Updated October 4, 2026
- OpenAI launches $500/month Pro 500 tier; Pro 200 reopened but usage cut October 30: At DevDay on September 29, 2026, OpenAI added Pro 500 ($500/month) with the highest included usage and exclusive access to Astra Ultrafast. Pro 200 simultaneously reopened to new sign-ups after its three-week pause, but existing subscribers should note: starting October 30, Pro 200's included compute drops from 20x to 10x Plus usage and the weekly GPT-6 Pro chat limit falls from 200 to 100 messages. Existing subscribers receive a one-time credit. ChatGPT Business was also repriced to $25/user/month ($20/user annually), down from $30/$25.
- Anthropic releases Opus 5.5 and Sonnet 5.5: Opus 5.5 launched September 22 with an API price cut to $4/$20 per million tokens (down from $5/$25 for Opus 5), roughly 40% cheaper for typical workloads. Sonnet 5.5 followed on September 28 at the same $2/$10 price as Sonnet 5 but more than 30% faster and up to 30% cheaper per task in Anthropic's testing. Both are available in Claude on paid plans. Subscription prices are unchanged.
- Microsoft Copilot Business $18 promo has ended: The introductory $18/user/month rate for direct and retail customers expired September 30 and has returned to $21/user/month. The partner-channel promo continues through December 31, 2026. Starting December 1, 2026, new Microsoft 365 Copilot Business licenses through CSP will default to usage-based billing, splitting the cost into a flat license fee plus Copilot Credits for Cowork, Code, and Autopilot features.
- Microsoft Copilot Tasks moves to Cowork; Personal and Family plans lose it: Microsoft is migrating the consumer Copilot Tasks feature into Copilot Cowork over the next few weeks. Cowork requires Microsoft 365 Premium, so Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscribers can view old Tasks conversations but cannot run or start tasks without upgrading. Memories from Tasks do not migrate, scheduled tasks arrive switched off, and shared Tasks links stop working.
- Claude chat and Cowork merged; Claude Docs and Slides launched: On September 16, 2026 Anthropic folded Cowork into the regular Claude app. Claude Docs and Claude Slides (beta) are available on paid plans, rolling out to Pro and Max first, with Team and Free to follow. Subscription prices are unchanged.
- Meta Muse tiers confirmed after Meta Connect: Meta Connect (September 23-24) confirmed structured Muse AI Agent plans: Free (100 million tokens/week), Power at $20/month (500 million tokens/week), and Maximum at $100/month (3 billion tokens/week). Hardware announced included Ray-Ban Meta Gen 3 (from $449), Ray-Ban Meta Audio ($349), Meta Adventurer ($249), and Meta VR Glasses ($1,299, available spring 2027).
Choosing Your
First Intelligence.
AI shouldn't be intimidating. We've distilled the complex landscape of Large Language Models into a human-centric guide to help you find the right partner for your daily tasks. Compare the Big Three, explore transcription tools, and discover resources from the book.
The Big Three: Model Landscape
A curated comparison of the leading practical tools for non-techies. From Chapter 2: Your AI Starter Kit.
ChatGPT
By OpenAI
Claude
By Anthropic
Gemini
By GoogleMonthly Cost
Free / $8 Go / $20 Plus / $100 Pro / $200 Pro / $500 Pro 500 / $25 Business / $125 Business Premium
Free and Go include unlimited text chats; GPT-6 Luna is the default for both tiers. New Sep 29, 2026 (DevDay): Pro 500 launches at $500/month with the highest usage of any Pro plan and exclusive access to Astra Ultrafast. Pro 200 has reopened to new sign-ups after its three-week pause, but existing subscribers should note that starting October 30 the included compute drops from 20x to 10x Plus usage (weekly GPT-6 Pro chat cap falls from 200 to 100 messages; one-time credit issued). Business repriced to $25/user/month or $20/user annually (down from $30/$25). Sep 22, 2026: GPT-6 Sol and GPT-6 Luna released across all plans; API prices cut more than 50% (Sol $2/$10 per million tokens, Luna $0.10/$0.50). o3 was retired August 26, 2026; o3-pro remains on Pro, Team, Enterprise, and Edu only. Sep 3, 2026: GPT-6 Astra (shown as "GPT-6 Pro") rolling out to Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise; 1M-token context, API $10/$50 per million tokens. Sep 9, 2026: Voice daily limits by plan (Go/Plus 3 hrs, $100 Pro 15 hrs, Pro 200/Pro 500 unlimited). Go may show ads. Sep 17, 2026: ChatGPT works inside Microsoft Word on all plans, including Free. Last verified: October 4, 2026.
