Read this article if…
you’ve heard about ChatGPT and you’re curious whether it’s worth the hype. Well, I’ve spent weeks diving deep into it, and I’ve got a real ChatGPT review waiting for you.
 
I’ll walk you through the 3 things ChatGPT does super well—trust me, there are some surprises here.
 
But I’m also calling out the 5 biggest mistakes ChatGPT still makes, so you know what you’re really getting.
 
You probably also want to know what ChatGPT actually costs, right? Don’t worry, I’ll break down the pricing so it’s crystal clear.
 
Wondering if there are better AI tools out there? I’ll share some legit ChatGPT alternatives I’ve tried myself.
 
And the big one: Is ChatGPT actually legit or just all talk? I’m answering that, based on my hands-on experience.
 
This isn’t just another ChatGPT review from someone who barely used it. I’ve put it through daily use and hunted through actual user reviews for the real scoop.
 
If you skip this, you’ll totally miss out on secrets and deal-breakers most people don’t talk about.
 
So, grab your snacks and dive in with me!
 
Here’s a quick table of contents if you want to jump to a specific part of the blog:
 
Jimmy Fallon welcoming everyone

ChatGPT Review Summary

 
Infographic showing the pros and cons of chatgpt at a glance.
 
If you're in a rush, here's a quick 2-minute summary of this blog:
 

3 Things ChatGPT Does Well

 
  • Legal and Claims Help: You can ask it for help with making claims or dealing with legal stuff, and it explains the steps in simple words, which a lot of people find handy when they’re stuck.
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  • Wide Topic Coverage: It covers all kinds of topics, like law, politics, computer coding, or even fixing your washing machine, so you can talk about almost anything that comes to your mind.
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  • Project Memory: If you start a project, like writing a story or building a program, you can use the project tab so it remembers what you’re working on, which helps if you want to keep things organized over time.
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  • Learn more about where ChatGPT excels below.
 

5 Big Mistakes ChatGPT Makes

 
  • Customer Service Nightmare: If you have issues or want a refund, good luck getting any real help. You just go in circles with useless help pages and can’t find an actual person to talk to. Super frustrating!
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  • Locked in Pricey Subscriptions: You pay for credits or usage each month, but if you don’t use them up, they’re gone forever. It feels like you’re just throwing money away or being tricked into paying more than you should.
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  • Gives Wrong or Weird Answers: Sometimes, ChatGPT gives answers that make no sense, or just totally messes up simple things. Trusting it for facts or research is risky, because it can sound super confident even if it's way off.
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  • Painfully Slow and Gets Stuck: It can be SO slow, and sometimes pages just freeze or crash for no reason. You end up wasting a lot of time just waiting or trying to refresh your browser like a hundred times.
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  • Super Picky and Repetitive: You have to give instructions in a very specific way or it'll bug you with endless questions and not get the job done. If anything is off, ChatGPT just keeps repeating itself or refuses to do what you asked.
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What Does ChatGPT Cost?

 
3 different ChatGPT plans - Free, Plus, Pro.
 
  • Free Plan – This one costs nothing at all, $0/month. You get to use GPT-5, and you can check stuff on the web in real-time. But uploads and image options are super limited, so if you want more, you kinda hit a wall fast.
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  • Plus Plan – For $20/month, you get everything in Free plus better access to GPT-5 and more room for uploads, images, and cool stuff like voice mode. It’s decent when you want more than just basics, but honestly, there are still some limits, which feels a bit stingy for the price.
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  • Pro Plan – This one’s a big step up at $200/month. You get unlimited access to GPT-5, even fancier voice stuff, and the best features for really hard questions. But $200 is seriously expensive unless you use it every single day, and honestly, most folks won’t need all that power.
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  • Should you buy ChatGPT? I’d say think twice, because most plans have limits—or get pricey real quick—and you might not even use all those fancy extras each month.
That’s the quick scoop. If you’re curious to know more, let’s dig into what ChatGPT does well and where it doesn't quite hit the mark.
 

ChatGPT Review - What Does it Get Right?

 
Infographic showing the best 3 ChatGPT pros.
 
