Last updated: 2026-08-19
ChatGPT is OpenAI's AI assistant, scoring 88.7% on the SWE-bench Verified coding benchmark. It combines chat, coding help, image generation, live web search, and the agentic Codex coding tool inside a single interface, setting it apart from narrower, single-purpose AI chatbots.
About ChatGPT
ChatGPT is OpenAI's conversational AI assistant, launched in November 2022 and now the most widely used consumer AI product in history. As of early 2026, it serves 900 million weekly active users and 50 million paid subscribers. OpenAI raised $122 billion in its most recent funding round at an $852 billion valuation (March 2026), the highest private company valuation ever recorded. GPT-5.5, the flagship until July 2026, scores 88.7% on SWE-bench Verified, 92.4% on MMLU, and reduces hallucinations by 60% compared to GPT-5.4. GPT-5.6 Sol replaced it as the default model on paid plans on July 9, 2026, with GPT-5.5 still available as a fallback.
ChatGPT's breadth is its defining advantage: writing, code, image generation (ChatGPT Images 2.0), web search, voice conversations, computer use, and agentic coding (Codex) are all native features within a single interface. Memory retains context across conversations; Projects organize files and context for recurring workflows; 60-plus application connectors integrate Slack, Google Drive, GitHub, and more. The API context window is 1 million tokens (also the Pro $200 ceiling in the app); Codex works in 400K.
Codex is OpenAI's agentic coding tool, available in ChatGPT Plus, Pro, Business, and Enterprise. It operates across the terminal, IDE, web, GitHub, and the ChatGPT iOS and Android apps. Developers can start a Codex task on a Windows desktop and monitor progress from an iPhone. Deep Research conducts multi-source web research and synthesizes cited reports for Plus users and above. The 1-800-CHATGPT feature (US only) lets users interact via phone without an account.
ChatGPT's main limitation for advanced users is pricing transparency: the credit system means heavy use of the flagship model on a Plus plan can hit limits quickly, requiring an upgrade to Pro. Trustpilot's 1.6/5 from 2,800+ reviewers reflects billing and support complaints from consumer users rather than product quality: G2's 4.7/5 from 2,000+ business-user reviews tells the opposite story. For teams and enterprises, ChatGPT's depth of features, compliance certifications, and the widest third-party integration ecosystem make it the default starting point for AI adoption.
Screenshots
Pricing
Free at $0 (default lightweight model, message limits; ads in US). Go at $8/month (more volume, ads). Plus at $20/month (full model suite, ad-free, 10 Deep Research runs/month).
6 Sol Pro). Business at $20/seat/month (annual) or $25/seat/month (monthly), 2-seat minimum. Enterprise custom-priced.
Annual billing saves ~20% on most paid plans. 50/$15, Luna at $1/$6 per million tokens (GA July 9, 2026).
| Tier | Monthly price | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | |
| Go | $8/mo | |
| Plus | $20/mo | |
| Business | $25/mo | |
| Pro | $200/mo | |
| Enterprise | Custom |
Feature Comparison by Tier
| Feature | Free | Go | Plus | Pro $100 | Pro $200 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $0 | $8 | $20 | $100 | $200 |
| Default model | GPT-5.5 Instant Mini | GPT-5.5 Instant Mini | GPT-5.6 Sol | GPT-5.6 Sol Pro | GPT-5.6 Sol Pro |
| Messages per window | 10 | 100 | 400-2000 | 2000+ | Unlimited |
| Image generation (ChatGPT Images 2.0) | - | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Deep Research | - | - | yes | yes | yes |
| Codex coding agent | - | - | yes | yes | yes |
| Context window | 128K | 128K | 128K | 128K | 1M |
| Voice mode | - | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Sora video generation | - | - | yes | yes | yes |
Key Features
- GPT-5.6 Sol: New Top-Tier Model Family: GPT-5.6 Sol, Terra, and Luna launched publicly on July 9, 2026 after a limited partner preview beginning June 26. Sol sets a new SOTA on Terminal-Bench 2.1 at 88.8% and scores 53.6 on Agents' Last Exam, exceeding Claude Fable 5 by 13.1 points. Plus, Pro, Business, and Enterprise users access Sol via medium and higher effort settings in ChatGPT, and Pro and Enterprise also get GPT-5.6 Sol Pro for the highest-quality complex work. Earlier models remain available across all plans as a fallback.
