Side-by-side comparison · AI Assistants & LLMs
ChatGPT vs Google Gemini vs Perplexity
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: People whose work already runs on Gmail, Google Workspace or an Android phone.
Pick it if: Anyone who researches as part of their job and is sick of having ten tabs open.
Overview
| Attribute | ChatGPT | Google Gemini | Perplexity |
|---|---|---|---|
| In one line | OpenAI's all-rounder: chat, images, voice, web search and agents in one app. | Google's assistant, built into Gmail, Docs, Drive and Android phones. | Ask a question and get a short answer from the web, with links to every source. |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Freemium | Freemium |
| Starting price | $8/mo | $4.99/mo | $20/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Works with Claude Code | No | No | Yes |
Rating breakdown
Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.
| Attribute | ChatGPT | Google Gemini | Perplexity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 4.3Winner | 4.2 | 4.2 |
| Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it. | 4.5 | 4.0 | 4.5 |
| FeaturesHow completely it covers the job it's built for, and how well the pieces fit together. | 5.0 | 4.5 | 3.5 |
| Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them. | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.5 |
| Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan. | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over. | 4.0 | 4.5 | 4.5 |
Feature comparison
A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.
| Attribute | ChatGPT | Google Gemini | Perplexity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop app | Yes | No | Yes |
| Browser extension | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| API access | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Teams & business | |||
| Team workspace | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Enterprise plan or SSO | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Connects to other apps | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| 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 | Yes | Yes |
| Makes video | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Writes code | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Runs agents or automations | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Learns your brand or style | Yes | Yes | No |
| Works in many languages | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Capabilities score | 16/ 17 | 15/ 17 | 15/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | ChatGPT | Google Gemini | Perplexity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | Free Free Trying it out and everyday questions. | Free Free Light use and seeing how it feels. | Free Free Everyday questions and quick fact-checks. |
Go $8/mo Casual users who hit the free limits. | Google AI Plus $4.99/mo Casual users who want Gemini in Gmail and more storage. | ProOur pick $20/mo, or $17/mo billed yearly Anyone who researches as part of their job. | |
PlusOur pick $20/mo Anyone using it most days for work. | Google AI ProOur pick $19.99/mo Anyone who works in Google Workspace every day. | Max $200/mo, or $167/mo billed yearly Power users running the Computer agent all day. | |
Pro From $100/mo Heavy users and people living in Codex. | Google AI Ultra From $99.99/mo Heavy creative and agent users. | Enterprise See website Teams that need admin controls and data protection. | |
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 because they keep changing. | Skip the free plan for anything serious now that it's Flash-Lite only. AI Pro is the one to buy: it's the cheapest way to get Gemini 4 Argon plus Gemini in Docs and Gmail, and the 5 TB of storage offsets a Google One bill. Ultra is for people generating video all day. | Start free and see how often you hit the Pro search limit. If you research most days, Pro pays for itself in saved tabs. Max only makes sense if you're using the Computer agent heavily enough to burn through the credits. |
Key features
| Attribute | ChatGPT | Google Gemini | Perplexity |
|---|---|---|---|
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Pros and cons
| Attribute | ChatGPT | Google Gemini | Perplexity |
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Who each one is for
| Attribute | ChatGPT | Google Gemini | Perplexity |
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Questions people ask
Which is better, ChatGPT, Google Gemini or Perplexity?
ChatGPT scores highest overall in our ratings (ChatGPT 4.3/5, Google Gemini 4.2/5 and Perplexity 4.2/5). ChatGPT is best for everyday questions and brainstorming and making and editing images in the chat. Google Gemini is best for searching and summarising your Gmail and drafting in Google Docs. Perplexity is best for fact-checking and quick research and competitor and market research.
Which is cheaper, ChatGPT, Google Gemini or Perplexity?
ChatGPT: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $8/mo. Google Gemini: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $4.99/mo. Perplexity: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $20/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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