Here are 3 things people notice and actually use the most:
 
  1. Legal and claims help:
    • Makes legal stuff easier: You can ask about claims, legal letters, or rules, and it breaks everything down in plain words.
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    • Step-by-step help: If you’re filing a claim or complaint, it doesn’t just spit out answers; it walks you through every step so you don’t get lost.
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    • Useful when you feel stuck: Lots of users like how it gives real examples, like help winning a flight delay claim or drafting complaint letters.
  2.  
  3. Wide topic coverage:
    • You can ask about anything: People use it for everything, from fixing dryers to figuring out politics or legal topics.
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    • Works for tech and non-tech questions: It helps with coding, data modeling, and even things like college homework.
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    • Quick and practical info: Folks get step-by-step answers and even repair videos, so you get the info you need without too much fuss.
  4.  
  5. Project memory:
    • It remembers your project details: If you use the project tab, it keeps track of your long-term work, like coding libraries or stories.
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    • Helps you stay organized: You can come back later and pick up where you left off, without repeating things.
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    • Needs setup: Some users miss this feature because you need to start your work under a project tab for memory to actually work.
 
Here's a user talking about lj lj being the best:
 
“great Help me in collage” ― US

ChatGPT Review - The 5 Worst Things Users Hate

 
Infographic showing the worst 5 ChatGPT cons.
 
Let’s get real: here are the five things about ChatGPT that drive you (and me) totally nuts:
 
  • Customer Service Nightmare:
    • If you get stuck or want a refund, there’s basically no way to reach a real person. You just bounce around the “help” pages with zero clear answers every single time.
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    • You either don’t get a reply at all, or you just get sent the same automated info over and over. For a paid product, that feels like you’re being ignored.
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    • When you’re frustrated with an expensive tool, it’s scary to know there’s no one to actually help you fix things. That alone should make you think twice about using it for anything important.
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  • Locked in Pricey Subscriptions:
    • If you pay for monthly credits and don’t use them up, they’re gone for good. It’s not like your money rolls over—you just lose what you paid for.
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    • There’s basically no refund window and you can’t get your unused credits back. Even if you pay upfront for a year, you only get a handful of credits each month.
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    • It actually feels like you’re being forced to spend money every month, no matter what. If you miss a month, that’s just money down the drain.
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    Here's a review by Asad Sarfraz PK:
     
    “Very disappointing experience, not worth the hype. I had high expectations when I started using ChatGPT, but my experience has been frustrating from the very beginning. The tool often gives completely inaccurate answers, even for basic questions. I tried using it for writing help and research summaries, but the responses were repetitive, vague, and sometimes totally unrelated to my prompts. The worst part is that it often sounds confident even when it’s wrong, which makes it hard to trust. I upgraded to the paid version thinking it would improve performance, but I honestly couldn’t tell any difference. It still makes up information, refuses simple tasks, and disconnects frequently. Customer support isn’t helpful either — getting a response feels impossible. There’s no clear way to contact real humans, and the help pages just send you in circles. For a company this big, that’s disappointing. Overall, I feel like ChatGPT is overrated. It might be fine for fun or casual chatting, but not for anything serious or professional. I regret spending money on it and wouldn’t recommend it to anyone who needs accurate, dependable results.” ― Asad Sarfraz PK
     
  • Gives Wrong or Weird Answers:
    • Sometimes ChatGPT gives answers that are just flat-out wrong or don’t even make sense. If you’re asking for facts or doing research, that’s a problem.
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    • It often sounds really sure of itself, even when it’s just making stuff up. That makes it hard to know what you can actually trust.
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    • I’ve tried using it for summaries and writing too, and the responses are often repetitive, vague, or don’t help at all. You end up just wasting more time fixing what it gives.
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  • Painfully Slow and Gets Stuck:
    • The tool can be painfully slow. Sometimes you wait and wait, and nothing loads. Or the whole page just freezes and you have to refresh, hoping it works.
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    • This isn’t just a glitch once in a while. Users—me included—deal with this a lot, even when other apps are working totally fine on the same computer.
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    • If you’re under a deadline, this lag is the last thing you want. ChatGPT ends up wasting your time instead of making things faster.
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  • Super Picky and Repetitive:
    • If you don’t write instructions exactly right, ChatGPT just keeps asking more questions or totally refuses to do what you want. That gets old real fast.
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    • Any little mistake—like a typo, extra space, or missing detail—can throw the whole thing off. Suddenly you’re in a loop and can’t get anything done.
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    • From my experience, it gets really repetitive and nagging, always wanting confirmation but never just getting on with the task. Makes big projects super annoying.
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    Here's a review by Two Clayton NZ talking about their frustration with using ChatGPT:
     
