ChatGPT

What it is

ChatGPT is OpenAI's general-purpose AI assistant, available on the web, desktop and mobile apps. It handles conversation, writing, analysis, coding help, image creation and web-connected research in one interface. It is often the first AI tool people try, and its range of features has grown into something closer to a personal workspace than a simple chatbot.

Key features

• Chat and writing: drafting, editing, summarising, translating and brainstorming across a wide range of topics.
• Reasoning models: paid plans add OpenAI's advanced "thinking" models for harder analytical, maths and coding problems.
• ChatGPT Images: image creation and editing in conversation, available on all tiers. OpenAI's help centre says it can add text, edit uploaded images and make backgrounds transparent. The official DALL·E GPT was retired on 30 August 2026.
• Deep research: multi-step web research that produces a report with sources, with allowances that grow on higher plans.
• Projects, memory and custom GPTs: ways to keep context, files and instructions together for recurring work.
• Codex: OpenAI's coding agent, with expanded usage on paid plans.
• Study Mode: a guided-learning mode that uses questions, hints and quizzes, available across plans according to OpenAI's help centre.
• Voice and file uploads: spoken conversation and analysis of documents, spreadsheets and images, with plan-based limits.
• Privacy controls: you can turn off "Improve the model for everyone" in Data controls, and use Temporary Chat for conversations that do not appear in history or train models.

Pricing (verified October 2026)

According to OpenAI's announcements and help centre, individual ChatGPT plans in the US are:

• Free: $0, with limited access to advanced features.
• Go: $8/month in the US (localised pricing in some markets), with higher limits for messages, uploads and images than Free.
• Plus: $20/month, adding advanced reasoning models, expanded deep research and Codex, and no ads.
• Pro: three monthly tiers at $100, $200 or $500/month. OpenAI says Pro is billed monthly only and that the $500 tier is the only one including its "Ultrafast" option. A September 2026 help-centre update notes that new Pro 200 subscriptions have a lower usage allowance than before, at the same price.

Business and Enterprise plans are also available; check the official site for current pricing. OpenAI has said it plans to test ads in the Free and Go tiers in the US, while Plus, Pro, Business and Enterprise remain ad-free. OpenAI does not publish fixed message counts for most features, so limits can vary.

Who it's for

• Individuals who want one assistant for writing, questions, learning and occasional images.
• Professionals who need reasoning models, file analysis and research reports.
• Students, especially with Study Mode, provided they follow their institution's rules.
• Developers who want a chat assistant plus the Codex agent under one subscription.

Pros

• Very broad feature set in a single product, from chat to images to coding.
• Generous free tier for everyday use.
• Low-cost Go plan offers a middle step before Plus.
• Mature apps on web, desktop, iOS and Android.
• Clear user-facing controls for training opt-out and temporary chats.

Cons

• Usage limits for many features are not published as fixed numbers, which makes planning harder.
• Pricing and allowances change often, as the 2026 Pro adjustments show.
• Ads are being introduced on the Free and Go tiers in the US.
• Like all large language models, it can produce confident errors; facts need checking.
• Pro tiers are expensive and monthly-only.

Alternatives on AIMAPER

• Claude: strong for long documents and writing, with Claude Code included on paid plans.
• Google Gemini: deep integration with Google apps and bundled storage.
• Microsoft Copilot: best if you live in Word, Excel and Outlook.
• Perplexity: answer engine focused on cited web research.

Compare them in our best AI chatbots category, or see AI writing tools for specialist options.

Bottom line

ChatGPT remains one of the most complete general AI assistants available. The free tier suits casual use, Go is a sensible low-cost upgrade for people who hit limits, and Plus is the default choice for daily professional use. Consider Pro only if you have heavy, sustained workloads. Whatever plan you choose, set your data controls and verify important facts before relying on them.