OpenAssistant vs ChatGPT: which AI agent should you use for work?
Choose OpenAssistant if you want an assistant with its own name, email address and phone number that acts for you across email, text, calls and Slack. Choose ChatGPT if your main jobs are web research, general chat or working in a cloud browser. The pages we read describe these as two different kinds of product, so this is less a head-to-head contest than a question of what you want handed off.
A note on the name. Searchers still type “ChatGPT agent”, but OpenAI’s help page for it now opens with “ChatGPT agent is no longer available.” and points to ChatGPT Work with cloud browser (OpenAI help). This article therefore compares OpenAssistant with ChatGPT Work and its cloud browser, plus ChatGPT deep research. The rest of that help article is still written in the present tense, with limits and setup steps; we follow its first line.
Options at a glance
We organize the judgment by the site rubric: whether the documented capabilities cover the job, the vendor-published evidence and its limitations, price for what you get, where it works, and privacy, security and admin controls. The reasoning in short form:
- Capabilities and where it works. OpenAssistant documents email, text, calls and Slack with its own identity. ChatGPT Work documents a cloud browser, document creation and scheduled tasks. Which one covers your job depends on the job.
- Quality and backing. OpenAI publishes a launch post and help articles for deep research and Work, and it states its own limits. We record no vendor performance claims for OpenAssistant, and we leave OpenAI’s benchmark numbers out.
- Price. ChatGPT Plus at $20 a month is cheaper at the sticker than OpenAssistant Pro at $72 monthly, but the two meter usage differently (see the price section below).
- Security and admin. OpenAssistant states SOC 2 Type II and no training on customer data on its trust page. OpenAI’s pages state training opt-out on individual plans and no training by default on business plans.
| If you want… | Pick | Why, from the sources |
|---|---|---|
| An assistant with its own identity that acts across email, text, calls and Slack | OpenAssistant | Own name, inbox, phone number, calendar and computer, with per-action approval settings |
| Web research with citations | ChatGPT (deep research) | Plan you can edit, citations on every output, Markdown, Word and PDF downloads |
| An agent that works in a cloud browser you can take over | ChatGPT Work with cloud browser | Own browser on a separate computer, takeover on phone or computer |
| The lowest entry price for general chat and light agent use | ChatGPT | Free at $0, Go at $8, Plus at $20 |
| A free plan to try an assistant that messages and calls on your behalf | OpenAssistant (Starter) | 1,000 credits at signup, no credit card |
OpenAssistant vs ChatGPT Work: head-to-head
Every cell is and links the page it comes from. Where a cell says “not stated”, the pages we read are silent on it.
| OpenAssistant | ChatGPT Work with cloud browser (replaces ChatGPT agent) | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | An AI executive assistant with a persistent identity (llms.txt) | “An agent designed for longer, multi-step work and finished deliverables” (OpenAI help) |
| How you reach it | Email, SMS, WhatsApp, Slack, the web dashboard (help center); its marketing page also lists iMessage and calls (OpenAssistant) | ChatGPT web and mobile on eligible paid plans; the desktop app can use local files and desktop apps with permission (OpenAI help) |
| Own identity (email, phone) | Own name, a real inbox or an address on your company domain, own phone number, own calendar (OpenAssistant) | Own browser on a separate computer in the cloud (OpenAI help); its own email address or phone number is not stated |
| Where it works | Email, text, phone calls, Slack, web app; its own sandboxed computer for apps and websites (OpenAssistant) | Cloud browser, documents, spreadsheets and presentations, tasks that run once, on a schedule or on a trigger (OpenAI help); email, text, calls and Slack are not stated |
| Approvals | Manual, Confirmation Window or Autonomous, set globally or per action type (OpenAssistant help); an admin can lock them (OpenAssistant) | Asks before a new website by default; three website modes; asks for confirmation before hard-to-reverse actions such as a payment (OpenAI help) |
| Price | Free Starter; Pro $72 monthly or $60 annual; Team $120 monthly or $100 annual, per user per month at the 5,000-credit tier (OpenAssistant pricing; per-user pricing confirmed by 3Gen) | Free $0, Go $8, Plus $20, Pro from $100 per month; Business standard seat $20 annual or $25 monthly (ChatGPT pricing) |
| Security statements | SOC 2 Type II audited annually by an independent CPA firm; “We never train on your data” (trust page) | Names prompt injection and says safeguards “do not eliminate every risk” (OpenAI help); training opt-out on Free, Go, Plus and Pro (ChatGPT pricing) |
| Free option | Starter: 1,000 credits at signup, then 100 bonus credits a day once used up, up to 1,000 a month (OpenAssistant pricing) | Free is $0 with limited Work on desktop; cloud browser excludes Free and Go (ChatGPT pricing, OpenAI help) |
| Limits | No group texts or group WhatsApp chats; not every country supported for texting; no Slack Connect channels with outside companies; plan credits do not roll over | Cannot finish every task or transaction; a site may block it; some payment or sign-in steps may be unsupported |
OpenAssistant
OpenAssistant describes itself as “An always-on AI executive assistant with a persistent identity” (llms.txt).
