ChatGPT vs Claude: which one to use, task by task

Claude vs ChatGPT now comes down to details: both have a free plan, a $20 paid plan and a coding agent. Whether you are comparing the claude.ai vs ChatGPT apps for daily work or the two APIs for a product, this page lines them up on what each vendor publishes: plan names and prices, models, what each can make (text, images, code) and what it plugs into. Everything was checked against OpenAI's and Anthropic's own pages in October 2026. Where a vendor page did not state something, we left it out.

Short verdict: who should pick which

• You want images in the same chat: ChatGPT. It creates images on its plans. Anthropic's model docs list Claude's output as text only.
• You want the cheapest paid plan: ChatGPT Go at $8 a month. Claude's first paid plan, Pro, is $17 a month billed annually or $20 billed monthly.
• You want a coding agent without paying: ChatGPT. OpenAI includes Codex, with limited usage, on Free and Go. Claude Code starts at Claude Pro.
• You work with long files in the app: Claude. Anthropic lists a context window of up to 1M tokens on every plan, Free included, varying by model.
• You work in Microsoft Office: both reach it. ChatGPT has add-ins for Word, Excel and PowerPoint, limited on Free and Go. Claude Pro adds Claude for Microsoft 365 and Claude for Outlook.
• You write for a living: run the prompts below in both. Neither vendor publishes a writing score we could quote, and style is a matter of taste.

If you are also weighing Gemini, the three-way comparison of ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini has a pick-by-task table.

Feature table, from the vendors' own pages

Sources for every row are listed at the bottom. Model names change often; OpenAI's pricing page notes that GPT-5.5 retires from ChatGPT on October 14, 2026.

Which is better for writing, coding, research and images

Writing

Neither vendor publishes a writing score we could quote, so judge by workflow and by your own test. Claude Pro adds Claude Design, Slides and Docs, and lifts the Free plan's cap of five Projects, which keep drafts and references together. ChatGPT Plus has Projects and custom GPTs, which help when you reuse the same brief every week. Our advice is practical: paste one real brief into both and keep the draft you edit less. Our ChatGPT prompts and Claude prompts libraries have writing prompts that work in either.

Coding

Each side has a full coding agent. Codex runs in a terminal, an IDE extension, the ChatGPT desktop app and in the cloud, and its CLI is open source under Apache-2.0. Claude Code runs in the terminal, VS Code, JetBrains IDEs, a desktop app and the browser, and can be called from Slack or GitHub Actions. The deciding fact for many people is price: Codex works on ChatGPT Free and Go, while Claude Code needs Claude Pro or higher. Our Claude Code vs Codex comparison goes deeper, and the Claude Code prompt collection has tasks to try.

Research

ChatGPT Plus lists expanded deep research and an agent for longer jobs (ChatGPT Work) that can work across connected apps and files. Claude's Research feature starts at Pro and is missing from Free. For reading long files, Anthropic states a context window of up to 1M tokens on every plan, depending on the model. Inside ChatGPT, OpenAI's plan page lists 27K tokens on Free, 54K on Go and Plus (256K with reasoning models) and up to 400K on Pro, even though GPT-6 models take 1.05M tokens in the API.

Images

This one is clear. ChatGPT creates images, and OpenAI's pricing page notes that image generations use included limits about 3 to 5 times faster than text. Claude reads images you upload, but its models produce text. If images matter, look at ChatGPT, or at Gemini in our ChatGPT vs Gemini comparison.

Same prompt in both: run it and compare

We do not print sample outputs here, because answers change with every model update. Copy a prompt, fill the blanks, run it in ChatGPT and Claude, and judge the two answers side by side. Both prompts follow the style of our library.

I want you to act as an editor for [type of text, e.g. a cover letter]. Here is my draft: [paste draft]. My reader is [who will read it] and I want them to [action you want]. Rewrite it in plain English, keep it under [number] words, and list the three biggest changes you made and why.

I want you to act as a research assistant. Read the text below and answer three questions: what is the main claim, what evidence supports it, and what is missing. Quote the exact sentence for each point. Text: [paste article or report]

Score each answer on what you would keep without editing. The second prompt is a quick test of how closely each model sticks to the source text.

Pricing, plan by plan

Prices below are in US dollars as listed on each vendor's page in October 2026, before tax.

If you build on the API instead, the per-token rates line up closely at the top and middle of each range. OpenAI lists GPT-6 Astra at $10 input and $50 output per million tokens and GPT-6.1 Sol at $2 and $10. Anthropic lists Claude Fable 5.1 at $10 and $50, Opus 5.5 at $4 and $20 and Sonnet 5.5 at $2 and $10. The small models differ most: GPT-6 Luna is $0.10 and $0.50, Claude Haiku 4.5 is $1 and $5. One plan note: OpenAI paused new sign-ups for the $200 Pro tier on September 10, 2026; existing subscriptions are not affected.

FAQ

Is Claude better than ChatGPT?

It depends on the task. ChatGPT makes images, has a cheaper $8 plan and includes Codex on the free plan. Claude offers up to 1M tokens of context on every plan and adds Claude Code, Microsoft 365 and Outlook tools from Pro. For writing, test both with the same prompt.

Which is better for coding, Claude or ChatGPT?

Both ship an agent that edits files and runs commands: Claude Code and Codex. Codex is available on ChatGPT Free and Go and its CLI is open source. Claude Code needs Claude Pro or higher.

What is the difference between Claude and ChatGPT pricing?

Both charge $20 a month for the standard plan. ChatGPT also has Go at $8. Claude Pro drops to $17 a month on annual billing. Heavy-use plans start at $100 on both sides.

Can Claude generate images like ChatGPT?

No. Anthropic's model documentation lists text and image input with text output. ChatGPT creates images directly in chat.

Does the free version of Claude include Claude Code?

No. Claude's pricing page marks Claude Code as included from Pro upward.