Compare AI tools

	Perplexity S	Granola S	Ideogram S	DALL-E 3 B
Tagline	AI search done right. Cited answers, not chat theater.	Meeting notes that don't suck. Runs locally, no bot joins.	The one that actually gets text in images right.	OpenAI's image model. Built into ChatGPT Plus.
Category	Research	Meetings	Image	Image
Pricing	Free + $20/mo Pro	Free + $18/mo	Free + $8/mo + $20/mo + $60/mo	Included with ChatGPT Plus $20/mo
Best for	Replacing Google for any question where you want a cited answer in seconds.	Founders, execs, consultants who live in calls.	Anything with text — posters, ads, album covers, slide decks.	ChatGPT Plus users who want images without paying extra.
Strengths	Sources every claim Fast, current answers Pro Search runs multi-step research Spaces for persistent context	No bot in the call — runs on your Mac Strong templates Fast summaries	Best text rendering in the game Strong free tier Good for logos, posters, thumbnails	Excellent prompt understanding Built into ChatGPT — no extra subscription Good at composition + concepts
Weaknesses	Not a general chatbot Answers can be shallow on complex topics	Mac-only Single-user by design	Aesthetic ceiling below Midjourney Less style variety	Aesthetic ceiling below Midjourney + Ideogram Text rendering worse than Ideogram No fine control
Kai's verdict	S-tier for search. I use it before Google now. If you're still Googling everything, try this for a week.	S-tier. Category-defining UX. If you take notes in meetings, switch this week.	S-tier for text-in-image. Use this for posters, Midjourney for art.	B-tier standalone, A-tier value if you already pay ChatGPT. Don't pay for it separately.
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