AI Chat Tools

Thu, 14 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Browser-based chat interfaces to large language models. None of these require setup — open a tab and start typing. The differences are in what each is good at, not in how they work.

The tools

Tool	Provider	Link
ChatGPT	OpenAI	chat.openai.com
Claude	Anthropic	claude.ai
Gemini	Google	gemini.google.com
Perplexity	Perplexity AI	perplexity.ai
Pi	Inflection AI	pi.ai

What to use for what

ChatGPT — solid all-rounder. Good starting point for anything. GPT-4o handles code, writing, and general reasoning well. The memory and custom GPTs features are useful if you’re in the ecosystem.

Claude — noticeably better at longer documents and editing. Tends to produce cleaner prose and is less likely to pad answers. Good choice when writing quality matters or when working with large amounts of text. The extended thinking mode (on paid plans) is useful for multi-step reasoning problems.

Gemini — largest context window of the group (1M tokens on the 1.5/2.0 Pro models). Good for dropping in entire codebases or large document sets. Also, the natural choice if you’re already working in Google Workspace (Docs, Drive integration).

Perplexity — search-augmented: it retrieves and cites sources rather than relying solely on training data. Use it when you need something current, want to find specific information with references, or want to verify claims. Not the right tool for writing or code generation.

Pi — conversational in style, more of a back-and-forth dialogue companion. Less useful for technical tasks; more useful for thinking out loud or explaining something to yourself.

Free vs paid

All of them have a free tier that covers most casual use. The paid tiers unlock better models (GPT-4o vs GPT-3.5, Claude Sonnet/Opus vs Haiku, etc.) and higher usage limits. If you’re doing any serious work the free tier runs out quickly.

For coding specifically, see AI Coding Assistants — the browser interfaces are fine for quick questions but the CLI tools are more useful when actually working in a codebase.

AI Coding Assistants

Thu, 14 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

CLI tools and agents that integrate into your development workflow rather than just answering questions in a browser tab. The difference from chat tools is that these read your files, run commands, and make edits directly — they operate on the codebase, not alongside it.

This is the move when we want the agents to start doing the work for us, talk is cheap action speaks for itself :)

Claude Code

docs.anthropic.com/claude-code

Anthropic’s CLI agent. Works in the terminal, reads the project, edits files, runs commands, and iterates. The setup cost is real — there are things to configure (permissions, CLAUDE.md, hooks), it has opinions about how things should work, and you are working within its harness rather than directing it freely. That said, once it is set up and calibrated to the project, the net effect is positive: it does the work, catches things you’d miss, and the compound value per session adds up quickly.

Notable: Claude Code is meaningfully more out-of-the-box than the alternatives. The harness, workflow, and defaults are all provided — you adapt to them, but you don’t have to build them.

Cost: Requires a paid Anthropic subscription (Claude Pro / Max, ~$20–$100/mo depending on tier). There is no meaningful free tier for coding use.

Honest assessment: The harness is opinionated; it is worth it here — someone else is developing the tooling, you have to adapt and learn to use their tooling and their workflows. However they are doing the work of building the tooling and designing some kind of workflow for using it. Not worth it if you only touch code occasionally — the subscription cost, and more importantly the need to learn and adapt to the tooling outpaces the benefit at low usage.

Configuration files

File	Scope	Purpose
`~/.claude/CLAUDE.md`	Global	Instructions applied to every project
`CLAUDE.md`	Project	Project-specific instructions, conventions, preferences
`~/.claude/settings.json`	Global	Permissions, tools, hooks
`.claude/settings.json`	Project	Project-level permissions and hooks
`.claude/settings.local.json`	Local (gitignored)	Personal overrides, not shared
`~/.claude/commands/`	Global	Custom slash commands (skills)
`.claude/commands/`	Project	Project-specific slash commands
`~/.claude/memory/`	Global	Persistent memory across sessions

Aider

aider.chat

Open-source CLI coding assistant. Works with any model via API — OpenAI, Anthropic, Google AI Studio, OpenRouter, or local models. You run it from the terminal, it reads selected files, you chat with it and it commits changes. No project-level config files to maintain — you select files per session.