- Image Generation (ChatGPT Images 2.0): Generates, edits, and remixes images from text prompts natively within ChatGPT (the Images 2.0 model, successor to DALL-E) on Go and above, with a thinking mode for higher-quality renders on Pro. It is the most widely used AI image generation tool, with over 500 million images created monthly.
- Codex with Record & Replay (Agentic Coding): Agentic coding tool powered by GPT-5.3 Codex that operates across the terminal, IDE, web, and GitHub, available on iOS and Android. Record & Replay (June 18, 2026) lets Plus, Pro, Business, and Enterprise users on macOS record a workflow once and replay it as a reusable automation skill without re-recording.
- Scheduled Tasks: A new Scheduled page (June 2026) lets users create reminders, recurring work, and monitoring tasks set for specific times or broad windows like 'morning' or 'evening.' Replaces the Pulse feature, with Pro users getting 14-day Pulse access during the transition.
- Computer Use (OSWorld 75%): GPT-5.4's OSWorld score of 75% exceeds the 72.4% human expert baseline, making ChatGPT the first commercial AI to autonomously operate computer interfaces above human-level performance.
- Memory Controls: Memory retains context across conversations for all paid users. Users can now delete individual memories, edit memory summaries through text input or highlighting, and turn memory off entirely. Temporary Chat mode prevents memory creation entirely.
- 60-Plus Application Connectors: Business and Enterprise users get native integrations with Slack, Google Drive, GitHub, OneDrive, and 60+ other apps, enabling ChatGPT to reference live organizational data in its responses.
- GPT-Live-1 Voice Mode and 1-800-CHATGPT: ChatGPT Voice, upgraded to GPT-Live-1 (paid users) and GPT-Live-1 mini (free users) on July 8, 2026, enables more natural back-and-forth speech with simultaneous listen-and-speak capability, streamed text responses alongside voice, web search within voice sessions, and memory recall. Available on iOS, Android, and web. 1-800-CHATGPT (US) allows phone-based AI interaction without an account, the first major AI telephone interface.
- ChatGPT Health: Health in ChatGPT rolled out to logged-in US users 18+ on web and iOS (July 23, 2026), connecting Apple Health, One Medical, Function Health, and Epic/Oracle Health medical records. It compares lab results over time, tracks medications, and summarizes changes since a prior appointment, but is not designed to diagnose or replace a clinician.
- ChatGPT Work (Autonomous Agentic Mode): ChatGPT Work, launched July 9, 2026, is an autonomous agent powered by GPT-5.6 that gathers information across connected apps and files, breaks complex jobs into steps, and completes them independently for hours, returning finished outputs such as spreadsheets, presentations, documents, and shareable web apps. Available on web and mobile for Pro, Enterprise, and Edu users at launch, with Plus and Business access following. On July 21, 2026, OpenAI launched a dedicated ChatGPT for Small Businesses program with virtual training webinars, in-person AI academies, and partner integrations with Dropbox, Shopify, Intuit, Slack, and Wix, as ChatGPT Work and Codex together crossed 10 million users.
- OpenAI Presence (Enterprise Agent Platform): Presence, launched July 22, 2026, lets enterprises deploy trusted voice and chat AI agents for customer and internal workflows with guardrails, simulations, and approved-action controls. It already resolves 75% of inbound calls on OpenAI's own English-language support line, with early customers including BBVA Mexico, SoftBank Corp, and Retail Insurance Australia.
Pros
- ChatGPT has the largest user base and richest third-party plugin ecosystem of any AI assistant, which translates into faster bug fixes and the broadest community support of any competitor.
- DALL-E image generation, Sora video generation, and Codex agentic coding are all native in a single interface, eliminating the need to switch between specialized tools for creative and technical tasks.
- ChatGPT's computer-use benchmark performance is the highest of any commercial AI assistant, and its newest model materially cuts hallucination rates compared to its predecessor.
Cons
- Heavy use of Deep Research, Sora, or the newest model quickly exhausts the Plus plan's limits, pushing power users toward a considerably pricier Pro subscription.
- Trustpilot shows 1.6/5 from 2,800+ reviews, driven by billing complaints, support access difficulties, and free-tier usage frustrations that OpenAI's customer operations have not resolved at scale.
- ChatGPT's top-tier API pricing at $5/$30 per million tokens is among the most expensive in the market; comparable quality from Claude Opus 4.8 at $5/$25 undercuts it, and smaller tasks are better served by cheaper models.
