Ithy - A Deep Dive into Leading AI Chatbots: ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Ithy

Key Highlights

ChatGPT remains highly popular and versatile, excelling in content creation and conversational fluency, with strong summarization abilities and broad integration options.
Gemini is notable for its multimodal design, integrating seamlessly with the Google ecosystem, and demonstrating strengths in handling technical data, coding tasks, and providing more detailed and referenced responses in some comparisons.
Perplexity stands out for its research-driven approach, prioritizing source citation and providing in-depth analysis, making it particularly useful for research tasks and data analysis.

The landscape of AI chatbots is rapidly evolving, with several powerful platforms vying for prominence in 2025. Among the most discussed are OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's Gemini, and Perplexity. Additionally, Ithy, an AI assistant, offers a unique approach by aggregating responses from multiple large language models (LLMs) to provide comprehensive answers with visual elements. This comparison will delve into the features, strengths, and ideal use cases for each of these AI assistants.

Understanding the Core Offerings

Differentiating the AI Assistants

While all these platforms leverage advanced AI to interact with users, they often have distinct focuses and capabilities that cater to different needs. Understanding these differences is crucial for choosing the most suitable tool for a particular task.

ChatGPT: The Conversational Powerhouse

ChatGPT, developed by OpenAI, has been a frontrunner in the AI chatbot space, known for its natural conversational flow and versatility. It excels at generating human-like text, summarizing information, and assisting with creative tasks like writing and brainstorming. Its strong summarization results are often described as terse, concise, and accurate. ChatGPT offers both a free version utilizing models like GPT-3.5 and GPT-4o (as of January 2025), and paid subscriptions (Plus, Team, Enterprise) providing enhanced access to its more advanced models.

ChatGPT's strength lies in its broad applicability, making it suitable for a wide range of general tasks and creative endeavors. Its ability to generate natural language responses has made it a popular choice for content creation and general querying.

Despite its strengths, some comparisons suggest that the free version of ChatGPT (GPT-3.5) might be weaker than the free tiers of competitors like Claude and Gemini in certain areas. However, its paid tiers with access to models like GPT-4o and GPT-4 offer enhanced capabilities for more complex tasks.

Gemini: Google's Multimodal Integrator

Google's Gemini is designed as a multimodal AI, capable of processing and understanding various types of information, including text, images, audio, and video. Its deep integration with the Google ecosystem is a significant advantage, allowing it to pull details from services like Gmail, though this feature is still developing. Gemini is often highlighted for its strengths in handling technical and historical data, providing more precise responses in these areas, and its stronger focus on fairness and consistency in providing neutral responses compared to ChatGPT in some comparisons.

Gemini has shown strong performance in coding tasks and understanding technical documentation. While some tests show mixed results in specific coding areas like converting natural language to SQL or generating Python code, its overall capability in handling technical queries is noted. Gemini also offers a minimalistic design and the ability to display multiple response drafts for comparison, enhancing usability.

Recent updates, such as Gemini 2.0, aim to further enhance its capabilities, particularly in deep thinking tasks. However, like other LLMs, Gemini can still be prone to hallucinations, although Google is reportedly taking steps to mitigate this.

Perplexity: The Research-Focused Assistant

Perplexity distinguishes itself with a strong focus on research-driven exchanges. It prioritizes providing answers supported by sources, making it a valuable tool for in-depth research and analysis. Perplexity's ability to list sources for the text it generates builds credibility and allows users to verify information. This focus on transparency and security is a key aspect of Perplexity's design.

While comparisons with ChatGPT and Gemini's "Deep Research" features suggest Perplexity's approach can be seen as a "lite version" in some contexts, its core strength lies in its dedicated search-based research capabilities. It is particularly useful for researching topics in-depth and analyzing large datasets. Perplexity offers a free tier and a Pro subscription ($20 per month), with the Pro version allowing the use of multiple LLM models, including Grok, GPT-4 Omni, and Claude.

Perplexity's emphasis on providing sourced information makes it a strong contender for users who require verifiable data and detailed analysis for their tasks.

Ithy: The Aggregating AI Assistant

Ithy is an AI assistant that operates differently from the others by aggregating answers from multiple LLMs. This approach aims to provide users with a more comprehensive and diverse range of perspectives on their queries. By drawing information from various models, Ithy seeks to offer a more robust and well-rounded response. As an AI assistant, Ithy's name stands for "I think why," reflecting its goal of providing insightful and thoughtful answers.

A key feature of Ithy is its ability to present information with visual elements, enhancing the user experience and making complex information easier to understand. This intelligent aggregation and presentation of data from multiple sources are Ithy's core strengths.

Ithy's model includes access to Perplexity's latest version of Sonar (built on Llama 3.3), o3-mini, and Claude, demonstrating its commitment to leveraging various advanced AI models to deliver its comprehensive responses.

An illustration of an AI robot assistant interface.

Feature Comparison

A Side-by-Side Look at Capabilities

To further illustrate the distinctions between these AI assistants, the following table provides a comparison of some of their key features and characteristics based on available information as of early 2025.

