ChatGPT

Large-scale language model chatbot developed by OpenAI, one of the most popular AI tools in the world

large language model

https://chatgpt.com/

Visit Website

In-depth Report

ChatGPT is a large-scale language model chatbot developed by the artificial intelligence research laboratory OpenAI and will be officially released in November 2022. ChatGPT has quickly become one of the most popular AI tools in the world with its powerful natural language understanding and generation capabilities, with more than 200 million monthly active users as of 2026. The product offers multi-level subscription plans from free to professional level, with the most popular Plus version priced at $20 per month, which provides access to the GPT-5 series of models, image generation and in-depth research capabilities. As a benchmark product in the field of AI chatbots, ChatGPT performs well in a variety of scenarios such as writing assistance, code development, data analysis, and customer support, but it also has controversy over factual illusions and data privacy.
ChatGPT was developed by OpenAI, an artificial intelligence research company based in San Francisco, USA, co-founded in 2015 by Sam Altman, Elon Musk and others. OpenAI's mission is to ensure that general artificial intelligence benefits all mankind. The company has received billions of dollars in investment from Microsoft and is currently valued at more than $150 billion. ChatGPT is developed based on the large-scale language model of the Transformer architecture. The initial version used the GPT-3.5 model, and subsequently evolved to the GPT-4o and GPT-5 series. On November 30, 2022, OpenAI officially released ChatGPT. The product exceeded 1 million users within 5 days after its release, and exceeded 100 million monthly active users within 2 months, becoming the fastest-growing consumer application in history. Since then, OpenAI has successively launched ChatGPT iOS/Android applications, desktop applications, API interfaces, etc., forming a complete ecosystem. In 2025, OpenAI released the GPT-5 series, further improving model capabilities. In January 2026, OpenAI launched ChatGPT Go, a mid-priced subscription plan priced at $8/month, becoming the fastest-growing subscription product in the company’s history.
The core function of ChatGPT is to help users complete various tasks through natural language dialogue, including text writing, information query, knowledge interpretation, code writing, etc. The product supports multi-platform use, including web, mobile (iOS/Android) and desktop (Windows/Mac). In terms of model capabilities, ChatGPT Plus subscribers have access to the GPT-5.3 model, which offers significant improvements in inference accuracy, creative writing, and complex problem processing. The GPT-5 series introduces the "thinking" mode, which allows the model to conduct more in-depth reasoning before answering, and is suitable for scenarios such as mathematical proofs, complex coding, and multi-step analysis. All subscription versions support the "memory" function. ChatGPT can review past conversations and provide more personalized services. Image generation is a special feature of ChatGPT Plus and above. The built-in DALL-E 3 image generation model allows users to generate images directly in the conversation. According to reviews, the Plus package is more cost-effective than independent image generation tools such as Midjourney. The in-depth research function is exclusive to the Plus and Pro versions, allowing ChatGPT to conduct longer web searches and information integration, suitable for academic research and business analysis. The file upload and analysis function supports users to upload PDF, Excel, Word and other files, and ChatGPT can directly interpret and analyze the file content. In terms of integration ecosystem, ChatGPT supports integration with thousands of applications, including mainstream tools such as Zapier, Slack, Notion, HubSpot, Salesforce, and Google Workspace. Enterprise users can integrate ChatGPT into internal systems via API to automate workflows.
ChatGPT provides multi-level subscription plans to meet the needs of different user groups. The free version is positioned as an entry-level experience. Users can access the GPT-5 mini model. Its functions include basic conversations and simple questions and answers, but it has strict usage limits, slower response speed during peak periods, and cannot use image generation and in-depth research functions. New in January 2026, ChatGPT Go is a mid-priced option priced at $8/month that provides access to the GPT-5.2 Instant model, expanded usage limits and memory capabilities, and improved image generation capabilities. This version is targeted at regular users who use ChatGPT regularly but don't need the latest model. ChatGPT Plus is the most popular subscription version, priced at $20/month, and provides access to the GPT-5.3 model, priority access during peak periods, faster response times, full image generation capabilities, in-depth research capabilities, and file upload analytics. Ideal for professionals who rely on ChatGPT every day, including writers, developers, and researchers. ChatGPT Pro is positioned for the highest performance and is priced at $200/month, which is 10 times the price of Plus. This version provides access to GPT-5.3 Pro mode, which allows models to take more time to process before responding, and provides unlimited message generation quotas. Ideal for researchers and scientists who need to perform complex reasoning. ChatGPT Business, formerly known as ChatGPT Team, is priced at US$30/person/month and requires a minimum of 2 seats. Offers all Plus features plus shared workspaces, administrator access controls, enhanced security features, higher usage limits, and priority support. Suitable for small teams of 2-10 people, billed annually. ChatGPT Enterprise custom pricing, no public sale price. Offers single sign-on, advanced administrative controls, data storage options, unlimited context windows, and dedicated support. Ideal for large enterprises deploying AI to hundreds or thousands of employees.
