Claude vs ChatGPT: which is better and what they cost in 2026

Side by side

Model	Vendor	Type	Context window	API price per 1M tokens (input / output)	Open weights	Released
Claude Opus 5.5Anthropic's main model for demanding work, coding and long documents, and the one Anthropic recommends starting with.	Anthropic	flagship	1M	4 / 20	no	Sep 2026
Claude Sonnet 5.5Claude's balanced model for everyday work and coding. It is faster than Opus 5.5 and costs half as much.	Anthropic	balanced	1M	2 / 10	no	Sep 2026
Claude Haiku 5.5Claude's cheapest and fastest model, built for classification, data extraction and large volumes of simple tasks.	Anthropic	fast and cheap	1M	0.1 / 0.5	no	Oct 2026
GPT-6 AstraOpenAI's most capable model, built for the hardest coding, agents that operate a computer and very long documents.	OpenAI	flagship	1.05M	10 / 50	no	Sep 2026
GPT-6.1 SolOpenAI's balanced model, close to GPT-6 Astra in quality at a fifth of the price. A solid pick for business apps.	OpenAI	balanced	1.05M	2 / 10	no	Sep 2026
GPT-6 LunaOpenAI's cheapest model, made for high volumes of simple tasks, sorting text and low-cost chatbots.	OpenAI	small	1.05M	0.1 / 0.5	no	Sep 2026

The main differences at a glance

Overall performance: on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index v5.0, Claude Opus 5.5 scores 58 and GPT-6 Astra scores 57. You won’t notice a one-point gap in everyday work.
Coding: on Terminal-Bench 4.0, Opus 5.5 scores 66.4% according to Anthropic and GPT-6 Astra 57.9% according to OpenAI.
Features: ChatGPT can create images. Claude models answer in text only and don’t create images.
Free plan: ChatGPT Free has no fixed cap on regular text messages. Claude Free has a limit that resets every 5 hours and leaves out Opus and Claude Code.
Data in the EU: OpenAI offers EU data processing on the Enterprise plan and in the API. Anthropic’s own API stores data in the US.

What the subscriptions cost

Both have a free plan, a personal plan at roughly $20, pricier plans for heavy users and plans for companies. The differences are in the details:

ChatGPT: Free, Go at $8, Plus at $20 and Pro from $100 a month, billed monthly.
Claude: Free, Pro at $20 ($17 a month with annual billing) and Max at $100 or $200. Prices exclude VAT, which is added at checkout in Europe.
ChatGPT has a cheap middle step, Go at $8. Claude has nothing between Free and Pro.
Companies: ChatGPT Business costs $25 per user a month ($20 billed annually), Claude Team $25 ($20 billed annually).

For what each plan includes, see ChatGPT pricing and Claude pricing.

Coding and AI agents

Both have their own coding tool. OpenAI has Codex, which you get in limited form even on Free. Anthropic has Claude Code, which starts with the Pro plan.

On Terminal-Bench 4.0, which tests work in the command line, Claude Sonnet 5.5 scores 70.6% and Opus 5.5 66.4% according to Anthropic. GPT-6 Astra scores 57.9% according to OpenAI. These are figures published by the companies themselves.

If you pay for the API, the real cost per task matters too. Claude models write very long answers, so the Artificial Analysis test cost $10.04 per task for Opus 5.5 and $10.02 for Sonnet 5.5. GPT-6.1 Sol, with 55 points on the same index, cost $1.27 and GPT-6 Astra $6.24.

Writing and everyday text work

Both handle emails, summaries, translations and everyday questions well. There is no reliable independent comparison of quality in smaller European languages yet, so the best test is your own text. Give both the same task and compare the results.

ChatGPT is the more versatile app. Besides text it creates images and offers custom GPTs. Claude focuses on text, documents and code and doesn’t create images. Both can remember things from earlier chats.

Long documents

All current Claude models have a 1 million token window in the API, which is hundreds of pages of text. Opus 5.5 and Sonnet 5.5 charge no extra for long input. GPT-6 models also have a window of about 1 million tokens in the API, but the price goes up above 272,000 input tokens.

In the ChatGPT app the window is smaller and depends on the plan. Plus gets 54,000 tokens in fast mode and 256,000 when thinking, Pro gets 128,000 and 400,000. On OpenAI’s MRCR v2 test, which checks retrieval in texts of 512,000 to 1 million tokens, GPT-6 Astra succeeded 96.3% of the time. If you often work with whole contracts or books, try both on your own document.

Privacy and the EU

ChatGPT: OpenAI may use Free conversations to train its models unless you turn this off in settings. On the Business plan, company data is not used for training by default. Enterprise and the API offer EU data processing, with a 10% surcharge in the API.
Claude: Slovakia and Czechia are on Anthropic’s list of supported countries, so the app and API work there. But Anthropic’s own API stores data in the US and you can’t choose an EU region. Companies that need data in the EU have to check the options on Amazon Bedrock or Google Cloud.

If your company must keep data in the EU, OpenAI handles it directly today. Anthropic’s own API offers no EU region, so you would have to check what its cloud partners offer.

Verdict

If you write code or want an AI agent for long tasks, start with Claude. Going by the companies’ own numbers, it does better on Terminal-Bench 4.0, and Claude Code comes with Pro at $20. If you want one app for both text and images, or a cheaper entry with Go at $8, pick ChatGPT. Companies that must keep data in the EU have an easier path with ChatGPT Enterprise or the OpenAI API. For everyday writing and questions the difference depends on the task, so try both for free on the same prompt. More comparisons: ChatGPT vs Gemini and Claude vs Gemini.

FAQ

Is Claude better than ChatGPT?

It depends on the task. On the independent Artificial Analysis index the top models are almost tied, with Claude Opus 5.5 at 58 and GPT-6 Astra at 57. Going by the companies’ own numbers, Claude does better at coding, while ChatGPT has more features in one app, such as image generation and custom GPTs. For writing, try both on your own texts.

Which is better for coding, Claude or ChatGPT?

Claude, going by the companies’ own numbers. On Terminal-Bench 4.0, Sonnet 5.5 scores 70.6% and Opus 5.5 66.4%, while GPT-6 Astra scores 57.9%. Claude Code comes with the Pro plan at $20. OpenAI’s Codex is available in limited form even for free, so you can try it on smaller projects without paying.

Which is cheaper, Claude Pro or ChatGPT Plus?

They cost about the same. ChatGPT Plus is $20 a month and Claude Pro is $20 before VAT. With annual billing Claude Pro works out at $17 a month, while ChatGPT Plus is billed monthly. If you want to spend less, ChatGPT also has the Go plan at $8.

Can I use Claude in Slovakia or Czechia?

Yes. Both countries are on Anthropic’s list of supported countries, and the app works on the web, desktop and mobile. Prices are in US dollars before VAT, though, and Anthropic’s own API stores data in the US.

Can I use Claude and ChatGPT for free?

Yes, both have a free plan. ChatGPT Free has no fixed cap on regular text messages, but file uploads and image creation are limited. Claude Free has a limit that resets every 5 hours and doesn’t include Opus or Claude Code.

Sources

Prices and models change often. The data comes from official vendor pricing pages and documentation, and every page shows when it was last checked. Before a larger purchase, confirm the price with the vendor.