⚠️ Pricing verified in August 2026. AI tool pricing changes often — always confirm the current price on the official site before subscribing.
ChatGPT
Claude
| Made by | OpenAI | Anthropic |
| Best known for | General-purpose assistant — writing, research, image generation, voice | Careful, detailed writing and analysis; strong at coding and following complex instructions |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Paid plans from | $20/mo (Plus) | $20/mo (Pro) |
| Image generation | Yes, built in | No native image generation |
| Voice mode | Yes | Limited |
Our take: ChatGPT is the stronger all-rounder if you want image generation and voice in the same app. Claude tends to be preferred for longer, more careful writing and for coding tasks that need precise instruction-following. Both have solid free tiers worth trying before committing to either.
Midjourney
Adobe Firefly
| Made by | Midjourney Inc. | Adobe |
| Best known for | Artistic, photorealistic images with a distinctive aesthetic | Commercially-safe generation built for professional design work |
| Free plan | No — subscription required from day one | Yes, free tier available |
| Paid plans from | $10/mo | Free tier · paid plans available |
| Where it runs | Discord or web app | Web app, deeply integrated with Photoshop |
| Commercial licensing clarity | Included in paid plans | Trained to be commercially safe by design |
Our take: Midjourney generally produces more striking, artistic results and has the larger community of prompt techniques. Adobe Firefly is the safer choice for commercial/client work where licensing clarity matters, especially if you're already inside the Adobe ecosystem.
GitHub Copilot
Cursor
| Made by | GitHub (Microsoft) | Anysphere |
| Best known for | AI code completion as an extension inside your existing editor | A full AI-native code editor built around multi-file, agentic editing |
| Free plan | Yes, limited free tier | Yes, limited free tier |
| Where it runs | Extension inside VS Code and other popular IDEs | Its own standalone editor (built on VS Code's foundation) |
| Best for | Developers who want to keep their current editor setup unchanged | Developers open to switching editors for deeper AI-native workflows |
Our take: If you don't want to change your existing editor, Copilot bolts AI on with minimal disruption. If you're open to switching tools entirely, Cursor's deeper multi-file and agentic features tend to feel more powerful for larger coding tasks.