Prices for AI tools change too often to print here. Instead, you get our verdict on five tools and a link to each one’s official pricing page.
Each verdict uses one of three labels:
- Use: The tool’s public info matches a job we can name, and we recommend it for that job.
- Watch: We can describe what the tool does, but there isn’t enough public info yet to recommend it. It’s not a thumbs-down.
- Ignore: The tool doesn’t fit the job. None of these five got this label.
Each tool also has a profile, which is our own page about it on this site. You’ll find the links below.
The five verdicts
ChatGPT: Use. It’s good for drafting, analyzing, or learning with a general-purpose AI assistant. OpenAI’s pricing page didn’t show a clear, stable price when we checked. Open OpenAI’s pricing page and write down what you see, along with the date. Profile: ChatGPT.
Claude: Use. It’s good for writers, analysts, and anyone who works mostly in documents. Plans and usage limits are on claude.com/pricing. If you’re paying today, go by today’s page. Profile: Claude.
GitHub Copilot: Use. It’s for developers working in supported code editors and in GitHub workflows. Plan names and current prices are on the plans page. Profile: GitHub Copilot.
Cursor: Watch. Cursor is a coding environment with AI built in. It can run agent workflows, meaning the AI carries out multi-step coding tasks, and it lets you choose which AI model to use. We couldn’t find enough public info to recommend it yet. Prices, including anything about models from other companies, are on Cursor’s models and pricing page. Profile: Cursor editor.
Ollama: Use, if you want to run an AI model on your own computer without setting up a server first. The app is free to download. Its license is MIT, a common open-source license. Each model you download through Ollama has its own license, though. A model’s weights are the numbers it learned during training, and they’re the part that actually makes it work. The app being open source doesn’t make any model’s weights open source, so check a model’s license before you use it for work. Profile: Ollama. License: the LICENSE file.
How to use these verdicts
A Use isn’t an order to buy. It means the tool’s public page matches a job we can name. Check the live pricing page before you pay.
Want to compare costs? The subscription checker lines up published prices side by side. It saves nothing, and it can’t see your actual usage in any app.
Sources & limits: These verdicts come from our tool profiles as checked on 2026-11-07. We did not run a comparison test, and we did not time an Ollama download. Any price you quote should come from the live vendor page, with the date you checked it.