Accessing ChatGPT 4 directly for free is not possible, but there are a few GPT-4 based tools available that offer the same privilege without any cost.
ChatGPT is a freemium utility. The free version is based on GPT-3.5, which is decent for day-to-day work, such as preparing summaries, translation, and grammatical corrections. But it starts showing its limitations with tasks needing high creativity and reasoning abilities.
This is where ChatGPT-4 becomes essential, and it’s understandable that OpenAI has kept it behind a paywall.
So, can you get GPT-4 access for free? Well, yes!
How to Use ChatGPT 4 for Free?
There are few outlets that offer free access to Chat GPT-4. And since they have a chat window, the experience would be similar to using GPT-4 Model. Check out my brief experience.
Using ChatGPT 4 on Copilot (previously Bing Chat)
Bing Chat, now Microsoft Copilot, is the easiest way to get free access to ChatGPT 4.
The best part is you can start using Copilot on Bing Search without even registration. However, logging in with a Microsoft account helps you retain the conversation history.
You can start by visiting copilot.microsoft.com and selecting a conversation style: creative, balanced, and precise, which you can also change afterward.
Copilot takes text, audio, and image prompts. It lets you copy, export (in Word, PDF, and text), share, and read the responses aloud.
Copilot also features plugins, which are community-made, data-customized GPTs available to the signed-in users.
While you can use Copilot on any device (Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android), the best and most integrated way of using it is within the Microsoft Edge browser.
Copilot also has apps for iOS and Android, which you can download from the respective official app repositories.
Using ChatGPT on Perplexity AI
Perplexity AI presents a free-of-cost gateway to GPT-4. And you won’t even need to register to begin. However, signing in saves the past prompts, lets you upload files, and uses its latest AI models.
One can log on to the Perplexity AI web portal and prompt in the “Ask anything” empty space.
It would be great if you could choose the “Focus” upfront to get tailored results. For instance, the “Academic” focus searches from research papers, whereas “Writing” creates text without web search. Likewise, there are focus settings for searching from YouTube or Reddit or doing computing tasks.
You can also upload files in the Perplexity interface with the “Attach” option to give additional context. However, uploading or creating images is reserved for paid users. Also, free users don’t get to choose the AI model (GPT-4, Claude 2.1, Gemini, or Perplexity) of their choice.
However, one can turn on (Perplexity) Copilot to get answers from GPT-4 and Claude 2. The free plan comes with five Copilot queries per four hours.
You can use Perplexity AI with any web browser, with its AI-Powered Chrome extension, or via its apps for iOS and Android.
Using ChatGPT 4 on Merlin
Merlin, with its Chrome extension, is by far the most productive way of using GPT-4 Model for free.
You can visit Merlin and install the Merlin AI-Powered extension from Chrome Web Store.
Now click Add to Chrome on the web store page and Add extension on the subsequent pop-up to complete the installation in the web browser. And though this extension is made for Chrome, it still works fine with Chromium-based browsers such as Microsoft Edge.
After installation, you can click the extension to launch the Merlin extension interface.
The best part about Merlin is it gives you separate instances for each tab, so you can work on different web pages simultaneously without mixing everything up. You can also launch Merlin in a dedicated tab.
Merlin lets you upload documents, generate images from text, perform advanced data analysis, turn on/off web access, and do much more with its feature-rich interface.
Its free plan gives 102 daily queries, which get consumed differently based on the selected AI model. You can benefit from Merlin AI with the browser extension as illustrated or download its Android or iOS apps.
What is ChatGPT?
ChatGPT is a chatbot facilitating interaction with OpenAI GPTs (Generative Pre-Trained Transformers), which are large language modes (LLM) trained on a pre-defined data set to respond like humans.
In simple terms, you can ask ChatGPT to perform tasks such as summarization, translation, interpretation, image creation, coding, and more. Additionally, ChatGPT supports follow-up questions, can acknowledge its mistakes, and flags inappropriate inputs.
You can learn more about it in this ChatGPT explainer.
How Much Does ChatGPT 4 Cost?
ChatGPT Plus, based on GPT-4 (the latest OpenAI model), starts from $20/month. Higher plans, including ChatGPT Teams and Enterprise, come with additional perks such as admin controls, workspaces, chat sharing, greater context window, etc.
Difference Between ChatGPT 4 and ChatGPT 3.5
ChatGPT 4, since it’s using the latest GPT, is faster than ChatGPT 3.5. Besides, ChatGPT 4 is significantly better for tasks needing high levels of creativity and reasoning.
Here’s a tabular summary differentiating both of them:
| Factor | ChatGPT 3.5 | ChatGPT 4 |
|---|---|---|
| Intelligence | Less smart, more factual mistakes | Smarter, handles longer prompts, fewer factual errors |
| Input/Output type | Text only | Text, image, & voice |
| Context windows | 8K | 32K+ (based on subscription) |
| Web browsing | ❌ | ✅ |
| DALL-E (text-to-image) | ❌ | ✅ |
| GPT Store access | ❌ | ✅ |
| Advanced data analysis | Not possible | Possible |
| ChatGPT customization and sharing | Not possible | Possible |
FAQs
While ChatGPT 4 is a premium utility, you can have a similar experience with tools based on the same GPT-4. A few such GPT-4 powered options are Microsoft Copilot, Perplexity AI, and Merlin.
Yes. The base ChatGPT tier is available for free. Just sign up at chat.openai.com and start using ChatGPT for free.
ChatGPT 4 is worth it for doing complicated tasks, data analysis, web browsing assisted search, and generating AI images. Still, one should try GPT-4-based tools like Microsoft Copilot, Perplexity AI, and Merlin to see if they really need a ChatGPT 4 subscription.
Stepping Into an AI-Integrated Future!
ChatGPT is the beginning of an era where people dominate others not using AI. Anyone in disagreement should really give ChatGPT a try. Its version 3.5 is a free AI chatbot platform that everyone can use to do basic computer stuff. For more demanding tasks needing higher levels of intelligence, you have ChatGPT 4.
ChatGPT 4 is a premium offering from OpenAI. Still, we have a few “free” ways to use it, such as with Microsoft Copilot, Perplexity AI, and Merlin. Give them a try since they cost nothing and perform similarly to the $20/month priced ChatGPT Plus.