    “Very frustrating I have spent about a year trying to create an excel document for my Startup Company using ChatGPT and Oh man what a headache I have developed. I initially thought it was great as you can upload word and excel documents, it can edit them for you and it gives you back the document (I don't think there is another AI that can do that), but since the 5.0 update it started looping. You need to be very concise in your instructions eg Headers are case sensitive, extra spaces, misspelling words, will cause it to not work. If there is an issue like server wipe and your uploaded document is gone, the Bot just does nothing. So you have to ask what is the problem, to find out. You are limited to four questions and 2 uploads in one session, and everytime you give it instructions, it starts throwing follow up questions at you without actually doing what you ask, and then you have to wait 24 hours, rinse and repeat. If you want to use this Bot, I would recommend breaking your project down into small tasks and give chatGPT one task to do. then start a new chat for each additional task to prevent it asking over and over and over again things like, how is your sheets column ordered before it will execute orders, or can you upload the most recent version of your document (when you just uploaded it). The other thing I would recommend is, if you still want/need to use this application, would be to use Copilot to formulate your instructions. Copilot is smarter than chatGPT in that it can understand better what you want to do, can read documents and give you precise instructions to give ChatGPT to make things a bit easier.” ― Two Clayton NZ
If you're searching for a service that doesn't require a subscription and keeps your credits valid forever, check out AIDetectPlus. You can even give it a shot for free (up to 1000 words!) by clicking here.
 
This concludes our in-depth review. Interested in exploring some alternatives to ChatGPT? But first, let’s discuss the pricing details!

What Does ChatGPT Cost?

 
Comparison of all ChatGPT pricing plans.
 
Alright, let me break down all the ChatGPT plans for you. It might look like there are a lot of choices, but honestly, I think you're just paying way too much for something that feels the same every single month.
 
Free Plan ($0/month)
  • So, you get ChatGPT's Free plan for $0, which sounds good, but there are a bunch of things you just can't do. Stuff like file uploads, data analysis, image generation, and voice? You get just a tiny taste – it's super limited.
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  • Access to GPT-5 is there, but it's really restricted—you can barely use the newest models for anything real or productive.
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  • Yeah, you can use chat and access your history, but the speed and quality depend on how busy the site is. Sometimes, you wait forever.
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  • Honestly, it's ok if you just want to mess around. But if you want to do anything serious—like work, school, or even creative stuff—it’s not enough at all.
 
Plus Plan ($20/month)
  • This is where you start paying every month. For $20, you get "everything in Free" and a bit more: like longer and faster access to GPT-5, higher limits for uploads and image stuff, and you get some voice features with video and screensharing.
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  • You also get to use the ChatGPT agent and some "research previews," but a ton of stuff is still capped or labeled as "limited" or just "preview". Feels like you're paying for a half-unlocked tool.
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  • I used this plan for a few months and got so tired of hitting limits—especially if you upload lots of files or want to use extra features. Plus, if you stop paying, you’re back to square one.
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  • Worst part? All these credits and features reset every single month. If you miss a month or use less, you’re just giving away your money for nothing.
 
Pro Plan ($200/month)
  • $200. Every. Single. Month. Sorry, but that’s wild. You get all the Plus features, but now it’s "unlimited" GPT-5 (within reason), “pro” speeds, and basically no limits for uploads, video, and fancy responses.
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  • Yeah, it feels powerful… but do you really need to spend two hundred bucks a month? Unless you run a huge operation, this is just overkill.
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  • I actually tried this out for work once—was fast, sure—but when you realize you pay that much for the same stuff on repeat, and whatever you don’t use just disappears, it stings.
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  • Bottom line: you’re locked in. Miss a month? That’s $200 out the window, and nothing rolls over. Imagine having to explain that to your boss or your parents.
 
Business Plan ($25/user/month billed annually, or $30/user/month billed monthly)
  • This is ChatGPT’s “team” plan! It’s $25 per user (if you commit for a year) or $30 per user if you go month-to-month. So if you have five people, you’re looking at $150 each month (or $1,500 for the year).
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  • It does give you lots of admin stuff like workspaces, better security, SSO login, and you can connect it to apps like Notion, Google Drive, GitHub… but again, you’re re-paying every month just to keep those features alive.
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  • If you stop paying? Access gone. And guess what—there’s no rolling over of credits or special features. Use it or lose it, every single month, for every person you pay for. It's honestly really frustrating.
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  • I found the admin perks decent for IT people, but for regular users, you end up paying mostly for stuff you might never use. It adds up super fast if you have a bigger team too.
 
