Compare AI tools

	Claude Code S	Gemini A	OpenRouter S	Perplexity S
Tagline	Anthropic's CLI agent. Opus-powered, operates on your repo directly.	Google's answer. Best integrated with Workspace + free for a lot.	One API, every model. Pay-as-you-go, no subscriptions.	AI search done right. Cited answers, not chat theater.
Category	coding	chat	dev platform	research
Pricing	Part of Claude Pro/Max/Team plans	Free + $20/mo Advanced (bundled with 2TB Drive)	Pay per token — model-dependent	Free + $20/mo Pro
Best for	Developers who want an agent, not autocomplete. Large refactors, tests, docs.	Anyone already on Google, research tasks, summarizing long documents.	Developers experimenting across models. Apps that want fallback logic.	Replacing Google for any question where you want a cited answer in seconds.
Strengths	Runs locally, edits your actual files Strong on large codebases with 1M context Great at multi-step tasks	Native Google Workspace integration Very long context (1M+) Deep Research feature Free tier is generous	300+ models from one endpoint Automatic fallbacks between providers No subscription — just pay what you use	Sources every claim Fast, current answers Pro Search runs multi-step research Spaces for persistent context
Weaknesses	Terminal-based — learning curve Can't be used without Claude subscription	Writing quality trails Claude Over-refusals on edge content UI is cluttered	Slight markup over direct API Some provider features not exposed	Not a general chatbot Answers can be shallow on complex topics
Kai's verdict	S-tier if you live in the terminal. Different shape than Cursor — complementary, not replacement.	A-tier. The Deep Research feature is genuinely useful. Don't sleep on it if you're already paying Google.	S-tier for model-shopping. I use this for every prototype before committing.	S-tier for search. I use it before Google now. If you're still Googling everything, try this for a week.
Link	Open →	Open →	Open →	Open →