A side-by-side look at price, access, and practical limits for drafting, revising, and analyzing documents. This guidance is based on company pages linked from the profiles below.
You want a standalone assistant for file analysis, data, images, and research, with separately enabled Microsoft connections.
Look elsewhere if: You need embedded PDF images analyzed outside ChatGPT Enterprise, or a dedicated document editor with tightly controlled revision and handoff features; other plans use text-only PDF retrieval and discard embedded images.
Substantial documents and written context are the center of the drafting or analysis work.
Look elsewhere if: You need a fully local assistant, chat files over 500 MB, project files over 30 MB, PDFs over 1,000 pages, visual PDF analysis after page 100, or embedded images read from non-PDF documents.
| Detail | ChatGPTOpenAI | ClaudeAnthropic |
|---|---|---|
| Made for | General assistant | General assistant |
| US price | Free; Go $8/mo (may include ads); Plus $20/mo; Pro from $100/mo (opens in a new tab) Full ChatGPT plan detailsA free plan is available. In the US, Go is $8 monthly and Plus is $20 monthly. Pro is $100 monthly for 5× Plus usage or $200 monthly for 20×. Go, Plus, and Pro are billed monthly only. ChatGPT Business standard seats are $25 per user monthly or $20 per user monthly when billed annually, with a two-seat minimum. Usage limits apply. | Free; Pro $20/mo ($17/mo billed yearly) (opens in a new tab) Full Claude plan detailsFree plan. Pro is listed at $20 monthly or $200 yearly. Max 5x is listed at $100 per month and Max 20x at $200 per month. Anthropic's plan guide and pricing FAQ say both Max tiers are monthly only, but its pricing comparison table lists monthly and annual billing; confirm the available billing interval before subscribing. Mobile prices may vary. |
| Ways to use it | Web, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android | Web, macOS, Windows, iOS, Android |
| Access | Cloud service with web, desktop, and mobile apps. | Cloud service with web, desktop, and mobile apps. |
| Where it runs | Online service from OpenAI. | Cloud service; remote Cowork sessions run on Anthropic servers. |
| Profile evidence | Capabilities · Access · Limits · collected Aug 1, 2026 | Capabilities · Access · Limits · collected Aug 1, 2026 |
For conversation uploads, ChatGPT allows up to 512 MB per file, with a 2-million-token limit for text and documents. Claude allows up to 500 MB per chat file, while project files are capped at 30 MB each. Claude processes text and visual elements in PDFs of 100 pages or fewer, then text only through 1,000 pages. ChatGPT reads PDF visuals only on Enterprise; all other plans use text retrieval and discard embedded images. Both extract text only from non-PDF documents, so test chart-heavy files on the plan you would use. Project capacity differs too. OpenAI lists 20 files per Plus project and 40 per Pro, Team, Education, or Business project, but that FAQ does not publish a Free or Go project limit. Anthropic calls the Claude project file count unlimited but says total content must fit the context window; its RAG guide says projects can expand up to 10× by retrieving only relevant material. The two Claude pages do not reconcile that wording.
Company sources: ChatGPT file uploads (opens in a new tab) · Upload files to Claude (opens in a new tab) · RAG for Claude Projects (opens in a new tab)The linked consumer upload pages do not establish that either ChatGPT or Claude provides more dependable automatic page- or passage-level citations in ordinary uploaded-file chats. Treat that as unknown. Test the exact plan and surface with the same representative PDF: ask each product for the filename, the page number shown by the PDF viewer or a named section, and a short supporting excerpt for several material claims. Verify every reference against the original before choosing or relying on it. For Claude PDFs, use viewer page numbers rather than page numbers printed inside the document.
Company sources: ChatGPT file uploads (opens in a new tab) · Upload files to Claude (opens in a new tab)Both offer free access. OpenAI's current pages conflict on ChatGPT file-upload access: its FAQ says uploads are available to Plus, Pro, and Enterprise, yet the same FAQ caps Free at 3 uploads per day and the pricing page lists limited Free uploads and more for Go. Confirm upload access in the account before relying on Free or Go. Then compare file, message, and workspace allowances on the plans you would buy.
Company sources: ChatGPT pricing (opens in a new tab) · ChatGPT file uploads (opens in a new tab) · Claude pricing (opens in a new tab)For individual ChatGPT services, OpenAI may use chats and uploaded content for training unless the user opts out; Business and Enterprise inputs and outputs are not used for training by default. When Library is available, ChatGPT saves conversation uploads there separately: deleting a chat does not delete its Library files, so delete those files from Library too. Anthropic says Claude Free, Pro, and Max chats and coding sessions may be used when the user chooses to allow model improvement, when conversations are flagged for safety review, or through another explicit training opt-in. Claude for Work inputs and outputs are not used for training by default, but explicit feedback or permission can be used. Anthropic says a deleted consumer Claude conversation is removed from chat history immediately and from back-end storage within 30 days. Conversations flagged for a Usage Policy violation can keep their inputs and outputs for up to two years, and Anthropic can retain the entire conversation associated with user feedback for five years.
Company sources: How OpenAI uses data to improve models (opens in a new tab) · ChatGPT chat and file retention (opens in a new tab) · Claude consumer model training (opens in a new tab) · Claude commercial model training (opens in a new tab) · Claude data retention (opens in a new tab)ChatGPT can generate images, and ChatGPT Work can create or edit documents, presentations, and spreadsheets; availability varies by plan, workspace settings, file type, and surface. Claude can analyze uploaded data and create downloadable Excel, PowerPoint, Word, PDF, and PNG files; its file-creation environment caps each upload and download at 30 MB. Anthropic says network access is enabled for this environment on Free, Pro, and Max, while Team and Enterprise organization owners can control network egress. It warns that prompt injection through external files or websites can send conversation, project, or connected-source data to third parties. Enabled MCP integrations can still communicate when sandbox network egress is off, so review both settings before using sensitive files. Claude’s paid Cowork can edit approved local files through Claude Desktop; in remote Cowork sessions, code and shell commands run in an isolated environment on Anthropic’s servers.
Company sources: ChatGPT Work files (opens in a new tab) · Create and edit files with Claude (opens in a new tab) · Get started with Claude Cowork (opens in a new tab)