Key takeaways
- As of October 27, 2026, ChatGPT Plus and Claude Pro both cost $20 a month; ChatGPT Go is $8 and Claude has no plan between Free and Pro.
- Artificial Analysis lists Claude Opus 5.5 at 58 on its Intelligence Index and OpenAI's best listed model, GPT-6 Astra, at 53.
- Neither company publishes a fixed message count for chat plans, so usage limits cannot be compared one to one.
ChatGPT vs Claude comes down to price tiers, usage limits and which models you get, and as of October 27, 2026 the two are closer on price than on benchmarks. Both charge $20 a month for the main paid plan. Artificial Analysis, an independent testing site, ranks Anthropic's top model ahead of OpenAI's on its overall index. This comparison is based on the companies' own pricing pages and documentation and on Artificial Analysis's published results. We did not test either product ourselves.
Prices below were read on October 27, 2026 and can change. Anthropic says on its pricing page that prices are subject to change and exclude tax.
ChatGPT vs Claude plans and prices
| ChatGPT (OpenAI) | Claude (Anthropic) | |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | $0 |
| Entry paid plan | Go, $8 a month | None listed between Free and Pro |
| Main paid plan | Plus, $20 a month | Pro, $20 a month, or $17 a month billed annually ($200 up front) |
| Higher tiers | Pro, from $100 a month, with plans at $100, $200 or $500 | Max, from $100 a month, with 5x or 20x Pro usage |
| Team plan | Business, $25 per user a month, or $20 billed annually | Team, $25 per standard seat a month, or $20 billed annually; premium seats $125 a month, or $100 billed annually |
| Enterprise | Contact sales | Self-serve at $20 a seat plus usage at API rates, 20-seat minimum; sales-assisted also offered |
Sources: OpenAI's ChatGPT pricing documentation and Anthropic's pricing page, both read on October 27, 2026. OpenAI's main pricing page at chatgpt.com/pricing refused our request, so the ChatGPT figures come from the pricing page in OpenAI's Codex documentation, which lists the same plans. Business is billed annually for two or more users. Anthropic's page gives no separate price for the 20x Max tier.
What you get on each side
The Free plans differ in the model they offer. OpenAI's documentation says Free and Go use GPT-6 Luna, and Plus adds GPT-6.1 Sol. Anthropic says Free gives you Sonnet and Haiku, while Pro adds Opus. Anthropic also lists a newer model line, Fable, which Pro reaches through usage credits and Max reaches with 50% of weekly limits.
Claude Pro includes Claude Code, Research, unlimited projects and connections to Chrome and Microsoft 365, according to Anthropic. Claude Free already includes web search, file creation, code execution and memory. OpenAI's page, as we could read it, describes the plans mostly in terms of Codex, its coding agent: Plus gets Codex on web, command line, IDE and iOS, with cloud integrations.
We could not read OpenAI's consumer feature list for Plus and Pro (image generation, voice, deep research), because those pages blocked our request. This comparison therefore does not rank the two on those features.
Usage limits are not directly comparable
Neither company sells a fixed message count on its consumer plans.
Anthropic says usage resets on a rolling five-hour window, that paid plans also have weekly limits, and that it gives no fixed message count. Max is 5x or 20x Pro per session.
OpenAI publishes estimates for Plus and Business, for local Codex messages per five-hour period: GPT-6 Luna 350 to 3,000, GPT-6.1 Terra 35 to 285, GPT-6.1 Sol 15 to 160, GPT-6 Sol 15 to 150 and GPT-6 Astra 5 to 45. Weekly limits may also apply. OpenAI says Pro plans currently have no five-hour limit. It gives no numbers for Free and Go. Plus and Pro users can buy extra credits.
For a developer weighing coding usage, our Factory Droid vs Claude Code piece explains how Claude Code meters usage.
ChatGPT vs Claude benchmarks
Artificial Analysis publishes an independent Intelligence Index. Its home page names version 4.3.2 and lists a changelog entry dated October 26, 2026. The models leaderboard showed these scores when we read it on October 27, 2026. The page did not state a version.
| Model (setting) | Maker | Index score | Cost per task | Output speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Opus 5.5 (max) | Anthropic | 58 | $5.98 | 98 tokens a second |
| Claude Sonnet 5.5 (max) | Anthropic | 56 | $5.46 | 141 tokens a second |
| Claude Fable 5.1 (max) | Anthropic | 53 | $7.63 | 70 tokens a second |
| GPT-6 Astra (max) | OpenAI | 53 | $3.26 | 68 tokens a second |
| GPT-6 Astra (xhigh) | OpenAI | 52 | $2.31 | 68 tokens a second |
The leaderboard also listed GPT-6.1 Sol (max) at 52. Opus and Sonnet 5.5 score above every OpenAI model on that list. The page's domain indexes for finance, strategy, legal, healthcare, engineering and economics point the same way: among the 15 models selected there, Claude Opus 5.5 ranked first in all six.
Two cautions. The leaderboard compares models, not the apps. The ChatGPT and Claude plans give different access to these models and settings, and the "max" settings may not be what a chat plan runs. Cost per task is Artificial Analysis's figure for running its tests through an API, not what a subscriber pays. Small gaps, such as a point or two, are not decisive.
Which one fits
Claude has the edge on the independent index. ChatGPT has the cheaper entry plan, at $8 a month, and a higher tier at $200 and $500 for heavy use. If you only need a free assistant, compare the free models first: GPT-6 Luna on ChatGPT, Sonnet and Haiku on Claude. If you code daily, the five-hour windows and weekly limits matter more than the sticker price.
What to watch: both companies change plans often, and OpenAI's pricing page is the one to recheck before you pay.
Frequently asked questions
Is ChatGPT or Claude better in October 2026?
On Artificial Analysis's Intelligence Index, read October 27, 2026, Claude Opus 5.5 scored 58 and OpenAI's best listed model, GPT-6 Astra, scored 53. That index measures models, not the apps, and says nothing about voice, images or integrations.
Is ChatGPT Plus the same price as Claude Pro?
Yes on the monthly price: both are $20 a month as of October 27, 2026. Claude Pro is also sold at $17 a month billed annually, at $200 up front.
Is Claude free?
Yes. Claude Free gives access to Sonnet and Haiku with chat, web search, file creation and memory, according to Anthropic. It does not include Claude Code or Research.
Which has the cheaper plan?
ChatGPT Go costs $8 a month, and Claude has no plan between Free and Pro on its pricing page. At $100 a month, ChatGPT Pro and Claude Max start at the same price.
Frequently asked questions
Is ChatGPT or Claude better?
On Artificial Analysis's Intelligence Index, read October 27, 2026, Claude Opus 5.5 scored 58 and OpenAI's best listed model, GPT-6 Astra, scored 53. The index measures models, not the apps, and says nothing about voice, images or integrations.
Is ChatGPT Plus the same price as Claude Pro?
Yes on the monthly price: both are $20 a month as of October 27, 2026. Claude Pro is also sold at $17 a month billed annually, at $200 up front.
Is Claude free?
Yes. Claude Free gives access to Sonnet and Haiku with chat, web search, file creation and memory, according to Anthropic. It does not include Claude Code or Research.
Which has the cheaper plan?
ChatGPT Go costs $8 a month, and Claude has no plan between Free and Pro on its pricing page. At $100 a month, ChatGPT Pro and Claude Max start at the same price.
Sources
- Claude plans and pricingAnthropic
- ChatGPT pricing (Codex documentation)OpenAI
- Artificial Analysis Intelligence IndexArtificial Analysis
- Artificial Analysis models leaderboardArtificial Analysis