ChatGPT alternatives, compared on price and limits
Seven assistants you could use instead of ChatGPT, next to ChatGPT itself. One row each: what the free plan is, what the first paid plan costs, what a team seat costs and which features the vendor names.
The fact matrix
ChatGPT is the first row so you can read every alternative against it. Under each cell is the page we read and the date.
| Assistant | Free plan | First paid plan | Team or business seat | Features named on the page |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPTOpenAI · baseline | Yes, there is a Free plan at no charge chatgpt.com checked 2 Oct 2026 | Plus, US$20/month billed monthly (OpenAI help centre). The cheaper Go plan exists, but its US-dollar price is not verified: the help centre gives no figure, and the pricing page we could load showed the Australian price (A$13/month) and says Go may include ads help.openai.com checked 2 Oct 2026 | Business standard seat US$20/user/month billed annually, US$25 billed monthly; the help centre says pricing may vary by country. For 2 to 200 people help.openai.com checked 2 Oct 2026 | Projects, scheduled tasks and custom GPTs from Plus; image creation; voice; deep research chatgpt.com checked 1 Oct 2026 |
| ClaudeAnthropic | Yes, US$0 claude.com checked 1 Oct 2026 | Pro, US$20/month billed monthly, or US$17/month on the annual plan (US$200 up front) claude.com checked 1 Oct 2026 | Team standard seat US$20/seat/month billed annually, US$25 billed monthly; for 2 to 150 people claude.com checked 1 Oct 2026 | Artifacts, Projects (Pro), Claude Code (Pro), Claude in Chrome and Microsoft 365 (Pro) claude.com checked 1 Oct 2026 |
| GeminiGoogle | Yes, US$0/month with a Google Account gemini.google checked 2 Oct 2026 | Google AI Plus, US$4.99/month (2x the free usage limits, 400 GB storage); Google AI Pro is US$19.99/month (4x the free usage limits, 5 TB storage) gemini.google checked 2 Oct 2026 | Gemini Enterprise Business edition from US$21 per seat/month, up to 300 seats; Standard and Plus editions from US$30 per seat/month gemini.google checked 2 Oct 2026 | Gemini in Gmail, Docs and other Google apps on paid plans; cloud storage bundled with every tier gemini.google checked 1 Oct 2026 |
| Microsoft CopilotMicrosoft | Yes. Microsoft describes Microsoft Copilot (free) as available free of cost, for general questions and answers and web-based tasks, on the web, desktop and mobile apps and in Edge. support.microsoft.com checked 2 Oct 2026 | Microsoft 365 Personal, US$9.99/month, includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook with Copilot and 1 TB storage; Premium is US$19.99/month microsoft.com checked 1 Oct 2026 | Microsoft 365 Copilot Business add-on from US$18.00/user/month paid yearly (page shows it reduced from US$21.00); Business Standard with Copilot US$23.50/user/month paid yearly microsoft.com checked 1 Oct 2026 | Copilot inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams; Researcher and Analyst agents on Premium and Pro microsoft.com checked 1 Oct 2026 |
| Mistral (Vibe)Mistral AI | Yes, free tier on web and mobile mistral.ai checked 1 Oct 2026 | Pro, US$14.99/month excluding taxes mistral.ai checked 1 Oct 2026 | Team, US$24.99/user/month excluding taxes; up to 30 GB storage per user, domain verification, data export mistral.ai checked 1 Oct 2026 | More than 100 connectors listed on the free tier; pricing shown in USD or EUR mistral.ai checked 1 Oct 2026 |
| GrokxAI | Not verified The product page offers 'Try for free'; terms not stated x.ai tried 2 Oct 2026 | SuperGrok Lite US$10/month; SuperGrok US$30/month; SuperGrok Heavy US$300/month. Read from the price elements on grok.com/plans with the annual toggle off. grok.com checked 2 Oct 2026 | Not verified A Business tab exists; price not shown grok.com tried 2 Oct 2026 | Live web and X search with citations, image and video generation, voice conversations, file and PDF analysis x.ai checked 1 Oct 2026 |
| DeepSeekDeepSeek | Not verified Web chat and apps are offered; the site shows no consumer price list deepseek.com tried 1 Oct 2026 | Not verified No consumer subscription listed; API pricing is published separately deepseek.com tried 1 Oct 2026 | Not verified None listed deepseek.com tried 1 Oct 2026 | DeepThink and Search modes shown on the site; the web chat asks you to sign in before chatting deepseek.com checked 1 Oct 2026 |
| PerplexityPerplexity AI | Not verified Not verified perplexity.ai tried 2 Oct 2026 | Not verified Not verified perplexity.ai tried 2 Oct 2026 | Not verified Not verified perplexity.ai tried 2 Oct 2026 | Not verified Not verified perplexity.ai tried 2 Oct 2026 |
Scroll the table sideways to see every column.
