instructions into workspaces. Available on all plans including free—organize your work across topics with project-specific context.

Sora generates videos from text prompts—up to 25 seconds at 1080p. Requires Plus ($20/mo) or Pro ($200/mo). Plus gets 1,000 credits/month (~50 short videos); Pro gets 10,000 credits plus unlimited relaxed-mode generations. Not available in Europe.

GPT-4o understands images natively—upload a photo, screenshot, chart, or diagram and ChatGPT will analyze it. Available on all plans including free, subject to your plan's message quota. Works across web, desktop, iOS, and Android. Also accessible via the OpenAI API using the `gpt-4o` model.

ChatGPT's core text conversation is available on all plans including free at chatgpt.com, with apps for iOS, Android, Windows, and macOS. Free and Go users now get GPT-5.4 Mini (via the Thinking menu); Plus unlocks GPT-5.4 Thinking; Pro gets GPT-5.4 Pro with 1M context. GPT-5.4 Nano is API-only ($0.20/1M input tokens). GPT-5.2 Thinking moved to Legacy Models with a 90-day retirement window.

Agent Builder lets you create custom AI agents using natural language—no coding required. Requires M365 Copilot ($30/user/mo) for full access. As of March 2026, agents can call other agents as tools (multi-agent coordination), and new agent surfaces include Outlook, OneDrive, and Teams communities.

Copilot Connectors let M365 Copilot access external data from services like Salesforce, ServiceNow, Box, and more. Requires M365 Copilot ($30/user/mo)—not available on free or Pro plans. As of March 2026, federated connectors add live data from Notion, HubSpot, Linear, Intercom, Google Contacts, and Google Calendar.

Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint requires Copilot Pro ($20/mo) or M365 Copilot ($30/user/mo). Free Copilot doesn't include Office integration.

Copilot Vision lets Copilot see and discuss the webpage you're viewing in Edge. Now free for all Edge users in the US with a Microsoft account—no Pro subscription needed. Still in preview and Edge-only.

Copilot Voice is available on all tiers including free. You can speak to Copilot on desktop, mobile, and web.

Free Copilot uses GPT-4 when available but may fall back to faster models during peak times. Pro guarantees priority GPT-4 access.

Image generation with Designer is available on all plans including free using AI credits (15–60/month depending on plan). Now powered by GPT-Image-1.5 (upgraded from GPT-4o). Designer bot in Teams retired Feb 2026—use Copilot image generation instead.

Microsoft Copilot's core text chat is free at copilot.microsoft.com — no account required for basic access. Sign in with a Microsoft account for chat history, longer conversations, and voice. Native apps available on Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android.

AI Studio is Google's developer playground for Gemini models—test prompts, get API keys, and prototype before building. Completely free with generous rate limits.

Audio Overview transforms your content into AI-generated podcast-style discussions. Free users get 3 per day; AI Pro gets 20. Originally from NotebookLM, now integrated into Gemini.

Gemini Canvas is an interactive workspace for creating and refining writing and code projects. Available on all plans including free—free users get limited prompts per day, while AI Pro unlocks a 1 million token context window.

Gemini's Deep Research creates comprehensive reports on complex topics. Now available on the free tier (~5 reports/month via Gemini Flash); AI Pro ($19.99/mo) gets full access with Gemini 3.0 Pro for deeper research.

Gemini Extensions connect to Google services like Gmail, Drive, YouTube, Maps, and more. Available on all plans including free. The Gemini CLI also supports extensions via MCP for developers.

Gemini Advanced gives you access to Google's most capable models. Google AI Pro ($19.99/mo) includes Gemini Advanced plus 2TB storage. The new Google AI Plus ($7.99/mo) also includes Gemini Advanced access at a lower price point. Google AI Ultra ($249.99/mo) adds the highest limits and 30TB storage.

Gemini integrates directly into Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drive. March 2026 beta rollout adds 'Help me create' in Docs (instant drafts from files/emails), 'Fill with Gemini' in Sheets (auto-populate tables), new slide creation in Slides, and AI Overviews + 'Ask Gemini' in Drive. Requires AI Pro ($19.99/mo), AI Ultra ($249.99/mo), or Workspace add-on. Drive features are US-only for now; full deck generation in Slides is coming soon.

