ChatGPT Plus Review: A Feature-Rich AI Chatbot That's Great for Research

ChatGPT has completely changed how I do my job. Over the past year, OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, has rolled out a slew of updates to make the AI chatbot smarter, more accurate and useful. As a journalist at CNET, I would never use ChatGPT itself to write for me. But when it comes to research, I keep going back to ChatGPT to help me find sources and other bits of information that would have taken hours of Google searching or scrubbing through papers on Google Scholar. 

And after using GPT-4.5 Research Preview, which is essentially a beta version for the upcoming GPT-4.5 model, I’m excited for it to go fully live. While the launch was a bit lackluster, with fans on Reddit complaining that it wasn’t too dissimilar from 4o, it seems that OpenAI has made improvements. In my use, I found its ability to scrub the web for quotes — for example from Google executives that were over a decade old — a major timesaver, closer in performance to o1 and o3, OpenIA’s “reasoning” models. It shows why OpenAI is charging $20/month for this service.

(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)

What does $20 a month get you?

A ChatGPT Plus subscription is more than access to a powerful AI chatbot with higher rate limits. Paying for ChatGPT Plus means you’ll run into fewer interruptions when traffic is high and gain access to advanced models like 4o and reasoning models such as o1 and o3. There’s also voice chat with memory, meaning you can create an AI bot to converse with and it’ll remember your past conversations. Image generation has higher rate limits, so you can generate multiple pictures without hitting a wall. There’s also limited use of the Deep Research function, which is intended for fields like finance, science, policy and engineering. 

A Plus subscription lets you create custom GPTs, which are more bespoke AI bots that can act as subject-matter experts on specific tasks or topics. Of course, if you don’t want to create your own GPT, you can explore a wide selection made by the community — all accessible even to free users.

If you find yourself becoming more frustrated by Google Search, prefer the convenience of having answers easily delivered to you or are constantly hitting rate limits, a ChatGPT Plus subscription is probably worth your investment. You won’t easily hit rate limits and can use ChatGPT’s feature set to its fullest. Plus, the benefit of having priority access and increased image generation is a major advantage. 

How CNET reviews AI models

Last year, when I did my marathon of AI reviews for the launch of CNET’s AI Atlas, I treated the AI’s like any other tech product we review: using rigid tests and comparing the results. In the same way AI benchmarking sites don’t paint a full picture, a topic of ongoing debate, I decided to go with a more experiential style for 2025. Instead of asking AI models the exact same questions and comparing results, I’m just going to report my experiences of  living with them, day to day. 

Privacy: Don’t upload stuff you wouldn’t want OpenAI to see

Just because you’re paying for a ChatGPT Plus subscription doesn’t mean your information will be kept private. As with any online AI chatbot, any data uploaded can be used. 

That’s why you shouldn’t upload sensitive information into ChatGPT or any other AI chatbot. That means no tax documents, medical records, credit card numbers, login credentials, business data, client information, trade secrets or any other identifiable documentation. More information can be found at OpenAI’s privacy policy page. 

If you’re extra concerned about what data OpenAI might use, it’s possible to opt-out of model training. To do so, go into ChatGPT settings, click on Data Controls and disable “improve model for everyone.”

It’s also possible to use ChatGPT in an incognito-like mode via the Temporary Chats function. To activate this mode, go to the top-right corner of a new chat and click on a dotted-line chat icon. In this mode, your chat data won’t be stored or used for training purposes. It’s also possible to delete chat history, which, after 30 days, will be taken off of OpenAI’s servers. 

But OpenAI will still gather some of your data. This includes your name, date of birth or other details you shared when opening your account. OpenAI will also know your IP address, web browser and other device information.

ChatGPT Plus is my Google Search companion: Accurate enough, but still needs some fine-tuning

For a good portion of my online search queries, I still default to Google. It’s when I’m feeling that Google won’t deliver me the fastest possible answer that I then pull up ChatGPT. So, for example, if I’m looking up the latest news on newspaper closures, that’s a quick Google Search. If, instead, I’m trying to ascertain how many publications have closed in the United States since Google jumped on the scene in 1998, that’s a ChatGPT question. These are questions that are often more complex than basic keywords and require parsing through multiple data points across decades. 

