The landscape of conversational AI has shifted from novelty to essential productivity tool – and the roster of contenders that matter in 2025 is both broader and more specialized than most users realize. Drawing on the PCMag Australia roundup you supplied and independent verification from vendor documentation and industry reporting, this feature distills which chatbots lead today, why they matter for Windows users, what to watch for in privacy and cost, and how to pick the right assistant for your workflow.
The AI chatbot category now includes purpose-built assistants (research-first engines, privacy-focused agents), ecosystem-native copilots (Microsoft, Google), and boundary-pushing newcomers that emphasize unrestricted outputs or platform-native data access. What began as a handful of text-based conversational tools has become a multi‑modal, multi‑vendor market where integration, data policy, model capabilities, and developer tooling matter as much as raw language quality. The PCMag Australia summary you provided captures that diversity — ChatGPT remains the Editors’ Choice for general accuracy and breadth, while other tools (Gemini, Copilot, Claude, Perplexity, Grok) shine in specific niches.
Across these products, three things determine utility for most Windows users and IT teams:
What to know
What to know
Source: PCMag Australia The Best AI Chatbots for 2025
Background / Overview
The AI chatbot category now includes purpose-built assistants (research-first engines, privacy-focused agents), ecosystem-native copilots (Microsoft, Google), and boundary-pushing newcomers that emphasize unrestricted outputs or platform-native data access. What began as a handful of text-based conversational tools has become a multi‑modal, multi‑vendor market where integration, data policy, model capabilities, and developer tooling matter as much as raw language quality. The PCMag Australia summary you provided captures that diversity — ChatGPT remains the Editors’ Choice for general accuracy and breadth, while other tools (Gemini, Copilot, Claude, Perplexity, Grok) shine in specific niches.Across these products, three things determine utility for most Windows users and IT teams:
- Integration with the apps and files you already use (Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, local files).
- How the tool handles user data (training usage, retention, enterprise guarantees).
- The model’s specialty: research & citations, multimodal media, developer APIs, or unconstrained media generation.
The winners and their strengths
ChatGPT — the all‑rounder and platform leader
ChatGPT still functions as the easiest single option for most people who want a capable, polished assistant for writing, coding, research, and multimodal prompts. It runs on OpenAI’s current flagship families and offers the broadest consumer product ecosystem: browser, desktop/mobile apps, plugins, and custom GPTs.What to know
- Pricing: ChatGPT’s consumer Plus tier remains priced at about $20 per month; OpenAI documents Free, Plus ($20), Pro ($200) and commercial/enterprise plans with expanded controls.
- Capabilities: strong long-form generation, image and limited video features (Sora), code assistance, a vibrant plugin ecosystem.
- Why it wins: versatility and breadth of third‑party integrations; clear upgrade paths for individuals and teams.
- Data and legal risks: OpenAI is the subject of high-profile litigation from publishers alleging copyright misuse of editorial content for model training — an active landscape that affects how institutions negotiate enterprise terms and data ingestion. The Ziff Davis complaint filed in April 2025 is an example of the legal attention on training data practices.
Google Gemini — best for Google Workspace users and multimodal work
If your life is inside Gmail, Drive, Docs, Photos, and Chrome, Gemini is the chatbot that replaces friction with clicks. Google bundles advanced Gemini features (Gemini Advanced / Google One AI Premium) into paid plans around the $19.99/month band for consumers and richer enterprise bundles for Workspace customers.What to know
- Integration: Gemini can draw on Drive documents, Workspace context, and Search to ground answers in user data when policies permit. It’s increasingly multimodal (images, video, voice) and offered as Gemini Live for real‑time voice + camera interactions.
- Value: excellent for drafting emails, translating, and turning documents into structured outputs with tight in‑app automation.
- Ecosystem lock‑in: Gemini’s full value requires using Google services; privacy and data residency are governed by Workspace and Google One contracts, which enterprises must inspect carefully.
Microsoft Copilot — best for Windows and Microsoft 365 integration
For organizations and Windows power users, Copilot is now the most practical choice when governance, tenant control, and desktop automation matter. Microsoft embeds Copilot into Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Windows itself; Copilot features now ship as part of consumer Microsoft 365 bundles while deeper, tenant‑grounded functionality remains an enterprise add‑on. What to know- Enterprise controls: Copilot’s Graph connectors and Copilot Studio enable agents that operate on tenant data with admin governance and compliance features. Microsoft asserts that prompts and file content used in Microsoft 365 Copilot are not used to train its foundation models.
- Pricing: Microsoft has consolidated Copilot into consumer and business offerings; enterprise licensing varies and the company has adjusted Copilot packaging to make in‑app experiences more widely available.
