Other AI Tools: How to Think About Them
This course uses Claude. Here are five options to consider.
Snapshot from April 2026. Verify each row at the vendor's site before relying on the details.
If you're using one of these other tools instead of Claude, you can still follow most of the course. Paste a lesson's instructions or prompt into your tool and ask it to walk you through the equivalent steps in its own features. The workflows transfer; the menus and feature names will differ.
Claude · Anthropic
The chatbot this course is built on. Known for clean writing, careful reasoning, and being relatively conservative about doing-your-homework-for-you. Free tier exists; Pro adds Projects, scheduled tasks, more usage, voice. anthropic.com
ChatGPT · OpenAI
The household name:what most non-AI-people mean when they say "AI." Strong image generation, the broadest set of integrations, the most do-anything tone defaults. Free tier exists; Plus and Pro add image gen, deep research, custom GPTs, higher limits. openai.com
Gemini · Google
The chatbot built into Google's stack:Docs, Gmail, Sheets, Slides, YouTube. Handles very long documents well; easiest to reach if your school is on Google Workspace. Free tier exists; Gemini Advanced is the paid tier. gemini.google.com
Copilot · Microsoft
Powered by OpenAI underneath. Lives inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, and Windows itself. Already there if your school is on Microsoft 365. Free tier exists; Copilot Pro adds in-app drafting. copilot.microsoft.com
Grok · xAI
Lives mostly inside X (formerly Twitter). Looser tone defaults; pulls fresh info off X in real time. Less common in academic settings. Free with an X account; Premium tiers add usage. x.ai
Snapshot · April 2026: verify each row at the vendor's own docs before relying on it
| Dimension | Claude | ChatGPT | Gemini | Copilot | Grok |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 · Tone defaults (stable) | Coach-you-through-a-task more than do-it-for-you. Conservative about producing finished work without prompting. Reads as a careful tutor. | Most willing to do-it-for-you out of the box. Tone is "helpful assistant: here you go." You can prompt it toward coaching, but the default leans toward delivery. | Conversational, tends toward summarizing and bullet-listing. Good at quick answers; less distinctive on long-form drafting unless asked. | Productivity-app-assistant tone. Drafts inside Word/Outlook documents rather than as standalone replies:"Office helper" more than "tutor." | The most casual / unfiltered defaults of the five. Fewer guardrails on tone; both the brand promise and the thing to be aware of for school work. |
| 2 · Integrations (stable) | Web app, desktop, mobile, plus connectors (Cowork, Calendar, Gmail in some plans). Mostly a standalone tool, not a plugin inside other apps. | Broadest integration ecosystem. Custom GPTs, Actions, the OpenAI API used by hundreds of third-party tools, plus a deep partnership with Microsoft. | Deepest Google integration. Inside Docs, Gmail, Sheets, Slides, Meet, YouTube. If your school is on Google Workspace, Gemini is already there. | Deepest Microsoft integration. Inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, Windows itself. If your school is on Microsoft 365, Copilot is already there. | Lives mostly inside X. Pulls fresh info from X posts. Less common in Office/Workspace contexts. |
| 3 · Free-tier feel | Usable for normal student work; you'll hit message limits in heavy weeks. Pro removes most ceilings, adds Projects, scheduled tasks, more usage. | Generous free tier; the most "you can do real work without paying" of the five. Plus / Pro add image gen, deep research, higher limits. | Generous free tier, especially with a Google account. Gemini Advanced adds longer context and the most powerful tier. | Free Copilot is real and useful; Pro is mostly for full drafting inside Word and Excel. | Free with an X account. Premium tiers (which include Grok extras) require an X subscription. |
| 4 · Mobile app | iOS and Android apps. Voice mode included. Solid for on-the-go. | iOS and Android apps. Long-running mobile presence; very polished. Voice mode well-developed. | iOS and Android apps. Tightly integrated with Google Assistant on Android. | iOS and Android apps. Mobile experience is decent; the strength is on desktop inside Office. | Lives inside the X mobile app primarily; standalone Grok app exists but is less mature. |
| 5 · Voice mode | Voice mode in mobile and desktop. Solid for study sessions and mock interviews. Used heavily across this course. | Voice mode is among the most polished: lifelike, low-latency, conversational. A flagship feature for over a year. | Has voice; tied into Google Assistant infrastructure on Android. | Voice features inside the Microsoft stack. Less central than the other four. | Voice features exist; less commonly used than text. |
| 6 · Image generation | Can describe and analyze images you upload. Image generation is not a flagship feature: Anthropic has historically kept Claude focused on text. | The category leader for AI image generation. If "I need an image for slides / a club poster / a project" is common for you, ChatGPT is the strongest of the five for that. | Image generation included; quality varies but improving. Tied into Google Photos in some flows. | Image generation included via the same OpenAI tech that powers ChatGPT. | Image generation included; tone of generated images mirrors the looser-guardrails posture. |
| 7 · Privacy posture (stable: but verify) | Default settings keep your chats out of training. You set yours in Lesson 1.4. Conservative defaults. | Settings exist to opt out of training; defaults vary by tier and have changed over time. Verify current settings. | Tied into Google's broader account privacy controls. Verify current settings. | Tied into Microsoft's broader privacy framework. School / work versions are separate from consumer with different settings. Verify current settings. | Tied to your X account privacy. Verify current settings. |
| 8 · Student discount status | Status changes; check current. Verify at anthropic.com. | Status changes; check current. Verify at openai.com. | Often available via Google for Education. Verify at gemini.google.com. | Often included via your school's Microsoft 365 license:ask IT before paying for Pro. Verify at copilot.microsoft.com. | Status changes; check current. Verify at x.ai. |
Snapshot date: April 2026. Anything that looks like a tier feature, a free-tier limit, a privacy default, or a discount status should be re-checked at the vendor's own docs before you make a real decision based on it.