How to find the best AI tool for what you actually do
A short method for choosing between forty products that all demo well: count the steps, check the coverage, compare the floor price, and ask who is picking the model.
Step by step
- Count the steps, not the featuresThe tool you will actually keep is the one with the fewest steps between noticing a problem and fixing it.
- Check where it worksBrowser-only tools stop at the browser. Most work is not in a browser.
- Check the languagesMost tools are English-first. If you work in two languages, that halves their value.
- Compare the floor price, not the top priceIf you use it twice a week, a $20 subscription costs you $2.50 per use.
- Ask who picks the modelPaying frontier-model prices for a grammar fix is the most common way to overpay for AI.
Run the one-week test on something free
aiCat's free tier includes every task, 10 aiCatCoins a month, no card.
The test that actually predicts what you keep
Install it and use it for a week without deciding anything. Then count: how many times did you open it, and how many times did you think about opening it and not bother. The second number is the one that tells you whether the tool fits your work.
Feature lists do not predict that, and demos actively mislead about it — a demo is somebody performing the happy path with no context to lose.
Pick by steps-per-task, not by feature count
Download for free and count for a week.
Frequently asked
What does aiCat cost if I barely use it?
Nothing. The free tier gives 10 aiCatCoins a month and every text task is included; you only pay if you go past it.
Which operating systems does aiCat support?
macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel), Windows 10/11, and Linux as AppImage, .deb or .rpm.
How much does aiCat cost?
Free to start, with 10 aiCatCoins a month and everything aiCat does included. Premium starts from $6 a month (40% off the $10 list price) and adds Think More, read-aloud, encrypted memory, 5000-character selections and 3000 coins a month. Team + Offline starts from $18 per member and adds local models, a memory you can edit by hand, and MCP access from your other tools. Coins can also be bought outright instead of subscribing, and they do not expire.