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Which AI model for which job?
A quick, honest map of the main models. What each is genuinely best for, how fast it feels, how it lands on cost, and whether there's a free tier. No per-token prices, no benchmark willy-waving: those go out of date the week you read them.
Model comparison table
Last reviewed: July 2026Models change fast. Treat this as a signpost, not gospel, and re-check the maker's own page before you commit.
| Model / family | Best for | Speed | Cost | Reads at once | Free tier | Notes | As of |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Opus 4.8AnthropicClosed | The hardest thinking: long documents, careful analysis, code. | Considered | £££ | Very large. Reads a big pile of documents in one go. | No, paid plan or API | The most capable Claude in the Opus tier. Reach for it when getting it right matters more than speed. | July 2026 |
| Claude Sonnet 5AnthropicClosed | The best all-rounder: everyday writing, summarising, most work. | Balanced | ££ | Large. Handles long chats and sizeable documents comfortably. | Yes, on the free Claude plan | The best speed-to-quality balance and a sensible default. Fast enough to feel instant, sharp enough for real work. | July 2026 |
| Claude Haiku 4.5AnthropicClosed | High-volume, quick jobs: tagging, sorting, short replies. | Fast | £ | Large, but you mostly use it for shorter tasks. | Yes, via the API free allowance | The fastest and cheapest Claude. Great for automations that run a lot. | July 2026 |
| Claude Fable 5AnthropicClosed | The most capable frontier work when nothing else is enough. | Considered | £££ | Very large. | No, paid access | The most capable model overall, top of the range. Overkill for most day-to-day business tasks. | July 2026 |
| GPT (ChatGPT)OpenAIClosed | A strong, familiar all-rounder with a big app ecosystem. | Balanced | ££ | Large, varies by model tier. | Yes, a capable free tier | The best-known option. Well worth trying alongside Claude to see which voice you prefer. | July 2026 |
| GeminiGoogleClosed | Research and anything wired into Google Workspace. | Balanced | ££ | Very large on the top tiers. | Yes | Handy if you already live in Gmail, Docs and Sheets. | July 2026 |
| LlamaMeta (open weights)Open | Running a model on your own kit for privacy or cost control. | Balanced | £ | Varies by version. | Free to run, you pay for the hosting | Open weights. Powerful, but you or a supplier has to host and maintain it. | July 2026 |
| MistralMistral (open weights)Open | Efficient open models for self-hosting and lighter tasks. | Fast | £ | Varies by version. | Free to run, you pay for the hosting | A leaner open option. Same trade-off: you own the running of it. | July 2026 |
Cost is a relative running-cost band (£ cheapest to £££ dearest), not a quoted price. No per-token prices or benchmark scores here on purpose.
How to read it
Pick for the job, not the hype.
- Start with a strong all-rounder. For most business work, a balanced model like Claude Sonnet 5 or the free tier of ChatGPT or Gemini is more than enough. Reach for the top-end models only when a task genuinely needs the extra care.
- Match speed and cost to how often it runs. A one-off draft can take the slow, careful model. An automation that fires a hundred times a day wants the fast, cheap one.
- Open models mean you host it. Llama and Mistral are free to run, but someone has to run and maintain them. Great for privacy or scale, more work to own.
- Re-check before you commit. These change fast. Treat this as a signpost and confirm the detail on the maker's own page.
Not sure where to start? Themodel picker asks five quick questions and points you at the right kind of model in plain English.
Still not sure which to use?
Bring your actual work to the masterclass and we'll help you pick and set it up on the day. The 13 August session in Manchester is free; £20 a ticket after.
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