ChatGPT consistently ranks at the top of the LM Arena leaderboard, outperforming other models in key benchmarks. It's the world's most popular AI application, with 200 million users as of October 2024.

I’ve used ChatGPT extensively for brainstorming ideas, translation tasks, coding, AI script generation, data analysis and managing research-heavy tasks. The new 4o model is a significant leap forward—it’s incredibly fast, and feels way smarter than any of the previous versions of ChatGPT.

With ChatGPT's multimodal capabilities I can paste in images—like a chart or graph—and ask questions about it, making it much easier to interpret visual data quickly. I fed it a PNG image of a chart and it analysed the chart, gave me a table of the raw data (that it read from the chart image) and then re-did the chart in my preferred colors - pretty impressive.

ChatGPT can now retain context over time, personalizing responses based on previous conversations. For instance, I’ve used it to refine recurring project ideas without re-explaining every detail, saving hours of effort. You can review and manage what it remembers through OpenAI’s controls, to make sure it doesn't go all Skynet on you.

The integrated ChatGPT search option (more on this later) makes it even easier to find relevant information directly within conversations, which cuts down on the hallucinations with the use of RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation). RAG grounds the AI's answer by retrieving information from external data sources.

While it excels in creative and general-purpose tasks, I’d recommend exploring other tools like Claude (see below) for coding. It's not that ChatGPT is bad at coding tasks, it's just that Claude is great at them.

If you're looking for a ChatGPT video generator, OpenAI has a tool called Sora which is fun to play around with.

ChatGPT o1

o1 is a specialized advanced reasoning model built for complex problem-solving, coding, and math.

While I find 4o excels in creativity and versatility, o1 has proven incredibly useful for specific tasks like coding, troubleshooting technical issues, and even solving intricate math problems that other models struggled with. I’ve used it to generate shell scripts, work through spreadsheet problems, and even tackle cryptic crossword puzzles, where its precision and logical depth really shine.

However, it lacks the broader capabilities and tool integrations of 4o, so I see it more as a complementary option for specific needs rather than a full replacement for more creative or expansive tasks.

Operators

In January 2025, ChatGPT introduced "Operators," AI agents that can book hotels, order food, and shop online. Exclusive to Pro users ($200/month), they show exciting potential but are hit-or-miss in execution.

For instance, I asked the Operator to book a hotel in NYC. It started strong, navigating filters and searching TripAdvisor, but eventually got stuck in a loop. Ordering a pizza was similar—it customized the order but couldn’t complete checkout. Shopping worked better; it found a laptop under $1,000 on Amazon but required me to finish the purchase manually. Operators let you take control when they get stuck, but the laggy browser often makes doing it yourself easier.

Right now, Operators feel more like a proof-of-concept than a practical tool. While the idea of automating repetitive tasks is exciting, it needs improvements in speed and reliability. If you’re already a Pro user, it’s worth exploring, but not essential yet.

Pricing

OpenAI offer a free tier which currently gives you limited access to GPT-4o and unlimited access to ChatGPT-4o mini. The Plus plan gets you wider access and costs $20/month - I think that's pretty good value for money. They also offer a Pro plan for $200/month which gives you priority access to their latest tools.