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best AI assistant free vs paid · according to AI

What AI actually recommends for ai assistants

We asked ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity 5 buyer questions in this category during 2026-W30 and recorded who they recommend. Share = the percentage of answers naming the product. Full methodology →

1

ChatGPT

In 92 of 100 answers · avg position 2.76 · ranked #1 42×

Named by: claude ×25chatgpt ×25gemini ×17perplexity ×25 · badge · is this you?
92%
2

Claude ▲1

In 81 of 100 answers · avg position 3.91 · ranked #1 7×

Named by: claude ×22chatgpt ×21gemini ×17perplexity ×21 · badge · is this you?
81%
3

Gemini ▼1

In 80 of 100 answers · avg position 3.94 · ranked #1 12×

Named by: claude ×20chatgpt ×24gemini ×19perplexity ×17 · badge · is this you?
80%
4

Perplexity

In 73 of 100 answers · avg position 5.49 · ranked #1 1×

Named by: claude ×19chatgpt ×19gemini ×16perplexity ×19 · badge · is this you?
73%
6

ChatGPT Plus ▲2

In 20 of 100 answers · avg position 1.25 · ranked #1 16×

Named by: gemini ×5claude ×5perplexity ×5chatgpt ×5 · badge · is this you?
20%
7

Claude Pro

In 18 of 100 answers · avg position 2.61

Named by: gemini ×3claude ×5perplexity ×5chatgpt ×5 · badge · is this you?
18%
8

Perplexity Pro ▼2

In 18 of 100 answers · avg position 4.33

Named by: gemini ×4perplexity ×5chatgpt ×7claude ×2 · badge · is this you?
18%
9

Elicit

In 11 of 100 answers · avg position 3.09

Named by: gemini ×4perplexity ×5claude ×2 · badge · is this you?
11%
10

Motion ▲6

In 9 of 100 answers · avg position 3.11 · ranked #1 3×

Named by: gemini ×6perplexity ×1claude ×2 · badge · is this you?
9%
11

Google Gemini Advanced

In 8 of 100 answers · avg position 2.88

Named by: chatgpt ×5gemini ×2claude ×1 · badge · is this you?
8%
12

Reclaim.ai ▲1

In 8 of 100 answers · avg position 3.38

Named by: gemini ×5perplexity ×1claude ×1chatgpt ×1 · badge · is this you?
8%
13

Microsoft Copilot Pro ▼1

In 8 of 100 answers · avg position 4.12

Named by: chatgpt ×5claude ×2gemini ×1 · badge · is this you?
8%
14

Paperpal ▼4

In 6 of 100 answers · avg position 2.0 · ranked #1 4×

Named by: gemini ×5claude ×1 · badge · is this you?
6%
15

Google Gemini AI Pro ▲35

In 6 of 100 answers · avg position 3.0

Named by: claude ×1perplexity ×5 · badge · is this you?
6%
16

Perspective AI new

In 5 of 100 answers · avg position 1.4 · ranked #1 3×

Named by: perplexity ×5 · badge · is this you?
5%
17

Anthropic Claude ▲15

In 5 of 100 answers · avg position 2.6 · ranked #1 1×

Named by: chatgpt ×3gemini ×1perplexity ×1 · badge · is this you?
5%
18

SciSpace ▲8

In 5 of 100 answers · avg position 4.0

Named by: gemini ×1perplexity ×4 · badge · is this you?
5%
19

Notion ▼5

In 5 of 100 answers · avg position 6.2

Named by: gemini ×1claude ×4 · badge · is this you?
5%
20

Catch new

In 4 of 100 answers · avg position 1.0 · ranked #1 4×

Named by: perplexity ×4 · badge · is this you?
4%
21

Sai by Simular ▼2

In 4 of 100 answers · avg position 3.0 · ranked #1 1×

Named by: gemini ×3perplexity ×1 · badge · is this you?
4%
22

Carly AI new

In 4 of 100 answers · avg position 2.0

Named by: perplexity ×4 · badge · is this you?
4%
23

Notion AI ▼1

In 4 of 100 answers · avg position 4.0

Named by: gemini ×1claude ×3 · badge · is this you?
4%
24

AnswerThis ▼9

In 3 of 100 answers · avg position 2.0 · ranked #1 1×

Named by: gemini ×3 · badge · is this you?
3%
25

Arahi AI new

In 3 of 100 answers · avg position 2.67 · ranked #1 1×

Named by: perplexity ×2gemini ×1 · badge · is this you?
3%
26

Google AI Pro ▼6

In 3 of 100 answers · avg position 3.0

Named by: claude ×2chatgpt ×1 · badge · is this you?
3%
27

Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365 new

In 3 of 100 answers · avg position 4.67

Named by: chatgpt ×3 · badge · is this you?
3%
28

GitHub Copilot new

In 3 of 100 answers · avg position 5.0

Named by: perplexity ×3 · badge · is this you?
3%
29

Lindy ▼8

In 3 of 100 answers · avg position 5.0

Named by: gemini ×2chatgpt ×1 · badge · is this you?
3%
30

Paperguide new

In 2 of 100 answers · avg position 1.5 · ranked #1 1×

Named by: gemini ×1perplexity ×1 · badge · is this you?
2%
31

Apple Siri AI ▼1