Judging from the existing evaluation data, ChatGPT has received generally positive reviews. TechSifted gave ChatGPT an overall score of 4.7/5 in its April 2026 review, with reviewers believing that ChatGPT remains the best AI chatbot choice for most users in 2026. Positive user reviews mainly focus on the following aspects. First of all, the GPT-5 series models have excellent capabilities and perform impressively on various tasks. Secondly, DALL-E 3 image generation is built into the Plus package at no additional cost, making it more cost-effective than independent tools such as Midjourney. Third, the plug-in and integration ecosystem is huge, supporting integration with thousands of applications. Fourth, the price/performance ratio is high, and the $20/month Plus package has comprehensive features. Negative user reviews mainly focus on the following aspects. The free version is highly restrictive, with limited usage and significantly reduced functionality. The problem of factual hallucinations remains, with ChatGPT potentially confidently making up statistics and citing non-existent studies. There is controversy over data privacy, with the consumer version using a conversational data improvement model by default, and business users needing to choose a Team or Enterprise plan to ensure data security. In actual usage scenarios, ChatGPT performs well in writing and editing scenarios, and is suitable for marketing teams, legal teams, and HR teams to handle the first draft of content. In meeting preparation scenarios, briefing documents can be generated in 2 minutes, saving 20-30 minutes of preparation time. In customer support scenarios, API integration can handle first-level support issues, but it cannot completely replace manual handling of complex issues. In data analysis scenarios, the code interpreter feature allows non-technical people to explore CSV data and generate charts. In coding task scenarios, it is suitable for interpreting code, writing scripts, and debugging small functions, but is not suitable for large-scale code reconstruction.
The release of ChatGPT is regarded as a milestone in the field of artificial intelligence, triggering a global AI craze. Its emergence has promoted the development of the entire AI industry, including Google's release of Bard, Anthropic's release of Claude, Meta's release of Llama and other competing products. In terms of media evaluation, TechCrunch evaluated ChatGPT as "the iPhone moment of conversational AI" and believed that it changed the way human-computer interaction happens. The Verge rated ChatGPT as “the most impressive AI chatbot” but warned that it may produce misleading information. Time magazine named Sam Altman its Person of the Year in 2023, and ChatGPT is considered an important invention with global impact. From the perspective of competitors, ChatGPT remains the leader in comprehensive capabilities, but each competitor has its own advantages. Claude performs better in terms of writing quality and long text processing, Gemini has deeper integration with Google products, and Mistral has advantages in open source models. However, ChatGPT still maintains its market leadership position due to its large user base, mature ecosystem and continuous product iteration.
As a revolutionary product, ChatGPT also faces many controversies and risks. The problem of factual hallucination is a core technical challenge faced by ChatGPT. Models may confidently make up statistics, cite non-existent research papers, or make up facts. Users and review agencies have repeatedly found that ChatGPT cites fictitious authors or non-existent papers when citing academic papers. OpenAI mitigates this problem by introducing citation functionality, but it cannot completely solve it. Data privacy and security issues raise concerns among corporate users. The free and Plus versions use user conversation data to improve the model by default, which may expose sensitive enterprise information. In 2023, Samsung employees were exposed to using ChatGPT to process internal code, resulting in leaked secrets and triggering discussions about corporate data security. Business users should choose the Team or Enterprise plan to ensure data security. Copyright and intellectual property disputes are another legal risk. There is no clear legal conclusion on whether the content generated by ChatGPT is copyrighted and whether the use of training data is infringement. Several media outlets and authors have filed copyright lawsuits against OpenAI. The social impact controversy includes the potential impact on the job market. Educational institutions are worried about students using ChatGPT to cheat, and the business sector is worried about AI customer service replacing human customer service. Some countries and regions have introduced relevant regulations to restrict the use of ChatGPT in educational institutions.
People who are suitable for using ChatGPT include: content creators who need writing assistance, including writers, journalists, and marketers; developers who need coding assistance, including front-end developers and beginners; students and researchers who need research assistance, including literature review and data analysis; small and medium-sized enterprises who need customer support assistance; and corporate teams who need to improve efficiency. Scenarios where ChatGPT is not suitable include: requiring 100% accurate factual queries (encyclopedias such as Wikipedia should be used); needing to process highly sensitive enterprise data (on-premises AI solutions should be used); and requiring professional advice such as legal or medical advice (professionals should be consulted). Alternatives include: Claude if you focus on writing quality; Perplexity if you need in-depth research; GitHub Copilot if you need coding assistance; Llama or Mistral if you need open source solutions.
As a large-scale language model chatbot developed by OpenAI, ChatGPT remains the benchmark product in the field of AI chatbots in 2026 with its powerful model capabilities, mature product ecosystem, and comprehensive pricing strategy. Multi-level pricing from free to enterprise versions meets the needs of different user groups, and the $20/month Plus version provides the best value for money. User reviews are generally positive, but attention should also be paid to factual illusions and data privacy issues. For business users, it is recommended to choose the Team or Enterprise plan to ensure data security. The emergence of ChatGPT marks the arrival of the democratization era of AI, which will continue to change the way people obtain information, create content, and solve problems.

