Head-to-head · documents read November 4, 2026 or later
ChatGPT vs Perplexity: which fine print is kinder to you?
Short answer
These are different tools: a general assistant against a cited-answer search engine. On terms, ChatGPT is clearly safer to pay for. It assigns you the output, where Perplexity limits consumer plans to personal, non-commercial use and keeps refund windows of 24 to 72 hours outside the EU and UK.
| ChatGPT | Perplexity | |
|---|---|---|
| Zone score | 6.7/10 | 4.2/10 |
| Paid from | $8/month (Go, US price) | $17/month (Pro, billed yearly) |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| What users say | B App users rate ChatGPT highly (4.8 from about 11.9 million App Store ratings, 4.8 on Google Play, 4.9 from 762 Product Hunt reviews, 4.6 on G2 and 4.5 on Capterra), while Trustpilot is harsh at 1.6 from 3,921 reviews. The most repeated complaints are usage limits that run out fast, billing and cancellation trouble, and answers that invent details or ignore instructions. The most repeated praise is everyday versatility: study help, writing, brainstorming and quick answers. | B Most platforms are positive (4.9 from 98 Product Hunt reviews, 4.8 from about 523,000 App Store ratings, 4.6 on Google Play, 4.4 on G2, 4.2 on Capterra), while Trustpilot is harsh at 1.4 from 852 reviews. The most repeated complaints are charges after cancelling or on promo deals, credits that run out fast, and slow, automated support. The most repeated praise is fast, cited answers that beat a classic search. |
| Pricing clarity | B US prices are published, but not where you would expect. The pricing page adapts to your country and can show local currency, so the clearest dollar figures are in OpenAI's help center. There, Plus is $20/month, Pro tiers are $100, $200 and $500, and Business seats are $25 monthly or $20 billed annually. Go is quoted at $8 as an indicative US price that varies by market. Personal plans are monthly only, the terms say taxes are added where required, and Business requires at least two paid seats. | C The pricing page shows Pro at $17 and Max at $167 'per month or equivalent, billed annually', and does not show what either costs month to month. It also says the plans are for personal use only. Education Pro is $10 a month with SheerID verification, and Enterprise Pro starts at $40 per seat per month or $400 per seat per year. Limited-time promotions such as bonus Computer credits are displayed next to the prices, which makes the real price harder to compare. |
| Cancel & refunds | C You can cancel any time and keep access to the end of the paid period, but the help center states that payments are generally non-refundable. A discretionary refund may be granted on an individual plan if you ask within seven days of the charge and have made no substantial use. Forgetting to cancel, dissatisfaction or a plan change do not qualify on their own, and there is no prorated refund after day seven. EU, UK and Turkey residents get a prorated refund within 14 days. Unused Business seats are generally not refunded for the committed period. | C Outside regions with statutory rights, monthly plans can be refunded only within 24 hours of purchase, and annual plans get a full refund within 72 hours, with 'no exceptions' after that. EU, UK and Turkey customers get 14 days, and South Korea and Brazil 7 days. Perplexity will not process a second refund after granting one. The same policy applies to Enterprise plans, and removing a seat mid-period does not create a credit. |
| Limits & credits | C No plan publishes a fixed message count. Plus 'may include usage limits such as message caps' that vary with demand, and 'unlimited' Pro access is subject to abuse guardrails. Speed modes eat your allowance faster: Fast mode counts at 2.5 times the standard rate and Ultrafast at 8 times. Credits bought on personal plans are valid for 12 months and then expire without rolling over. The API credits bundled with Pro expire at the end of each billing cycle, according to the pricing page footnote. | D Consumer limits are described as 'weekly limits (average use)' rather than numbers. Computer runs on credits, priced at 100 credits to $1. The welcome bonus credits expire in about 30 days, and Max's monthly credits do not roll over. Purchased credits can be used only while you have an active paid plan and expire after a year without Computer use. Pro's included weekly Computer usage resets weekly and does not roll over. Max accounts have a default monthly credit spending cap of $200. |
| Your data | C On personal Free, Plus and Pro workspaces, 'Improve the model for everyone' is on by default, so your chats can train OpenAI's models until you turn it off. The opt-out is easy and keeps your history, but a thumbs-up or thumbs-down can still send that whole conversation to training. Voice mode and Codex environments have their own separate training switches. Temporary chats are not used for training and may be kept up to 30 days for safety. Business, Enterprise and Edu workspaces are not used for training by default. | D For Free, Pro and Max users, the AI Data Retention setting is on by default, so some of your data may be used to train AI models until you switch it off under Preferences. The opt-out only covers data collected after you opt out, and Perplexity says data already collected for training cannot be deleted. Enterprise data is never used for training, and Perplexity says its contracts bar third-party model providers from training on its data. |
| Output rights | A The US Terms of Use say you keep ownership of your input and own the output, and OpenAI assigns to you any rights it has in that output. That applies on every plan, free included, with no watermark or commercial-use carve-out in the terms. The one caveat is that output may not be unique, and the assignment does not cover similar output other users receive. | D The terms say Perplexity claims no ownership of 'Your Content' but keeps ownership of the technology that generates output. They do not clearly assign the output to you. Consumer use is limited to personal, non-commercial purposes, and you may not publish output without clearly citing Perplexity. The terms also give Perplexity a broad, irrevocable license to use your content to operate, improve and promote the service. |
Pick ChatGPT if…
you need an assistant for writing, analysis and files, and want to use the results at work.
Pick Perplexity if…
you mainly want sourced answers to research questions, which the free plan's Ask searches cover without spending credits.
Plans side by side
| ChatGPT | |
|---|---|
| Free free | $0 |
| Go monthly | $8/month |
| Plus monthly | $20/month |
| Pro 100 monthly | $100/month |
| Pro 200 monthly | $200/month |
| Pro 500 monthly | $500/month |
| Business Standard monthly or annual | $25/user/month ($20 billed annually) |
| Business Premium monthly or annual | $125/user/month ($100 billed annually) |
| Enterprise annual | Contact sales |
| Perplexity | |
|---|---|
| Standard (Free) free | $0 |
| Education Pro monthly | $10/month |
| Pro annual (monthly price not shown on the pricing page) | $17/month, billed yearly |
| Max annual (monthly price not shown on the pricing page) | $167/month, billed yearly |
| Enterprise Pro monthly or annual | $40/seat/month or $400/seat/year |
| Enterprise Max contact sales | Not published |
Every grade links back to its source in each full review. How we grade · Affiliate disclosure.