Compare AI tools
Side-by-side: what they do, what they cost, what Kai actually thinks. Pass up to 4 tools via ?tools=claude,chatgpt,gemini.
Pick tools (4 selected)
Coding
Image
Productivity
Writing
Marketing
Elicit S | Sudowrite S | Ideogram S | Cursor S | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tagline | AI research assistant for academic literature. | AI writing tool built specifically for fiction writers. | The one that actually gets text in images right. | VS Code fork that made AI coding actually work. |
| Category | Research | Writing | Image | Coding |
| Pricing | Free + $12-$42/mo | $19-$59/mo | Free + $8/mo + $20/mo + $60/mo | Free + $20/mo Pro + $40/mo Business |
| Best for | Grad students, researchers, anyone doing literature reviews. | Novelists, screenwriters, fiction short-form writers. | Anything with text — posters, ads, album covers, slide decks. | Developers. Non-developers who want to ship working code. |
| Strengths |
|
|
|
|
| Weaknesses |
|
|
|
|
| Kai's verdict | S-tier for academic research. Nothing else comes close for systematic reviews. | S-tier for fiction. If you're writing a novel, this beats raw ChatGPT every time. | S-tier for text-in-image. Use this for posters, Midjourney for art. | S-tier for coding. If you write code of any kind, this pays back the $20 in a day. |
| Link | Open → | Open → | Open → | Open → |