Gemini Live enables natural voice conversations with Gemini. Basic voice is free; full Gemini Live with interruption and multi-turn requires AI Pro ($19.99/mo). Currently mobile only.

Gems are custom AI experts you create for specific tasks. Now free for all users—create premade or custom Gems at no cost. AI Pro gets higher limits and sharing features.

Gemini can generate images using Imagen. Free users have limits; AI Pro gets full access.

Nano Banana Pro is Gemini's native image generation and editing model, built on Gemini 3 Pro. It's distinct from Imagen—optimized for conversational editing, character consistency, and multi-image fusion. Supports 1K-4K resolutions with SynthID watermarks. Now requires a paid plan (AI Pro, $19.99/mo)—free users get Nano Banana 2 as the default model instead. Access Nano Banana Pro via the three-dot model menu.

NotebookLM lets you upload documents and have AI conversations grounded in your sources—it even generates podcast-style audio summaries. Free to use with generous limits; AI Pro increases source limits.

Project Astra brings real-time vision to Gemini—share your camera or screen and get contextual AI assistance. Now free for everyone on iOS and Android. It can remember context for 10+ minutes and integrates with Google Search, Maps, and more.

Veo is Google's video generation model. Veo 3.1 generates 4K video up to 8 seconds with native audio—including dialogue, sound effects, and ambient noise. Requires AI Pro ($19.99/mo). Available in the Gemini app, Flow, and via API. Supports text-to-video and image-to-video with up to 3 reference images for character consistency.

Gemini can now take actions inside third-party apps on Android—ordering rides, placing food orders, and completing tasks with minimal user supervision. Available on Pixel 10 series and Samsung Galaxy S26 series in the US and South Korea. Still in beta with select apps (Uber, DoorDash, Grubhub, Starbucks, Instacart, Lyft). No paid plan required.

Gemini's Past Chats feature lets it remember your preferences and context across conversations. Enable it in Settings → Personal context. Now free for all users—it rolled out to non-paying accounts in late February 2026. You can control what Gemini remembers via 'Instructions for Gemini' in settings.

Gemini's core text Q&A is available for free at gemini.google.com to anyone with a Google account, in 230+ countries on web and 150+ countries on mobile. Free tier uses Gemini 3 Flash; AI Pro and Ultra unlock Gemini 3.1 Pro with higher limits. Gemini side panel now available in Chrome (Jan 2026) with Auto Browse for AI Pro/Ultra subscribers.

Artifacts are Claude's way of creating standalone content—code, documents, diagrams—in a separate panel. Available on all plans including free.

Claude Code is Anthropic's agentic coding tool. It requires Pro subscription at minimum—that's $20/month. Available as a terminal CLI and a native VS Code extension (out of beta), plus Xcode integration via the Claude Agent SDK. No JetBrains plugin yet, but JetBrains AI Assistant integrates Claude models.

Connectors let Claude access 75+ services—Google Drive, Notion, Slack, Stripe, and more. Pro and above get full access including Deep Connectors (Google Drive, Gmail, DocuSign, FactSet) and a plugin marketplace. Free users can only use desktop extensions and GitHub. Custom connectors via MCP server URLs available on paid plans. Browse available connectors at claude.ai/directory.

Cowork is Claude's background agent—it launched January 2026 and expanded to all paid plans in February. It's available on Pro ($20/mo) and above, on macOS and Windows desktop. It's still a research preview but already useful for delegating multi-step tasks.

Extended Thinking lets Claude reason through complex problems step-by-step. With Opus 4.6, adaptive thinking is now the recommended mode—Claude decides when deeper reasoning is needed, with four effort levels (low/medium/high/max). Manual thinking mode is deprecated on Opus 4.6. Max plan gets full access; Pro has limited access. Not available on free.

MCP is an open standard for connecting Claude to external tools and data sources—databases, file systems, APIs. Available on all plans including free via the Claude Desktop app.