Free / $20 Pro / $100 Max / $200 Max
Sonnet 5.5 is the default (released Sep 28, 2026; same $2/$10 API price as Sonnet 5 but more than 30% faster); Opus 5.5 on all paid plans (released Sep 22, 2026; API price cut from $5/$25 to $4/$20 per million tokens, roughly 40% cheaper per typical workload). Fable 5.1 (flagship, launched Sep 1, 2026) included on Max and Team Premium at up to 50% of usage limits; Pro and Team Standard have Fable 5.1 via usage credits only. API rate for Fable unchanged at $10/$50 per million tokens. Team: Standard $25/seat, Premium $125/seat, 2 to 150 people ($20/seat/mo billed annually, $25 monthly). Enterprise: $20/seat/month plus usage at API rates, annual billing, self-serve signup. Sep 16, 2026: Cowork is now part of the regular Claude app; Claude Docs and Claude Slides launched in beta on paid plans, Pro and Max first. Subscription prices are unchanged. Last verified: October 4, 2026.
Free / $4.99 Plus / $19.99 Pro / $99.99 Ultra / $199.99 Ultra
AI Plus cut from $7.99 to $4.99 on June 8, 2026; storage doubled to 400GB. Entry Ultra ($99.99) replaced old $249.99 plan; top Ultra is $199.99. Free tier: Flash models only. New Sep 2, 2026: Gemini 3.8 Flash launched; same introductory API price as 3.7 Flash ($0.75/$3.75 per million tokens through Dec 31, 2026); available in the Gemini app on Google AI Pro and Ultra. New Sep 4, 2026: Lyria 3.5 music generation launched in the Gemini app worldwide, including the free tier. New Sep 14-15, 2026: Gemini Notebook audio recording and real-time voice conversation rolling out; Gemini in Workspace adding MCP integrations for Asana, Atlassian, HubSpot, Salesforce, and others. Sep 17, 2026: Gemini Notebook can now use ebooks you bought on Google Play Books as sources (100,000+ titles). Pricing unchanged. Last verified: September 27, 2026.
User Interface
Most familiar interface; largest user base
Focused design; fewer distractions
Seamless Gmail, Docs, Drive integration
Best For
Structured tasks, data analysis, custom tools. Best-in-class for technical work and building Custom GPTs.
Creative writing, tone matching, long-form synthesis. Excels at understanding subtle context and producing polished prose.
Real-time web search. Perfect for Gmail/Docs workflows and multi-modal input (video, images).
Data Upload
.xlsx / .csv up to 50MB
Long documents, 200K context window
Integrated with Google Drive
Special Feature
Custom GPTs + Codex Agents
Build micro-tools, share with colleagues. New: Codex now handles computer use, web workflows, image gen, and automations (April 2026). Note: the official DALL-E GPT was retired August 30, 2026; just ask ChatGPT for a picture in a normal conversation.
Artifacts + Claude Docs, Slides, and Design
Live code & document preview. Claude Design creates slides, prototypes, and one-pagers visually (April 2026, paid tiers). New Sep 16, 2026: Claude Docs and Claude Slides (beta) let you ask for a document or deck in plain language, edit it in place, and download it as Word, PowerPoint, or PDF. Longer tasks (formerly Cowork) now run inside the same chat. The Claude iPhone app also added Apple CarPlay support (Sep 4, 2026).
