What AI Chat tool do I use and How did I get to it?
If you've only been using ChatGPT and haven't explored anything else, here's a little rundown of how I landed on my preferred AI tool that I use daily.
I started off with ChatGPT, which was the first subscription I ever paid for—twenty dollars a month. I used it regularly until GPT-4 came out. While ChatGPT is a good app, the issue lies in the confusing naming of all their models. Even though I understand what each model does, I don't want to bother selecting one every time. Sure, I could set a default, but seeing the model name still makes me feel like I should be optimizing my choice. When you're Googling something, you don't think, "Should I enable these five settings before searching?" Google just delivers the best search results automatically. That's what I've been looking for. While ChatGPT's default settings are decent, they still make me feel like I could be maximizing things further.
Then I switched to Perplexity. The great thing about Perplexity was its flexibility—you could select any model you wanted, and they quickly added new models as they launched. For example, when the DeepSeek model came out, Perplexity was among the first to integrate it. That was awesome. However, over time, the app became overloaded with features, and stability took a hit. Their voice feature on iOS was great, but it was riddled with bugs. I'd start asking a question, and it would cut me off halfway, assuming I was done. Add in frequent crashes, and it got frustrating. The focus seemed to shift from core stability to just adding features, which really affected my experience.
Another major issue was search functionality. If I wanted to find text from a chat a week ago—say, something about a "Windows machine"—Perplexity often failed to retrieve it, even though I knew it existed. That limitation led me to try an app called T3Chat, created by someone I'd been following on YouTube. T3Chat was desktop-only, lightning-fast, and super responsive. Clicking around felt snappy and satisfying. But it lacked a mobile app and voice mode, so I didn't feel it was worth paying for.
After trying almost everything—Claude, ChatGPT, Perplexity—I finally landed on Grok. Funny enough, Grok isn't exactly mainstream, but it nails all the basics I need in an AI chat/voice app. Their web app is fantastic: fast, responsive, and equipped with efficient keyboard shortcuts. Yes, loading the homepage can be sluggish (half a second of a blank screen), but once you're in, it's smooth sailing. Navigating between chats is seamless, and searching for past conversations actually works.
What really sets Grok apart is its simplicity. There's just one model—currently Grok 3. No need to switch between versions or wonder if you're using the best one. Their mobile app is equally impressive: simple, fast, and incredibly responsive. Chats are easy to navigate with intuitive swipe gestures.
One feature I loved in Perplexity—and Grok does it even better—is voice chat. I use it daily. For example, I was walking my dog, trying to figure out a work policy. I asked Grok, and it pulled information from my university's website and my company's internal pages, gave me concise results, and even let me attach an image for context. I could continue the conversation seamlessly, switching between text, voice, and image input. That's exactly how natural conversations flow in real life.
Another bonus? Grok is currently offering its best models at low costs—or even free—to attract new users. That's a win in my book. Plus, they keep adding useful features, like a website builder directly in the web app.
Final Thoughts
I highly recommend Grok over other AI chat apps unless you have very specific requirements. While I don't use Grok for coding (other models handle that better), it excels at answering questions, detailed explanations, and versatile media inputs. It's stable, fast, and simple. Give it a shot—you won't be disappointed.
