The short version
- Image creation on the free plan: Google lists image generation and editing on Free. OpenAI lists limited image creation on Free, more on Go, and unlimited and faster on Pro.
- Video generation: Google lists it on paid plans. We did not read OpenAI’s video generation pages, so that cell is not filled.
- Video you upload: Google lists each video up to 2 GB and 5 minutes in total, or 1 hour with Google AI Pro or Ultra.
- Other files: OpenAI lists 512MB per file, with images at 20MB each and 3 uploads a day for Free users. Google lists up to 10 files per prompt at 100 MB per file.
- Prices for the plans that raise these limits: ChatGPT Plus is $20 a month; Google AI Plus is $4.99 and AI Pro $19.99 a month.
Plans and prices
US dollars unless a cell says otherwise. Vendors show different prices in different countries and add tax in some.
| What | GeminiGoogle | ChatGPTOpenAI |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes, with a Google Account. Access to 3.6 Flash and varying access to 3.1 Pro; 15 GB storageSource: Google, checked 1 Oct 2026 | Yes. Unlimited text chats with GPT-5.6 Luna; limited uploads, images, voice and deep researchSource: OpenAI, checked 1 Oct 2026 |
| Low-cost tier | Google AI Plus, $4.99/month. 2x the Free usage limits, 400 GB storageSource: Google, checked 1 Oct 2026 | Go. A$13/month on the Australian page; this plan may include adsUS dollar price not verified: OpenAI's help page for Go gives no figure and points to the pricing page, which showed A$ from our connection (re-checked 2 Oct 2026).Source: OpenAI, checked 1 Oct 2026 |
| Main paid plan | Google AI Pro, $19.99/month. 4x the Free usage limits, 5 TB storageSource: Google, checked 1 Oct 2026 | Plus, $20/month, billed monthlySource: OpenAI, checked 1 Oct 2026 |
| Heavy-use plans | Google AI Ultra, $99.99/month (5x AI Pro limits) or $199.99/month (20x)Source: Google, checked 1 Oct 2026 | Pro 100, Pro 200 and Pro 500: $100, $200 and $500/monthSource: OpenAI, checked 1 Oct 2026 |
Limits and models
| What | GeminiGoogle | ChatGPTOpenAI |
|---|---|---|
| Models you get | Free: 3.6 Flash, varying access to 3.1 Pro. Paid plans raise access to 3.1 Pro; Ultra adds first access to Deep ThinkSource: Google, checked 1 Oct 2026 | Free: GPT-5.6 Luna. Plus: advanced reasoning models with GPT-6. Pro: Pro reasoning powered by GPT-6 AstraSource: OpenAI, checked 1 Oct 2026 |
Features by plan
| What | GeminiGoogle | ChatGPTOpenAI |
|---|---|---|
| Image generation | Image generation and editing on the Free plan; video generation on paid plansSource: Google, checked 1 Oct 2026 | Limited on Free; more on Go; unlimited and faster on ProSource: OpenAI, checked 1 Oct 2026 |
Voice, files and access
| What | GeminiGoogle | ChatGPTOpenAI |
|---|---|---|
| File uploads | Up to 10 files per prompt; 100 MB per file. Paid Google AI plans raise upload limitsSource: Google, checked 1 Oct 2026 | 512MB per file; text and document files capped at 2M tokens; images 20MB each. Free users: 3 file uploads a daySource: OpenAI, checked 1 Oct 2026 |
| Video | Upload: each video up to 2 GB; 5 minutes in total, or 1 hour with Google AI Pro or UltraVideo generation is listed on paid plans (see Image generation).Source: Google, checked 1 Oct 2026 | In voice, Live does not support video or screen sharing; video and screen sharing remain available to eligible subscribers in the iOS and Android apps when using AdvancedVideo upload and video generation were not read.Source: OpenAI, checked 1 Oct 2026 |
Best for, and not ideal for
Each point follows from a row in the fact file; this page shows part of it, and the full comparisons show the rest. We have not run quality or speed tests, so nothing here says which one writes or codes better.
Gemini
Best for
- People already paying for Google storage. AI Pro bundles 5 TB and AI Plus 400 GB.
- A low paid price: AI Plus at $4.99 a month, the lowest paid price we could verify among ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini.
- Free users who want research and image tools. Deep Research and image generation are on the Free plan.
- Developers watching token cost at the top end: gemini-3.1-pro-preview lists $2 input and $12 output per million tokens for prompts up to 200k tokens, and $4 and $18 above that.
Not ideal for
- Long API responses. Maximum output is 65,536 tokens; OpenAI and Anthropic list 128K.
- People who want a plain token number for the app: Google describes app limits as compute-based, refreshing every 5 hours.
ChatGPT
Best for
- People who want tiers to grow into: there are Go, Plus and three Pro levels between free and $500 a month.
- Heavy image use. Image creation is listed from the Free plan and becomes unlimited on Pro.
- Developers who need a very cheap model: gpt-6-luna lists $0.10 per million input tokens, the lowest price among the models we read today.
Not ideal for
- Pasting very long documents on a $20 plan. Plus is capped at a 54K context window on Instant models and 256K on reasoning models.
- Anyone who wants an ad-free low-cost plan: OpenAI says Go may include ads.
Questions people ask
- Can the free plans create images?
- Yes on both, according to the vendors. Google lists image generation and editing on the Free plan. OpenAI lists limited image creation on Free.
- How long a video can I upload to Gemini?
- Google’s help page lists each video up to 2 GB and a total video length of 5 minutes, extended to 1 hour with Google AI Pro or Ultra.
- Which makes better images?
- We have not tested image or video quality, so we do not say. The rows here cover what each plan lists and the published limits.
Sources
Every figure on this page was read from these vendor pages on 1 Oct 2026. A cell marked “Not verified” means we could not confirm it from a vendor page that day, so we left it blank.
- Google: Google AI plans (United States page), checked 1 Oct 2026.
- OpenAI: ChatGPT pricing page, checked 1 Oct 2026. Read in a browser from an Australian connection; plan prices on this page were shown in A$.
- OpenAI: What is ChatGPT Plus? (Help Center), checked 1 Oct 2026.
- OpenAI: About ChatGPT Pro tiers (Help Center), checked 1 Oct 2026.
- Google: Upload and analyze files in Gemini Apps (Gemini Apps Help), checked 1 Oct 2026.
- OpenAI: File Uploads FAQ (Help Center), checked 1 Oct 2026.
- OpenAI: ChatGPT Voice (Help Center), checked 1 Oct 2026.
Other comparisons
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The site assistant is not available yet. Until it is, the comparison pages list every plan, price and limit with its vendor source, and corrections can be sent to contact@aiselect.chat.