Since I’m jumping away from Google and its less-than-accurate AI Overviews, I expect to get good answers from ChatGPT. In my experience, I’ve found ChatGPT to be very accurate for my purposes, which is gathering and synthesizing information. But if you’re a student, it’s better to use ChatGPT as a resource and write your own essays with your own words. Because your professor will find out otherwise. 

ChatGPT Plus, running on GPT-4.5 Research Preview, did a good job of compiling sources and putting together a report on Google’s impact on publishers. However, it also linked to a dead AP article. Despite how quickly ChatGPT has been improving, it’s still on users to go through and verify the evidence.

Despite that flub, the information ChatGPT compiled was correct, although I’m not a fan of how often it cites Wikipedia. As handy as Wikipedia is, you’d be met with scorn by most college professors for listing a volunteer online encyclopedia in your bibliography. 

Oddly, when I asked follow-up questions to my initial query, ChatGPT didn’t list any sources.. In these instances, I had to switch back to Google to find relevant articles. At the very least, the information ChatGPT pulled up was correct. 

Reasoning models are a game-changer for research

On the research side, the biggest benefit ChatGPT Plus delivers over the free version is access to the advanced o1 and o3 reasoning models. These models spend more time generating text, going back and recursively checking content to make sure information is accurate. These responses can take more than a minute to generate and are better suited for research rather than quick search queries.

Using o3, I was able to pull together an in-depth timeline and generate a conclusion breaking down the relationship between online publishers and Google in the late 1990s, which led to the free online news model that dominates today. Any follow-up questions I had did take a minute to answer but the content was well worth the wait. ChatGPT’s o3 model explained the Robots Exclusion Protocol, the tools Google released to help it index sites and the concept of First Click Free.

I knew most of this information already, but o3 did a fantastic job unearthing all this complex information and history, including major milestone moments. It also included sources. 

For journalists, students and researchers, having access to o1 and o3 feels almost necessary. Given Google’s current search paradigm that often elevates recency over relevancy, o1 and o3 can pull from deep within the internet, making research a less exhaustive chore. But it’s important to read primary sources to gain a fuller understanding. 

ChatGPT Plus image generation is great

I don’t use ChatGPT too often for image generation as I often don’t have a need for it as a writer. But I do play around with it on occasion, trying to mimic images from other “AI artists” I see on Instagram. Often, these AI illustrators will hide the prompts they use so that only their page can feature their specific style. Of course, this mindset is anathema to actual art, which is about sharing techniques and helping others so that the medium itself can evolve, but I digress. 

Since I’m not a master in image prompt generation, I took a prompt that was openly available on the platform CivitAI to see how ChatGPT would fare. Above is the image that was generated by user Frimm0 on CivitAI.

Here’s what ChatGPT created when I gave it the same prompt.

Recreation from ChatGPT with the same prompt: a cute adorable anthropomorphic eyeball monster dressed like a parrot, round body, plump kiwi shape, fluffy fur, forest, sunlight, soft natural light. cute, big-eye, adorable, brightly colored, cheerful, anime influence, naughty face, laughing, happy, playful, cheerful, bright, vibrant, light-hearted, characters, digital, fantasy, illustration, manga-anime, portraits, whimsy, 3d-rendering, concept-art, digital, dreaminess, eeriness, photorealism, other-worldliness, realism, science-fiction, surreal, colorful

The major advantage to having a ChatGPT Plus subscription is being able to avoid rate limits. On the free version of ChatGPT, you might end up waiting for more than an hour to generate a single image when servers are being overloaded. And that one generated image might max out your token limit, forcing you to wait hours before you can generate another. 

In my experience, ChatGPT Plus took no more than two minutes to output an image. Not only that, a ChatGPT Plus subscription gets you access to Sora, OpenAI’s other tool for image and video creation. While free users do have limited Sora access, it’s best to use it with a Plus subscription.

ChatGPT Plus has better memory

One advantage that ChatGPT Plus has over its free counterpart is memory retention. This means that when you’re using ChatGPT, it can recall past conversations as it learns more about you to better tune answers. This is especially useful in ChatGPT’s voice mode, where you can converse with it like you would an actual person. On the free version, voice mode is in a limited trial and has no memory retention. OpenAI did bring some light memory retention features to free users in June, however.

