Alternatives

Gemini (Google AI plans) alternatives

Gemini (Google AI plans): Google's AI assistant, in its own app and built into Gmail, Docs and other Google apps on paid plans. Its price when we checked: Free: $0 with a Google Account. Google AI Plus: $4.99 a month. Google AI Pro: $19.99 a month. Ultra from $99.99 a month. If it isn't right for you, these tools do a similar job.

Prices at a glance

Tool	Cheapest paid plan	Free plan
Gemini (Google AI plans)	$4.99 (Google AI Plus, per month)	Yes
ChatGPT	Not published	Yes
Claude	$20 (Pro, per month)	Yes
Microsoft 365 Copilot	£13.80 (Copilot Business, per user a month, paid yearly, excl. VAT (offer))	No
Perplexity	$17 (Pro, per month, billed annually)	Yes

Our verdict

Free plans: ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity. Priced in pounds (no exchange-rate surprises): Microsoft 365 Copilot. Cheapest dollar-priced entry plan: Perplexity at $17 (Pro, per month, billed annually). Choose by the job you need doing: each entry says who it suits best.

ChatGPT

A general AI assistant for drafting emails, quotes, policies and posts, summarising documents and answering questions.

Price: Free plan available. Paid plans (Go, Plus, Business, Enterprise) are priced per user per month; see the pricing page for current amounts.
Free plan: Yes. Unlimited everyday text chats, subject to abuse safeguards. Web search, file and image uploads, data analysis, image creation and 500 MB Library storage, each with its own usage limits. Ads may appear on the free plan in some countries.
Best for: Day-to-day drafting: customer replies, quotes, job adverts, social posts and summaries.

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Claude

An AI assistant that is good with long documents, careful writing and summaries.

Price: Free plan: $0. Pro: $20 a month or $200 a year. Max: $100 or $200 a month.
Free plan: Yes. Chat on web, desktop and mobile, web search, file creation, code, memory and Artifacts. Usage limits reset on a rolling five-hour window, with no fixed message count.
Best for: Reading contracts, tenders and policies and turning them into plain-English summaries; longer written drafts.

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Microsoft 365 Copilot

AI built into Word, Excel, Outlook and Teams for businesses on Microsoft 365.

Price: Microsoft 365 Copilot Business: from £13.80 per user a month (offer; normally from £16.10), paid yearly. Business Standard with Copilot: £18.10. Business Premium with Copilot: £24.60. Prices exclude VAT.
Free plan: No. No free business plan; a free trial is offered.
Best for: Businesses that already live in Outlook, Word, Excel and Teams.

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Perplexity

An AI search tool that answers questions with links to the sources it used.

Price: Free to sign up. Pro: US$17 a month billed annually. Max: US$167 a month billed annually.
Free plan: Yes. A free account is available; paid plans add more advanced answers and top AI models.
Best for: Quick research with sources, such as supplier comparisons, regulations to look up, or local market questions.

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Sources

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