By Matt Jancer
Publication Date: 2026-03-25 18:32:00
Every AI offers a free version that works just fine for simple requests, such as recalling a well documented historical fact or describing the plot of a movie to help figure out its title. But when you want an AI to, say, look through your Gmail history for a lost document, convert it into a Word doc, and then summarize it into a series of charts and graphs, then you have to pay up for a subscription tier.
AIs have grown ridiculously powerful in a short span of time, and to no one’s surprise their most impressive capabilities are hidden behind a paywall. But the price of entry isn’t all that high, if you’re curious to see just what $20 (per month) can unlock.
quick list: The Best AIs at a glance
how we chose
Everything I recommend in this roundup, I’ve tested over countless hours of consistent usage over the past seven months. I’ve experienced there’s ups and downs, their evolutions both good and bad. I didn’t just test the winners. I also tested the competition that didn’t pick up a trophy: Google Gemini, xAI Grok, and DeepSeek.
My own view on AI use falls between AI-hating Luddite and AI fundamentalist zealot. There are things I think AIs—all of them—suck at. I’ve yet to read a compelling fictional short story created by one, and I wouldn’t replace my therapist with one. But used for the right purposes, AIs can supercharge the drudgery of internet grunt work.
Over the months, I’ve tasked these AIs with helping me…