ChatGPT
What it is: General-purpose AI that's excellent at coding. Code generation, debugging, explanations across all languages.
What It Does Best
Learn by asking. "Why doesn't this work?" Explains bugs, suggests fixes, teaches concepts.
Generate from description. Describe what you need, get working code. All major languages supported.
Code review and refactor. Paste code, ask for improvements. Suggests better patterns and optimizations.
Pricing
Free: GPT-3.5, limited requests
Plus: $20/month (GPT-4, more requests)
Team: $25/user/month (collaboration)
When to Use It
✅ Learning new languages or frameworks
✅ Debugging complex issues
✅ Need explanations, not just code
✅ One-off scripts and utilities
When NOT to Use It
❌ Real-time coding (Copilot better in IDE)
❌ Large codebase refactoring (context limits)
❌ Production code without review (hallucinations happen)
Bottom line: The coding mentor in your browser. Not integrated into your IDE but invaluable for problem-solving and learning. Complements Copilot perfectly.