- Cost and licensing complexity can be a barrier for SMBs; admins must map which Copilot feature (desktop, Outlook, Excel) is covered by which SKU.
Claude (Anthropic) — safety and long‑context excellence
Anthropic’s Claude emphasizes safety, editorial tone, and very large context windows for long‑form drafting, research synthesis, and applications where a consistent voice matters. Anthropic’s product documentation highlights retention and training controls that differ by product: commercial contracts (Claude for Work, API) generally exclude customer data from model training by default, and consumer retention policies historically included short retention windows and deletion controls. Anthropic’s privacy pages describe immediate conversation deletion from history and backend removal within 30 days for consumer accounts, and commercial terms that treat customers as controllers with non‑training guarantees. What to know- Strengths: editorial voice, large context options suitable for books and long reports (Anthropic advertises extended token windows on enterprise tiers).
- Privacy posture: Anthropic offers contractual non‑training guarantees for commercial customers and emphasizes deletion and opt‑in training for consumer feedback paths — however, data policies have evolved and users should verify the current terms at sign‑up.
- Price and limits: long‑context modes often carry premium pricing; verify token pricing for bulk workflows.
Perplexity — best for research and citation‑forward answers
Perplexity brands itself as an “answer engine” and has become a go‑to for research tasks that require explicit citations and traceability. Perplexity’s Sonar API is designed to power grounded, source‑backed responses that are easier to verify, and the product exposes Pro and Max tiers in the ~$20 range for heavy users. What to know- Sonar API: built for developers needing a citation-first search/answer engine that can be embedded into apps. Perplexity documents token and request pricing for Sonar tiers.
- Use case: journalism, academic work, and compliance tasks where traceability matters more than conversational polish.
- Citations reduce the verification burden but do not guarantee factual accuracy — links must be read and primary sources checked.
Grok (xAI) — provocative features and permissive moderation
xAI’s Grok positioned itself as an edgy alternative: early marketing and product updates emphasized looser moderation and novel multimedia tools. More recent product launches introduced Grok Imagine, an image‑and‑video generator that includes a controversial “spicy” or NSFW mode and has drawn scrutiny from consumer safety groups and regulators. Reporting shows Grok’s multimedia features can generate semi‑explicit output and have produced problematic deepfake content, prompting calls for investigations. If your interest is in experimental or adult‑friendly creative tools, Grok is notable — but it carries significant moderation risk and regulatory attention. What to know- Grok Imagine: a multimodal image/video generator with a “spicy” mode that can produce NSFW outputs; the feature rollout and moderation behavior evolved rapidly after launch.
- Audience: users seeking unconstrained creativity or platform‑native interactions on X (formerly Twitter).
- Safety and legal risk: permissive output capabilities increase exposure to non‑consensual deepfakes and reputational/legal liabilities.
How we (and PCMag) choose winners — verification and testing matters
The PCMag approach (reflected in the material you provided) and the independent testing frameworks employed by many outlets converge on a similar checklist:- Accuracy and depth on multi‑step prompts.
- Capacity to cite sources or ground answers in live web data.
- Handling of files and multimodal inputs (images, audio, video).
- Rate limits, context window size, and developer API flexibility.
- Privacy terms and enterprise contracts.
Pricing, tiers, and what you can expect to pay
All major vendors offer free tiers; premium functionality is commonly bundled in a $20‑per‑month sweet spot for consumers. Here’s a quick breakdown of real, verifiable price anchors in 2025:- ChatGPT Plus: $20/month (OpenAI lists Free, Plus $20, and Pro tiers).
- Google One AI / Gemini Advanced: roughly $19.99/month for consumer AI premium that bundles storage and Gemini Advanced access.
- Perplexity Pro: around $20/month for advanced usage; Sonar API has pay‑as‑you‑go API pricing for developers.
- Microsoft Copilot: Copilot consumer inclusion in Microsoft 365 Personal/Family has been rolled into some subscription bundles; enterprise Copilot SKUs and add‑ons vary and may require separate per‑user fees. Microsoft documents ongoing packaging changes that affect cost and credits.
- Grok (xAI): pricing and feature gates have changed quickly; some multimedia features began behind a SuperGrok/Premium tier and expanded access thereafter. Verify what’s behind paywalls at sign‑up.
- Start with free tiers to validate fit for short tasks.
- If you rely on a single ecosystem (Microsoft or Google), test the integrated Copilot/Gemini features before buying a standalone premium chatbot.
- For research‑heavy workflows, pay for citation‑forward tools or APIs to reduce manual verification time — the extra $20/mo can pay for itself in saved researcher hours.
