BEST Free AI Search Tools of 2025 (ChatGPT Isn’t Enough)

About this video

Kevin Stratvert head-to-head tests six free AI search tools and finds no single winner. Perplexity, once trusted as ‘ChatGPT plus real search,’ fails his tests: it ignores a streaming price-comparison request, omits Peacock, gives a technically correct but hard-to-read iOS 26.2 answer, recommends inkjet printers for a printer under $150 where ink must not dry out, and suggests luggage over $100 despite a $100 limit, so it does not make his cut on the free plan. Google Gemini is fast and accurate on basic facts, correctly identifies a decade-old fridge brand from a photo, but its Excel de-duplication methods fail until corrected, and its Deep Research is tremendously technical and overkill for a simple blue-light glasses question, with only a limited number of free calls. ChatGPT hallucinates a non-existent chrome://settings/profiles portal for a how-to and initially fails the Excel test (the paid Thinking model in ChatGPT 5.2 does better), and misidentifies the fridge as Frigidaire, but it dominates shopping — asking about requirements, taking 2 to 5 minutes, and returning one strong recommendation on the free plan — and its Deep Research, at five per month free, balances depth and readability. Google AI Mode excels at local search with a sources view and a map and correctly identifies the fridge as GE, but its doorbell troubleshooting checks everything before the disconnected wiring and its shopping and streaming prices contain errors. Amazon Rufus is shopping-only, gives quick printer and under-$100 luggage recommendations (with some inkjet mismatches), and is best used alongside ChatGPT. Consensus is for research evidence: it shows conclusions across multiple studies with a consensus graph, offers unlimited free quick queries drawing on at most 10 studies, and is not for shopping or how-tos. His verdict: AI Mode for basic facts and local, Gemini and ChatGPT Thinking for software help, ChatGPT and Rufus for shopping, and Gemini, ChatGPT, or Consensus for deep research depending on depth needed.

Key takeaways

• Perplexity failed the free-plan tests: ignored price comparisons, missed Peacock, recommended inkjets when ink drying out was the concern, and suggested luggage over the $100 budget
• ChatGPT is strongest for shopping research (2-5 minutes, one strong recommendation, free) but hallucinates on how-tos, inventing a chrome://settings/profiles portal that does not exist
• Gemini is fast on facts and image recognition but needed correction on the Excel de-duplication problem, and its Deep Research is overly technical for most users
• Google AI Mode has the edge for basic facts and local search, with a sources view and map, but still makes streaming-price and shopping-budget errors
• Consensus serves a narrow research role: unlimited free quick queries summarising at most 10 studies with a consensus graph, not shopping or troubleshooting

Episode details: published December 19, 2025 · 12:21 long. Summary written by Self Growth Videos from the episode itself. Business results and any income figures mentioned are Kevin Stratvert’s own claims, shared for education — they are not typical or guaranteed.

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