Which AI model should I use?
Goal
Pick a model that suits the task in front of you — or hand the choice off and get on with your work.
Quick path
- Type @ in the chat bar.
- Pick a model from the list, or keep typing to filter (
@perplexity). - Not sure? Send your prompt to BoodleBot and it picks for you.
The short answer: you don't have to choose
BoodleBot routes your prompt to a model that fits it. It routes on what you're trying to do, not on what's cheapest to run, so you're not quietly downgraded on a hard question. If you don't have a strong opinion, this is the right default.
Reach for a specific model when you already know what the task needs.
Pick by what you're doing
| What you're doing | Try |
|---|---|
| Web research with citations | Perplexity |
| Academic and scholarly sources | Semantic Scholar |
| Writing and content generation | Claude Sonnet, or ChatGPT |
| Brainstorming and fast iteration | the ChatGPT family |
| Hard reasoning, dense problems | Claude Opus, or the newest ChatGPT |
| Summarising or analysing very long material | Gemini, or Llama for genuinely huge inputs |
| Code | Codestral, or Claude Sonnet |
| Quick everyday answers | the free models — Gemini Flash, Claude Haiku |
| Images | Nano Banana Pro overall; FLUX for photorealism; Seedream for data visuals |
Two rules of thumb worth more than the table:
- Start with a mid-tier model and escalate only if the answer disappoints. The newest, largest model is not automatically the best one for the task, and it's slower. Claude Sonnet before Claude Opus, for most things.
- Model names don't matter as much as you'd think. You don't need to understand how any of them work to use them well. Try one, and if the answer isn't what you wanted, switch and ask again.
Free vs premium
Some models need Boodle Premium; others are available on Boodle Basic. The model picker in the chat bar shows what your plan includes, and that list is the authoritative one — it updates as models are added and retired.
Want a second opinion?
You can bring more than one model into the same chat and compare their answers on the same question. That's a good habit on anything where being wrong would cost you. See How to use more than one AI in the same chat.
Still stuck?
Email success@boodle.ai — typical response within 8 business hours. (See also How to switch the AI model you're chatting with, How AI models are selected and updated, and Understanding model limitations and hallucinations.)