Side-by-side comparison · AI Assistants & LLMs
ChatGPT vs Claude vs Poe
Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.
Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.
At a glance
Pick it if: Anyone who wants one general-purpose assistant that handles most everyday jobs.
Pick it if: Anyone who writes, researches or makes decisions for a living, plus anyone curious about Claude Code.
Pick it if: People who want to try lots of models without paying for several subscriptions.
Overview
| Attribute | ChatGPT | Claude | Poe |
|---|---|---|---|
| In one line | OpenAI's all-rounder: chat, images, voice, web search and agents in one app. | Anthropic's chat assistant, at its best on careful writing and long documents. | Quora's app for using hundreds of AI models and bots under one subscription. |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Freemium | Freemium |
| Starting price | $8/mo | $20/mo | $4.99/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Works with Claude Code | No | Yes | Yes |
Rating breakdown
Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.
| Attribute | ChatGPT | Claude | Poe |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 4.3 | 4.6Winner | 3.6 |
| Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it. | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.0 |
| FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together. | 5.0 | 4.5 | 4.0 |
| Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them. | 4.0 | 5.0 | 4.0 |
| Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan. | 4.0 | 4.5 | 2.5 |
| Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over. | 4.0 | 4.5 | 3.5 |
Feature comparison
A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.
| Attribute | ChatGPT | Claude | Poe |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop app | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Browser extension | Yes | Yes | No |
| API access | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Teams & business | |||
| Team workspace | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Enterprise plan or SSO | Yes | Yes | No |
| Connects to other apps | Yes | Yes | No |
| Open source or self-hosted | No | No | No |
| AI abilities | |||
| Works with your files | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Understands images | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Makes images | Yes | No | Yes |
| Makes video | No | No | Yes |
| Writes code | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Runs agents or automations | Yes | Yes | No |
| Learns your brand or style | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Works in many languages | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Capabilities score | 15/ 17 | 14/ 17 | 12/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | ChatGPT | Claude | Poe |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | Free Free Trying it out and everyday questions. | Free Free Trying it out and light daily use. | Free Free A quick look at the app. |
Go $8/mo Casual users who hit the free limits. | ProOur pick $20/mo, or $17/mo billed yearly Anyone who uses it most days. | Starter $4.99/mo Light daily use of cheaper models. | |
PlusOur pick $20/mo Anyone using it most days for work. | Max From $100/mo Heavy users and people living in Claude Code. | PremiumOur pick $19.99/mo, or $199.99/yr Regular users switching between top models. | |
Pro From $100/mo Heavy users and people living in Codex. | Team From $20/seat/mo billed yearly Businesses with 2 to 150 people. | Higher tiers $49.99 to $249.99/mo Heavy users of expensive models and video. | |
Business See website Teams from 2 people up. | |||
| Which plan to pick | The free plan is now good enough to use properly, so stay on it until the image, voice or research limits annoy you. Plus is the sensible upgrade. Only look at Pro if you run Codex or deep research all day, and read the current tier details first: Pro 200 now comes with a smaller allowance than it did before 29 September. | Start on Free to see if the writing suits you. Most people who stick with it move to Pro within a month; only go to Max if you hit the Pro limits every day or you're running Claude Code for hours at a time. | Premium at $19.99 is the plan to start on. Watch your points use for a fortnight; if you spend most of them on one model, switch to that company's own subscription instead. |
Key features
Pros and cons
| Attribute | ChatGPT | Claude | Poe |
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Who each one is for
| Attribute | ChatGPT | Claude | Poe |
|---|---|---|---|
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Questions people ask
Which is better, ChatGPT, Claude or Poe?
Claude scores highest overall in our ratings (ChatGPT 4.3/5, Claude 4.6/5 and Poe 3.6/5). ChatGPT is best for everyday questions and brainstorming and making and editing images in the chat. Claude is best for long-form writing and editing and reading and summarising long documents. Poe is best for trying many models in one place and comparing answers from different models.
Which is cheaper, ChatGPT, Claude or Poe?
ChatGPT: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $8/mo. Claude: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $20/mo. Poe: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $4.99/mo.
How we compare
Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability.
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