Projects let you organize conversations and documents into workspaces with persistent context. Now available on all plans including free as of February 2026.

Skills are modular folders of instructions and resources that Claude can load on demand to perform specialized tasks—like creating Office documents or running workflows. Prebuilt skills are available on all plans including free (added Feb 2026 with Sonnet 4.6). Custom skills require Pro and above.ℹ️Prebuilt vs Custom Skills: • Prebuilt Skills: Created and maintained by Anthropic (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, PDF creation). Activate automatically when relevant. Available on all plans including free. • Custom Skills: User-created skills uploaded as ZIP files. Private to individual accounts; Team/Enterprise can provision org-wide. Require Pro, Max, Team, or Enterprise plans.

Claude can analyze images you upload—documents, screenshots, diagrams. Available on all plans including free.

Memory lets Claude remember your preferences and context across conversations—corrections, working style, recurring topics. Free on all plans since March 2026. Enable it in Settings → Capabilities → Memory. You can also import memories from other AI tools using the memory import tool.

Claude's core text conversation is available on all plans including free at claude.ai, with apps for macOS, iOS, and Android plus desktop clients. The free tier includes Claude Sonnet 4.6 with usage caps; Pro and higher unlock Opus access and significantly higher limits.

Perplexity Computer is a cloud-based agent that orchestrates 19+ AI models for multi-step workflows. Basic actions work on free; Pro ($20/mo) unlocks advanced capabilities. Max ($200/mo) adds full Computer access, Voice Mode, and Personal Computer—a dedicated Mac mini that runs 24/7 as your local agent. Enterprise gets Computer for Enterprise with Slack/Snowflake/Salesforce integrations. Four platform APIs (Search, Agent, Embeddings, Sandbox) are now available for developers.

Buy with Pro lets you research and purchase products directly in Perplexity—no ads, just AI recommendations. Now available on all plans via PayPal integration. Free shipping on all orders. Currently US only.

Collections let you organize research into projects. Available on all plans, with more features on Pro.

Perplexity's Comet browser is free for all users—available on Mac, Windows, Linux, Android, and now iPhone. Comet Enterprise (Mar 2026) adds managed deployment with admin controls, domain permissions, MDM support, audit logs, and CrowdStrike Falcon integration for enterprise security.

Enterprise App Connectors let you search across company files and connected apps like Google Drive, Confluence, and Slack. Enterprise Pro only ($40/user/mo)—not available on consumer plans.

Focus modes let you search specific sources—Academic, YouTube, Reddit, etc. Available on all plans including free.

Pro users can choose which AI model answers—GPT-5, Claude, Gemini, and others. Free users get Perplexity's default model only.

Pages let you turn research into shareable, formatted articles with AI-generated sections and citations. Available on all plans including free. Created pages are public and searchable.

Pro Search does deeper research with follow-up questions. Free users get 5-10 Pro searches per day; Pro subscription makes it unlimited.

Perplexity Voice allows hands-free search on mobile. Available on all tiers including free—just tap the microphone in the app.

Perplexity's core search-and-answer experience is free with unlimited basic queries at perplexity.ai, on iOS, Android, the web, a Chrome extension, and via the Comet desktop app. Free users get full access to web-grounded Q&A; Pro unlocks more powerful models and unlimited Pro searches.

DeepSearch is Grok's multi-step research mode. Premium+ or SuperGrok recommended for full access; basic Premium has limited DeepSearch.

Grok is xAI's chatbot, available through X (Twitter) or via grok.com. No official desktop apps exist—access is via web, iOS, or Android. Free users get very limited access; Premium ($8/mo) unlocks regular use. SuperGrok at $30/mo gets you the highest limits.

Grok can generate images using Aurora. Free users get ~10 generations per 2-hour window; paid tiers unlock higher daily limits. SuperGrok gets the most generations per day.

Grok Imagine generates 6-15 second video clips with synchronized audio in under 20 seconds. Free users get very limited access (~3/day at 480p); paid tiers unlock higher limits (up to 500/day on SuperGrok). Supports text-to-video and image-to-video. 'Spicy Mode' requires paid subscription.

