ChatGPT

The general-purpose assistant everyone knows. The free tier covers a lot of student use cases.

Best for: The all-purpose explainer

What you get

• Free: full chat access with daily usage limits
• Plus: higher limits, stronger models, file uploads, and image generation
• No student discount currently — the free tier is the student play

How students use it

• Have a confusing concept re-explained three different ways until it clicks
• Outline and draft writing, then edit it into your own voice (check your school's AI policy)
• Paste an error message and debug your code interactively