| Function | Anthropic | OpenAI | Microsoft | Cursor | Grammarly | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Chat & Assistant
Conversational interfaces for asking questions, drafting text, summarizing documents, and general-purpose AI assistance. |
Claude.ai
Long context, file uploads, deep reasoning
|
ChatGPT Edu
$13/month — faculty & staff
Contact IT Support Provider →
|
Gemini
$20 or $30/month — ASC, SEAS & Wharton
Contact IT Support Provider →
|
— |
Grammarly
$87/year — Penn affiliates (annual commitment)
Contact IT Support Provider →
|
|
|
Coding
AI-assisted programming — writing, explaining, and debugging code across languages. Includes sandbox environments for running scripts. |
Claude Code
Agentic coding, full codebase context
|
Codex
Runs Python in sandbox, EDA
|
Gemini Code Assist
VSCode extension, inline suggestions
|
GitHub Copilot
Deep IDE integration, PR reviews
|
Cursor (full IDE)
Built on VSCode, most AI-native
|
— |
|
API / Dev
Programmatic access to AI models for building applications, automating workflows, and integrating AI into research pipelines. |
Claude API
200k context window
|
OpenAI API
Most widely documented
|
Gemini API
Generous free tier for prototyping
|
M365 Copilot API
Enterprise-grade, HIPAA-eligible
|
— | — |
Publicly released model weights you can download and run locally — no data sent to external servers, full control over your environment. Deploy via Ollama (free, self-hosted).
Reference only. These are third-party tools researchers have mentioned. We do not recommend or endorse any specific product. Check access, cost, privacy, and funder or journal policies before use.