ChatGPT vs Claude Code: Side-by-Side Comparison 2026
ChatGPT vs Claude Code comparison 2026. Side-by-side features, pricing & capabilities.
| Feature | ChatGPT | Claude Code |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Assistant | Agent |
| Starting Price | Free | Free |
| Model Family | GPT / o-series | Claude |
| Context Window | 32K (Plus) / 196K (Pro) | 200K (Haiku) / 1M (Sonnet, Opus beta) |
| Code Completion | ✗ | ✓ |
| Chat | ✓ | ✓ |
| Inline Editing | ✗ | ✓ |
| Agentic Mode | ✗ | ✓ |
| Multi-File Editing | ✗ | ✓ |
| Terminal Commands | ✗ | ✓ |
| Browser Use | ✓ | ✗ |
| Test Generation | ✓ | ✓ |
| Debugging | ✓ | ✓ |
| Refactoring | ✓ | ✓ |
| Code Review | ✓ | ✓ |
| PR Review | ✗ | ✓ |
| Documentation | ✓ | ✓ |
| Image to Code | ✓ | ✗ |
| Voice Input | ✓ | ✗ |
| App Generation | ✗ | ✗ |
| Deployment | ✗ | ✗ |
| Git Integration | ✗ | ✓ |
| Supported IDEs | N/A (standalone) | VS Code, JetBrains, Neovim, Terminal |
| Open Source | No | No |
Pricing verified 2026-02-05. ChatGPT pricing | Claude Code pricing
Overview
ChatGPT is ai assistant from OpenAI. Claude Code is ai agent from Anthropic. Both tools are actively maintained as of 2026.
ChatGPT: What You Get
ChatGPT — Conversational AI from OpenAI. General + Coding.
- AI chat
- Test generation
- Debugging
- Code review
Pricing: Free / $8/mo. 6 plans available.
Models: GPT-5.2, GPT-5.2 Thinking, GPT-4o, o1, o1-mini
Claude Code: What You Get
Anthropic's CLI tool that brings Claude directly into your terminal for agentic coding — it can read, edit, and create files autonomously.
- Agentic file editing
- Terminal integration
- Git operations
- Multi-file refactoring
- Code review
- Test writing
Pricing: Free / $20/mo. 7 plans available.
Models: Claude Opus 4.6, Claude Sonnet 4.5, Claude Haiku 4.5
Key Differences
- Category: ChatGPT is ai assistant, Claude Code is ai agent.
- Agentic mode: Claude Code supports agentic mode; ChatGPT does not.
- Model family: ChatGPT uses GPT / o-series; Claude Code uses Claude.
Which Should You Choose?
Choose ChatGPT if you want AI-powered coding assistance. Choose Claude Code if you want Autonomous multi-file changes with full codebase understanding. Both tools are strong options — the right choice depends on your workflow and priorities.
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