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The best AI assistant software for trades

Write the quote, the follow-up email and the ad copy in a fraction of the time. Here are the 4 tools we cover in this category, with what owners report and what they really cost.

Compare these side by sidePut any two or three AI assistants tools head to head on price, features and fit.
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ChatGPTOpenAI

The AI chat assistant with the best hands-free story for a truck: you can talk to it on a CarPlay screen, and it will write a quote or read a photo of a nameplate. It reads the words in a manual but not the diagrams, which is the catch for equipment paperwork.

Free to start. The usual paid plan for one person is $20 a month

ClaudeAnthropic

The AI chat assistant that handles paperwork best: it reads a manual or a contract up to 100 pages with the diagrams included, and turns rough notes into a quote or a follow-up. Talking to it hands-free still carries a beta label, and the vendor will not say how much the free plan gives you.

Free to start. $20 a month for one person, or $17 if you pay for a year

The AI chat assistant already sitting in the Google account most shops run on: it drafts inside Gmail on paid plans, reads photos and spec sheets, and takes hands-free questions with the phone locked. Its free plan is the least restricted of the three.

Free to start. $19.99 a month for one person, or $4.99 for a lighter plan

The AI assistant already sitting on the office Windows PC and in the Microsoft 365 account a lot of shops already pay for: free for chat, photos, files and hands-free questions, but drafting inside Word, Excel and Outlook only works if you carry a Microsoft 365 subscription.

Free to start. Inside Microsoft 365 it is $9.99 a month for one person