ChatGPT
A general-purpose AI assistant for writing, explaining, analysing and drafting.
Cost
Free to start, paid to go further
A free tier exists with usage limits that change frequently. Check the current plan page.
Open source
No
The code is private. You depend on the company that makes it.
Your data
Goes to their servers
Your files and text are sent to the company running the service.
Use it for this
Explaining something you don't understand, drafting a first version, restructuring text, and thinking out loud with something that pushes back.
Do not use it for this
Anything where being confidently wrong is expensive. It cannot reliably tell you when it does not know.
A moment where you would reach for it
Pasting a dense paragraph and asking it to explain the idea in plain language, then checking the explanation against the source.
How hard is it to pick up?
Anyone can use this on day one.
Worth knowing before you use it
Do not paste confidential employer or client material without checking your organisation's policy first. Consumer chat history may be used to improve models unless you change the setting.
Other things that do this job
No tool is best at everything. These solve a similar problem, with different trade-offs.
About this entry
Checked on 1 Sept 2026. Prices and free limits change without warning, and often quietly. Treat everything above as a starting point and confirm on the official site before you rely on it.
Nothing here is sponsored. A tool appears because it solves a real problem, not because someone paid for it to be listed.