ChatGPT vs Claude
ChatGPT is openAI's AI chat assistant for writing, research, images, voice and coding. Claude is anthropic's AI assistant for writing, analysis, research and coding. Here is how they compare on price, free plan, platforms and the jobs each does best, from each vendor's own pages.
| ChatGPT | Claude | |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| Pricing | Free plan | Free plan |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Cheapest paid plan | $8/mo (Go) | $17/mo billed annually (Pro) |
| 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 Which AI Visibility Tool Should You Actually Pay For? Pricing and Engine Coverage Compared and Automate the Boring Half of Your Job Hunt (Resume Tailoring, ATS, Tracking).
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.