Side-by-side comparison · AI Assistants & LLMs
ChatGPT vs Grok 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 who follow news, trends or public sentiment closely and want an assistant hooked into X.
Pick it if: Anyone who researches as part of their job and is sick of having ten tabs open.
Overview
| Attribute | ChatGPT | Grok | Perplexity |
|---|---|---|---|
| In one line | OpenAI's all-rounder: chat, images, voice, web search and agents in one app. | Elon Musk's AI assistant, plugged into what people are posting on X right now. | 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 | $8/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 | Grok | Perplexity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 4.3Winner | 3.7 | 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 | 4.0 | 3.5 |
| Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them. | 4.0 | 3.5 | 4.5 |
| Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan. | 4.0 | 3.0 | 4.0 |
| Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over. | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.5 |
Feature comparison
A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.
| Attribute | ChatGPT | Grok | Perplexity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Desktop app | Yes | No | Yes |
| Browser extension | Yes | No | 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 | No | 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 | No | No |
| Works in many languages | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Capabilities score | 16/ 17 | 12/ 17 | 15/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | ChatGPT | Grok | Perplexity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | Free Free Trying it out and everyday questions. | Free Free Trying it and occasional questions. | Free Free Everyday questions and quick fact-checks. |
Go $8/mo Casual users who hit the free limits. | Plus $8/mo X users who want a bit of Grok on the side. | 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. | PremiumOur pick $30/mo Anyone who uses Grok most days. | 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. | Super $100/mo Heavy users who want priority at busy times. | Enterprise See website Teams that need admin controls and data protection. | |
Business See website Teams from 2 people up. | Ultra $200/mo Power users running agents all day. | ||
Teams From $30/user/mo Businesses that want pooled usage and admin controls. | |||
| 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. | If you already pay for X Premium, you now get Grok in the same subscription, so start there. Premium at $30 is the real Grok plan. The $100 and $200 tiers are only worth it if you're generating video or running agents constantly. | 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 | Grok | Perplexity |
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Pros and cons
| Attribute | ChatGPT | Grok | Perplexity |
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Who each one is for
| Attribute | ChatGPT | Grok | Perplexity |
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Questions people ask
Which is better, ChatGPT, Grok or Perplexity?
ChatGPT scores highest overall in our ratings (ChatGPT 4.3/5, Grok 3.7/5 and Perplexity 4.2/5). ChatGPT is best for everyday questions and brainstorming and making and editing images in the chat. Grok is best for tracking what's trending right now and gauging how people are reacting to news. Perplexity is best for fact-checking and quick research and competitor and market research.
Which is cheaper, ChatGPT, Grok or Perplexity?
ChatGPT: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $8/mo. Grok: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $8/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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