Accounts, payments, apps, and where your files go. Start on Free. Pay on the website. One vendor at a time.
- 1 Accounts, payments, and Free vs paid without hype Free is enough to start. Paid buys limits and extra surfaces, not a personality. This part maps accounts, payment rails (web vs App Store vs API), and Free vs paid ladders for ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Grok so you stop stacking four cards and double-paying one product.
- 2 Browser vs mobile vs desktop apps Marisol had two ChatGPT sidebars and a 14-minute Slack thread because the Mac app was signed into a personal Apple ID. Start on the vendor website, add the phone app for the same email, and skip a second App Store paid plan.
- 3 Personal vs work accounts (and why it matters) The email or SSO on the login is the legal person in the room. Mix a personal Gmail into a 19-row customer sheet, or a work Gemini into a kid's essay, and you get retention, e-discovery, and ownership problems you cannot undo with a new tab.
- 4 2FA, recovery, and shared family or team plans Priya lost Claude to a 6-digit 2FA prompt she never set up, 18 hours before a client workshop, after her partner bought Pro on her Apple ID. Turn 2FA on yourself, store recovery codes off Camera, and treat family or team plans as a shared bill, not a shared login.
- 5 Files, uploads, and where your data goes Owen dropped a 31 MB CRM export into a Free chat to chart four regions. Typing, uploads, Drive connectors, and a desktop app on a local folder are four paths. Paste a snippet, then check the delete path.