Best AI for DIY projects
You want to be walked through a home repair - tools, parts, steps, and when to stop and call someone. We gave nine assistants the same dripping basin tap in Portugal and a beginner who has never done plumbing, then checked every answer against a repair checklist written before we asked.
People also look for this as home repairs, building things, fix it myself or home improvement help.
Our picks, side by side
Rated for this task · 0–3
Measured
Quality
Effort
Cost
Free tier
From
Why
★ Best overall
ChatGPT
$8/mo · free tier: usableMeasured6/6 steps · fullest stop line · two-trip plan
Quality
Effort
Cost
Free tierUnlimited text chat on the default model, with limits on uploads, images, voice and deep research
From$8/mo
Why
All nine got the six steps right; ChatGPT is the one we would hand to someone who has never held a spanner. It tells you to plug the basin before anything else, not to buy the cartridge until you have the old one in your hand, to do it as two trips, and gives the clearest rule for when to stop - DIY is fine until something needs real force. It is long, and it asks for a photo at the end, which is the right instinct.
Best short version
Gemini
$19.99/mo · free tier: usableMeasured6/6 steps · one screen
Quality
Effort
Cost
Free tierThe default model with usage limits, plus Gemini inside Maps, Gmail and Docs on a free Google account
From$19.99/mo
Why
The same six steps on one screen, with the sizes, the Allen key, the towel over the drain and the grease named in Portuguese, and nothing missing. Its stop list is short and it calls the shop a "ferraria", which is a smithy, so ask for a "loja de ferragens".
Best for the shop counter
Perplexity
$20/mo · free tier: usableMeasured6/6 steps · best shop vocabulary
Quality
Effort
Cost
Free tierUnlimited basic searches with a weekly cap on Pro-model searches
From$20/mo
Why
If the hard part is asking for the right thing in Portuguese, this is the answer with the words - the isolation valve by both its names, O-rings, the hex key, three cartridge diameters, a full sentence to say, and a note not to put PTFE tape where it does not belong. The repair steps are complete; the stop list is the shortest of the picks.
Evidence
6 of 6 key steps present and in order; water isolated and tap opened first; Allen 2–3 mm named; 35/40 mm sizes; a full Portuguese sentence for the counter; nine stop-and-call triggers plus a section on what to do if it still drips.
Not on our roster
iFixit — Photographed, step-numbered repair guides written by people who did the repair, for when you want to see the part before you touch it. Thin on plumbing, strong on everything with a circuit board.
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All 9 tools we tested
Rated for this task only · 0–3| Tool | Quality | Effort | Cost | Free tier | Measured | From |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPTFree: Unlimited text chat on the default model, with limits on uploads, images, voice and deep research | 6/6 steps · fullest stop line · two-trip plan | $8/mo | ||||
| ClaudeFree: Chat with web search and file uploads, with a usage cap per five-hour session | 6/6 steps · stepper widget · no sizes | $20/mo | ||||
| GeminiFree: The default model with usage limits, plus Gemini inside Maps, Gmail and Docs on a free Google account | 6/6 steps · one screen | $19.99/mo | ||||
| PerplexityFree: Unlimited basic searches with a weekly cap on Pro-model searches | 6/6 steps · best shop vocabulary | $20/mo | ||||
| Microsoft CopilotFree: The Copilot app on web, Windows and mobile with usage limits | 6/6 steps · descale-first option · cost guide | $19.99/mo | ||||
| DeepSeekFree: The full chat app with web search and file uploads; there is no paid consumer tier | 6/6 steps · answered in Chinese | Free | ||||
| GrokFree: Chat with web and X search within generous limits, no card required | 6/6 steps · correct Portuguese · shops named | $30/mo | ||||
| QwenFree: The full chat app; there is no paid consumer tier | 6/6 steps · 7-term cheat sheet | Free | ||||
| KimiFree: Unlimited basic chat, file upload and web access on the free plan | 6/6 steps · no Allen key · refused once | $19/mo |
How we tested
One brief, sent once to each of ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot, DeepSeek, Grok, Qwen and Kimi on their free tiers. A ten-year-old single-lever mixer drips from the spout when off; the person has never done plumbing; they want what to buy and what to ask for in a Portuguese hardware shop, the tools, the steps in order, and the point at which to stop and call a plumber. The planned photo of the tap was not attached this time, so every tool worked from the same words.
Before asking, we wrote a six-step checklist for a ceramic-cartridge replacement from two reference guides - isolate the water, open the tap to release pressure, lever off, shroud and retaining nut off, cartridge out and matched with the old one, refit and reopen slowly. Each answer was scored on which steps it had and in what order, whether the water was off before anything was touched, whether the tools were right, whether the stop-and-call line was present and sensible, and whether the Portuguese would work at a counter. Prices were not checked.
Every tool scored six of six. The repair is well documented and they all know it. What separated them was everything around the steps - Kimi left the Allen key out of the tools and said to reopen the valves fully rather than slowly, after refusing once for capacity; DeepSeek answered in Chinese; two tools called the shop a smithy. The best answers added the things a first-timer does not know to ask - plug the basin, take the old cartridge to the shop, do it as two trips, stop when something needs force.
The test was run by, or under the direction of, the one person who runs this site, with AI assistance, and every output and fact-check was reviewed by them. The surrounding text was drafted with AI assistance from our own ratings and evidence, then checked and edited by the same person. If something here is wrong, tell us and we will fix it and say so.
Questions people ask
Can I trust an AI with a plumbing repair?
For this one, yes, with a caveat. All nine had the steps right and all nine told you to turn the water off first. Where they differ is in the small things that go wrong on the day - the screw that falls down the drain, the nut that will not move, the cartridge that looks right but is not. Pick the answer that talks about those, and stop when it tells you to.
Which one should a complete beginner use?
ChatGPT, because it coaches rather than lists - plug the basin, strip the tap before you shop, two trips, and a plain rule for when to stop. If you want the same steps on one screen, Gemini. If your worry is the hardware shop rather than the tap, Perplexity has the vocabulary.
Did any of them get the repair wrong?
No step was wrong. Kimi's tools list had no Allen key, which is the tool you need for the handle, and it said to open the valves fully rather than slowly; DeepSeek answered a question asked in English in Chinese. Everything else was a matter of completeness and polish.
Should I send a photo?
We did not this time, so we cannot say who reads a tap well. Two tools asked for one unprompted - ChatGPT and Copilot - and that is the right instinct, because the one thing none of them can tell you from words alone is which cartridge your tap takes. Take the old one to the shop.