Verdict: Tried it — the interaction model didn’t land. Aider’s file selection flow and how it structures its edits felt like more overhead than it was worth. Good tool in concept, and the model flexibility is genuinely useful, but it didn’t stick.

Pi

github.com/earendil-works/pi

Open-source CLI coding agent by Mario Zechner. Reads files, runs commands, makes edits — flexible on auth: works with pay-per-token API keys (Anthropic, OpenAI, Google) or existing subscriptions (Claude Pro/Max, ChatGPT Plus, GitHub Copilot).

Install:

npm install -g @earendil-works/pi-coding-agent
# then: export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY=... (or /login inside Pi)
pi

Key commands:

Command	Purpose
`/verbose`	Show internal reasoning and tool calls — recommended, use this
`/model`	Switch models mid-session
`/settings`	Adjust thinking level, theme, delivery mode
`/session`	Show token usage for current session
`/compact`	Manually compact context
`/tree`	Navigate session history, continue from any point
`/fork`	Branch a new session from a previous message
`/resume`	Pick up a previous session

Configuration files

File	Scope	Purpose
`~/.pi/agent/AGENTS.md`	Global	Instructions applied to all projects (also reads `CLAUDE.md`)
`AGENTS.md` / `CLAUDE.md`	Project + parents	Project instructions, loaded from current dir and up
`~/.pi/agent/settings.json`	Global	Default model, theme, thinking level, compaction
`.pi/settings.json`	Project	Project overrides (merged with global)
`~/.pi/agent/SYSTEM.md`	Global	Replace the default system prompt entirely
`.pi/SYSTEM.md`	Project	Project-level system prompt replacement
`.pi/APPEND_SYSTEM.md`	Project	Append to the system prompt without replacing it
`~/.pi/agent/models.json`	Global	Add custom providers and models
`~/.pi/agent/keybindings.json`	Global	Keyboard shortcut overrides

Backends and context windows:

A real upside of Pi’s model flexibility: use your existing Claude Pro/Max subscription as a backend via /login (no extra API cost), then toggle to Gemini 2.5 Flash when you need a bigger context window. Switch mid-session with /model.

Backend	Context window	Notes
Claude Sonnet/Opus (Pro)	200K	1M available via `/extra-usage` opt-in
Claude Sonnet/Opus (Max/Enterprise)	1M	Automatic since March 2026
Gemini 2.5 Flash	~1M (1,048,576)	Fast and cheap — good default for large context tasks

Honest assessment: Genuinely interesting tool and the minimal harness is appealing in principle — but that minimalism is also the cost. There is no opinionated workflow handed to you. You end up building your own: install, auth, Docker isolation if you want it, project context files, model configuration. You are essentially assembling the harness yourself from first principles. It works, and the result is tailored, but the setup investment is real — noticeably more than Claude Code.

Worth it for a focused project with a longer time horizon — somewhere you would live in it long enough to amortise the setup. Less obviously worth it for short or varied work.

Google AI Studio

aistudio.google.com

Not a coding assistant itself — it’s the API/playground interface for Google’s Gemini model family. Useful as a backend for Aider, Pi, or any OpenAI-compatible client, or for direct experimentation with models.

Prepaid access (credit-based) makes it accessible without a monthly commitment. Flash 2.5 is the practical model for coding use: fast, cheap, capable enough for most tasks. Pro 2.5 is noticeably better but costs more per token.

Free tier (Google AI Studio quota) and OpenRouter free tier exist but are not reliable enough for actual use — rate limits, model quality variation, and timeouts make the free path frustrating.

Comparison

Tool	Model	Cost model	Setup effort	Verdict
Claude Code	Claude Sonnet/Opus	Subscription	Medium — harness provided	Positive net effect
Aider	Any via API	Pay per use	Low — no project config	Didn’t stick
Pi	Any via API or sub	Flexible	High — DIY harness	Good, setup cost real

Ai on Backend Engineering Strategy Tools

AI Chat Tools

The tools

What to use for what

Free vs paid

AI Coding Assistants

Claude Code

Configuration files

Aider

Pi

Configuration files

Google AI Studio

Comparison