It’s hard to recommend the paid version of ChatGPT when ChatGPT Free offers a near equivalent experience for most people. Both use the latest GPT-4o model, which is fast, comprehensive and largely accurate. The main difference is that ChatGPT Free will revert back to the GPT-3.5 model if you’ve been asking it too many questions or if traffic is high. And ChatGPT Free doesn’t have access to the Dall-E 3 image generator. But for most people, is it really that big of a deal? Probably not.
Let’s compare the paid and free versions of ChatGPT side by side to see what the differences are and why paying $20 per month might be worth it for select power users, like writers, researchers or content creators.
ChatGPT Free vs. ChatGPT Plus: What does $20 get you?
ChatGPT Plus has two key advantages over its free counterpart: an always-online connection and unlimited access to GPT-4o. This means that if something isn’t in GPT-4o’s dataset, it can search the internet for an up-to-date answer. For example, a persistent online connection means that if you want to ask who the current prime minister of India is, ChatGPT Plus will answer the question all the time, whereas ChatGPT Free may answer it only sometimes.
This is because ChatGPT Free limits its use of GPT-4o. If you’ve asked too many questions or if traffic is high, ChatGPT Free downgrades back to the older GPT-3.5 model, which has information only up till January 2022. Though there isn’t an exact count as to how many questions it takes for ChatGPT Free to revert to GPT-3.5, in our testing it was a handful. According to the OpenAI website, Plus users can send 80 messages in a three-hour window on ChatGPT 4o, and 40 messages every three hours with GPT-4. Users on Reddit are reporting that as few as 10 questions forces a revert. ChatGPT Free will resume using the GPT-4o model after a few hours.
Apart from differences in available models, a paid subscription gets you access to the latest builds of ChatGPT, data analysis capabilities and a Dall-E 3-powered AI image generator. At the very least, ChatGPT Free does have image analysis capabilities, meaning you can upload an image and get comments on its details.
ChatGPT Plus has DALL-E image generation support, advanced data analysis and cutting-edge features, Free doesn’t
Apart from differences in available models, a paid subscription gets you access to the latest builds of ChatGPT, data analysis capabilities and access to a Dall-E 3-powered image generator. This means that you can actually create AI-generated images with ChatGPT Plus, whereas you can’t with ChatGPT Free. At the very least, ChatGPT Free does have image analysis capabilities, meaning you can upload an image and get comments on its details — but you can’t use it to bring your image ideas to life.
Likewise, both ChatGPT Free and Plus let you upload files for data analysis. But only the paid Plus tier lets you add files from cloud services OneDrive and Google Drive or create visualizations like charts and tables.
Enhanced data analysis in ChatGPT Plus versus the Free version is a great example of how users on the paid, premium tier get cutting-edge features. On the whole, most folks relying on ChatGPT casually should be fine with the no-cost plan, but power users like researchers, content creators or writers may want to spring for the premium version.
How do responses compare?
Considering that both ChatGPT Free and ChatGPT Plus use the latest GPT-4o model, responses to questions are nearly identical — assuming you haven’t hit your limit and gotten bumped back to ChatGPT 3.5 temporarily on the free plan. (Because of the nature of generative AI chatbots, responses to the same question aren’t identical. They generate novel responses each time.)
It’s when ChatGPT Free gets downgraded to GPT-3.5 that changes to response quality become evident. Typically, answers are less comprehensive and more robotic than with GPT-4o. It’s not that these answers are bad. They’re perfectly serviceable and still give you the information you need. But GPT-4o hits on more of the nuances in complex issues than GPT-3.5 does. Plus, GPT-4o has more natural-sounding responses.
Here are excerpts from attempts by GPT-4o and GPT-3.5 to generate a sci-fi short story.
ChatGPT-4o: “In the year 2147, the world had transformed into a landscape defined by the symbiosis of humans and artificial intelligence. The Great Accord of 2099 had seen the transfer of global governance to AI, an unprecedented move that promised impartiality, efficiency, and the end of human corruption.”
ChatGPT-3.5: “In the year 2150, humanity had embraced the full potential of artificial intelligence. What began as a tool to streamline processes and enhance productivity had evolved into something far more intricate — a guiding force shaping every aspect of society.”
The former excerpt plays with language more, like a writer would, finding ways to meld words rhythmically so that it reads with flow. The latter, by comparison, is generic and brusk.
The question is, Do you really care? If you’re simply looking to get questions answered, find inspiration or brainstorm, the free version of ChatGPT is serviceable. Unless you’re a writer or researcher asking lots of questions by the hour and feel you need the absolute best responses, it’s probably not worth forking over $20.
ChatGPT Free vs. ChatGPT Plus: Final thoughts
I really like ChatGPT Plus, but if I weren’t reviewing it, I probably wouldn’t pay the $20 per month to keep my subscription active. That’s because ChatGPT Free largely gets the job done. When it’s using GPT-4o, it’s pretty much on par with Plus. When it gets reverted down to GPT-3.5, responses are still good enough for the average internet user. And if I’m really underwhelmed by an answer, I’ll just wait a few hours for GPT-4o to get reenabled.
Since that’s the case, who’s the paid version of ChatGPT for? It’s for people who need to rely on a powerful word calculator on a daily basis. This can include writers, editors, researchers, content creators and marketers. It’s also for developers who need access to OpenAI’s APIs or for users who need an AI image generator. But if you’re an average internet user who’s getting tired of having to comb through a messy Google search, then stick to the free version.