Enterprise Plan (Custom Pricing – Contact Sales)
  • This one's not even listed with a price—you have to talk to sales. If you ever dealt with enterprise tools, you already know that means it'll be expensive. Like, think big-business-budget expensive.
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  • You get all the business plan features, plus insane levels of security, analytics, data residency in different countries, and all kinds of privacy controls. Cool, but honestly not for normal people or small teams. This stuff is for enormous companies.
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  • I've asked for quotes for other tools at this level and trust me, you’ll get charged a premium. And again, it’s all pay-as-you-go—lose your access the moment you stop those huge monthly payments.
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  • And still, no matter what, you’re just renting the same set of "credits" or access, nothing you buy actually lasts. It’s like you're stuck in an endless subscription treadmill.
 
So here's what I'd say…
 
  • Honestly, there are far better (and fairer) deals out there. You shouldn't have to pay a huge recurring fee for stuff you might not use up, month after month.
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  • Take AIDetectPlus for example—one payment, and your credits last forever, plus you get way more than just chat (essay writer, AI detector, PDF tools, plagiarism checker, etc.).
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  • You can buy as little as 5,000 words for a one-time $9, and use them whenever—there’s no monthly reset, no sneaky rules, and no need to keep spending if you don’t want to.
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  • It includes fast, accurate chat with more than just GPT! (They cover Claude, Google Gemini, and Anthropic, all in one account). People rave about it online—just check AIDetectPlus reviews and see for yourself.
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  • So before you lock yourself into another monthly payment for ChatGPT, try something where your money actually stretches further and you get all the features you need.
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  • Want a real side-by-side? I broke down AIDetectPlus versus ChatGPT in detail below.

What are some ChatGPT alternatives?

 
Top 3 ChatGPT alternatives.
 
Alright, you’ve seen what ChatGPT can do (and where it kinda drops the ball). But before you decide, let’s check out some other options. Here are my top 3 picks:
 

#1 - ChatGPT vs AIDetectPlus

  • Both ChatGPT and AIDetectPlus let you chat with AI, but they’re built for different things:
    • ChatGPT is mostly for chatting, answering questions, and helping with stuff like writing or coding. It’s pretty good for general use, but it can get stuck or give weird answers sometimes.
    • AIDetectPlus is like a Swiss Army knife for students and writers. You get AI chat (with ChatGPT-4, Gemini, Claude, and more), plus built-in essay writing, humanizing, plagiarism removal, and citation tools—all in one spot. No need to jump between apps or pay for a bunch of subscriptions.
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  • Where is AIDetectPlus Better?
    • All-in-one writing toolkit: You can write essays, check for AI, fix plagiarism, and add citations without leaving the site. It’s super handy if you need to turn in schoolwork or want your writing to sound more human.
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    • No monthly bills: Just buy credits when you need them (starting at $5), and they never expire. No surprise charges or wasted money if you take a break.
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    • Way better support: If you get stuck, there’s real live chat help—no endless ticket loops or waiting days for a reply.
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    • Faster and less buggy: Pages load quick, and you don’t have to keep refreshing or deal with weird crashes like on ChatGPT.
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    • Perfect for students: Everything you need for essays, homework, and making your writing sound natural is built right in.
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  • Where is ChatGPT Better?
    • It’s good for chatting about random topics or getting help with coding and general questions. If you just want to talk to an AI or brainstorm ideas, it’s a solid pick.
 

#2 - ChatGPT vs Deep AI

  • Both ChatGPT and Deep AI let you chat with an AI and ask all sorts of questions, but they have some pretty different vibes:
    • ChatGPT is mostly focused on chatting, helping out with writing stuff, answering questions, and giving handy advice about almost anything—from homework to legal claims to techy things like coding. It's got different plans and is really popular for simple chats or big projects.
    • DeepAI Chat is more of a creative toolkit. It’s not just chat—you can also whip up images, videos, music, stories, and mess around with lots of artsy AI features all in one place. And you don’t even have to sign up to try a bunch of them.
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  • Where is DeepAI Chat Better?
    • Loads of creative tools: Besides chatting, you get image, video, music, and story generators, plus voice chat, all right there.
    • Free and easy to try: Tons of stuff works even if you never make an account. You just jump in and go.
    • Super flexible on price: Try things out for free or buy credits as you need, or just grab a Pro plan for $4.99/month, which is way cheaper than most chat apps.
    • Everything in one spot: You can do chatting, art, voice stuff, and more—all without switching between different apps or sites.
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  • Where is ChatGPT Better?
    • Great for everyday questions and projects: If you just want simple answers, help with writing, or want an AI to remember your work, ChatGPT does a solid job. Plus, it covers nearly any topic you can think of.
 

