Deliberately thin

Choose a tool that fits the work

The best tool is one your organization approves, your files can reach, and your team will actually use. Capability differences matter, but they matter less than the workflow around them.

Reviewed August 2026. Assume it has drifted.

Features, names and data handling terms on all three of these have changed repeatedly and will change again. Don't treat anything on this page as current without checking. Everywhere else on this site, tool-specific detail is kept in a single block at the bottom of each recipe, for exactly this reason.

Use whichever one your organization has approved. That beats every preference below, and a tool you're allowed to use beats a better tool you aren't.

A simple comparison grid, closed laptop, sample cards, pencil and coffee on a wooden table. — Compare the capability, the controls, and the fit with your real workflow.

01

Microsoft Copilot

Microsoft 365 integration, when your organization has enabled it.

Documented capability

Microsoft Copilot can work across supported experiences in Word, Outlook, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, OneDrive and SharePoint. Some licenses and screens still use the older Microsoft 365 Copilot name. Copilot Notebooks can gather permitted files, pages and other references into a reusable workspace.

What to verify

Availability, grounding sources and controls depend on license, application version and administrator settings. Confirm that the exact feature and data source you plan to use are enabled.

Reach for it for

Work already inside an approved Microsoft 365 environment

02

ChatGPT

Project-based file work and an optional voice interface.

Documented capability

Projects can group chats, files and project instructions so related work keeps its context, on free and paid plans. Voice supports spoken conversations, with feature availability depending on plan and workspace settings.

What to verify

Data controls differ between personal accounts and managed Business, Enterprise and Edu workspaces. Business offerings are not used for model training by default; personal-account settings require separate review.

Reach for it for

Approved projects with files, reusable instructions and spoken rehearsal

03

Claude

A file-based project workspace, including on free accounts.

Documented capability

Claude Projects can keep uploaded knowledge and project instructions together for repeated work. Free accounts can create a small number of projects. Paid plans add retrieval for larger knowledge bases. Claude for Work provides commercial data protections that differ from consumer use.

What to verify

It is not a native Microsoft Office workspace, so the usual workflow involves approved uploads or pasted material. Check plan limits and your organization’s data policy.

Reach for it for

Approved file-based projects with reusable knowledge and instructions

Start with the workflow

Match the capability to the job

Product names matter less than whether the required capability is available, approved and configured in your workspace.

Job	Useful capability	What to check
Faculty and participant email	Thread-aware drafting	Check supported Outlook version, license and policy
Weekly RSS packet	Short announcement plus session objective	Do not invent credit language or paste disclosure forms
Disclosure chasing	Roster-based reminders	Process status only; forms stay out unless the workflow is approved
Learning objectives	Project or notebook with source files	Review coverage and level yourself
Open text feedback	File or spreadsheet analysis	Remove identifiers and verify themes, counts and quotes
Commercial-bias screen	Outline or transcript review	Quote the line; a clinician still decides
Cases and items	Vignettes from supplied facts	Inventory every dose, lab and drug against the source
Outcomes reports	Grounded project workspace	Trace every figure and claim to its source
Program analysis	Year-end counts to prose	No trend you did not export
IME needs narrative	Independent evidence only	Keep supporter RFPs out of the prompt
PARS annual close	Export to a punch list	No invented learner counts; do not close an academic-year RSS early
Joint providership memo	Split table and planning email	Do not invent the accreditation statement or call it a partnership
Enduring-module outline	Map from a supplied gap	You supply the medicine, the dates, and the timed duration
Supporter outcomes	Promised level versus measured	Intent is not performance; run the number audit
Credit-count process	Trail of where you looked	Never a yes or no; no invented recognition statement
Facilitator guides	Presentation or file upload	Include notes explicitly if they matter
Difficult conversations	Voice or sustained chat	Use fictionalized details and check privacy settings
Spreadsheet work	Workbook or file analysis	Verify formulas, filters and counts independently
Repeated work	Reusable project, notebook or instructions	Confirm approved storage and admin controls

What to actually think about

Four questions that matter more than the tool

Is it approved for work?

The same text may be permitted in one account and prohibited in another because terms, controls, retention and internal policy differ. Find out once. See the guardrails.

Can it hold onto your files?

Somewhere your templates, examples and standing instructions can live so you stop re-pasting them. Worth more than any capability difference between the three, and it's where the real gain builds up over time.

Can it read your files?

Every copy and paste is a chance to swap a figure or miss a name while you're anonymising. Working from the file directly removes a whole category of mistake.

Will your colleagues actually open it?

A tool nobody launches has no capability at all. If the whole team already has one thing on their taskbar, that's often the right answer whatever a comparison says.