AI assistants in the US: what users like, what they complain about, and who each is for (2026)

Each of the four big AI apps serves free and paying users with the same app, so most reviews come from people on the free plans. For ChatGPT and Gemini, only a small share of reviewers talk about paying at all; for Claude and Perplexity, a larger minority do. That’s useful in its own way: it shows where the free plans run out.

This page sums up what users wrote about ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity in App Store reviews from April to October 2026, next to what each service’s US pages say about its plans. How the limits work and what the cheapest paid plans include is covered in Which AI subscription should you choose; prices are in the AI category.

The short version

• People use all four as everyday assistants — for writing, studying, planning trips, work documents and photos. The praise differs: ChatGPT for range, Claude for coding and long professional work, Gemini for a generous free plan, Perplexity for answers with sources.
• Limits are the main complaint from paying users: Claude’s usage limits and Perplexity’s credits running out mid-month.
• Memory in long conversations is a weak spot reviewers mention for ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini.
• Behavior after updates is the third theme: ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude reviewers describe the assistant changing how it answers after a new version.

Service by service

[ChatGPT](/prenumeratos/chatgpt-plus)

For you if you want one assistant for everything: reviewers use it for letters, reports, studying, travel plans, repairs, photos and images. Several call it the easiest to use. Free already includes unlimited everyday text chats; Go is the cheapest paid step but may show ads; Plus is ad-free and adds advanced reasoning, deep research, projects, tasks and agent mode; Pro comes in three usage tiers.

Not for you if you need it to behave the same way every week: several reviewers say an update made it ignore saved preferences and ask questions they had already answered.

What reviewers complain about: changes in behavior after updates (several reviews), agreeing too readily and changing answers when questioned (a few), frozen chats and unreliable connected apps (a few), constant prompts to upgrade from the free plan (a few).

[Claude](/prenumeratos/claude-pro)

For you if you code or do long professional work: many reviews come from people building apps and websites with Claude Code, and from lawyers, teachers and small-business owners writing documents. Reviewers like its conversational style, and most of the roughly ten reviewers who compare it with ChatGPT or Gemini say they switched to Claude. Plans: Free, Pro (monthly or yearly), and Max with 5x or 20x Pro’s usage. Pro adds projects, Claude Code, and Claude in Chrome and Microsoft 365. Limits reset in five-hour sessions, paid plans have a weekly limit too, and prices are shown without tax.

Not for you if you work in long bursts and don’t want to watch limits — the most common complaint, including from paying users — or if you need images: a few reviewers miss the image generation that ChatGPT and Gemini offer.

What reviewers complain about: usage limits on free and paid plans (several), forgetting characters, corrections or saved preferences in long projects (several), safety responses triggered by harmless requests (a few), app gaps such as no search across chats and only one signed-in account (several).

[Gemini (Google AI)](/prenumeratos/google-ai-pro)

For you if you want a generous free plan — one of the most common reasons reviewers give for switching to Gemini — or work in Google’s apps: reviewers use it with Calendar, tasks and email, and for creating and editing images. Paid plans bundle Gemini with storage: AI Plus gives 2x Gemini access and 400 GB or 2 TB; AI Pro gives 4x, 5 TB, Deep Research, Gemini in Gmail and Docs, YouTube Premium Lite and more; AI Ultra goes further. Every plan can be shared with up to five others.

Not for you if you hold very long conversations: a few reviewers say Gemini loses track after a few dozen messages.

Most Gemini reviews describe the free app, so they say little about the paid plans themselves.

What reviewers complain about: memory in long chats (a few), overly cautious answers to ordinary questions (a few), different answers on different days (a few), the assistant getting worse after an update (a few).

[Perplexity](/prenumeratos/perplexity-pro)

For you if you want search with sources instead of a list of links: many reviewers say they’ve stopped using Google for travel, shopping, health and tax questions, and like being able to check the citations. Professionals use its deep research. Free covers everyday searches; Pro adds far more Pro Searches and deep research, lets you pick the AI model and adds image and video generation; Max is for the heaviest research. Students and educators can get Education Pro at a discount.

Not for you if you use it heavily and don’t want to track credits: running out of credits mid-month, without a warning, is the most common complaint — often from four- and five-star reviewers.

What reviewers complain about: credits and limits (several), doubts about the accuracy of research answers (a few), bugs such as voice playback stopping (a few).

What the complaints have in common

Limits you can’t see coming. Free-plan users hit them quickly on Claude and get upgrade prompts on ChatGPT; paying users run into Claude’s session and weekly limits and Perplexity’s credits. Claude and Perplexity reviewers in particular say they get little or no warning before the limit hits.

Memory in long work. Writers of long stories and people running long projects describe ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini forgetting earlier details, saved preferences or uploaded sources.

Updates change the assistant. Reviewers of ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude describe a new version that answers differently from the one they were used to. That’s the users’ impression.

Before you subscribe

• Use the free plan the way you’d use the paid one for a week. If you don’t hit a limit, paying may not change much.
• Read how the limit is measured before you pay — it differs between all four, and it’s explained in Which AI subscription should you choose.
• Keep the sources. Even reviewers who love Perplexity’s citations say to check them; the same goes for any assistant’s answer you rely on.

All four side by side, with current prices, are in the AI category.