Claude and ChatGPT are the two most widely used general-purpose AI assistants, and for everyday questions either will do. The differences show up in specific work: Claude is often preferred for long documents, careful writing and coding, while ChatGPT has the broader feature set, with image generation, voice and a large ecosystem of custom GPTs. Both cost $20 a month for the main paid plan.
Who makes them
ChatGPT is made by OpenAI and launched in November 2022. Claude is made by Anthropic, a company founded in 2021 by former OpenAI staff. Each runs on its maker’s own family of large language models, and both companies release new models several times a year. Model names change quickly, so this comparison focuses on what each product is like to use rather than on version numbers.
Plans and pricing
| Claude | ChatGPT | |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | Yes, with usage limits | Yes, with usage limits |
| Low-cost tier | No | Go, about $8 a month |
| Main paid plan | Pro, $20 a month | Plus, $20 a month |
| Heavy-use plans | Max, $100 or $200 a month | Pro tiers from $100 a month |
| Team plans | Team and Enterprise | Business and Enterprise |
Prices are US list prices at the time of writing and change often. Check each company’s pricing page before you buy.
Writing
This is where people most often prefer Claude. Its default prose tends to be plainer and less padded, it follows style instructions closely, and it handles long editing jobs, such as revising a whole report against a style guide, without losing track. ChatGPT writes well too, and its memory feature can carry your preferences between conversations. Out of the box it leans a little more towards lists and upbeat phrasing, which you can correct with instructions.
Coding
Both are strong. Claude has a strong reputation among developers, and Anthropic’s Claude Code tool runs in the terminal and works across a whole codebase. OpenAI offers its own coding tools and models. For most developers the honest answer is to try both on your own code. Benchmark leadership changes every few months.
Research and long documents
Both can search the web and cite sources. Claude has long been good at reading large files, such as contracts, transcripts and long PDFs, and answering questions about them in one go. ChatGPT has a deep research mode that produces long, cited reports. Either way, check the citations: both can still state things confidently that the source does not say.
Features beyond chat
| Feature | Claude | ChatGPT |
|---|---|---|
| Image generation | Not its focus | Built in |
| Voice conversation | Available | Available, and a long-standing strength |
| Custom assistants | Projects with shared files and instructions | Custom GPTs and a public GPT store |
| Interactive outputs | Artifacts: documents, code and small apps alongside the chat | Canvas for editing documents and code |
| Integrations | Connectors to apps such as Google Drive and Slack | Connectors and apps |
Privacy and data
Both let you control whether your conversations are used to improve their models, and both offer business plans that exclude your data from training by default. Read the current policy for the plan you use. These settings have changed over time for both companies. OpenAI has also introduced ads on its free and Go tiers in some markets. The paid plans are ad-free.
Which should you pick?
- Mostly writing, editing or long documents: start with Claude.
- Images, voice, or a wide range of everyday tasks: start with ChatGPT.
- Coding: try both on a real task from your own project.
- On a tight budget: both free tiers are useful. ChatGPT Go is the cheapest paid option.
Many people who use AI daily end up paying for one and keeping the free tier of the other. Running the same prompt through both is the quickest way to see which suits how you work.