Feature	ChatGPT	Gemini	Perplexity	Ithy
Primary Focus	Natural conversation, content creation, general tasks	Multimodal understanding, Google ecosystem integration, technical tasks	Research-driven answers, source citation, in-depth analysis	Aggregating multiple LLM responses, comprehensive answers, visual elements
Multimodal Capabilities	Incorporating with tools like GPT-4 Turbo	Native processing of text, images, audio, video	Primarily text-based with some image analysis capabilities	Aggregates information which may include multimodal sources
Source Citation	Sometimes provides referenced responses, especially on less complex topics	Responses can be supported by references, especially on technical/historical data	Strong emphasis on citing sources for generated text	Aggregated responses may include information from sources cited by underlying models
Ecosystem Integration	Offers APIs for integration	Deeply rooted in the Google ecosystem	Limited direct ecosystem integration	Integrates with various LLMs for aggregation
Customization	Offers APIs but limited customization for specific domains (in free version)	Highly customizable, more adaptable for large-scale automation	Limited customization options	Customization depends on the underlying models and Ithy's aggregation logic
Pricing Model	Free version (GPT-3.5, GPT-4o), Paid subscriptions (Plus, Team, Enterprise)	Various tiers, including free and paid options	Free tier, Perplexity Pro ($20/month)	Information on pricing tiers may vary, check Ithy.com for details

Strengths and Ideal Use Cases

Matching the AI to the Task

ChatGPT: Best for Creative and General Tasks

ChatGPT is an excellent choice for tasks requiring creative writing, brainstorming, drafting emails or articles, and engaging in general conversation. Its ability to generate natural and coherent text makes it a versatile tool for content creation and communication. For users who need a capable AI for a wide range of everyday tasks and creative projects, ChatGPT is a strong contender.

Gemini: Excelling in Technical and Integrated Tasks

Gemini shines when dealing with technical information, coding, and tasks that benefit from its integration with the Google ecosystem. Its multimodal capabilities also make it suitable for analyzing information presented in various formats. For developers, researchers dealing with technical data, or users heavily reliant on Google services, Gemini offers distinct advantages.

Perplexity: The Go-To for In-Depth Research

For users whose primary need is to conduct thorough research and obtain information backed by sources, Perplexity is highly recommended. Its focus on providing cited responses is invaluable for academic work, fact-checking, and generating reports that require supporting evidence. Researchers, students, and anyone needing reliable, sourced information will find Perplexity particularly useful.

Ithy: Comprehensive Insights from Multiple Perspectives

Ithy's ability to aggregate responses from multiple LLMs makes it ideal for users who seek a comprehensive understanding of a topic from various viewpoints. This can be particularly useful for complex queries where different models might offer unique insights. The inclusion of visual elements further enhances its utility for understanding and presenting information. For users who value thoroughness and diverse perspectives in their AI interactions, Ithy's approach offers a distinct benefit.

This video provides a comparison of several AI models, including ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude, highlighting how a tool can combine multiple models.

Accuracy and Reliability

Assessing the Trustworthiness of Responses

The accuracy and reliability of AI chatbot responses are critical considerations. While all advanced LLMs strive for accuracy, studies and user experiences show varying degrees of success depending on the query and the model. Hallucinations, or generating incorrect information, remain a challenge for all these platforms.

Some comparisons suggest that ChatGPT can be more accurate and reliable for general topics, while Gemini might be more precise on technical or historical data duelemento its integration with Google Search. Perplexity's emphasis on sourcing aims to improve reliability by allowing users to verify the information presented. Ithy's approach of aggregating from multiple models could potentially mitigate the risk of relying on a single model's potential inaccuracies, offering a more balanced perspective, although the accuracy ultimately depends on the reliability of the underlying models.

It's important for users to critically evaluate the responses from any AI chatbot and, especially for critical information, cross-reference with other reliable sources.

An illustration depicting the user experience in chatbot design.

The Competitive Landscape

The Evolving AI Chatbot Market

The AI chatbot market is dynamic, with continuous advancements and increasing competition. Beyond ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity, other notable players like Claude (by Anthropic), Microsoft Copilot, and various specialized AI chatbot platforms are also making significant strides. This competition is driving innovation and leading to rapid improvements in AI capabilities.

Platforms that offer unique value propositions, such as Ithy's aggregation approach or Perplexity's research focus, are carving out their niches in this crowded market. The availability of multiple advanced models and the ability to access them through platforms like Ithy or tools that allow switching between models further enhance the options available to users.

As AI technology continues to evolve, we can expect further convergence of features among leading chatbots, as well as the emergence of new capabilities that will redefine how we interact with AI.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which AI chatbot is the best overall?

There is no single "best" AI chatbot for everyone. The ideal choice depends on your specific needs and use cases. ChatGPT is excellent for general creative tasks and conversation, Gemini is strong for technical and integrated tasks within the Google ecosystem, Perplexity is best for research requiring source citation, and Ithy is valuable for getting comprehensive insights from multiple models.

Are these AI chatbots free to use?

Most leading AI chatbots offer a free tier with basic capabilities, but also provide paid subscriptions that unlock more advanced features, access to more powerful models, and higher usage limits. Perplexity has a free tier and a Pro version. ChatGPT offers a free version and paid plans. Gemini also has various tiers. Ithy's pricing may vary; it's best to check Ithy.com for the latest details.

How accurate are AI chatbot responses?

While AI chatbots are becoming increasingly accurate, they can still produce incorrect or misleading information, a phenomenon known as "hallucinations." It is crucial to verify important information obtained from any AI chatbot, especially for critical tasks or decision-making.

What is multimodal AI?

Multimodal AI refers to artificial intelligence systems that can process and understand information from multiple types of data, such as text, images, audio, and video, simultaneously. Gemini is a prominent example of a multimodal AI.

A Deep Dive into Leading AI Chatbots: ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Ithy

Comparing the Capabilities and Strengths of Top AI Assistants in 2025