ChatGPT

0:03 ChatGPT is OpenAI's AI assistant, and yes, it is free: the Free plan has unlimited everyday text chats on GPT-6 (with abuse guardrails) and limited uploads, images, voice and deep research, while paid plans are Go at $8 a month in the US, Plus at $20 and Pro at $100, $200 or $500, as of Nov 6, 2026. OpenAI said on Oct 7, 2026 that more than 1.2 billion people use ChatGPT each week. Its chat runs on GPT-6 (GPT-6 Sol on paid plans, GPT-6 Luna on Free and Go), and the flagship GPT-6 Astra and GPT-6.1 Sol power its agent workspace, ChatGPT Work, and the coding agent Codex.

1:07 ChatGPT is the safe default for an all-round assistant: chat, search, images, voice, files, agents and coding in one app, on the web, iOS, Android and desktop. Pick something else when a specific job matters more than breadth: Claude leads the coding leaderboards read on Nov 6, 2026, Gemini holds the top two places on LMArena's text leaderboard and bundles 5 TB of Google storage, and Microsoft Copilot lives inside Word and Excel. The Best AI Chatbot guide compares them task by task.

Learn more: ChatGPT on chatgpt.vi.ki

Quick facts

Is ChatGPT free?

Yes. The Free plan gives unlimited everyday text chats with GPT-6, subject to abuse guardrails, plus limited file uploads, image creation, voice chats, deep research, memory and Codex, and limited ChatGPT Work in the desktop app. Its instant model has a 27K-token context window, against 54K on Go and Plus and 128K on Pro. OpenAI began testing ads for Free and Go users in the US on Feb 9, 2026; Plus, Pro, Business and Enterprise stay ad-free.

Plans and prices

Prices as of Nov 6, 2026. Go, Plus and Pro are billed monthly only; there is no annual discount. OpenAI added the $500 tier on Sep 29, 2026, and on Pro 500 the "Ultrafast" speed for GPT-6 Astra and GPT-6.1 Sol uses the plan's allowance 8 times faster than Standard. API use is billed separately.

Models

0:03 GPT-6 Astra is OpenAI's top model, released on Sep 3, 2026 first to customers of its Daybreak cybersecurity program and then to paid plans. TechCrunch reported that it uses a reasoning technique, "opaque recurrence," that can make its chain of thought harder for researchers to monitor. GPT-6 Sol and GPT-6 Luna followed on Sep 22, 2026 as cheaper models, and GPT-6.1 Sol on Sep 29. In the chat itself, "GPT-6" means GPT-6 Sol on Plus, Pro, Business and Enterprise and GPT-6 Luna on Free and Go, tuned for conversation. GPT-6.1 Sol is offered in ChatGPT Work and Codex, not in Chat. On Sep 28, 2026, CNBC reported that OpenAI dropped plans to release an upcoming model over safety concerns.

Features

Intelligent UI. Since the Oct 7, 2026 GPT-6 update, ChatGPT can answer with charts, tappable buttons, forms, maps and small interactive tools, such as a bill splitter, inside the conversation, and it starts answering while it is still thinking.

3:56 ChatGPT Work and Codex. ChatGPT Work is the agent workspace for longer, multi-step jobs, and Codex is OpenAI's coding agent. Both are included in every plan, with usage that grows by tier: on Plus, OpenAI estimates 5 to 45 GPT-6 Astra messages every five hours in Codex, and Pro plans have no five-hour limit.

Deep research, images and voice. Deep research writes cited reports from many web pages; image creation is built in, and Pro gets unlimited and faster image creation; voice chats come with every plan at different limits.

0:43 Memory, projects and custom GPTs. ChatGPT can remember past chats, group work into projects, run scheduled tasks and use custom GPTs and plugins. Projects, tasks and custom GPTs start at Go, per OpenAI's help center.

ChatGPT vs the alternatives

Claude is the pick for coding and long agent work: Claude Opus 5.5 is first on LMArena's WebDev leaderboard (as of Oct 27, 2026) and first on Terminal-Bench 4.0 (read Nov 6, 2026), where GPT-6 Astra and GPT-6.1 Sol tie for third. Its Pro plan costs the same $20.

