How Chatgpt is free

ChatGPT can now be used free of charge without a login
OpenAI says the new version of the AI chatbot is aimed at anyone who is curious about its capabilities
OpenAI is removing the last barrier that might stop people from trying ChatGPT by dropping the requirement to have an account to use the chatbot.

“Starting today, you can use ChatGPT instantly, without needing to sign-up. We're rolling this out gradually, with the aim to make AI accessible to anyone curious about its capabilities,” OpenAI wrote on its blog.
Based on our own testing, this hasn’t reached the UK yet or at least not our test browser instance. But you can try for yourself over at the ChatGPT website.

OpenAI said it has put some additional measures in place for this easy-access version of the chatbot. “We’ve also introduced additional content safeguards for this experience, such as blocking prompts and generations in a wider range of categories,” it says.
Creating an OpenAI account is free and unlocks access to ChatGPT on browser and through the iOS and Android apps.

However, even with an account, an OpenAI Plus subscription is required for the best experience with ChatGPT. For example, the free version of ChatGPT uses core GPT-3.5 AI, where ChatGPT Plus has the more advanced and intelligent GPT-4. A paid subscription is also required for features like image generation and voice control. This costs $20 (£16) a month.
ChatGPT’s free edition only has knowledge of real-world events up to January 2022, limiting its usefulness in plenty of scenarios.

ChatGPT Plus can search the internet using Microsoft Bing for up-to-date information rather than relying on a static knowledge base.

The chatbot’s two rivals are Microsoft CoPilot, previously known as Bing Chat, and Google Gemini, which was called Google Bard at launch. While these are not as well known as ChatGPT, their free versions can search for information on recent events, no doubt helped by the fact Google and Microsoft run search engines.