User Reviews

MessiasPeixoto

—

Let me tell you about my true state in the past two years. I am currently on Plus, which is almost $22 per month. If Pro exceeds the company's reimbursement limit, it will stop at Plus, which is enough. The three functions I focus on are: projects, Codex, and the Thinking chart that recently surprised me. In the past, when doing complicated work, I just had to chat in a long chat. The chat got longer and longer, and then I started to lose my memory. I forgot what I said before and then collapsed. Later, I used the project function to throw the agreement documents and requirements documents into the "source", and the chat automatically referenced them. The memory under the project was still connected, and there was no more madness like "have you forgotten what we said before?" But to be honest, the writing style has indeed dropped after GPT-5. Replies are short and more conservative. I still have to adjust my style back when writing warm things.

DKing

—

The global search in the sidebar is finally useful. Now you can search for chats, projects, pictures and documents at once, and you can also filter by type. Click on the result to jump directly to the corresponding session. I have an account with more than 100 conversations. In the past, I had to rely on browsing to find old things. Now it takes only a few seconds to locate it, and it is available on all platforms, including free files. This update is more practical than a bunch of fancy features.

RonaldHenderson

—

Codex says it has more than 7 million weekly active users, has been updated more than 150 times in two months, has both GPT-5.6 and Ultra, and can also use /goal to run subtasks in parallel. The most obvious thing for me is that the sub-agent interface is finally no longer hidden in the log. I can see which ones are running and which ones have finished running. The feeling of "playing interstellar" when multiple agents work together is really revealed.

RBrownJr695

—

When I use ChatGPT to write papers, I never generate them directly. I use them for brainstorming, rewriting, and breaking down logic, such as "Is this paragraph skipped?" "How can I change this point of view to a more stable statement?" It responds very quickly. However, if the tips are not tightened, it will be easy to compile content that seems complete but cannot withstand verification, especially the references and specific research conclusions. Don't be lazy, you have to check it yourself.

Christine.RogersII

—

GPT-5.6 got 92.2% in BrowseComp, OSWorld 2.0 got 62.6%, both refreshed SOTA, and used 85% less output tokens than the previous generation. End-to-end knowledge work is indeed strong. But if enterprises really want to use it, one task of Agent may burn tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of tokens, and the API bill can be scary, so small and medium-sized enterprises still have to weigh it carefully before applying.

MaryStewartIII1

—

The entry cannot be found after the Codex merge.

Tgcker574

—

ChatGPT Work in July is a really capable Agent. It can run a target across applications and files for several hours, and automatically generate documents, tables and even PPT. But the price is "Token Assassin" - by default, you will be guided to the high-consumption reasoning level. Work and Agent share a quota pool. Some Pro users run long-distance tasks for one hour and directly burn 48% of the five-hour window, and the quota is spent very quickly.

gpwglfi6f

—

In early July, Codex was merged into the ChatGPT desktop. I was quite excited at the time. As a result, the new version of the client expanded from a 159MB native package to a 1.5GB Electron version. The chat entrance was inserted into the sidebar submenu. It took me a long time to find it. The person in charge of OpenAI's Codex later publicly apologized and said it was an urgent fix. This wave of integration was in the right direction, but the experience was indeed overturned.

JFlores369

—

ChatGPT is now an all-round workbench, with text, drawing, code writing, Internet search, voice conversations, and customized GPT all in one interface, which is unmatched by others. But to be honest, it is not the best to write or code. The developers around me all use ChatGPT and Claude. The heavy work is left to Claude, and quick tasks and drawings are left to ChatGPT. The two together are smooth.

GRichardsonII661

—

In China, you have to go through the firewall to use it, which really dissuaded many people. Several colleagues around me found it troublesome and directly switched to Kimi and Doubao. The functions are similar without having to bother with the network, and it is actually enough for daily office scenarios.

8qzbcj777

—

ChatGPT is still stable when writing code. If you post an error and it can be corrected by itself, it will basically run smoothly after two or three revisions. The free version of DeepSeek will also be modified, but often after modification, another error will be reported, and I will go back and forth five or six times. It is not as fast as rewriting it myself. For complex logic, ChatGPT is obviously more reliable.

