AI

My journey with using LLMs

Top Pick of 2025

Claude

by Anthropic

Claude has become my go-to AI assistant for coding, writing, and learning very quickly. I believe their Max 5x ($100/mo) is the best value for budget-conscious consumers like myself.

Top-Tier Tool CallingHigh-Value PlansGood Speed

My AI Stack

The AI tools I use as a part of my routine and workflow.

Claude Max 5x

$100/mo

My favorite model provider for general use and coding

ChatGPT Business

$60/mo

Feature-rich and budget-friendly (for now)

Z.ai

GLM Coding Lite

$3/mo

Cheap, Claude-like model with a slow API

Active UseVisit →

Gemini Pro

$20/moFree

Chatting, asking questions, and image generation

Occasional UseVisit →

Qwen Chat

Free

My favorite open source LLM for chatting

Occasional UseVisit →

Perplexity Pro

$20/moFree

Reliable for more in-depth searching

Occasional UseVisit →

OpenCode

Free

My favorite FOSS AI coding assistant

Occasional UseVisit →

GitHub Copilot Pro

$10/moFree

Random edits when I don't want to start a Claude session

Occasional UseVisit →
v0

v0 Free

Free

Generating boilerplate UIs

Occasional UseVisit →

Favorite Models

Based on personal preference

Claude 4 Sonnet

Anthropic

10.0

The perfect balance of capability, speed, and price. Perfect for development with React.

Claude 4.1 Opus

Anthropic

10.0

Amazing planner, useful for Plan Mode in Claude Code. Useful in code generation, albeit at a higher cost.

Qwen3-235B-A22B

Alibaba

9.5

The OG thinking model. Amazing, funny, and smart for chats. Surprisingly good at coding too.

GPT-5

OpenAI

8.0

A model I am still testing with. Seems to be good with coding and following instructions so far, but not with the same flair as Claude.

Qwen3-Max-Preview

Alibaba

8.5

A new personality for Qwen3 at a larger size, amazing for use in chats. I'm not so happy that it's closed source (for now).

Page 1 of 2

Favorite Tools

Based on personal preference

Claude Code

10.0

Pros:

  • Flagship models
  • High usage limits
  • Exceptional Claude integration

Cons:

  • API interface be slow at times
  • High investment cost to get full value

Best overall for Claude lovers

Cursor

8.0

Pros:

  • Works like magic
  • Lots of model support
  • Huge ecosystem and community

Cons:

  • Expensive
  • Hype around it is dying
  • Unclear/manipulative pricing

Great all-rounder, slowly dying

Trae

8.5

Pros:

  • Good UI/UX
  • Very budget-friendly
  • Fantastic premium usage limits

Cons:

  • No thinking
  • Occasional parsing issues

Budget-friendly productivity boost

Page 1 of 2
aidan.so