Grok Studio is a split-screen workspace for creating documents, running code, and building games—similar to Canvas or Artifacts. Available on all tiers including free at grok.com. Supports Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, C++, and HTML preview.

Grok Voice Mode allows natural voice conversations with Grok. Now free for all users on iOS, Android, and web (grok.com) with 11 voice modes. TTS API available for developers with 5 voice personalities. Supports attachments and photos in voice conversations (Mar 2026).

Grok has real-time access to X/Twitter posts—its unique advantage over other chatbots. Even free users get some access to this.

Think Mode lets Grok reason through complex problems step-by-step. Available on all paid tiers, with SuperGrok getting the longest thinking time.

Grok 2 understands images—upload photos, screenshots, or diagrams and Grok will analyze them. Requires a paid plan (Premium $8/mo or higher). Available on web and mobile.

Grok has persistent memory that carries user preferences and context across conversations. Available on all tiers including free. Memory is selective and automatic—Grok stores key facts it deems important, but users cannot currently inspect or edit what has been saved. The feature appeared with Grok 3 in early 2025 and behavior can be inconsistent across platforms.

Qwen 2.5 comes in sizes from 0.5B to 72B. The 7B model runs great on consumer hardware and punches above its weight. Excellent for coding tasks.ℹ️capability and hardware requirements vary substantially by size

Qwen 3 is Alibaba's latest open model family with hybrid thinking modes-switch between reasoning and fast response with `/think`. Sizes from 0.6B to 235B MoE, supports 119 languages. Fully open under Apache 2.0.ℹ️model sizes range from practical local options to very large MoE deployments

LM Studio is a local desktop runtime product for discovering, loading, and chatting with open models through a GUI and optional local API.

Llama 3.3 is Meta's open-weight model. Completely free to run locally-you just need the hardware. The 70B model needs ~40GB VRAM for full precision, but quantized versions run on consumer GPUs.ℹ️higher-end variants still need significant VRAM

Llama 4 is Meta's first natively multimodal model-text and vision built-in. Scout has a 10 million token context window and fits on a single H100. Maverick rivals GPT-4o on benchmarks. Free for commercial use under 700M monthly users.ℹ️model size and context claims can exceed ordinary consumer hardware

Codestral is Mistral's code-specialized model at 22B parameters. Runs on a good consumer GPU (16GB+ VRAM recommended) and excels at code completion and generation.ℹ️consumer GPU use is realistic only with enough VRAM or quantization

Leanstral is Mistral's open-source code agent built for Lean 4 formal verification. Apache 2.0 weights with MCP tool-use training. Available self-hosted, via the Labs API, or in Mistral Vibe's agent mode.ℹ️specialized for Lean 4 formal verification, not general-purpose coding

Mistral offers several open models. Mistral Nemo (12B) runs on consumer hardware—great for local use. Mistral Large (123B) needs serious GPU power. Note: both are deprecated on hosted platforms (Vertex AI, La Plateforme) in favor of Mistral Small 4, but open weights remain available for self-hosted via Ollama and LM Studio.ℹ️runtime practicality depends heavily on which model size is chosen

Mistral Small 3 is a 24B model that matches 70B performance while being 3x faster. Fits on a single RTX 4090 or a MacBook with 32GB RAM. 81%+ on MMLU, 128K context in v3.1+. Fully open under Apache 2.0.ℹ️consumer use is realistic but still depends on memory and quantization choices

Mistral Small 4 is a 119B Mixture-of-Experts model with only 6B active parameters per token. It combines instruct, reasoning, vision, and code in one open model. Apache 2.0 license, but requires datacenter GPUs (4× H100 minimum)—this is not a consumer-hardware model. Also available via the Mistral API as `mistral-small-2603`.ℹ️datacenter-class hardware required: minimum 4× H100 or 2× H200 or 1× DGX B200

Ollama is a local runtime product for downloading, serving, and interacting with open models through a CLI, desktop app, and local API.