Michael_Mendoza_88

—

ChatGPT Sites has entered public beta, allowing Codex to directly generate and deploy internal small websites. It can also create dashboards, project trackers, and release calendars. Underlying data updates can also be automatically refreshed. It is very trouble-free for the team's internal tools. There is no need to build a separate front-end and back-end.

yellowelephant275

—

I really can’t live without that function when I’m doing in-depth research. It’s better to just pick a topic and directly give me a deliverable with tables and references than it would take me a long time to do it myself. The disadvantage is that you have to check the source file yourself when you occasionally quote it, and you cannot fully trust its source. When you are working on rigorous materials, you still have to go through the links manually.

James_SmithIII

—

Judging from community feedback, every upgrade of OpenAI is accompanied by "controversy over intelligence reduction", from 5 to 5.5. The most ridiculous thing is that Plus users will automatically switch to mini after using up 160 items/3 hours. The official document actually describes this as a "feature". After a long session, the model completely ignores what you said, but the top label is still hanging on the selector. This kind of routing layer failure has been reproduced by many people. They say it has been fixed and it happens again.

Janice_CampbellII

—

I really encountered the wave of 5.5 intelligence reduction in mid-May. After a long conversation, it started to ignore the settings I set earlier, but the model selector still had the Pro label, which was annoying. The official said it was fixed, but at the end of the month, another wave of more violent attacks occurred. Until now, I have kept the custom instructions in mind, and I don't dare to trust the default behavior.

191b1t

—

After using it for more than two years, now when doing complicated work, I must first build the project. Throw the agreement documents and requirements documents into the "source", and the chat will automatically refer to it without losing my memory. A while ago, I spent two days building a "Video Factory" software. Given a theme, I can generate short videos with one click and automatically send them to various platforms. It can also analyze the data. Although the details are still rough, the feeling of running the entire framework is really awesome.

Debra229

—

Plus costs $22 a month and is worth it for heavy use. Mainly, the two functions of Projects and Codex have completely changed my workflow. The former solves the problem of long context amnesia, and the latter allows me to switch from typing code line by line to local acceptance, which is equivalent to having an extra partner who never sleeps.

sENTINELlINK699

—

Writing is really colder than 4o.

VirginiaHarris

—

After reading the designer’s actual test of GPT-5.5, the conclusion is quite pertinent: generating images has become faster, the Agent has become more usable, and writing long articles is still not possible. If you have originally subscribed to Plus or above, this wave of upgrades will make the subscription more valuable; but if you are still hesitating whether to subscribe, he recommends giving priority to Claude Pro, because ChatGPT is still bad at writing and long articles, and my own experience is similar.

兰花_14

—

5.5 The reply is 30% shorter and the emoji are gone. The accuracy has improved, but the human flavor has indeed faded away.

Raymond.Jimenez369

—

The voice mode is really easy to use.

RMyers369

—

GPT-5.5 is indeed better at handling vague requirements than 5.4. It gives me a semi-formed idea and it is better at guessing what I want, unlike 5.4 where I always have to make it clear first. The price is that complex tasks are obviously more expensive, the API price is doubled, and it is painful when the volume is large.

MeganRichardson_X80

—

The free version is enough, but the limited usage is too annoying.

LawrenceVasquez_66

—

GPT-5.5 is released, and Plus’s Thinking slot switches to it by default. Physically, it saves me a few rounds of vague and multi-part questions, and the long context search is doubled. I can really read the whole book if I put it in. But the API price has doubled to 5/30 per million tokens, and the cost of development has to be recalculated. Ordinary chat users don’t feel much.

ABennett_2022104

—

GPT-5.4 is really powerful. The efficiency of writing code has been improved by more than a little. It can finish scripts that took half a day to write in a few minutes. I love it!

Karen_RobertsQ

—

After using ChatGPT Plus for half a year, I have to say that the $20/month is definitely worth it. DALL-E 3 generates pictures for use in PPT, and customers say they look good.

KFoster

—

The free version is too confusing. After asking some professional questions, it showed that the quota has been exhausted, so I decided to switch to Plus.

GPfos

—

Don’t you think GPT-5.4’s mathematical reasoning capabilities have been significantly improved? I used to make mistakes when asking complex probability questions, but now I basically get them right.

Frank_ColemanJr216

—

The most annoying thing is that it will seriously fabricate literature citations, and plagiarism checking software cannot detect it, and academic parties cannot afford to be harmed.

SusanHanson

—

I switched to ChatGPT Go as soon as it came out. It’s enough for whatever bike you want for $8.

ChatGPT

In-depth Report

User Reviews

Similar Products