CLAUDE.md · price reverts to £5
| Feature | Claude (Anthropic) | ChatGPT / GPT-4o (OpenAI) |
|---|---|---|
| Latest model (May 2026) | Claude Sonnet 4.6 / Opus 4.7 | GPT-4o (May 2024) |
| Context window | 200,000 tokens (~150K words) | 128,000 tokens (~96K words) |
| Coding ability | Top-tier (SWE-bench leader) | Very good |
| Writing quality | Nuanced, less repetitive | Good, sometimes formulaic |
| Instruction-following | Excellent — sticks to constraints | Good |
| Extended thinking | ✓ Yes (shows reasoning) | ✗ No |
| Image input (vision) | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Image generation | ✗ No | ✓ DALL-E 3 |
| Web browsing (consumer) | ✓ Claude.ai Pro | ✓ ChatGPT Plus |
| Voice mode | ~ Basic | Advanced Voice Mode |
| Plugin / GPT ecosystem | ✗ No | ✓ Custom GPTs, thousands of plugins |
| Code interpreter | ✓ Yes (Artifacts) | ✓ Yes (Advanced Data Analysis) |
| Projects / memory | ✓ Projects on Claude.ai | ✓ Memory in ChatGPT |
| Safety approach | Constitutional AI (Anthropic) | RLHF + content policy |
| Free tier | ✓ Claude.ai (Haiku 4.5) | ✓ ChatGPT (GPT-4o mini) |
| Pro plan price | $20/mo (Claude Pro) | $20/mo (ChatGPT Plus) |
| API mid-tier price (input) | $3.00 / 1M tokens | $2.50 / 1M tokens |
| Prompt caching (API) | ✓ Up to 90% savings | ✗ Not available |
| Enterprise product | ✓ Claude for Teams | ✓ ChatGPT Enterprise |
| Plan | Price | Models Included | Key Features |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Free | $0 | Claude Haiku 4.5 (limited) | Basic chat, limited daily messages |
| Claude Pro | $20/mo | Claude Sonnet 4.6 (priority) | 5× usage, Projects, web search, Artifacts |
| Claude Team | $30/mo/seat | Sonnet 4.6 + Opus 4.7 | Team features, higher limits, admin controls |
| ChatGPT Free | $0 | GPT-4o mini | Basic chat, limited GPT-4o access |
| ChatGPT Plus | $20/mo | GPT-4o + o1 preview | DALL-E, voice, plugins, browsing |
| ChatGPT Team | $30/mo/seat | GPT-4o + o1 | Workspace, admin, higher limits |
| Model | Input (per 1M tok) | Output (per 1M tok) | Context |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | $0.80 | $4.00 | 200K |
| Claude Sonnet 4.6 Popular | $3.00 | $15.00 | 200K |
| Claude Opus 4.7 Best | $15.00 | $75.00 | 200K |
| GPT-4o mini | $0.15 | $0.60 | 128K |
| GPT-4o Popular | $2.50 | $10.00 | 128K |
Claude prompt caching drops effective input cost to ~10% for cached tokens. Use the Claude Cost Calculator for your workload estimate.
If you write code or work with large documents, Claude is the better choice in 2026. The 200K context, instruction-following reliability, and coding quality give it a clear edge for technical work. For consumer use — especially if you want image generation, voice conversations, or the ChatGPT plugin ecosystem — ChatGPT is a strong alternative. The good news: both have identical pricing at $20/month for their Pro plans, so you can try both before committing. For API usage, Claude's prompt caching makes it cheaper on repeated workloads even though its base price is slightly higher.
Is Claude better than ChatGPT?
For coding, long document analysis, and writing quality, yes — Claude generally outperforms ChatGPT. Claude's 200K context window, superior instruction-following, and cleaner code output give it an edge for developer and professional use. ChatGPT wins on image generation, voice mode, and the plugin ecosystem. Most developers who try both end up preferring Claude for technical work.
Is Claude free like ChatGPT?
Yes. Both Claude.ai and ChatGPT have free tiers. Claude's free tier uses Claude Haiku 4.5 with daily limits; ChatGPT's free tier uses GPT-4o mini. Both charge $20/month for their paid plans (Claude Pro and ChatGPT Plus) which unlock their best models with priority access.
What is the difference between Claude and ChatGPT?
Claude is built by Anthropic, a safety-focused AI company founded in 2021 by former OpenAI researchers. ChatGPT is built by OpenAI. Technically: Claude uses Constitutional AI for alignment and offers a 200K context window; ChatGPT uses RLHF and has a 128K context window. Claude has no image generation; ChatGPT has DALL-E 3. Both support vision, code execution, and web browsing on paid plans.
Which is better for writing: Claude or ChatGPT?
Claude is widely considered the better writing assistant. Its prose is more varied, less prone to repetitive phrasing ("Certainly! Here's…"), and better at following detailed style instructions. Claude maintains consistent voice across long documents and is excellent for editing, tone adjustment, and long-form content. For short-form content like social media posts, both are comparable.
Can ChatGPT generate images but Claude cannot?
Yes. ChatGPT Plus includes DALL-E 3 image generation directly in the chat interface. Claude does not have native image generation as of May 2026. If image creation is a core need, ChatGPT has a clear advantage. However, Claude can analyze and reason about images you share with it — just not generate new ones.
Is Claude safer than ChatGPT?
Both models have strong safety measures, but they take different approaches. Claude uses Constitutional AI — a framework where the model is trained to follow a set of principles about being helpful, harmless, and honest. Anthropic has published significant research on AI safety. ChatGPT uses RLHF (Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback) plus content policies. Claude tends to have more reliable refusals on genuinely harmful requests, while being less likely to refuse benign ones compared to earlier GPT models.