#3 - ChatGPT vs Duck AI

  • Both ChatGPT and Duck AI are popular chatbots, but they’re built for totally different types of folks:
    • ChatGPT lets you chat about nearly any topic you can think of—law, homework, stories, coding, and more. It remembers what you’re working on, and can help you stay organized if you keep coming back to a project.
    • Duck.ai (from DuckDuckGo) is all about privacy. You don’t need an account, they don’t track you, and nothing you say ever leaves your device. Plus, you can swap between different AI brains (like GPT-4o mini and Claude 3 Haiku) anytime for free.
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  • Where is Duck.ai Better?
    • No tracking, ever: Duck AI keeps your chats totally private—no logins, no storing messages, no one watching what you do. Super safe if you’re worried about privacy.
    • Loads of free bots: Use all the latest AIs (GPT‑4o mini, Claude, Mistral, Llama) in the same conversation, switch between them, and compare answers. All free, and plenty of mess-around room.
    • No paying or sign-up stress: No subscriptions, no hidden paywalls—just hop in and chat as much as you want each day.
    • Customize everything: Want shorter, fancier, or more polite answers? You can tweak the way Duck AI replies, right from the start, no account needed.
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  • Where is ChatGPT Better?
    • More topics, more help: ChatGPT covers pretty much everything—even legal questions, tricky math, or long-term projects where it remembers what you’re working on.
    • Project memory is handy: If you like to work on something over time, ChatGPT can remember your story, notes, or project as you go.
    • Helpful for learning and explanations: Breaks down steps and ideas in simple words, which is really useful if you feel stuck or need something explained plainly.
    • Want to see a deeper dive? Check it out here.

Is ChatGPT Legit?

Jim Carry saying No
 
Short answer - Honestly, NOT REALLY!
 
Let me break it down for you:
  • Reason #1: Customer Support? What Support? If something goes wrong or you need a refund, you just end up lost in endless help docs with zero real people to talk to. Trust me, it’s a nightmare if you ever need actual help.
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  • Reason #2: Pricey Subscriptions That Eat Your Money: You pay every month for credits or usage, and if you don’t use them, poof—they’re gone for good. I felt like I was paying extra for nothing, or just getting tricked into losing money.
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  • Reason #3: Answers Can Be Total Garbage: Sometimes, ChatGPT just spits out stuff that makes no sense, or flat-out gets basic facts wrong. It sounds super sure of itself, but I learned the hard way you can’t trust it for research or anything important.
Here's a review by Giombattista Traina IT talking about their experience:
 
“SLOW, SO DAMN SLOW. Slow. simply slow and THE ONLY OPENAI PAGE ON THE BROWSER GETS STUCK ON THE PC, WHILE THE OTHER RUNNING APPLICATIONS AND TASKS GOES FAST AND WELL. It sucks, doesn't worth 23€” ― Giombattista Traina IT
 
So… what should you use instead?
 
Time for some real talk: AIDetectPlus just fixes everything that bugs me about ChatGPT. Want to know how?
 
AIDetectPlus dashboard.
 
First off, you can actually try it for free—all 1000 words, no credit card or phone number. But here’s what makes it stand out even more:
 
  • #1 Lightning-Fast & Trustworthy AI Chat: AIDetectPlus uses all the top models like GPT‑4, Claude, and Gemini—so you get good, fast answers in one place. It honestly makes things a million times easier, especially when you’re working, studying, or researching.
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  • #2 Credits NEVER Disappear: Whatever credits you buy, you keep. No monthly vanishing act; just use them whenever you want. I love not being forced into subscriptions or worrying about wasted money.
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  • #3 Customer Service That Actually Replies: The AIDetectPlus team is small and actually cares. I never get left hanging for days—they reply super quick, and I’m always talking to a real human.
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  • #4 Everything You Need in One Spot: Besides AI chat, you get built-in tools for AI detection, humanizing, plagiarism checks, essay writing, paraphrasing, even chatting with PDFs. Doesn’t matter if you’re a student, marketer, or researcher—everything’s here. Just hit the menu above to see for yourself.
 
That’s my take! Hope this helped you get the real story on ChatGPT and pointed you to something better. Want to check out AIDetectPlus? Go to the website or start your free trial of 1000 words right now—no credit card, just an email and you’re good!