Compare AI tools

	Perplexity S	GitHub Copilot B	DeepSeek S	Sudowrite S
Tagline	AI search done right. Cited answers, not chat theater.	Microsoft/GitHub's autocomplete. Deep VS Code + JetBrains integration.	Chinese open-weight powerhouse. Crazy cheap, genuinely smart.	AI writing tool built specifically for fiction writers.
Category	research	coding	chat	writing
Pricing	Free + $20/mo Pro	Free (limited) + $10/mo Pro + $19/mo Business	Free web + ultra-cheap API (~$0.14/M input tokens)	$19-$59/mo
Best for	Replacing Google for any question where you want a cited answer in seconds.	Teams with GitHub already. Devs who don't want to change IDEs.	Developers + cost-conscious builders. Anyone fine with self-hosting.	Novelists, screenwriters, fiction short-form writers.
Strengths	Sources every claim Fast, current answers Pro Search runs multi-step research Spaces for persistent context	Great enterprise story Works in your existing IDE Chat + autocomplete	Open weights you can self-host Strong reasoning + math Near-free API pricing DeepSeek-V3 / R1 are serious models	Brainstorm, expand, rewrite modes designed for fiction Story Bible for character + plot tracking Understands voice + tone better than generic chatbots
Weaknesses	Not a general chatbot Answers can be shallow on complex topics	Less agentic than Cursor/Claude Code Model quality varies	Data goes to servers in China — privacy concerns for business use Chinese policy filters English polish trails Western models	Pricey for casual use Fiction-only focus — not for business writing
Kai's verdict	S-tier for search. I use it before Google now. If you're still Googling everything, try this for a week.	B-tier. Solid for autocomplete but the category moved past it. Pick Cursor unless you can't.	S-tier for price/performance. A-tier for consumer use. If you build apps, this is the budget pick.	S-tier for fiction. If you're writing a novel, this beats raw ChatGPT every time.
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