Write four axes before comparing brands: 1) Task — write / cited search / image / code? 2) Quality — good-enough vs near-pro? 3) Cost — can free quota run a week of workflow? 4) Access & privacy — stable access? safe to upload?
Example: Chinese weekly updates in China → writing + sendable + free-first + easy access → try DeepSeek/Qwen-class before paid foreign models. Need citations → search tools first; chat models only summarize.
Practice: write your axes, then validate on a real Research or Choose flow.