ChatGPT vs Claude
ChatGPT or Claude? Here is how they compare on price, free plan, platforms and the jobs each does best, from each vendor's own pages.
| Compared on | Visit | Visit |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | OpenAI's AI chat assistant for writing, research, images, voice and coding | Anthropic's AI assistant for writing, analysis, research and coding |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Cheapest paid plan | $8/mo (Go)ChatGPT pricing | $17/mo billed annually (Pro)Claude pricing |
| What it covers | Go may include ads. Plus is $20/month. OpenAI's FAQ says Go and Plus are sold as monthly plans; annual plans are for Business and Enterprise. | Annual billing is $200 paid up front. Includes Claude Code. |
| Free trial | None stated | None stated |
| Platforms | Web, iOS, Android, macOS | Web, iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, Chrome extension, API |
| Integrations (vendor's figure) | Not stated | Not stated |
| Open source | No | No |
| Made by | OpenAI | Anthropic |
Choose ChatGPT if…
- Price matters: its cheapest paid plan is $8/mo against $17/mo.
- The job is drafting and editing emails, reports and posts.
- The job is researching a topic with web search and deep research.
Choose Claude if…
- You need an API to build on.
- The job is drafting and editing long documents and emails.
- The job is summarising and analysing uploaded files.
Still weighing it up?
If neither is quite right, ChatGPT and Claude are also compared with their other rivals: ChatGPT vs Google Gemini, Claude vs Google Gemini and ChatGPT vs Perplexity.
To see them doing real work, read How to Protect ChatGPT Chats on a Shared Computer and How to Check If Claude Recommends Your Brand: Manual Steps and Tools (2026).
What ChatGPT does
- Web search inside chat
- Deep research reports
- Image generation and voice chats
- File uploads and data analysis
- Projects, scheduled tasks and custom GPTs on paid plans
- Codex coding agent included in every plan
Watch out for
- Free and Go have limited uploads, image generation, voice, deep research and Codex access
- The Go plan may include ads
- Business plans start at 2 users; Enterprise and Edu pricing requires contacting sales
What Claude does
- Web search and file creation in chat
- Code execution for analysing uploaded files
- Memory and connections to other apps
- Projects, task scheduling and Claude Design, Slides and Docs on paid plans
- Chrome and Microsoft 365 extensions on paid plans
- Developer API priced per million tokens
Watch out for
- Claude Code, projects and task scheduling are not in the Free plan
- Usage limits apply on Free and Pro; Max raises them 5x or 20x
- Enterprise adds usage billed at API rates on top of the seat price
Questions
Is ChatGPT or Claude cheaper?
On published entry prices, ChatGPT is cheaper: $8/mo (Go) for ChatGPT against $17/mo billed annually (Pro) for Claude. What each plan includes differs, so compare the limits too.
Do ChatGPT and Claude have free plans?
Both do. ChatGPT: Unlimited text chats with GPT-5.6 Luna (subject to abuse guardrails); limited uploads, image generation, voice chats, deep research, memory and Codex access. Claude: Chat on web, desktop and mobile with web search, file creation, code execution, memory, app connections and artifacts; less usage than Pro; no Claude Code or projects.