For example, I’m currently building a PC at the CNET offices capable of running local AI models. I was able to pull up a separate chat in ChatGPT and ask it questions about changes to the CPU and if the current power supply would suffice. It’s handy in the sense that I didn’t need to go back to a previous chat window and could continue the conversation wherever. 

For people turning to AI for more meaningful conversations, including therapy, memory retention is critical. OpenAI expanded memory earlier this year, but users who rely on ChatGPT for their emotional needs on a daily basis can still encounter the issue of memory running out. For people who’ve developed deeper emotional connections to their AI chatbots, memory resets can be difficult and frustrating.

If you need ChatGPT to be an emotional support or even a friend, know that eventually it’ll reset and will need to be re-prompted with everything you want it to know. A ChatGPT Plus subscription can help you avoid that.

Shopping

Earlier this year, OpenAI expanded ChatGPT’s shopping capabilities, even bringing those features to free users. I’ve found ChatGPT to be an invaluable tool when comparison shopping. When I’m comparing different products, having to read through reviews, Reddit posts and other sites can be a lot of information to juggle.

Unrelated to the AI models-capable computer I mentioned earlier, I’ve recently been looking to upgrade my at-home gaming rig, which I built in 2021. I put all my specs into ChatGPT and it gave me recommendations on which components I should upgrade. All the components ChatGPT recommended were sound, in my research.

ChatGPT suggested I pop out the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X CPU and replace it with the Ryzen 7 5800X3D. Unfortunately, this CPU is out of production and can only be found as either new old stock or used. I asked ChatGPT where I could buy one and this is where things sort of fell apart.

It directed me towards Newegg, saying it was on sale for $199. The link was dead and it certainly isn’t on sale for that price. It also recommended two sites I hadn’t heard of, both of which were selling the CPU for over $500. Both links did work, however.

As for alternatives, ChatGPT recommended the slightly weaker 5700X3D, saying that the drop would be negligible for most games. Bizarrely, ChatGPT once again gave buying links for the 5800X3D, saying it was available at Newegg for $199. I did some digging.

What ChatGPT was actually linking to here was the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X CPU, which isn’t the same — at all. I’m not sure why ChatGPT was making this mistake but I can see someone who isn’t careful missing the “3D” distinction and accidentally buying it, thinking it was what they were looking for. 

Overall, ChatGPT is still an incredibly powerful shopping tool. Just note that OpenAI needs to fix errors in linking to correct products. 

Document analysis

Earlier this year, when judgement came down on the Google antitrust case, the court document itself was 115 pages long. Scrubbing through large troves of legalese is the perfect use for AI.

Unlike ChatGPT Free, which didn’t initially read the analysis and instead summarized a different case altogether, ChatGPT Plus did what I asked. It effectively combed through the filing and pulled out most of the important bits and put them into bullet points. 

In my reading, I couldn’t find any errors or hallucinations. Follow-up questions about the trial itself were well summarized and easy to understand. I have no complaints. 

Is ChatGPT Plus worth it?

What OpenAI delivers for $20 per month is an incredible value to people who rely on AI frequently. For students, journalists and researchers, it automates the chores of parsing through troves of information in seconds, helping you get to the answers you need, faster. In a world that’s increasingly turning to short-form video and other quick bits of content, ChatGPT essentially does that with any bit of information or human-created content ever published online. 

Of course, reading a summary of something will never deliver the same cognitive value as reading an entire article or book, but that’s a different discussion.

And this is just the surface level of what ChatGPT can do. Beyond just generating text, it can also analyze photos and other documents to be a powerful assistant in your pocket. For example, I was trying on jeans the other week and took a mirror selfie in the changing room and asked ChatGPT what it thought of the look. It directed me towards another pair at a smaller size that better matched my frame. Before, this would require me to either grab an attendant or drag a fashion-forward friend with me. 

There’s also a massive library of custom GPTs to explore, a whole studio to build your own AI bots and coding assistants, all of which weren’t touched on in this review.

If you find yourself hitting rate limits on the free version of ChatGPT, it’s time to upgrade. ChatGPT Plus’ more advanced models, including its slower but more verbose “reasoning” models, makes keyword searching in Google a quickly antiquated chore.