Overview by: Jan Tissler
The launch of ChatGPT in November 2022 led to a seismic shift in the capabilities and usefulness of AI tools. It spawned a whole new industry. It has also changed the jobs and prospects of creative professionals.
I’m a writer and publisher. ChatGPT is both an amazing tool and a threat to my livelihood.
If you are in a similar position, then welcome: This guide is for you.
In it, I’ll give you an overview of everything ChatGPT can and can’t do, what it offers, how to access it and how much it costs.
General overview
ChatGPT is a product of OpenAI. It is their most successful and influential offering to date.
As you will see below, ChatGPT has many capabilities and tools. It’s not just one product. It does several things, it does them in different ways, and it offers many ways to use it.
There is a free version with limitations. There are two paid levels. And there are options for developers that may be relevant to non-developers as well.
The core of ChatGPT is text. But it can also analyse and generate photos and videos. You can talk to it and it will respond in a human-sounding voice.
ChatGPT is probably the most versatile AI assistant available today.
At the same time, there are often better tools for some of these tasks outside of OpenAI.
ChatGPT’s AI models and what they can do
The main attraction of ChatGPT is in its name: it’s an AI assistant in a chat-based interface. This makes it approachable and easy to understand. It’s also infinitely flexible.
But the chat concept is not always the most practical for every possible use case. It’s awkward for writing, for example, because both drafting and discussing the draft happen in the same place. It’s not ideal, but it’s manageable. ChatGPT’s “canvas” feature is a better way. More on this below.
Another problem with the chat interface: It’s not clear to a beginner what ChatGPT can do. OpenAI addresses this by offering some suggestions right where you type your text.
ChatGPT offers access to several different AIs. These are the currently available ones:
- GPT-4o: Best general purpose model. This is ChatGPT’s workhorse.
- GPT-4o mini: Fastest and cheapest model.
- OpenAI o1: Specialized in complex reasoning. Can be very slow.
- OpenAI o1-mini: Smaller and quicker version of o1.
Generally speaking: The “GPT” models are the ones you are most likely to use as a creative. The new “o” family of models are for tasks where the AI needs to figure something out before giving an answer.
The “o” models have interesting capabilities. But they are slow and expensive. They are also not the better AI for every use case. They are a different AI for different use cases.
Other features of ChatGPT
- ChatGPT search: AI search engine. Similar to Perplexity or Bing. ChatGPT accesses sources on the web to answer questions.
- Dall-E: Generate images. An AI image generator build into ChatGPT. Not as sophisticated, flexible, and powerful as others like Midjourney or Ideogram. But it’s there and it can be useful.
- Sora: Generate videos. A video generator build into ChatGPT. The quality lags somewhat behind competitors that also offer more features. Examples are Runway, Luma, Pika, Kling.
- Canvas: Work on a piece of writing or code. With this feature the discussion is separate from the work.
- Projects: Everything for a task in one place. It’s like folders, but you can also add custom instructions and files.
- Desktop: ChatGPT on your computer. An app for Windows und Macs that not only offers ChatGPT on your computer, but also can work and interact with content on your device.
- Advanced Voice Mode: Talk to your AI assistant. An impressive achievement with limited relevance for everyday tasks of creatives.
- GPT Store. It’s meant as a platform to offer and find specialized versions of ChatGPT. The early excitement about it seems to have fizzled out for now.
ChatGPT prices and access
OpenAI makes it challenging to fully understand what the different levels of access include. For one thing, the pricing page is only available to registered users. And even then, the terms are not entirely clear. What exactly is ” limited access”? How much better is “extended limits”? Unclear. Even the official description is vague.
OpenAI obviously wants to remain flexible. As they never make detailed promises, it’s impossible to complain if the terms change behind the scene. And they will. Remember, you are dealing with a startup that is burning through mountains of cash.
This is what their pricing table looks like currently:
ChatGPT Free
Not only can you use ChatGPT for free, you can also use it without an account. Unsurprisingly, this service is limited in several ways. Some features and options are not available at all, while others only give you a taste of what is possible. For example: As a free user, you can currently only use Dall-E for three images per day.
Note: It makes a difference whether you are logged in or not. One advantage of having an account is that you get a history of all your chats. You also need to be logged in to use custom GPTs, for example.
ChatGPT Free gives you an idea of what is possible and may be enough for occasional use. Bear in mind that there will be a downgrade to GPT 4o mini if you use it a lot. You will also encounter hard limits that will make you wait until you can use it again.
ChatGPT Plus
ChatGPT Plus is the first level of a paid tier for individual users. This is the option you are most likely to consider. At the time of writing it costs $20/month. For this amount you get more access to more advanced models and generally higher limits. However, there are still limits.
ChatGPT Plus is a good way to use this assistant and all its features for real work.
ChatGPT Pro
ChatGPT Pro is the latest and most expensive tier: whopping $200/month. This is for heavy users, especially of the more advanced models like o1 or for much higher limits to generate videos with Sora.
The extreme jump in price makes this only viable for people with complex tasks, who need the most advanced and powerful AI models on a regular basis, and who use it a lot per day.
OpenAI’s subscriptions and their features
| AI Model or Feature | Free ($0/month) | Plus ($20/month) | Pro ($200/month) |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPT-4o mini | Available | Available | Available |
| GPT-4o | Limited | Extended Limit | Unlimited |
| OpenAI o1-mini | – | Limited | Unlimited |
| OpenAI o1 | – | Limited | Unlimited |
| OpenAI o1 “pro mode” | – | – | Available |
| Image generation (Dall-E) | Limited | Extended Limit | Extended Limit |
| Video generation (Sora) | – | Limited | Extended Limit |
| Custom GPTs | Available | Available | Available |
ChatGPT Team
If you need more than one account, have a look at ChatGPT Team. It will cost you $25/month per member. As you would expect, you get an admin panel. The limits for some features are higher than ChatGPT Plus (no details given).
ChatGPT Enterprise
If you are in a large organisation, ChatGPT Enterprise may be the right choice for you. It includes more options and settings. As usual, no pricing information is available.
ChatGPT Edu
As the name ChatGPT Edu implies: This is meant for universities. No pricing information is available.
Not only for developers: API access
Last but not least: There’s a way to access OpenAI’s services, including its AI models, without using the official website. The keyword here is Application Programming Interface (API). This is for developers who want to build a product using OpenAI’s offerings. Learn more here.
But it’s also available to you. And you don’t have to be a programmer to find it useful.
The main advantage of API access is its pay-per-use pricing: Instead of paying a fixed amount per month, you pay for what you use. And in my experience, that’s often much cheaper than a subscription.
Also, there are not the same strict limits that you might find with the “Plus” account.
One way to use this is with one of the many plugins for WordPress that bring AI into the backend of this CMS. Examples include AI Engine and AI Power. Or you could choose a tool like TypingMind, which allows you to connect AI assistants from many services, including OpenAI.
Note that not all the features of the official website will be available in this way.
Pricing examples for OpenAI’s API
| Model | Input | Output |
|---|---|---|
| GPT-4o | $2.50 | $10.00 |
| GPT-4o mini | $0.150 | $0.600 |
| OpenAI o1 | $15.00 | $60.00 |
| OpenAI o1-mini | $3.00 | $12.00 |