Is ChatGPT Plus Worth Your Money? An In-Depth Student Review

Have you ever been close to buying the paid version of ChatGPT but weren’t sure if it’s worth the money? As AI tools like ChatGPT become more common, it’s important for students, teachers, and researchers to understand their full capabilities. In this article, we will provide you with all the details about the ChatGPT Plus subscription so you can make an informed choice and answer the question: Is ChatGPT Plus worth it for students?

What is ChatGPT Plus?

ChatGPT Plus is the top-tier version of OpenAI’s large language model, ChatGPT. Unlike the free version, this subscription service comes with extra features you pay for each month. So, what makes it special, and should students consider taking a subscription? Let’s take a clear look at its features, evaluate its price, and understand how it can help you with your studies.

How Much Does ChatGPT Plus Cost?

ChatGPT Plus is currently priced at $20 per month. this subscription fee unlocks the latest model GPT o1 and o1-mini, setting ChatGPT Plus apart from its free version. While the montly fee may be an issue for students on a tight budget, the range of added features offered by ChatGPT Plus could justify the investment for those who use AI tools extensively in their academic career.

Comparing Free v.s Paid

To make an informed choice between the free version of ChatGPT and ChatGPT Plus, it’s important to know their differences.

The free version of ChatGPT currently uses the GPT-4o mini model as the base model, which ranks among the paid flagship models of many AI companies. This minimizes concerns about the quality limitations of the free version. On the other hand, ChatGPT Plus uses the more robust GPT-4o model, meaning it responds faster and has a larger context window. This allows you to input longer texts and code and receive longer outputs, making it ideal for use cases such as summarizing, explaining, or reviewing text. Furthermore, it provides access to the latest OpenAI models, including the o1 series, which are currently the top models in the quality index, though access is limited. See the table below for a more detailed comparison.

Alternative Options

An economic principle states that to determine whether $20 is worth it, we should consider the opportunity cost, what alternatives are available if we choose to use buy or not buy OpenAI’s subscription. Here are other options that are worth looking into:

Perplexity AI

We highly recommend Perplexity AI, as it combines the conversational chatbot experience of ChatGPT, while being simaltenously a search engine of google. This combination ensures that Perplexity AI is one of the few AI tools that do not hallucinate. Perplexity AI provides answers with citations, allowing you to verify the information, which is very important in an educational setting. This emphasis on factual accuracy and reliability is a key distinguishing feature. While ChatGPT models have a cutoff date (although there is now a limited web search function), Perplexity integrates the latest real-time information into the search results, ensuring up-to-date results.

A limitation is that Content Generation is Secondary, Not Primary: Although Perplexity AI can generate content, it is not the primary goal. It is primarily seen as a search engine and research tool. Therefore it is not advisable to use Perplexity as the main tool for content generation.

Just like ChatGPT, Perplexity offers a free plan, as well as a Pro plan ($20 per month) with more extensive features.

Conclusion: Perplexity AI is recommended as a powerful research tool, problem solver, and fact-checker. It is less suitable for pure content generation, making it valuable for research purposes.

Claude

Claude, developed by Anthropic AI, is both an AI chatbot and the name of the underlying Large Language Models (LLMs) that power it. The model is trained to engage in natural, text-based conversations. Overall, it is regarded as a strong competitor to ChatGPT, with several notable strengths. Here are the key insights about Claude:

Claude is considered excellent for creative writing and developing ideas. It is creative, insightful, and poses thoughtful questions. Furthermore, we have often encountered AI Slob, which means we can read an article thinking this is ai generated. This seems to be harder to notice with Claude as Claude is described as having a more human-like approach, especially when editing texts. It appears to better understand the tone and follow the logic provided by the user, making it superior to ChatGPT in this aspect. Furthmore, Claude is regarded as better than GPT-4 for coding tasks. It can generate large amounts of code in one go and is capable of handling large code files efficiently.

ChatGPT offers more features, such as a canvas mode, support for various file types and internet access, which Claude does not (yet) provide. Additionally Claude has strict limits on the number of messages, especially in the free version, due to scaling issues. This rate limiting can be a significant drawback for users requiring extensive interactions.

Practical Applications in Academia

In academia, ChatGPT is a valuable source to assits you in the first stages, such as learning terminology, formulating research question, making your research process smoother. We have some articles helping you, like how to write your thesis introduction using ChatGPT or how to use ChatGPT for studying for exams.

Take a look at the ResearchGPT tool from Consensus that allows users to find answers, search for papers, and draft content grounded in scientific research by searching their database of 200M+ papers directly within the ChatGPT interface (note: only available for ChatGPT Plus users).

Pros and Cons of ChatGPT Plus

Top 3 Reasons to Get ChatGPT Plus

1. Access to Advanced Models:
   ChatGPT Plus subscribers have access to the latest and most advanced models, such as GPT-4o and o1-preview, which offer better performance and more accurate results than the free models.
2. Higher Usage Limits:
   A key benefit of ChatGPT Plus is the ability to bypass usage limits. Free users may be restricted in the number of questions and sessions, while Plus users can enjoy longer sessions and ask more questions without interruption. Students who use ChatGPT intensively, such as for coding, brainstorming, or professional work, benefit significantly from these increased limits. The higher usage limits are essential for those who rely heavily on the tool.
3. Data Privacy:
   Plus users can disable the “train on your prompts” option, which helps ensure data privacy. This feature is especially important for handling sensitive information and in academic settings. For more information on how to protect your privacy, check out this article.

Limitations

While ChatGPT Plus has many advantages, there are also some drawbacks and considerations to keep in mind as a student or teacher:

1. Cost:
   The most obvious drawback is the $20 monthly subscription fee. For some users, especially those who do not use ChatGPT intensively, this may be an unnecessary expense. Some users find that the free version meets their needs adequately.
2. Usage Limits, Even with Plus:
   Despite the higher limits compared to the free version, Plus users can still reach their usage limits. This can be particularly frustrating for power users who process large amounts of data, engage in long conversations, or perform complex tasks. The limits can be adjusted dynamically based on how ChatGPT assesses the “value” of your query.
3. Service Dependency:
   Some user become increasingly reliant on the service, and learn less actively.
4. No Direct Access to All Models:
   Even with a Plus subscription, you don’t always have direct access to all models.

Think of ChatGPT Plus as a central point for diverse AI tools, offering what you might find across various other websites in one user-friendly interface. Keep in mind that the quality of other AI tools might differ. Also, with thousands of new AI tools being introduced every week, it becomes challenging to find and be aware of every alternative AI tool that could be used instead of ChatGPT Plus.

Making an Informed Decision

When deciding whether ChatGPT Plus is the right tool for your academic needs, consider the following:

• Assess Your Requirements: Reflect on how often you would use the advanced features of ChatGPT Plus and whether these features align with your academic goals.
• Budget Considerations: Evaluate if the subscription cost fits within your budget and if the benefits justify the expense.
• Explore Alternatives: Look into free alternatives to see if they meet your needs before choosing for the paid subscription.
• Experiment for Yourself: We highly recommend experimenting with the ChatGPT Plus subscription yourself to explore all its capabilities and improvements compared to the free version. You always have the option to cancel the subscription after one month if it doesn’t meet your expectations

Conclusion

In conclusion, ChatGPT Plus has more to offer than the free version, which could improve learning for students. But, whether it’s worth it depends on your specific needs, how much you use it, and your budget. At Tilburg.ai, we focus on advising about AI in education. We hope our insights help you choose if ChatGPT Plus is right for your studies. Remember, the right tools can really boost your learning experience, but learning is always a personal and active process that takes time and effort.