ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini: Snapshot & Comparison

OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude and Google DeepMind’s Gemini now set the pace for what we expect from an AI companion.

How They’re Built—and Why It Matters

All three rely on the transformer architecture that has powered the LLM boom, but the way each team trains, aligns and packages its model leaves a distinct fingerprint on performance.

ChatGPT (GPT-4o) is the direct descendant of GPT-4, trained on a sweeping mix of text and code and then fine-tuned with reinforcement learning from human feedback. OpenAI keeps the parameter count secret but leans into breadth: GPT-4o can read images, understand spoken prompts and answer in a synthetic voice.The model’s knack for imaginative, stylistic writing comes from endless iterative tuning and a lively plugin ecosystem that lets it run Python, browse the web, or call third-party APIs on demand.

Claude 3.7 takes roughly the same transformer core and aims it at safety and endurance. Anthropic’s Constitutional AI method teaches the model a set of guiding principles so it can police itself instead of relying only on external filters.The payoff is a 100-thousand-token context window—about a novel and a half—that lets Claude keep its train of thought intact across sprawling legal briefs, research dossiers, or a multi-hour chat.It also means Claude politely refuses more often than its rivals, though its self-critique makes accidental policy slips rare.

Gemini Ultra grew out of DeepMind’s multimodal research: it was trained from the ground up on text, images and audio in the same run.That native multimodality shows up in tight image-and-text reasoning—Gemini can decode a dense chart or describe a photo without the extra optical-character-recognition step ChatGPT must bolt on.A lighter Gemini Pro powers the public Bard chatbot while the Gemini Nano variant runs entirely on Pixel phones for on-device transcription and summarisation.

Feature / Aspect	ChatGPT (GPT-4o)	Claude 3.7	Gemini Ultra/Pro/Nano
Developer / Company	OpenAI	Anthropic	Google DeepMind
Architecture	Transformer-based LLM; RLHF fine-tuning	Transformer-based LLM; Constitutional AI alignment	Native multimodal Transformer (text, image, audio); RLHF fine-tuning
Multimodal Capabilities	Text, image, audio (voice input/output)	Primarily text; limited image and "computer-use"	Text, image, audio (fully integrated multimodal)
Context Window	Up to 32k tokens (standard); experimental larger contexts	100k tokens (largest available)	Likely 32k+ tokens; context size not publicly confirmed
Reasoning & Academic Benchmarks	Strong (mid-80s% MMLU)	Strong but slightly behind; detailed explanations	Best-in-class (90% MMLU benchmark)
Coding & Programming	Excellent coding assistance; robust ecosystem (plugins, code interpreter)	Strong, excels at large-codebase analysis	Excellent, top-tier coding benchmarks
Multilingual Support	Very good multilingual support	Moderate multilingual support	Extensive multilingual support (100+ languages via Bard)
Unique Strengths	Creative content, plugin ecosystem, advanced data analysis tools	Massive context window, safe alignment (Constitutional AI), computer-interaction mode	Native multimodal integration, ecosystem integration (Gmail, Drive, Maps), on-device model (Pixel phones)
User Experience	Simple, conversational interface with plugins, Canvas workspace	Minimalist, focused on extensive document input; integrated within productivity tools like Slack	Quick, concise responses with multiple drafts; deep Google integration
Pricing & Access	Free tier (GPT-3.5); GPT-4o: $20/mo UI, ~$0.01 per 1k tokens via API	Free tier on Claude.ai; Claude Pro ~$25/mo; API ~$0.015 per 1k tokens (Opus)	Bard free; enterprise via Vertex AI (~$0.01-0.015 per 1k tokens)
Safety & Privacy	Strong filtering, opt-out of training data, enterprise privacy controls	High safety, difficult to jailbreak, built-in ethical guidelines	Strong safety, privacy controls via Google, Bard activity transparency
Update Frequency	Frequent incremental updates (~bi-weekly), major versions less transparent	Regular incremental and major updates (~twice/year), clear roadmap	Continuous updates, major annual releases (Google I/O), incremental improvements regularly
Future Roadmap Highlights	GPT-5 hinted, increased autonomy & AI agents, price reduction	Claude-Next (larger context, enhanced safety), more integrations & autonomy	Expansion to Google Assistant, deeper ecosystem integration, continued multimodal enhancements

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Raw Skill: Reasoning, Coding, Multilingual Reach

Benchmark orthodoxy now has Gemini and GPT-4 trading blows at the top: Gemini Ultra broke the 90 percent ceiling on the MMLU academic test, pipping GPT-4’s already-impressive mid-80s.Claude’s latest “Opus” checkpoints creep just behind, and in Anthropic’s own tests sometimes nose ahead on code quality or long-context Q&A.In practice, you’ll notice differences by task...

• Hard reasoning puzzles: Gemini or GPT-4 usually solve them first, but Claude will give the longest explanation.

• Enterprise code generation: GPT-4 and Gemini both compile and unit-test their output; Claude’s advantage is feeding it the entire codebase in one go and asking it to find edge-case bugs.

• Non-English support: All three understand and write the major European and Asian languages well, but Google’s translation heritage gives Gemini the broadest long-tail coverage and a first-rate spell-checker inside Bard.

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Everyday Superpowers

The signature extras highlight each company’s philosophy:

• ChatGPT layers on plugins, voice chat, advanced data analysis, and project workspaces.It feels like a universal remote for the internet: ask it to chart a CSV, call Wolfram Alpha, then build you a bedtime storybook—all in one thread.

• Claude answers with 100k-context digestion, web search and a “computer-use” beta that literally moves a virtual mouse to click through interfaces.If you need a 300-page contract summarised—or want an AI paralegal to fill out a government webform—Claude is your pick.

• Gemini offers native camera inputs, multiple-draft answers and one-click access to Gmail, Drive, Maps and YouTube.Snap a picture of a broken part, ask Bard what it is, then pull up the warranty email from Gmail without changing apps.

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How Much You’ll Pay

• ChatGPT: free for GPT-3.5.Pay $20/month for GPT-4o in the UI or roughly $0.01 per thousand tokens for GPT-4 Turbo via API.

• Claude: generous free tier on claude.ai, Claude Pro at about $25/month, and API rates that start around $0.003 per K tokens for the smaller Haiku tier and $0.015 for the flagship Opus.

• Gemini: Bard remains free.Enterprise and developer access through Google Cloud’s Vertex AI is in the same ballpark as GPT-4 Turbo, with deeper discounts if you already spend big on Google Cloud.