Gemini leads the general text ranking: Gemini 4 Carbon and Gemini 4 Argon are first and second on LMArena Text (as of Oct 27, 2026). Google AI Pro, $19.99 a month, adds 5 TB of storage and Gemini in Gmail and Docs.

Microsoft Copilot suits people who live in Word, Excel and Outlook; it comes with Microsoft 365 Personal at $9.99 a month.

Perplexity is built around search with cited sources, though on LMArena's Search leaderboard (as of Oct 13, 2026) OpenAI's GPT-5.6 Sol shares first place with Alibaba's Qwen3.8-Max.

Privacy and data

On consumer plans (Free, Go, Plus and Pro), OpenAI says your content is used to train its models, with an opt-out in Data Controls. See AI Privacy Compared for every major assistant side by side.

Frequently asked questions

Is ChatGPT free? Yes. ChatGPT's Free plan has unlimited everyday text chats on GPT-6 (GPT-6 Luna) with limited uploads, images, voice and deep research, as of Nov 6, 2026. In the US, Free users may see ads.

How much is ChatGPT Plus? ChatGPT Plus costs $20 a month, billed monthly only, as of Nov 6, 2026. It adds GPT-6 Sol and GPT-6 Astra, reasoning models, projects and more Codex use.

What is the difference between ChatGPT Pro 100, 200 and 500? All three ChatGPT Pro tiers include Pro reasoning, Codex and Dot; each step up includes more usage, and only Pro 500 ($500 a month) includes Ultrafast speed for GPT-6 Astra and GPT-6.1 Sol.

What model does ChatGPT use now? Since Oct 7, 2026, ChatGPT's chat uses GPT-6: GPT-6 Sol on paid plans and GPT-6 Luna on Free and Go. GPT-6 Astra, OpenAI's most capable model, is available to paid plans in ChatGPT Work and Codex.

Does ChatGPT have ads? ChatGPT shows ads only on the Free and Go plans, which OpenAI began testing in the US in Feb 2026. Plus, Pro, Business and Enterprise are ad-free.

Is ChatGPT better than Claude or Gemini? ChatGPT has the broadest set of tools, but as of late Oct 2026 Claude Opus 5.5 led the coding leaderboards and Gemini 4 Carbon led LMArena's text leaderboard. The Best AI Chatbot guide gives a verdict per task.

Sources

• Plans and Pricing, ChatGPT, read Nov 6, 2026
• About ChatGPT Pro tiers, OpenAI Help Center, read Nov 6, 2026
• What is ChatGPT Plus?, OpenAI Help Center, read Nov 6, 2026
• What is ChatGPT Go?, OpenAI Help Center, read Nov 6, 2026
• Codex pricing, OpenAI, read Nov 6, 2026
• Introducing ChatGPT Go, now available worldwide, OpenAI, Jan 16, 2026
• GPT-6 and Intelligent UI for everyone, OpenAI, Oct 7, 2026
• Introducing GPT-6 Sol and Luna, OpenAI, Sep 22, 2026
• Introducing ChatGPT, OpenAI, Nov 30, 2022
• OpenAI launches Astra, its powerful (and controversial) new model, TechCrunch, Sep 3, 2026
• ChatGPT rolls out ads, TechCrunch, Feb 9, 2026
• OpenAI abandons plan to release upcoming model as safety concerns escalate, CNBC, Sep 28, 2026
• Text leaderboard, WebDev leaderboard and Search leaderboard, LMArena, read Nov 6, 2026
• Terminal-Bench 4.0 leaderboard, Terminal-Bench, read Nov 6, 2026
• Compare Microsoft 365 plans, Microsoft, read Nov 6, 2026
• Google Meet's Gemini-powered 'Take notes for me' comes to Google AI Pro, Ultra, 9to5Google, Jun 29, 2026
• Get started with ChatGPT Work, OpenAI, Jul 9, 2026 (video)
• Introducing GPT-6 Astra: the most intelligent and aligned model in the world., OpenAI, Sep 3, 2026 (video)