What it does. You reach it by email (Cc it on a thread or write to it like a person), SMS, WhatsApp, Slack or the web dashboard (OpenAssistant help). Its marketing page says it can place calls and receive them like a receptionist (OpenAssistant). It has a sandboxed computer where it opens apps and websites, its own calendar, and it browses sites when there is no integration (OpenAssistant). In Slack, you install it from Connections, then message @OpenAssistant or add it to channels (OpenAssistant help). For scheduling professionals, Coordinator Mode lets an assistant use OpenAssistant on behalf of another person, the Principal (OpenAssistant help).
Approvals. Autonomy has three levels: Manual (nothing happens until you approve), Confirmation Window (you get a period to approve, change or cancel, and if you do nothing it proceeds) and Autonomous (OpenAssistant help). The help center says a Confirmation Window is not the same as Manual approval (OpenAssistant help). The changelog for 20 October says that even for tasks set to act on their own, an email from your account, your own Slack or Teams messages, or a call in your voice ask first unless you chose otherwise (changelog).
Security. The trust page states SOC 2 Type II, audited annually by an independent CPA firm, and says it never trains on your data (trust page). It also states that inbound email must pass sender authentication before it reaches your assistant, and that consequential actions are staged for review and shown in full before sending (trust page).
Price. Starter is free: 1,000 credits at signup, then 100 bonus credits a day once used up, up to 1,000 a month. Pro is $72 per user per month, or $60 on annual billing. Team is $120 per user per month, or $100 on annual billing. These are the 5,000-credit tier prices; higher credit tiers cost more (OpenAssistant pricing; per-user pricing confirmed by 3Gen). Simple tasks use about 10 to 50 credits, and deep research and multi-person meeting coordination use hundreds (OpenAssistant pricing details).
Watch out for. It does not join group texts or group WhatsApp chats, and not all countries are supported for texting (OpenAssistant help). It does not work in Slack Connect channels with outside companies, so use email for external people (OpenAssistant help). Plan credits do not roll over (OpenAssistant pricing details). It is a general work assistant, not a specialist coding agent or a research product with a published citation format. For deep web research, ChatGPT is the more documented option.
ChatGPT Work, cloud browser and deep research
OpenAI’s help center says “Work is an agent designed for longer, multi-step work and finished deliverables.” (OpenAI help).
What it does. Work can research and create a document, spreadsheet, presentation, report or site, and can run once, repeat on a schedule or trigger, or monitor for changes (OpenAI help). Cloud browser gives Work its own browser on a separate computer in the cloud. It does not use your personal browser’s tabs or history, and tasks continue after you leave (OpenAI help). ChatGPT deep research is a separate feature that produces a documented report. You can edit the proposed research plan before it starts, and every output includes citations or source links (OpenAI help). Reports can be downloaded as Markdown, Word or PDF (same page).
Approvals and sign-in. By default ChatGPT asks permission before accessing a new website. The three website modes are Always ask, Auto approve and Always allow, and OpenAI says the last is not recommended. It asks for confirmation before actions that could be hard to reverse, such as confirming a booking or making a payment, and asks you to take over the browser when it is stuck. Sign-in credentials entered in the secure form are not visible to the model (OpenAI help).
Price. ChatGPT Free is $0, Go is $8 a month (it may include ads), Plus is $20 a month, and Pro starts at $100 a month with three usage tiers (ChatGPT pricing). The Pro tiers are Pro 100 at $100, Pro 200 at $200 and Pro 500 at $500, billed monthly (OpenAI help). On the Business tab of the pricing page, the standard seat is $20 a month billed annually or $25 monthly, and the premium seat is $100 annual or $125 monthly (ChatGPT pricing). Plus includes Work on desktop, web and mobile, plus scheduled tasks. Cloud browser is on paid plans, not Free or Go (OpenAI help).
Watch out for. OpenAI says the cloud browser cannot finish every task or transaction, a website may block it, and a sign-in or transaction step may not be supported (OpenAI help). Work follows the Codex usage structure, and the page gives no per-plan Work numbers (OpenAI help). On individual plans, content is used to train models unless you opt out; Business and Enterprise do not train on business data by default (ChatGPT pricing). OpenAI’s launch post for deep research says it can sometimes hallucinate facts or make incorrect inferences (OpenAI launch post). The Pro card also lists “Dot, your always-on agent”; the pages we read do not describe it further.
