Most Popular AI Tools: What Each Is Good For at Work
ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot and others dominate everyday AI use, but each fits different tasks. Here is how to organize them by what they actually handle.
Updated 5 min read
The most popular AI tools for work right now are ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot and Perplexity. Each handles different tasks well, and most working people end up using more than one. The question is not which single tool is best — it is which tool fits each job.
When you use several tools, shared context becomes a problem. A decision you made in a Claude session is not available when you open ChatGPT. A tool like fenbs keeps the useful links, project records and shared work outside any one AI app, so moving between tools does not mean starting over. For the most advanced AI comparison rather than the most used, see most advanced AI in the world.
What makes an AI tool popular at work?
Popularity at work comes from availability, ease of use and depth of output — not from a benchmark score. ChatGPT became ubiquitous partly because OpenAI released it before competitors had a comparable consumer product. Claude grew because users found it especially good at following detailed instructions and handling long documents. Gemini's popularity came from Google integrating it into products people already used every day.
A popular tool is not always the best tool for your task. It is a reasonable starting point, especially if your workplace or team already has access, but matching the tool to the task is worth the extra step.
How do the most popular AI tools compare?
| Tool | Best fit | Things to check |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT (OpenAI) | General writing, Q&A, image analysis, code, data and a large ecosystem of actions and connectors. | Advanced tools, extended context and image generation depend on your plan; check openai.com. |
| Claude (Anthropic) | Long documents, nuanced writing, detailed multi-step instructions, coding assistance. | Context window size and file upload limits vary by plan; check anthropic.com. |
| Gemini (Google) | Google Workspace integration, multimodal tasks, real-time search grounding. | Features differ between Gemini free, Advanced and workspace tiers; check Google's pricing page. |
| Microsoft Copilot | Microsoft 365 apps — Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams — and Bing search integration. | Deep Office integration requires a Microsoft 365 Copilot add-on; check microsoft.com for details. |
| Perplexity | Research with cited sources; every tier includes web search with references. | Best for retrieving current information; less suited to creative or code-heavy tasks. |
| GitHub Copilot | Code autocomplete, code review, automated pull request changes and cloud agent coding. | Requires a GitHub account; some features need a paid individual or organization plan. |
| Midjourney | High-quality image generation from text prompts; popular with designers and marketing teams. | Text rendering in images is still limited; check midjourney.com for current capabilities. |
| fenbs | Keeping shared links, project context, decisions and progress across supported AI apps. | Not a standalone AI assistant; it stores the work record that connected apps read over MCP. |
This list covers the tools most widely used in work settings. It is not exhaustive — new tools appear regularly. Confirm current features on each vendor's own page before committing to a plan.
Which popular AI tool fits which kind of work?
Organizing tools by task rather than by brand makes the choice easier. Most work tasks fall into a handful of categories.
- General writing and editing: ChatGPT and Claude are both strong. Claude tends to follow detailed style instructions more consistently; ChatGPT's ecosystem of custom tools is broader.
- Research with citations: Perplexity is purpose-built for this. Gemini and ChatGPT also search the web on paid plans, but Perplexity's results come with visible source links at every tier.
- Google Workspace work: Gemini integrates directly inside Docs, Gmail, Sheets and Drive. It is the practical choice if your team runs on Google.
- Microsoft 365 work: Copilot works inside Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams and PowerPoint. If your organization has a Microsoft 365 subscription, check whether the Copilot add-on is already included.
- Code and software development: GitHub Copilot handles inline suggestions and cloud agent tasks. Claude is widely used for code review and longer coding sessions. Microsoft AI tools covers Copilot's development features in detail.
- Image generation: Midjourney and DALL-E (inside ChatGPT) are the most widely used. The right one depends on your aesthetic requirements and workflow.
What happens when you use more than one AI tool?
Using several tools is common and often sensible — Perplexity for research, Claude for writing, GitHub Copilot for code. The problem is that each tool has its own conversation history, its own memory settings and its own record of your project. Moving between them means re-explaining the background or working from memory.
The practical solution is to keep the shared work — project brief, decisions, links and progress — in a place every tool can reach. That is what fenbs is for. Connect a supported assistant and it reads the shared record at the start of each session, regardless of which tool is doing the session.
Share context across your AI tools
fenbs keeps your shared project record — tasks, decisions, rules, links and where you left off — outside any one AI app. Connect Claude for writing, GitHub Copilot for code and ChatGPT for research; each reads the same context. Switching tools does not mean starting over. Free for one person, no credit card.
Create a free accountFree for one person · No credit card · Works with Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and more
How to choose among popular AI tools
Start with the tool your workplace already provides. If your company has Microsoft 365, Copilot may be the path of least resistance. If your team runs on Google, Gemini is already in your apps. Using what is already available avoids a separate subscription and fits into existing data policies.
If you are choosing independently, run a real task on each shortlisted tool. Write the same prompt in ChatGPT and Claude and compare the output. Search the same question in Perplexity and in a regular search engine and see whether the cited sources are reliable. A twenty-minute test on real work tells you more than any comparison article.
Avoid switching tools constantly without a reason. The overhead of a new tool — setup, learning its quirks, moving context — takes time. Settle on one tool for each main task and change only when a specific gap becomes clear.
How to do this with fenbs
- Create a free account and add your main project.
- Record the tools you have decided to use for which tasks in Decisions and rules. This way, any connected assistant knows the setup without being told each session.
- As you work across tools, use fenbs to record links, decisions and Where we left off. The fenbs web app works in any browser, and a phone app is available for quick updates.
- Connect supported assistants from Integrations. Each connected assistant reads the shared context at session start and saves progress before stopping.
- When you adopt a new tool, add its integration if supported. The shared project record does not change — only the assistant reading it does.
When separate tools and a shared record are not worth it
If you do all your AI work in a single tool and your tasks are self-contained, a shared record adds overhead for no benefit. fenbs is most useful when you regularly move between two or more supported assistants, work with a team, or need a structured project and decision record that persists across sessions.