Editorial pick · plain English · last reviewed June 2026
Which AI is best for writing?
If your main job is putting words on a page — emails, essays, posts, long-form content — here is the tool we recommend and the honest trade-offs.
Our pick for writing
Claude (Anthropic)
Try ClaudeGreat at
Natural, human-sounding prose; following a brief; long pieces that stay coherent.
Weaker at
Live web lookups and very recent facts.
What you'll actually notice
Drafts sound like a person wrote them, with far less stiff "AI voice" — you edit less.
Free route: Gemini’s free tier writes nearly as well for everyday emails; you lose some polish on long, published work.
Also worth a look: ChatGPT — a touch more generic, but stronger when it needs to search the web mid-draft.
Compare it head-to-head
Cost, plainly: Free tier covers light use; ~£17/mo if you write daily.
Honest catch: a recommendation is a starting point, not the last word — for writing, treat the pick as a sharp first-drafter and check anything with real consequences.
Keep exploring
Which AI for another task?
These are hand-reviewed editorial picks (last reviewed June 2026), kept deliberately simple — we re-check them as prices and models change.