Price: what the numbers do and do not say
On sticker price, ChatGPT Plus at $20 a month is $52 less than OpenAssistant Pro at $72 monthly, and $40 less than Pro at $60 on annual billing. That does not tell you cost per task. OpenAssistant meters work in credits, and OpenAI says Work follows the Codex usage structure without per-plan numbers on the page we read. The two plans also cover different jobs, so compare them against the work you plan to hand off rather than against each other’s headline price. For wider context, see AI agent pricing explained.
Where each one wins
OpenAssistant wins when the job lives in your communications: it has its own email address, phone number and calendar, takes requests over email, text, calls and Slack, and lets you set approval per action type. ChatGPT wins on web research and the cloud browser: deep research gives an editable plan and cited reports, and the cloud browser lets you take over from your phone or computer. ChatGPT also has the lower entry price and the wider range of plans for general chat; its Go card is labelled “Best for longer conversations”.
If you are weighing browser agents in general, see best AI browser and computer-use agents. For research tools, see best AI research agents.
What to ask each vendor
- How does the product handle prompt injection, meaning hidden instructions in a web page or an incoming email? OWASP says it is unclear whether fool-proof prevention exists (OWASP LLM01). OpenAI’s November 2025 post says ChatGPT agent pauses to ask for confirmation before sensitive steps (OpenAI). We recorded no statement naming prompt injection for OpenAssistant, so ask for its position in writing.
- Which actions can run without my approval, and can an admin lock that setting for everyone?
- What is stored about me, who can read it, and is my content used for training on my plan?
- What happens when I run out of credits or usage: does work stop, and does anything roll over?
- Which channels work today in my country, and which are limited (group chats, external Slack channels, blocked sites)?
What to keep for humans
OWASP lists excessive agency as a risk and names requiring a person to review high-impact actions as a mitigation (OWASP LLM06). Keep payments, anything legal or contractual, messages sent in your own voice to people who matter, and any step that cannot be undone behind Manual approval on OpenAssistant or an explicit confirmation on ChatGPT. For more, see are AI agents safe?.
Related reading
- OpenAssistant vs Lindy: pricing, phone, approvals and where each wins: Price per seat, phone calls, approvals, admin, free plans and security, plus where Lindy wins.
- OpenAssistant vs Manus: two ways to hand work to an AI agent: Channels, approvals, prices, free plans, security statements and limits for OpenAssistant and Manus.
- Best AI browser and computer-use agents in 2026, compared: Nine browser and computer-use agents compared on documented controls, where the browser runs, approvals and prices.
- Best AI agents that send emails, make calls and text for you in 2026: Six picks for agents that send emails, make calls and text, ranked on prices, approval controls and consent rules.
- AI agent pricing in 2026: credits, seats and per-resolution fees explained: Credit plans, tasks, per-resolution fees, subscriptions and enterprise fees, with published prices and a worked example.
Frequently asked questions
Is ChatGPT agent still available?
OpenAI’s help page for ChatGPT agent says “ChatGPT agent is no longer available.” and points to ChatGPT Work with cloud browser, which is live on paid plans (OpenAI help). The rest of that page still reads in the present tense, so treat its limits as legacy.
What is the best ChatGPT agent alternative for work?
It depends on the job. If you want an assistant with its own email address and phone number that acts across email, text, calls and Slack, OpenAssistant is worth considering, with a free Starter plan (OpenAssistant pricing). If you want web research or a cloud browser, ChatGPT Work and deep research are the closer match.
Can ChatGPT Work send emails, make calls or text for me?
The pages we read describe Work creating documents, using a cloud browser and running scheduled or triggered tasks. They do not state that it has its own email address or phone number, or that it makes calls or sends texts (OpenAI help). OpenAssistant documents those channels.
Which is cheaper, OpenAssistant or ChatGPT?
ChatGPT is cheaper at the sticker: Go is $8 a month and Plus is $20, against OpenAssistant Pro at $72 monthly or $60 annual per user (per-user pricing confirmed by 3Gen). OpenAssistant also has a free Starter plan. Credits and usage allowances are measured differently, so price per task is not comparable from public pages.
Try OpenAssistant
If you want an assistant with its own email address and phone number that works across email, text, calls and Slack, try OpenAssistant. You can start on the free Starter plan and set approvals per action before it sends anything. See the OpenAssistant pricing page for current plans.