ChatGPT vs Claude
ChatGPT and Claude are both AI assistants tools. ChatGPT is aimed at small businesses and creators, while Claude is aimed at developers and small businesses. ChatGPT costs less, from $8/mo versus $20/mo for Claude. Both have a free plan.
OpenAI's conversational assistant
Anthropic's AI assistant for writing, analysis and code
| Pricing | Freemium · $8 | Freemium · $20 |
| Starting price | $8/mo | $20/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Built for | Small businesses, Creators, Developers | Developers, Small businesses, Creators |
| Platforms | web, ios, android, macos, windows | web, ios, android, macos, windows |
| Country | US · 2022 | US · 2023 |
| Rating | — | — |
Choose ChatGPT if
Knowledge workers, students and teams who want one general-purpose assistant with wide capabilities.
- Broadest feature set and app ecosystem
- Strong free tier
- Desktop and mobile apps are polished
Look elsewhere if: Workflows that need deterministic outputs or on-premise deployment; use APIs with structured outputs instead.
Choose Claude if
Writers, analysts, developers and teams who work with long text or code and value precision.
- Writing quality and instruction-following are top tier
- Excellent for long documents and coding
- Artifacts make iterative work tangible
Look elsewhere if: Image-generation-heavy workflows or users who want the broadest consumer app ecosystem.
ChatGPT vs Claude pricing
ChatGPT
- Free$0Ad-supported, limited usage
- Go$8/moAd-supported, higher limits than Free
- Plus$20/moAdvanced models and features
- Pro (5x)$100/mo5x Plus usage
- Pro (20x)$200/mo20x Plus usage
Claude
- Free$0Sonnet and Haiku, up to 5 Projects, no Claude Code or Opus
- Pro$20/mo$17/mo billed annually; Claude Code, Opus, Projects
- Maxfrom $100/mo5x or 20x Pro usage per session, priority access
- Team Standard$25/seat/mo$20/seat billed annually; 2-150 seats; Premium seat $125
- Enterprise$20/seat/moBilled annually, 20-seat minimum, plus usage at API rates
ChatGPT · Key features
- Chat with web search, citations and file/image analysis
- Deep Research for long-form multi-source reports
- Image generation and editing
- Advanced Voice mode and desktop apps
- Custom GPTs with Actions and a GPT Store
- Projects, memory and Business/Enterprise admin controls
Cons
- Usage limits on Plus for the best models
- Pro tier is expensive
- Hallucinations still require verification
Claude · Key features
- Long-context analysis of documents, spreadsheets and codebases
- Artifacts: live documents, code and apps beside the chat
- Projects with persistent knowledge and instructions
- Web search with citations and extended thinking
- Claude Code for agentic programming in terminal and IDE
- Connectors via MCP to Google Workspace, Slack, GitHub and more
Cons
- Usage limits can bite heavy users on Pro
- Fewer consumer features than ChatGPT (image generation)
- Voice mode arrived later and is more limited
ChatGPT vs Claude: FAQ
Which is cheaper, ChatGPT or Claude?
ChatGPT starts at $8/mo and Claude at $20/mo. Both prices are checked on the vendors' own pricing pages.
Do ChatGPT and Claude have a free plan?
Yes, both ChatGPT and Claude have a free plan; paid plans add more usage and features.