Plan comparison
ChatGPT Free vs Go vs Plus: which plan is worth paying for?
ChatGPT has three plans most people choose between: Free, Go at $8 a month and Plus at $20. Here is exactly what each one adds, taken from OpenAI’s own pricing page, and a simple way to decide.
Free is enough for most people. Go ($8) only buys more of the same: more uploads, pictures, voice and memory, on the same everyday model, possibly with ads. Plus ($20) is the first plan that gets a smarter model (GPT-6), full deep research and Codex, with no ads. If you’re paying anyway, Plus is usually the better buy.
Free, Go and Plus side by side
| Free | Go | Plus | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price (US) | $0 | $8 a month | $20 a month |
| Everyday model | GPT-5.6 Luna, unlimited text chats* | Same | Same, plus the GPT-6 models |
| GPT-6 models (Luna, Sol, Astra) | No | No | Yes |
| Ads | Yes, for US adults reported | “May include ads” | No |
| Uploads, pictures, voice | Limited | More | Expanded |
| Memory | Limited | Longer | Expanded |
| Deep research | Limited | Limited | Yes (expanded) |
| Codex (coding agent) | Limited | Limited | Yes (expanded) |
| Pictures “with Thinking” | No | No | Yes |
| Scheduled tasks | No | Yes | Yes |
| Voice with video | No | Yes | Yes |
| ChatGPT Work | Desktop app, limited | Desktop app, limited | Desktop, web and phone |
| Trains on your chats | Yes on all three, with an opt-out | ||
From OpenAI’s pricing page, checked Oct 2, 2026. *“Unlimited” is subject to OpenAI’s abuse guardrails. Prices are in US dollars before tax.
What Go actually adds
OpenAI describes Go as “expanded access”: everything in Free, with more messages that use tools, more uploads, more image creation, more voice chats and a longer memory. It also unlocks scheduled tasks and voice with video. What it doesn’t change is the brain. Go runs the same everyday model as the free plan, and its deep research and Codex access are still marked “limited”, just as on Free.
So Go fixes one specific problem: hitting the free plan’s caps on files, pictures and voice. If that isn’t happening to you, Go buys you very little.
What Plus adds on top
Plus is where ChatGPT gets noticeably smarter. It adds the GPT-6 reasoning models, image creation that “thinks” first (better for diagrams and pictures with text), fuller deep research for long research reports, expanded Codex for coding, and ChatGPT Work on the web and phone. It is also ad-free.
One caution from September: when GPT-6 Astra launched, Plus subscribers at first got it only inside Work and Codex, not in ordinary chat, and OpenAI apologized for a “messy rollout”. Check what your plan shows in the model menu before you pay for a specific model.
Which plan should you pick?
| If you… | Pick |
|---|---|
| Ask a few questions a day, write the odd email | Free |
| Use it daily and keep running out of uploads, pictures or voice, and don’t mind ads | Go |
| Want better reasoning, research reports or help with code | Plus |
| Want no ads at all | Plus |
| Are a student or work mostly in Google apps | Compare Gemini’s plans first — there’s a free year for eligible students |
Before you pay for any assistant, it’s worth seeing what the alternatives give away for free. Our guide to Claude’s free plan and the seven-assistant comparison show where ChatGPT is ahead and where it isn’t.
Sources: ChatGPT pricing (OpenAI) · OpenAI: plans that include Codex · OpenAI: Data controls · The New Stack on the GPT-6 rollout · Wikipedia on free-plan ads
Quick answers
Is ChatGPT Go worth it?
If you use ChatGPT every day and keep hitting the free limits on uploads, pictures, voice or memory, yes: Go raises those limits for $8 a month. If what you want is a smarter model, deep research or proper Codex access, Go won’t help — those start at Plus.
What are the limitations of ChatGPT Go?
Go uses the same everyday model as Free (GPT-5.6 Luna). It doesn’t include the GPT-6 models, its deep research and Codex access stay “limited” as on Free, its Office and Google Sheets extensions stay limited, and OpenAI says it may include ads.
Does ChatGPT Go have ads?
OpenAI’s pricing page says the Go plan “may include ads”. Ads also appear on the free plan for adults in the US. Plus and Pro are ad-free.
Is ChatGPT free to use?
Yes. The free plan includes unlimited everyday text chats with GPT-5.6 Luna (within OpenAI’s abuse guardrails), plus limited uploads, pictures, voice chats, deep research and Codex.
What does ChatGPT Plus add over Go?
The GPT-6 family of reasoning models, fuller deep research and Codex, image creation with “Thinking”, ChatGPT Work on the web and phone as well as desktop, and no ads.
Do all ChatGPT plans train on my chats?
On every personal plan, OpenAI says your content is used to train its models, with an opt-out. Turn off “Improve the model for everyone” under Settings → Data controls.
Keep learning
Is Claude free? What you get without paying, and what you don’t
Yes, Claude has a free plan. What it includes (Sonnet, web search, files, voice), what needs Pro at $20 (Claude Code, Opus, Research) and how limits work.
Does your AI assistant learn from your chats? How to turn it off
ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, Meta AI, Grok and DeepSeek: which use your chats for training by default, how long they keep them, and the exact switch.
OpenAI Codex vs Claude Code: which is cheaper, and which suits a beginner?
Is Codex cheaper than Claude Code? Plan by plan from both pricing pages: Codex starts free, Claude Code at $20. Where each runs and who should pick which.