Privacy, data usage, and legal risk — what to watch closely
Privacy and data‑use policies are now as important as model quality. Three high‑impact points to verify before adoption:- Training usage: OpenAI and other vendors publish varying defaults about whether they use customer prompts/outputs for model training; enterprise contracts can explicitly exclude training. OpenAI’s product pages and Anthropic’s privacy center detail the differences across consumer and commercial products.
- Retention and deletion: Anthropic documents consumer retention and deletion windows (conversation history deletion and backend removal timing), and states that commercial agreements treat customers as controllers with non‑training guarantees for Claude for Work. Always check the current privacy center at point of purchase.
- Legal exposure: the Ziff Davis lawsuit against OpenAI (April 24, 2025) is a reminder that publisher and copyright litigation can affect availability of data, enterprise risk assessments, and contract negotiations. Organizations should consult legal counsel before hosting or sharing copyrighted or sensitive content with public models.
Risks and limitations every Windows admin and power user must plan for
- Hallucinations: even the best models can invent facts. For high‑stakes or regulated use (legal, medical, financial), always require traceable sources or human review.
- API costs and token economics: long‑context workflows can be expensive at scale; evaluate token pricing and run pilot workloads to forecast monthly spend.
- Integration attack surface: plugins, browser extensions, and third‑party agents can expose credentials or enable data exfiltration. Treat external plugins as third‑party code and vet them accordingly.
- Regulatory and moderation risk: tools that permit NSFW or unconstrained media generation (e.g., Grok Imagine’s “spicy” mode) raise compliance and reputational issues; organizations must block or monitor such features. Recent reporting shows Grok Imagine’s permissive modes attracted regulatory scrutiny and consumer safety group complaints.
- Litigation & IP exposure: training data disputes are ongoing; publishers are litigating how model training should be governed. That litigation landscape can impact how vendors negotiate enterprise sourcing and indemnities.
Choosing the right chatbot — a short decision matrix
Use this checklist to match the tool to your primary need:- If you want a single, polished assistant for everything (writing, coding, chat): pick ChatGPT.
- If you live in Google Workspace and need deep, in‑app automation: pick Gemini / Google One AI.
- If you need enterprise file grounding, tenant controls, and Windows integration: pick Microsoft Copilot.
- If your work requires transparent sources and citations: pick Perplexity (Sonar API for developers).
- If privacy & non‑training guarantees for commercial data are paramount: consider Claude and require contract terms that exclude training. Verify current policies before onboarding.
- If you want experimental multimedia and are comfortable with moderation risk: Grok offers provocative creative features but brings safety trade‑offs.
Practical setup and migration checklist for Windows users
- Inventory data: know which datasets (emails, CRM, HR files) will be used with chatbots and classify sensitivity.
- Pilot phase: run a 30‑day pilot with metrics (accuracy, time saved, incidents) and a small set of users before enterprise roll‑out.
- Legal & procurement: secure contractual non‑training clauses and data residency guarantees for regulated content.
- Admin controls: enable tenant-level connectors, disable 3rd‑party plugins where necessary, and set usage caps.
- Education: teach staff that chatbots are assistants, not authoritative sources — require human verification for decisions.
Where the market is heading (short horizon)
- More specialized agents and agent orchestration: vendors are moving from single-turn chat to agentic workflows that execute multi‑step business processes with audit trails.
- On‑device and hybrid models: expect more on‑device capabilities for privacy‑sensitive tasks (edge Nano models, Apple/Android on‑device options).
- Tighter regulation and contractual assurances: litigation and consumer safety pressure will push clearer industry standards for training opt‑outs, age verification, and anti‑deepfake countermeasures.
- Pricing consolidation: consumer AI premium tiers cluster around the $20/month band, but enterprise price differentiation will remain by use‑case and compliance requirements.
Conclusion
The PCMag Australia set of picks captures a durable truth: no single chatbot is best for everything. ChatGPT remains the safest all‑round pick for general productivity; Google’s Gemini and Microsoft Copilot win on ecosystem integration; Perplexity is the researcher’s ally; Claude offers a privacy-forward, long‑context option for sensitive workflows; and Grok shows how products can trade moderation for novelty. These conclusions are grounded in both the editorial evaluation you provided and vendor documentation and reporting that verify pricing, privacy posture, and feature trade‑offs. Adoption advice for Windows users and IT teams is straightforward: match the assistant to your ecosystem and risk profile, pilot before enterprise-wide deployment, demand written data‑use guarantees when sensitive data is involved, and keep human review in every loop where the cost of being wrong is real. The field is fast-moving; vendors change pricing, privacy, and features rapidly — always re‑verify the latest product and contract terms before committing to a production deployment.Source: PCMag Australia The Best AI Chatbots for 2025
