ChatGPT vs Grok

ChatGPT (OpenAI) and Grok (xAI) are both general assistants with free access and paid upgrades. Grok's public plans page did not show prices without signing in.

Quick verdict by use case

There is no single winner. These picks are based on what each official pricing page lists; try both on your own task before paying.

Pricing and free tier, side by side

ChatGPTGrok
What it doesOpenAI's general-purpose AI chat assistant for questions, writing, files, images and voice.xAI's AI assistant, available on grok.com, in the Grok apps and in X.
Is it actually free?Free tier with limitsFree tier with limits
Free plan limitsFree plan: unlimited everyday text chats (subject to abuse guardrails), with limited file uploads, image creation, voice chats, deep research, memory and Codex access.Grok says it is free to try on the web and in the apps; SuperGrok and SuperGrok Heavy add higher limits. Specific free limits and prices were not shown without signing in.
PricingFree; Go $8/month; Plus $20/month; Pro from $100/month; Business and Enterprise plans priced per user.Check pricing: SuperGrok and SuperGrok Heavy subscriptions; prices were not visible on the public plans page without signing in.
Best forEveryday questions, drafting, summarizing documents and voice chats on web and phone.Quick answers, image and video generation, and topics being discussed on X.
Not great forAnything where a wrong answer is costly without checking sources yourself.Anyone who needs a published price list before signing up.
Last checked2026-10-132026-10-13

Official site: chatgpt.com ↗ Official site: grok.com ↗

Strengths and weaknesses

ChatGPT

Good for: Everyday questions, drafting, summarizing documents and voice chats on web and phone.

Not great for: Anything where a wrong answer is costly without checking sources yourself.

Grok

Good for: Quick answers, image and video generation, and topics being discussed on X.

Not great for: Anyone who needs a published price list before signing up.

Real plays using these tools

Other options

AssistantsFree tier with limits

Claude

Anthropic's AI assistant for writing, analysis, long documents and coding help.

Free? Free plan ($0): chat on web, desktop and mobile, web search, file creation and code execution, memory, connectors and Artifacts. Claude Code is not in…

AssistantsFree tier with limits

Gemini

Google's AI assistant, built into the Gemini app and Google's apps.

Free? Free ($0 with a Google Account): Gemini app with a Flash-Lite model, image generation and editing, Deep Research, Gemini Live, Canvas and Gems. Paid p…

Research & searchFree tier with limits

Perplexity

An AI answer engine that searches the web and cites its sources.

Free? Free plan: use the automatic 'Best' model in Search plus a limited number of Pro Searches; you cannot pick advanced models manually.

AssistantsFree tier with limits

Microsoft Copilot

Microsoft's AI assistant, free on the web and phone, and built into Microsoft 365 apps on paid plans.

Free? A free Copilot chat exists; Microsoft's plan page describes paid plans as having 'higher usage than free' but does not list exact free limits.

More comparisons

Sources

Last checked 2026-10-13 · No benchmark scores: we only compare what the official pages state. · How we verify · Report an error