About the currencies. Vendor pages were read on 1 and 2 October 2026 from a connection in Australia. Where a vendor shows local prices, we took the US-dollar figure from its United States page or its help centre and link to that page. Where we could not read a US-dollar price, the cell says so and names the currency we saw. Prices in other countries can differ.
Who each one suits, and who it does not
These lines are drawn only from the facts in the matrix. We have not run our own tests of answer quality, so nothing here ranks the assistants on how good their answers are.
ChatGPTSource: chatgpt.com
- Best for
- The baseline. Its free plan lists unlimited text chats, so the reasons to switch are the limits on everything else.Based on: free-plan limits
- Not ideal for
- People who want a cheap ad-free tier: the plan below Plus is the one the vendor says may include ads.Based on: first paid plan
ClaudeSource: claude.com
- Best for
- Getting file creation and code execution without paying: both are listed on the free plan.Based on: free-plan limits
- Not ideal for
- Anyone who needs a published free message allowance to plan around: the page only says usage limits apply.Based on: free-plan limits
GeminiSource: gemini.google
- Best for
- Households already paying Google for storage: the paid tiers bundle 400 GB to 5 TB with the assistant.Based on: first paid plan, listed features
- Not ideal for
- A small team that only wants a few chat seats at consumer prices: the business edition starts at US$21 a seat.Based on: team seat
Microsoft CopilotSource: microsoft.com
- Best for
- People who live in Word, Excel and Outlook: the assistant comes inside the Microsoft 365 subscription.Based on: first paid plan, listed features
- Not ideal for
- Buyers who only want a chat assistant: every paid tier on the page is a Microsoft 365 bundle.Based on: first paid plan
Mistral (Vibe)Source: mistral.ai
- Best for
- A standalone assistant with a paid plan under US$15 a month: Pro is listed at US$14.99.Based on: first paid plan
- Not ideal for
- Heavy free use: messages, web searches and coding sessions are all described as limited.Based on: free-plan limits
GrokSource: x.ai
- Best for
- Questions about what is happening right now: the product page leads with live web and X search.Based on: listed features
- Not ideal for
- A low-cost paid step: the listed plans run from US$10 to US$300 a month.Based on: first paid plan
DeepSeekSource: deepseek.com
- Best for
- Trying a reasoning mode and search from the web chat once you have signed in.Based on: listed features
- Not ideal for
- A business that needs a team plan with listed terms: none is published on the site.Based on: team seat
PerplexitySource: perplexity.ai
- Best for
- Not assessed. The vendor's pricing and help pages blocked our reader on the day we checked, so we publish nothing about it rather than repeat second-hand figures.
- Not ideal for
- Not assessed.
How to choose from this table
Start with what you are missing in ChatGPT. ChatGPT's own free plan lists unlimited text chats, with limits on uploads, images, voice and research. If text chat is all you use, a switch will not save you money. If you keep hitting the upload or image limits, look at what the alternative's free plan includes.
Then look at where you already pay. Microsoft and Google both sell their assistant inside a wider subscription: Microsoft 365 Personal bundles the Office apps and 1 TB of storage, Google AI Plus bundles 400 GB. If you already pay for either, the assistant may cost you little extra.
For a team, compare the seat price and the minimum size. ChatGPT Business and Claude Team both start at two people. Microsoft's Copilot Business price is an add-on to a Microsoft 365 plan and is listed for annual subscriptions.
Treat not verified as a reason to check, not a mark against the product. It means the vendor page did not show us the figure on the day.
Next: the free plans side by side, or AI tools by small-business task.
Questions people ask
What is the cheapest paid alternative to ChatGPT?
Among the plans we could read on 1 and 2 October 2026, Google AI Plus was listed at US$4.99 a month and Microsoft 365 Personal at US$9.99 a month. Mistral Pro was US$14.99 and Claude Pro US$20 billed monthly. These are United States prices; check the vendor page from your own country, because local prices can differ.
Is there a ChatGPT alternative with a free plan?
Yes. Claude, Gemini and Mistral each list a free plan on their pricing page. Their limits are described in words rather than message counts, which is why the free-plan comparison has its own page.
Which alternative suits a small team?
Claude Team is listed at US$20 per seat a month on annual billing for 2 to 150 people, Mistral Team at US$24.99 per user, and Microsoft 365 Copilot Business from US$18 per user a month paid yearly as an add-on. ChatGPT Business itself is US$20 per standard seat on annual billing.
Why do some cells say not verified?
We only publish what we could read on the vendor page on the checked date. Perplexity blocked our reader, and DeepSeek publishes no consumer price list. We left those cells marked rather than fill them from other websites.