Claude vs ChatGPT vs Gemini: File Processing

A practical guide to documented upload limits, supported formats, and data controls, plus a repeatable test for comparing the three assistants.

Sources checked 2 Oct 2026

For claude vs chatgpt vs gemini file processing, the vendors’ own pages settle the basic rules: upload ceilings, supported formats, plan limits, project behavior, retention statements, and accuracy warnings. They do not establish how accurately any assistant will extract data from your particular files or complete your workflow. Chat Picker has not tested the assistants for this use.

What the vendors document

ChatGPT

OpenAI’s File Uploads FAQ says uploads are available on Free and paid plans, subject to plan limits and account settings, through the web and supported mobile apps. As read on that page in October 2026, Free users could upload three files per day, although OpenAI may lower the limit during peak hours. Projects allowed up to five files on Free and 25 on Go or Plus.

The same FAQ sets a 512MB hard limit per uploaded file. Each text or document file has a two-million-token cap, CSV files and spreadsheets are limited to approximately 50MB depending on row size, and images have a 20MB limit. OpenAI lists common text, spreadsheet, presentation and document extensions, but its data-analysis page notes that available types can vary by model, plan, workspace settings and account capabilities.

Uploaded files follow the corresponding chat’s retention period. Under the conditions described by OpenAI, deleting the relevant chat, account or custom GPT removes associated files within 30 days, except when a file has been de-identified and disassociated or must remain for security or legal reasons. OpenAI also warns that ChatGPT can produce incorrect or misleading output and may sound confident while wrong. Its accuracy guidance says to verify important information, especially quotations, data, technical details and references to external documents.

Claude

As read on Anthropic’s upload guide in October 2026, chat uploads have a 500MB per-file limit, while project files have a 30MB per-file limit. Additional token limits may apply according to the length of extracted content. Uploading XLSX files requires code execution and file creation to be enabled.

Claude supports PDF, DOCX, CSV, TXT, HTML, ODT, RTF, EPUB, JSON and XLSX documents, plus JPEG, PNG, GIF and WebP images. For non-PDF documents, Anthropic says Claude extracts text only and cannot interpret embedded images. PDF handling changes with length: for PDFs of 100 pages or fewer, Claude analyzes text and visual elements such as images, charts and graphics; from 101 through 1,000 pages, it processes text only and does not analyze those visual elements.

Files can be placed in an individual chat or retained as persistent project references across conversations. The upload guide does not state a file-deletion period, so this page does not supply one. Anthropic’s accuracy notice says Claude can occasionally be incorrect or misleading and should not be your only source of truth. It recommends checking cited sources because an original page may contain context missing from Claude’s synthesis.

Gemini

As read on Google’s Gemini file-upload guide in October 2026, you must be signed in to upload files. A prompt can contain up to 10 supported files, subject to availability. Videos can be up to 2GB and other supported files up to 100MB. Total video length is normally five minutes, extended to one hour with Google AI Pro or Ultra; audio extends from 10 minutes to three hours on those paid plans.

Gemini Apps supports most file types and can use documents, spreadsheets, notebooks, photos and videos for answers, summaries and insights. Its web app can also create customizable charts from uploaded spreadsheets. Upgrading can raise upload limits and allow uploaded files to be referenced in more chats.

Adding Google Drive files requires Keep Activity to be on and Google Workspace to be connected. A work or school account also needs its Workspace administrator to enable Gemini access. The upload guide does not state a deletion period for uploaded files. Google’s Gemini safety guidelines say outputs are informed by training data and may reflect its limits, including overgeneralizations. For file-derived claims, the underlying document remains the item to verify.

What the documentation cannot tell you

The vendor pages specify eligibility, ceilings and known handling rules. They do not provide a controlled comparison on the same document, so they cannot tell you which service will preserve your table labels, chart values, footnotes, merged cells or scanned text most reliably.

They also do not settle response time, retry behavior or the amount of manual correction your workflow will require. Exact access can depend on plan, account, workspace controls and available features.

Chat Picker has no quality, speed, accuracy, reliability or benchmark tests of its own. It publishes no scores, rankings, survey figures or user statistics for the assistants. When a vendor figure cannot be confirmed, its comparison pages leave it blank or mark it “Not verified.”

How to check it yourself

Run the same test packet through each assistant, using synthetic files rather than sensitive material.

Test format detection and extraction. Give each assistant a PDF containing selectable text, headings, a chart and a table; a DOCX with headers and footers; a CSV with mixed text and numeric fields; a spreadsheet with merged cells; and an image-only page. Use this prompt: “Read only the attached sample files. List each file and the structure you detected. Create an evidence table containing each claim, the exact extracted text or value, its page, section or cell location, and any uncertainty. Transcribe table cells, chart labels, headings, footnotes and units without correcting spelling or filling gaps.” Record omissions, substitutions, invented values, broken units, incorrect locations and upload errors.
Test visual and PDF handling. Give the assistant the chart-bearing PDF and a scan of a fictional one-page maintenance notice. Ask: “Identify the document type. Transcribe all visible text, describe the chart’s title, axes, units, legend and readable data points, and mark anything obscured or uncertain. Cite the page used for each observation.” Write down whether visual content is described, whether text is transcribed exactly and whether uncertainty is visible.
Test spreadsheet fidelity. Give it the CSV and spreadsheet containing dates, currency values, percentages, formulas, blank cells and merged headings. Ask: “Report the sheet structure, headers, formulas, calculated values, units and missing cells. Preserve the distinction between a blank cell, a zero and unreadable content. Do not recalculate anything unless I explicitly request it.” Record changed values, lost formatting, inferred formulas and mislabeled columns.
Test handling time and the full workflow. Start a stopwatch when upload begins and stop it when a usable draft is available. Ask: “Combine the attached documents into a short briefing. Every factual statement must include its document name and page, section or cell location. Separate direct extraction from interpretation and list anything you could not read.” Record elapsed time, retries, source links, manual corrections and whether the result can be traced back to the files.

Which rows of the comparison matter

In the Claude vs ChatGPT vs Gemini matrix, start with the rows for file-size and format limits, files per prompt or project, free and paid usage limits, analysis features, project persistence, storage and retention, training controls, and price. Compare the same plan, account type and interface; do not treat a consumer-app limit as an API limit. Leave “Not verified” cells unresolved and verify changing figures on the linked vendor page before subscribing.