Multi-modal
Video and image input. Ask questions about screenshots and uploaded media. Lyria 3.5 (added Sep 4, 2026) generates music directly in the Gemini app, free tier included.
Data Retention
30 days after opt-out
Default: conversations saved for 30 days unless you disable training
30 days if opted out
Similar retention window with opt-out option available
18 months standard
Longest default retention of the three
The Supporting Cast
Other tools you'll hear about. Not the Big Three, but worth knowing so you're not caught off guard. From Chapter 2: Your AI Starter Kit.
Microsoft Copilot
Microsoft's AI, baked into Office
Best For
If your work runs on Outlook, Word, Excel, and Teams. Real power kicks in via Microsoft 365 integration.
Pricing
Copilot Chat (standalone) still free · Copilot Pro ($20/mo) consumer plan sunset August 1, 2026 · M365 Copilot Business: $21/user/month (partner/reseller promo through Dec 31, 2026) · Enterprise: custom pricing
Update Oct 4, 2026: The $18/user introductory price on M365 Copilot Business expired September 30; it is now $21/user/month for direct and retail customers. The partner-channel promo runs through December 31, 2026. Starting December 1, 2026, new M365 Copilot Business licenses through CSP will default to usage-based billing, splitting into a flat license fee plus Copilot Credits for Cowork, Code, and Autopilot features (4,000 credits/user/month spending limit by default, adjustable by admins).
Note Sep 22, 2026: Copilot Tasks (the consumer feature that runs multi-step jobs for you) is moving into Copilot Cowork over the next few weeks. Cowork needs a Microsoft 365 Premium subscription, so Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscribers keep read-only access to old Tasks conversations but cannot run or start tasks without upgrading. Memories from Tasks do not move over, scheduled tasks migrate but are switched off by default, and shared Tasks links stop working. The consumer Copilot app and the M365 Copilot app have merged into one on Windows and Mac.
Note Sep 1, 2026: Deep Research retired from the consumer Copilot app August 18, 2026. M365 Personal/Family users lose it entirely; M365 Premium subscribers can use Researcher instead. Copilot's free tier inside Word, Excel, and PowerPoint ended April 15, 2026.
Perplexity
Search engine meets AI chatbot
Best For
Research and fact-checking. Reads sources and gives you a synthesized answer with citations, not just a list of links.
Pricing
Free for basic search · Pro at $20/month (Education Pro $10/month for verified students) · Max tier at $200/month with Perplexity Computer agent. Comet browser is now free for all users.
New Sep 2026
Perplexity Computer now has an effort dial (Light, Standard, High, Ultra) so you can spend fewer credits on simple questions (September 17). Computer also works inside Microsoft 365 apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams). Perplexity Portable Computer for Windows launched September 14, 2026: keeps sensitive work local and runs recurring tasks without using your cloud credits. HP will pre-load the Perplexity app on some new HP PCs. Premium data from CB Insights, PitchBook, and Statista available in Computer on Max and Enterprise plans. Note: Sonar API endpoints retire September 27, 2026; developers should migrate to the Agent API.
Meta AI
AI inside Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook
Best For
Quick questions inside the social apps you already use. Convenient for casual lookups; not as powerful as the Big Three for complex tasks.
Pricing
Free for basic chat and image generation · Core at $7.99/month and Premium at $19.99/month for higher AI limits (formerly Meta One Plus/Premium) · Single-app plans: WhatsApp Plus $2.99, Instagram Plus $3.99, Facebook Plus $3.99 · Creator/business tiers from $14.99 to $499/month · Muse AI Agent: Free (100M tokens/week), Power $20/month (500M tokens/week), Maximum $100/month (3B tokens/week). Built in to your existing Instagram / WhatsApp / Facebook account.
