MODEL COMPARISON

ChatGPT vs Claude: complete comparison (2026)

An objective head-to-head of OpenAI's GPT-5.5 and Anthropic's Claude Opus 4.7 across coding, writing, reasoning, context length, and price. Or use both at once in a council.

Run both in a council See all models

GPT-5.5 wins on versatility, tool-calling, and ecosystem — it has the broadest plugin/connector library, four reasoning levels (low → high), and a 256K context window. Claude Opus 4.7 wins on coding and writing quality — it leads SWE-bench, offers a 1M-token context window in beta, and follows complex multi-step instructions better. On price, Sonnet 4.6 delivers Opus-class code at $3/$15 per million tokens, which undercuts GPT-5.5's $5/$30. Neither model is universally better. The right answer for important work is to run both in an LLM council and let a moderator surface where they agree (consensus you can trust) and disagree (the actual hard parts of your question). For casual chat, pick whichever subscription you already have.

At a glance

 GPT-5.5 (ChatGPT)Claude Opus 4.7
ProviderOpenAIAnthropic
Context window256K200K (1M beta)
Price ($/M in–out)$5.00 / $30.00$15.00 / $75.00
Coding (SWE-bench)ExcellentLeader
Writing nuanceVersatileBest in class
Tool callingIndustry-leadingStrong
Native web searchYes (Responses API)Yes (Brave)

Pick GPT-5.5 when

Pick Claude Opus 4.7 when

Use both — Council mode

Council AI runs GPT-5.5 and Claude Opus 4.7 in parallel on the same prompt, then a moderator model synthesizes a single answer noting where they agree and disagree. Start free.

Frequently asked questions

Which is better, ChatGPT or Claude?

Neither universally. GPT-5.5 wins versatility, tool-calling, and ecosystem. Claude Opus 4.7 wins coding (SWE-bench leader), writing nuance, and long-context (1M beta). Pick by task or run both in a council.

Is Claude more expensive than ChatGPT?

Opus 4.7 is more expensive than GPT-5.5 ($15/$75 vs $5/$30 per million in/out tokens). But Sonnet 4.6 delivers near-Opus coding quality at $3/$15 — cheaper than GPT-5.5.

Can I use ChatGPT and Claude together?

Yes. Council AI runs both in parallel and synthesizes a moderator answer. You get the strengths of both labs in one workflow.

Who has the longer context window?

Claude has 1M tokens in beta vs GPT-5.5's 256K. For whole-codebase reasoning, Claude is the pick.