ChatGPT: Will the Groundbreaking Platform Start Charging You?
Well, it’s complicated. So, let’s begin with the simple answer. According to the Products page of ChatGPT’s creator, OpenAI: “We love our free users and will continue to offer free access to ChatGPT.”
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That claim was made in the context of announcing OpenAI’s then-new product, ChatGPT Plus, a subscription version of their chatbot costing $20 per month. And since the page has not been updated since February of 2023, it’s only natural that there has been a lot of speculation about whether the much-loved chatbot will offer their free version forever.
To be sure, a long-proven model in the tech world has been: Give your creation away for free, gain users and market share, then start charging. Or, pepper the free version with ads, which, so far, free ChatGPT has not done.
Instead, to date, ChatGPT’s approach has been another proven tactic: Give it away at no cost, develop better models, charge for those upgraded versions, and keep the original model free. So the answer as to whether you will be charged for using ChatGPT soon (or not) remains open.
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How Much Better Is ChatGPT Plus, the $20 Per Month Version?
First, ChatGPT Plus uses the more advanced and intelligent GPT-4, GPT-4V and GPT-4 Turbo variants, as PC Guide detailed — while the free version uses GPT-3.5, per the Evening Standard (via Yahoo! News).
But the big difference is in the information available to each. The free version is restricted to real world information up to January 2022 through a static knowledge base. In other words, it does not scrape the current web for information. For instance, ask free ChatGPT how Donald Trump’s criminal trial is proceeding and it wouldn’t know what you’re talking about. In fact, GOBankingRates did so, and it replied, in part: “I can’t provide real-time updates on ongoing events. As of my last update in January 2022, there hadn’t been any confirmation of Donald Trump facing a criminal trial.”
With ChatGPT Plus ($20/month) you get:
Availability, even during peak usage times.
Faster response speed.
Up-to-date information via internet search.
ChatGPT plugins.
Priority access to new features.
Image generation.
Voice control.
Are There Other Paid Versions of ChatGPT?
Yes. Currently there are two additional paid versions of ChatGPT, in addition to ChatGPT Plus. There is ChatGPT Team, which has all the features of ChatGPT Plus, plus some additional features aimed toward businesses. This version is $25 per person per month, with a minimum of two people signing on. So, the plan essentially starts at $50 per month.
There is also a Chat GPT Enterprise tier, the price of which is negotiated with a human sales representative depending on the number of employees a company has.
So, will you have to pay for ChatGPT in the near future? It seems not. But as OpenAI, as well as Google and Microsoft, put out more intelligent, intuitive and creative paid versions of their chatbots, you might just want to.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: ChatGPT: Will the Groundbreaking Platform Start Charging You?
