Compare/Head to head

ChatGPT vs Cohere

Same facts, side by side: starting price, free tier, MCP, API and what each one is actually built for.

Starting price

ChatGPT

$8/mo Free tier

OpenAI's AI assistant for recruiting writing, research and analysis. Free plan; Go $8/mo, Plus $20/mo, Pro from $100/mo, Business from $20/user/mo billed annually.

Where ChatGPT fits

  • Recruiters drafting outreach, job ads and Boolean strings every day
  • Agency desks that want one project per req with the JD and notes attached
  • Teams that work in Excel, Word, Slack or Teams
  • Anyone new to AI who wants to start on a free plan

Cohere

Quote-based

Cohere is an enterprise AI company, and its North platform is a private AI workspace with chat, agents, automations and search over company data. It suits large HR and talent teams that need AI deployed inside their own infrastructure. North is quoted; there is no self-serve plan for individuals.

Where Cohere fits

  • Enterprise HR and talent teams with strict data rules
  • Regulated employers that need on-premises or private-cloud AI
  • Companies that want shared agents grounded in internal policies and docs

At a glance

DetailChatGPTCohere
Starting price$8/moQuote-based
Free tier✓Yes–No
MCP server–No–No
Public API✓Yes✓Yes
Listed underAI assistantsAI assistants

Where they pull apart

ChatGPT

Stands out: ChatGPT packs the widest set of everyday tools into one plan: projects, scheduled tasks, custom GPTs, deep research, voice and Office extensions. Most recruiting prompt guides, including the prompt library on this site, are written with it in mind.

Watch out: Personal plans use your chats for training unless you opt out, so keep candidate personal data out of Free, Go and Plus, or move the team to Business, where data is never used for training. It cannot reach LinkedIn or your ATS on its own.

Not the right fit for

  • Finding candidate contact data or LinkedIn profiles
  • Teams handling candidate data on personal accounts instead of a Business workspace

Cohere

Stands out: North can run entirely in your own VPC or on-premises, with guardrails, admin controls and audit-ready visibility, which few general assistants offer.

Watch out: This is not a consumer chat app: there is no free or monthly plan for an individual recruiter, and buying North means a sales process. It is built for enterprises and regulated industries, not small agencies.

Not the right fit for

  • Individual recruiters or small agencies wanting a monthly plan
  • Anyone looking for a free assistant to try today

Pros and cons

ChatGPT

  • Free plan with unlimited everyday text chats
  • Projects, scheduled tasks and custom GPTs on paid plans
  • Extensions for Excel, Word, PowerPoint and Google Sheets
  • Free and Go plans limit uploads, images and deep research
  • The Go plan may show ads
  • Personal plans can train on your chats unless you opt out

Cohere

  • Deploys in your own VPC or on-premises
  • Answers grounded in company documents with sources
  • Shared agents, skills and automations across teams
  • No published pricing for North
  • No individual or small-team self-serve plan
  • Built for large enterprises, not agencies

What each one costs

ChatGPT

$8/mo

The Free plan costs nothing and includes unlimited everyday text chats, with tighter limits on uploads, images and deep research. Go is $8/mo and may show ads, Plus is $20/mo, and Pro comes in three monthly tiers at $100, $200 and $500. ChatGPT Business costs $20/user/mo billed annually ($25 monthly) for Standard seats and $100/user/mo billed annually for Premium seats, with a two-seat minimum; Enterprise is quoted. Confirm current terms on the vendor site.

Checked 7 Oct 2026

Cohere

Quote-based

The vendor does not publish prices for North or Compass; plans are quoted. Cohere's models are available on a pay-as-you-go API, with free rate-limited trial keys for non-commercial testing, and dedicated Model Vault instances start at $3/hr or $2,000/mo per instance. Confirm current terms on the vendor site.

Checked 15 Oct 2026

Common questions

Can you try ChatGPT or Cohere for free?
ChatGPT carries a free tier on our listing.

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Editorial listings, never paid rankings. Prices checked 7 Oct 2026. Confirm current terms on the vendor site. Spot an error?