Do you really need a subscription to use this advanced Chat Bot or can you get by on the free version?
Did you know that ChatGPT has a premium version, known as ChatGPT Plus (how original). This is the paid subscription plan for the most advanced Chatbot AI platform to date. ChatGPT is capable of answering a wide range of questions at a near human response rate. But, this platform is free to use why on earth would you need to purchase the ChatGPT plus package?
ChatGPT Plus is a paid subscription plan. It’s purpose is to give users priority access to ChatGPT during peak hours. Users can also test new features when they are in their beta stages as we saw with plugins.
In this article we go through weather or not this “extra” is really worth it.
So How Much Does It Cost?
If you want to get a ChatGPT Plus subscripting, well then it’s going to cost you $20 per month plus any tax on top. This is based on your location, all countries are different when it comes to tax. Expect to pay under $20-$25 a month. OpenAI only accepts payments through credit or debit cards, which can be problematic for some of it’s user base.
Don’t know if you can use ChatGPT plus? Well it has been available in multiple locations for quite some time. It’s not just locked to the US anymore. If you want to check if your location is supported then head over to the supported countries, section of their site.
What Are The Benefits of Using ChatGPT Plus
Well if you are a die hard fan of this chat bot platform then ChatGPT plus does come with some perks that you might be keenly interested in. But you are going to want to ask the community about these features are OpenAI is a little slow on rolling things out to all users. If you are contemplating becoming a Plus subscriber then you will want to check out some of the features below:
- Able to use Multiple Models — You get the choice on which model you want to work with. Including of course the GPT-4 model.
- Availability even when the network is busy — This is the main advantage to using ChatGPT Plus. When the network is busy users get locked out and have to wait, where as subscribers get access without any interruptions.
- Faster response generation (apparently) — Look, we don’t really notice this one but if you are pumping out a dozen prompts every few minutes you might notice the difference. It’s not really a key selling point to us.
- Priority access to new features — Whenever ChatGPT creates something new, as a paid subscriber you get a chance to try that out! Sure it’s rolled out but all paid users get a chance to use it before it gets shipped to the free ones.
- Larger Daily Limits — Well, this used to be the case. Now you might have noticed as free user you are limited to responses once per minute. Annoying sure, but bearable. If you have a ChatGPT plus subscription you will not see this error message. There are still limits on how much you can generate though which is a real shame.
The Different Modes Available to ChatGPT Plus
When you become a paid for subscriber you will have access to three models. These are known as: default, Legacy and GPT-4.
Default Model
We call this “turbo mode” it is all about speed. But with great speed becomes a bit of a sacrifice to the quality of what is generated. So it’s great for quick replies to questions that require little information. But for writing content in depth, we would not recommend using this model.
The Legacy Model
We find this a strange name of this type of model as it is pretty much the same as the free version. So it should be called the “free model”. Maybe they did this to make people think they are not getting ripped off. It is just as a good at creating great content but is a little bit on the slow side.
GPT-4 Model
This is the most advanced model version to date. As the model change we expect this to change to GPT-4.5 etc. This model is capable of providing the most human-like responses to it’s users. It is quite creative and can provide users with an extremely large response. It can easily write a 2000 word article about any given subject.
Are there any limitations when using ChatGPT plus?
Well you would think if you are paying for a service it would not have any limitations right? wrong. There is some issues when it comes to using this subscription service. Sure you do get access to new features and priority access during peak times. Which is great, but you need to understand these following limitations before submitting to a sub:
- There is a Usage Limit: Yup you heard us right. If you use this service far too often you may notice that there is a hourly and a daily limit. If you reach this limit you will notice that you won’t get a response until it times out. Of course you don’t get the restriction you do with the free version, but still it’s a little disappointing.
- Word Count: Pretty much the same as the free version. This keeps on increasing in size so weather you have the free or paid for version you are getting the same thing.
- No Refunds for Paying Users: If you get banned or have any issues, don’t expect to get a refund. Because of this you become a little bit more aware of what you are asking of ChatGPT to avoid any potential bans.
So you might be asking yourself, what is the point in subscribing to ChatGPT plus? priority access and plugins doesn’t seem like too much.
So, Should You Upgrade to ChatGPT Plus?
This can easily be answered by asking the simple questions “Well how often do you use ChatGPT?”. If you are using it every day 7 days a week for the majority of the day then sure! get yourself a subscription.
But if like they many other users, you are just asking silly questions a few time a week then no. Paying $20 for an upgrade for ChatGPT when their free service is just as good is not worth it for you.
There are only a few occasions that a basic user would require access to ChatGPT plus and that is if they constantly use the app during peak hours. So they never really get a chance to test out this amazing ai technology.
But a big question you need to ask yourself is can I afford to throw away $20 a month? if you can sure give it a go, you can cancel it if you don’t like it. However if you can’t you might want to consider how to make money with AI through creating online content. Use the free version, create content, monetize and then purchase the premium version at a later date.
Here at So Artificial we personally have a subscription to ChatGPT plus. We do not use it for our website but have used it for more creative functions online. It’s good at creating content, but it lacks that human touch, so it’s quite selective where you can share it’s content.
How to Subscribe
Still want to subscribe? well if you do head over to https://chat.openai.com once you are logged in look at the bottom left of your screen. If you see the “upgrade to plus” option then your country is able to sign up. Click through the prompt and sign up, remember the extra tax ours is an extra $4!
Our Final Thoughts
We are not going to beat around the bush here. ChatGPT plus is expensive at $20 ($24) a month. Considering the free version is almost identical. Personally we would have thought they might have low balled this offer and tried to price it at similar subscription services say $9.99. Sadly not, it is far cheaper than the origins when it was over $40!
Some users don’t mind paying this fee as they are able to turn ChatGPT plus into a service that pays them. So they don’t care paying 4 times the amount as long as they continue to have priority access to this tool.
Most complaints we see about this subscription platform is of course as expected the limits it has. A lot of users feel like what is the point paying for a service that is restricted. Especially at this price.
Our personal views are if you are using ChatGPT for business use i.e. making money then sure grab yourself a subscription. If not you might as well stick with the free version, until more restrictions come into effect.
What do you think about ChatGPT Plus do you have a subscription, want one or don’t want one? let us know in the comments below.