New from Meta Connect, Sep 23-24, 2026
Meta Connect confirmed the Muse AI Agent tier structure: Free, Power ($20/month), and Maximum ($100/month). Hardware announced: Ray-Ban Meta Gen 3 glasses (from $449), Ray-Ban Meta Audio glasses with no camera ($349, available Oct 13), Meta Adventurer glasses ($249), and Meta VR Glasses ultra-thin headset ($1,299, spring 2027). Hearing Enhancement (FDA-approved) costs $149/year or is included with a Meta One subscription. The core free AI experience across Meta apps is unchanged.
Grok by xAI
Elon Musk's AI, edgier in tone
Best For
Real-time access to posts on X (Twitter), useful if social media trends are part of what you need AI for. Personality leans irreverent and opinionated.
Pricing
Free (Grok 4.1 Fast, daily caps) · SuperGrok Lite $10/month · SuperGrok $30/month · SuperGrok Plus $100/month (1080p video, higher caps, priority access) · SuperGrok Heavy $300/month (multi-agent tier). Plan prices unchanged.
Worth Knowing
Grok 4.7 available via API and Grok Build at the same price as 4.6 ($2/$6 per million tokens API); xAI has not confirmed consumer app rollout. Oct 2, 2026: Grok Voice Transcribe 1.0 reached end-of-life; all requests now route to Transcribe 2.0 at the same price with higher accuracy. New this week: Grok Imagine Image 2.0 (auto-quality options) and Grok Imagine Video 1.5 (up to 1080p output). Offers an "unfiltered" mode with fewer content restrictions than ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini. xAI's corporate site brands the company SpaceXAI; Grok Bot for Enterprise (bundled with SuperGrok since August 26, 2026) launched as a standalone offering on September 3, 2026.
Specialized Tools: Meeting Transcription
Dedicated AI transcription tools for workplace workflows. From Chapter 5: AI at Work.
Otter.ai
AI-powered meeting transcription
Accuracy
~95% word-level accuracy
Free Tier
300 minutes/month
Best For
Meeting notes, interview transcripts, summary generation
Fireflies.ai
Global meeting transcription platform
Accuracy
90-93% across 100+ languages
Free Tier
800 minutes/month
Best For
International teams, multi-language meetings, action item extraction
Start Here
Welcome, You're in the Right Place
Who this book is for and why it exists. Meet the characters whose stories run through the chapters and get oriented before you dive in.
Read Intro What Is AI, Really?
Demystify the technology. Understand large language models without the jargon. The foundation for everything that follows.
Read Chapter Your AI Starter Kit
The Big Three (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini) compared. How to set up your first AI tool. Free tier limits and when to upgrade.
Read Chapter The Art of the Prompt (PIE Framework)
Learn the PIE framework for crafting effective prompts: Prompt, Iterate, Execute. With the 5-Part Formula inside P.
Read Chapter AI at Work
Email triage, meeting workflows, research, report writing, data analysis. The chapter you'll share with coworkers.
Read Chapter Staying Safe and Smart
Protect yourself and your family. The GUARD framework for recognizing scams, deepfakes, and misinformation.
Read Chapter 
Video Walkthroughs
Coming SoonStep-by-step visual guides on setting up your first AI tool, using the PIE framework, and optimizing your workplace workflow. Production starting later this year.
Reader Community
A space for readers to swap prompts, workplace wins, troubleshooting tips, and questions about the book. Powered by Discourse with AI-assisted moderation.
Join the ConversationEditorial Essays & Deep Dives
Coming SoonEditorial pieces on AI ethics, the future of work, hallucinations and verification, and what the rapid evolution of AI means for your career and family. In the meantime, Jeff's longer-form writing is at wocxo.com.
The Numbers
11
Complete chapters covering foundation to advanced applications
50+
Copy-paste-ready prompts across all chapters and use cases
3+
Major AI models compared with real-world use cases
ChatGPT is a trademark of OpenAI. Claude is a trademark of Anthropic PBC. Gemini is a trademark of Google LLC. Microsoft Copilot is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. All other product names, logos, and brands are property of their respective owners. This site is an independent companion to the book Practical AI for the Rest of Us and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any of these companies.