ChatGPT or Claude: Which to choose?
A recent story about how OpenAI signed a contract with the Pentagon, while Anthropic, due to a scandal, refused similar agreements (which I wrote about twice over the weekend), unexpectedly triggered the Streisand effect. On social media platforms like Reddit and X, there are many discussions about people canceling their ChatGPT subscriptions and switching to Claude.
Reputational damage for OpenAI will take a long time to recover: many users are unhappy that their AI could be used for military surveillance or autonomous weapon control. Although the company introduced restrictions—these are milder than those promoted by Anthropic.
It’s difficult to say exactly how many subscriptions have been canceled, but currently, the Claude app is leading in the App Store — it seems that Anthropic’s advertising has paid off. Honestly, even if a few thousand subscriptions at $20 each are canceled, it won’t significantly impact OpenAI’s finances. However, if some users switch to less suitable AI models, the consequences could be noticeable.
I personally use both Claude and ChatGPT actively and decided to compare these two platforms.
Advantages of Claude
— Opus 4.6 is considered one of the best AIs on the market today. For a long time, it was seen mainly as a programming tool, but now it’s also excellent for working with text: writing code, searching the web, creating presentations, generating headlines, writing news articles, and performing many other tasks.
— Claude Code is now the main assistant for programming. Of course, OpenAI Codex is also good, but many guides and tutorials are written specifically for Claude Code.
— I really like the Claude interface. Plus — Anthropic actively experiments: implementing browser extensions, adding office plugins, and new skill systems.
— The company moves forward rapidly: releasing improved versions of Opus or Sonnet every couple of months.
Disadvantages of Claude
— Cost. Even with a Max subscription at $100, I often set a weekly limit of 80-90 percent — I have to save. On a cheaper plan at $20, you can only work normally with the Sonnet 4.6 model — which is slightly weaker.
— Stability leaves much to be desired: roughly once every two or three days, there are situations where the model is unavailable for an hour or two.
— This AI is more focused on text work — voice assistants are weak or entirely absent, and image or video generation is not included in the subscription.
Advantages of ChatGPT
— Although GPT-5.2 is less powerful than Opus 4.6, it’s still great for simple questions, information searches, or helping kids with homework. The main thing — avoid using the Instant version; Thinking works better.
— GPT-5.3-Codex inside ChatGPT handles coding just as well as Opus 4.6. For $20 per month, you can complete several projects without major issues — plus, using Codex does not reduce limits in the main ChatGPT.
— Additionally, almost any version of GPT-5.2 can be used within the platform without significant restrictions.
— There’s an option to generate images via GPT Image 1.5. Compared to Google’s Nano Banana 2 — “Banana” produces more accurate images (especially infographics), while GPT Image looks more elegant and beautiful. There’s also Sora 2 for videos, but I rarely use it.
Disadvantages of ChatGPT
— GPT-5.2 Thinking sometimes takes several minutes to prepare a response — opponents like Opus 4.6 respond instantly.
— OpenAI models perform poorly with the Russian language: roughly a three out of five in quality. In everyday tasks, this isn’t critical, but it becomes problematic when working with texts.
— The UX of OpenAI has a noticeable gap: ChatGPT now seems outdated; Codex lags behind Claude Code; projects like Atlas or ChatGPT Agent are little known — over time, they tend to be forgotten.
— In case needed, you might be directed to NATO soldiers (just kidding!).
I use both services: I pay for subscriptions to both Claude Max and ChatGPT Plus. For work, I mainly rely on Claude Max because of its power and capabilities, but in ChatGPT I like to run Codex for various tasks and use GPT Image 1.5 for creativity.
Claude Max is not cheap, but I find this subscription effective enough — it pays off for my tasks. If you have less experience with AI or are just starting out — it makes sense to begin with ChatGPT Plus: a versatile plan with large limits that allows you to experiment and learn new things without extra costs.
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