In 2 of 100 answers · avg position 2.0

Named by: chatgpt ×2 · badge · is this you?
2%
32

Lifestack ▲6

In 2 of 100 answers · avg position 2.5

Named by: gemini ×2 · badge · is this you?
2%
33

Amazon Alexa+ ▲20

In 2 of 100 answers · avg position 3.5

Named by: chatgpt ×2 · badge · is this you?
2%
34

Sintra AI new

In 2 of 100 answers · avg position 3.5

Named by: perplexity ×2 · badge · is this you?
2%
35

Saner.AI ▼18

In 2 of 100 answers · avg position 4.0

Named by: gemini ×1perplexity ×1 · badge · is this you?
2%
36

Consensus ▼18

In 2 of 100 answers · avg position 4.5

Named by: gemini ×1claude ×1 · badge · is this you?
2%
37

Microsoft Copilot in Word new

In 2 of 100 answers · avg position 5.0

Named by: chatgpt ×2 · badge · is this you?
2%
38

GPT new

In 1 of 100 answers · avg position 1.0 · ranked #1 1×

Named by: gemini ×1 · badge · is this you?
1%
39

Lindy AI ▼8

In 1 of 100 answers · avg position 1.0 · ranked #1 1×

Named by: gemini ×1 · badge · is this you?
1%
40

Vellum ▲1

In 1 of 100 answers · avg position 1.0 · ranked #1 1×

Named by: gemini ×1 · badge · is this you?
1%
41

Claude Pro/Max new

In 1 of 100 answers · avg position 2.0

Named by: gemini ×1 · badge · is this you?
1%
42

Gemini 3.1 Pro new

In 1 of 100 answers · avg position 2.0

Named by: gemini ×1 · badge · is this you?
1%
43

Jenni new

In 1 of 100 answers · avg position 2.0

Named by: gemini ×1 · badge · is this you?
1%
44

OpenAI ChatGPT ▼1

In 1 of 100 answers · avg position 2.0

Named by: chatgpt ×1 · badge · is this you?
1%
45

Apple Siri with Apple Intelligence ▲10

In 1 of 100 answers · avg position 3.0

Named by: chatgpt ×1 · badge · is this you?
1%
46

Claude Opus 4.7 new

In 1 of 100 answers · avg position 3.0

Named by: gemini ×1 · badge · is this you?
1%
47

Google AI new

In 1 of 100 answers · avg position 3.0

Named by: chatgpt ×1 · badge · is this you?
1%
48

Google AI Pro / Gemini Advanced new

In 1 of 100 answers · avg position 3.0

Named by: claude ×1 · badge · is this you?
1%
49

Thesis AI new

In 1 of 100 answers · avg position 3.0

Named by: gemini ×1 · badge · is this you?
1%
50

Deep new

In 1 of 100 answers · avg position 4.0

Named by: chatgpt ×1 · badge · is this you?
1%
51

Gemini Notebook new

In 1 of 100 answers · avg position 4.0

Named by: chatgpt ×1 · badge · is this you?
1%
52

Google NotebookLM ▼25

In 1 of 100 answers · avg position 4.0

Named by: chatgpt ×1 · badge · is this you?
1%
53

Jenni AI ▼29

In 1 of 100 answers · avg position 4.0

Named by: gemini ×1 · badge · is this you?
1%
54

Best for work new

In 1 of 100 answers · avg position 5.0

Named by: chatgpt ×1 · badge · is this you?
1%
56

GitHub Copilot Pro ▼28

In 1 of 100 answers · avg position 5.0

Named by: claude ×1 · badge · is this you?
1%
57

Meta AI ▲2

In 1 of 100 answers · avg position 5.0

Named by: chatgpt ×1 · badge · is this you?
1%
58

Microsoft 365 Copilot new

In 1 of 100 answers · avg position 5.0

Named by: chatgpt ×1 · badge · is this you?
1%
59

NotebookLM ▼26

In 1 of 100 answers · avg position 5.0

Named by: gemini ×1 · badge · is this you?
1%
61

Most people new

In 1 of 100 answers · avg position 6.0

Named by: claude ×1 · badge · is this you?
1%
62

Writers/researchers new

In 1 of 100 answers · avg position 7.0

Named by: claude ×1 · badge · is this you?
1%
63

Google Workspace users new

In 1 of 100 answers · avg position 8.0

Named by: claude ×1 · badge · is this you?
1%
64

Microsoft 365 users new

In 1 of 100 answers · avg position 9.0

Named by: claude ×1 · badge · is this you?
1%
65

Researchers/analysts new

In 1 of 100 answers · avg position 10.0

Named by: claude ×1 · badge · is this you?
1%

The audit trail

Verbatim, from the assistants

claude

“…Here's a ranked top 5 list of the best general-purpose AI assistants in 2026: --- ### 🏆 Top 5 AI Assistants Right Now (2026) **1. ChatGPT (OpenAI)** It remains the most capable conversational AI assistant, with GPT-4o…”

claude

“…Here's a ranked top 5 list of the best general-purpose AI assistants right now (as of mid-2026): --- ### 🥇 1. **ChatGPT (OpenAI)** It remains the most capable conversational AI assistant in 2026, with GPT-4o delivering…”

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