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Short answer

Both are strong all-rounders with a free plan. Pick Gemini if your day runs on Gmail, Google Docs and Drive. Pick ChatGPT for the best-known app, the roomiest free chat and strong voice chat.

Pick ChatGPT if

  • You chat a lot for free: ordinary text chat on the free plan has no fixed daily cap.
  • You want deep research with a clear plan you approve first.
  • You want it to do tasks for you on a schedule (paid plans).
  • You like talking out loud with it.
Open the guide →

Pick Gemini if

  • You already use Gmail, Google Docs, Sheets and Drive: Gemini can work inside them (paid plans).
  • You want to edit your own photos (Nano Banana).
  • You want short videos too (paid plans).
  • You want to sign in with the Google account you already have; paid plans include Drive storage.
Open the guide →

Side by side

ChatGPTGemini
Made byOpenAIGoogle
Sign in withA free account (you can even try it without one)Your Google account (the one for Gmail)
Free planText chat with no fixed cap; pictures, uploads and research are limited; shows adsChat (mostly the light Flash-Lite model), files, Deep Research, pictures and voice, with a limit that refills about every five hours
Paid plansGo, Plus, Pro, Business, EnterpriseGoogle AI Plus, Pro and Ultra (with Drive storage)
PicturesDescribe it in the chat, then fix it in wordsNano Banana, great at editing your own photos
Talk out loudVoice chat on phone and computerGemini Live on the phone
Works insideA Chrome add-on (depends on plan and country) and its desktop appGmail, Docs, Sheets, Slides and Chrome, plus Mac and Windows apps
Best forEveryday questions, writing, research and voicePeople who live in Google apps; photos and short videos

Plans, prices and features change often. Check the official pricing page before you pay.

Our take

If you use Gmail and Google Docs all day, try Gemini first: it saves the most copying and pasting. Otherwise start with ChatGPT. Both free plans are good enough to learn on, so ask the same question in both and keep the one whose answer you like.

Read next

What is ChatGPT?
ChatGPT · Chapter 1.1 · 3 min readChatGPTWhat is Gemini?
Gemini · Chapter 1.1 · 3 min readGeminiPlans: free and paid, in plain words
ChatGPT · Chapter 1.3 · 3 min readChatGPTPlans: free and paid, in plain words
Gemini · Chapter 1.3 · 4 min readGemini

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