- OpenAI is shutting down the standalone ChatGPT Atlas browser on August 9, 2026, folding its agentic browsing features into ChatGPT and Codex instead; users must manually export Atlas bookmarks, cookies, and history before the cutoff since nothing migrates automatically.
Product Information
- Cloud
- Yes
- Self-Hosted
- No
- On-Premise
- No
- Languages
- English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Russian, Japanese, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Korean, Arabic, Hindi
- Training
- Help Center, API Documentation, Community Forum, Video tutorials, Webinars
Data Handling
- Training-data policy
- Business and Enterprise plans guarantee no training on organizational data. Free and Plus users' conversations may be used for model improvement by default, with an opt-out in settings.
- Data retention
- Zero retention
- Compliance
- SOC 2 Type II · HIPAA (ChatGPT for Healthcare + BAA) · GDPR · ISO 27001 · ISO 27017 · ISO 27018 · ISO 27701 · Zero Data Retention (Business/Enterprise)
Frequently Asked Questions
What are ChatGPT's pricing plans in 2026?
ChatGPT is free to start, with paid tiers for more usage. Go costs $8/month for extra volume, and Plus is the standard subscription for individuals with the full model suite and ad-free use. Pro costs $100 or $200/month depending on usage tier, while Business and Enterprise are priced per seat or custom-quoted for teams and large organizations.
Does ChatGPT have a free plan?
A permanent free tier exists at no cost, running a lightweight default model with message limits that reset on a rolling five-hour window, plus ads for users in the US. Upgrading is what unlocks the full model lineup, image generation, voice mode, and Deep Research.
What should you use instead of ChatGPT?
Claude stands out for long documents and coding accuracy, especially in large codebases. Gemini fits teams already living inside Google Workspace, with deeper Drive, Docs, and Calendar integration. Perplexity makes more sense for research that needs cited, real-time sources rather than a general-purpose assistant.
What separates ChatGPT from Claude?
ChatGPT wins on breadth: native image generation, voice mode, live web search, and the Codex coding agent all live in one subscription, something Claude does not match. Claude is generally considered stronger for complex, large-codebase coding work and carries a bigger context window for long documents. Both offer a free tier and a similarly priced entry paid plan, so an all-purpose tool versus a coding-focused one is really what's being decided.
How long does it take to get going with ChatGPT?
Go to chatgpt.com or download the mobile app and sign up with an email address or a Google or Microsoft account; the free tier asks for no payment details. Chatting starts right away, and Slack, Google Drive, and other app connections live under Settings once a paid plan is active. Moving to a higher tier for the full model suite, image generation, or higher usage limits takes a few clicks from account settings.
Top Alternatives
- Claude: Breadth wins the case for ChatGPT: images, voice, Codex, search. Coding depth and a larger context window win it for Claude.
- Gemini: The Codex agent and wider app ecosystem keep ChatGPT ahead; a 1M-token context window and Google Workspace integration keep Gemini in the picture.
- Perplexity: A generalist agent describes ChatGPT well; cited research and real-time answers describe Perplexity better.
- Cursor: General-purpose assistance is ChatGPT's lane; an AI-native IDE workflow is what draws developers to Cursor instead.
HokAI guides covering ChatGPT
- ChatGPT vs Grok in 2026: Pricing, Benchmarks and the Trust Gap: ChatGPT vs Grok compared on 2026 pricing, Grok 4.6 vs GPT-5.6 Sol benchmarks, real-time X data, and Grok's moderation record: which AI chatbot fits your work.
- Best AI Tools for Writing a Recommendation Letter in 2026: ChatGPT, Claude and Jotform compared for a recommendation letter: 2026 pricing, data privacy tradeoffs, and a verdict for one-off and high-volume writers.
- ChatGPT vs Kimi: Which Should You Use in 2026?: ChatGPT costs more but does more. Kimi scores higher on reasoning benchmarks and costs less per token, but its paid plans are sold out. The 2026 verdict.
- ChatGPT Use Cases in 2026: What It's Actually For Now: ChatGPT gained a work agent, health records and an 80% API price cut in eleven weeks. Here is what it is actually best for now, where a specialist wins.
- Best AI Assistant Apps for Android in 2026, Now That Google Assistant Is Dead: Google Assistant shut down on Android September 4, 2026. Here is how Gemini, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Copilot, Meta AI and Claude compare as its replacement.
- The Top AI Tools in 2026: How to Actually Choose One: ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor, Gemini, and Perplexity all cap out near $200 a month in 2026. A practical framework for matching the right AI tool to your actual job.