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Facts checked against both vendors on September 28, 2026.
ChatGPT is the better standalone assistant, with Codex, custom GPTs, scheduled tasks and OpenAI's newest reasoning models in a $20 Plus plan. Google Gemini is the better value if you live in Google's apps: Google AI Pro at $19.99 a month bundles Gemini in Gmail and Docs, 5 TB of storage, YouTube Premium Lite and video generation, and the $4.99 AI Plus tier has no equivalent at OpenAI. Pick ChatGPT for the assistant itself; pick Gemini for the assistant plus the Google bundle.
ChatGPT and Gemini are the two consumer assistants most people compare, and their pricing pages are built to be read side by side: a free tier, a low tier, a $20 tier and a $100 to $200 power tier. What differs is what surrounds the model. OpenAI sells ChatGPT on its own, with Codex for coding and a growing set of work features. Google sells Gemini as part of a Google AI subscription that also carries Drive storage, Gemini in Workspace apps, Flow video credits and YouTube Premium.
That makes the buying question less about which model is smarter this month and more about where your files, mail and documents already live. The plan details below come from the vendors' own pricing and help pages as of September 2026.
ChatGPT is OpenAI's assistant across web, desktop and mobile. The pricing page lists text chat, image creation, voice chats, file uploads, deep research, memory, projects, scheduled tasks, custom GPTs, ChatGPT Work on desktop and Codex for coding across web, CLI and IDE. Models step up with the plan: GPT-5.6 Luna on Free, GPT-6 reasoning models on Plus, and Pro reasoning powered by GPT-6 Astra on Pro.
Gemini is Google's assistant, and the Google AI subscription page describes it alongside the rest of the bundle: Gemini 3.6 Flash and varying access to Gemini 3.1 Pro on the free tier, image generation and editing, Deep Research, Gemini Live, Canvas, Gems and Gemini Notebook. Paid tiers add video generation, Google Flow credits, Gemini in Gmail, Docs and Vids, Jules for asynchronous coding, Google Antigravity, Gemini in Chrome with auto browse, Google Home Premium, YouTube Premium and multi-terabyte cloud storage. Google also sells Gemini Enterprise for organizations.
ChatGPT Free is $0 with unlimited text chats on GPT-5.6 Luna and limited uploads, image generation, voice, deep research, memory and Codex. Go is $8 a month with more messages with tools, more uploads, more image creation, more voice chats and longer memory. Plus is $20 a month with advanced reasoning models with GPT-6, expanded deep research, expanded memory and context, projects, scheduled tasks, custom GPTs, expanded Codex usage and early access to new features. Pro starts at $100 a month for 5x Plus usage; the $200 tier with 20x usage is paused for new sign-ups as of September 10, 2026 according to OpenAI's help center. Business is $20 per user a month billed annually for at least two users, or $25 monthly, with SAML SSO, MFA and no training on business data by default. Enterprise and Edu are priced through sales.
Gemini's free tier is $0 with Gemini 3.6 Flash, varying access to 3.1 Pro, image generation, Deep Research, Gemini Live, Canvas, Gems, limited Flow access, Gemini Notebook and 15 GB of storage. Google AI Plus is $4.99 a month with 2x the usage of Free, video generation and Daily Brief, 200 Flow credits, Gemini Omni Flash and custom tool creation, Gemini in Gmail and Vids, and 400 GB of storage. Google AI Pro is $19.99 a month with 4x the usage of Free, 1,000 Flow credits, higher access to Gemini 3.1 Pro, Deep Search and agentic capabilities, Jules with higher limits, entry rate limits for Google Antigravity, Gemini in Gmail, Docs and Vids, Gemini in Chrome with auto browse, Google Home Premium Standard, YouTube Premium Lite and 5 TB of storage. Google AI Ultra is $99.99 a month for 5x usage or $199.99 a month for 20x, with first access to Deep Think and Gemini Spark, 10,000 or 25,000 Flow credits, the highest Jules and Antigravity limits, Project Genie, the YouTube Premium individual plan and storage starting at 20 TB. Gemini Enterprise starts at $21 per seat a month for the Business edition (up to 300 seats) and $30 per seat a month for the Standard and Plus editions.
Coding and automation are built in. Codex is on every plan, expanded on Plus and at maximum on Pro, and it runs on web, CLI and in the IDE. Scheduled tasks and custom GPTs let you package repeatable work. Google's equivalents, Jules and Antigravity, are only on AI Pro and Ultra.
The work tier is clearer. ChatGPT Business is $20 per user a month with SAML SSO and MFA and a stated policy of no training on business data by default, and OpenAI's Business page describes Standard and Premium seats you can mix. Gemini Enterprise starts at $21 per seat and is a broader agent platform with connectors and a workflow builder, which is more than a small team may want to evaluate.
Model access is not tied to a bundle. If you want OpenAI's newest reasoning models, GPT-6 on Plus or GPT-6 Astra on Pro, there is no other way to get them. Gemini's higher tiers carry a lot of value that is not the model: storage, YouTube, Home Premium.
Price for what you get. Google AI Plus at $4.99 a month is the cheapest paid tier of either vendor and includes video generation, 400 GB of storage and Gemini in Gmail. Google AI Pro at $19.99 is one cent under ChatGPT Plus and adds 5 TB of storage, YouTube Premium Lite, Google Home Premium, 1,000 Flow credits and Gemini inside Gmail, Docs and Vids. If you already pay for Google storage or YouTube Premium, part of the subscription pays for itself.
The free tier is generous. Deep Research, Gemini Live, Canvas, Gems, image generation and editing and Gemini Notebook are all on the $0 plan, where ChatGPT Free lists deep research, voice and image creation as limited.
The top tier is available. Google AI Ultra at $199.99 a month for 20x usage is open to new subscribers, includes first access to Deep Think and Gemini Spark, 25,000 Flow credits and Project Genie. ChatGPT's comparable $200 Pro tier is paused for new sign-ups as of September 10, 2026.
Pick ChatGPT if you want the assistant on its own merits, if you code and want Codex, if you rely on custom GPTs and scheduled tasks, or if you are buying seats for a team and want a simple per-user plan with SSO.
Pick Gemini if your mail, documents and files are in Google, if you want video generation and storage in the same subscription, if you want the strongest free tier, or if you want a $5 entry plan. Households that already pay for Google One or YouTube Premium should price AI Pro against what they pay today before buying anything from OpenAI.
Built from each tool's listing. Vendors can update their own listing after claiming it.
Free is $0. Go is $8 a month, Plus $20 a month, Pro from $100 a month for 5x Plus usage; the $200 tier (20x) is paused for new sign-ups as of September 10, 2026. Business is $20 per user a month billed annually for at least two users, or $25 monthly. Enterprise and Edu are sold through sales.
Free is $0. Google AI Plus is $4.99 a month, Google AI Pro $19.99 a month, Google AI Ultra $99.99 a month for 5x usage or $199.99 a month for 20x. Gemini Enterprise starts at $21 per seat a month for the Business edition and $30 per seat a month for Standard and Plus editions.
