The best AI writers of 2023: ChatGPT and alternatives
The best AI writers of 2023: ChatGPT and alternatives
‘ZDNET Recommends’: What exactly does it mean?
ZDNET’s recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing.
When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or service, we may earn affiliate commissions. This helps support our work, but does not affect what we cover or how, and it does not affect the price you pay. Neither ZDNET nor the author are compensated for these independent reviews. Indeed, we follow strict guidelines that ensure our editorial content is never influenced by advertisers.
ZDNET’s editorial team writes on behalf of you, our reader. Our goal is to deliver the most accurate information and the most knowledgeable advice possible in order to help you make smarter buying decisions on tech gear and a wide array of products and services. Our editors thoroughly review and fact-check every article to ensure that our content meets the highest standards. If we have made an error or published misleading information, we will correct or clarify the article. If you see inaccuracies in our content, please report the mistake via this form.
The best AI writers: ChatGPT and other interesting alternatives to try
Whether unlocking your phone through face recognition or telling Alexa to play a song, artificial intelligence has filtered into our everyday lives. Now, you can harness the power of AI to do your writing, too. At your command, AI writers can write that paper you have been dreading to start, write code, compose emails or even pass your MBA exam.
ZDNET Recommends
Also: OpenAI’s ChatGPT is scary good at my job, but it can’t replace me (yet)
Although ChatGPT has made quite the buzz, its popularity has made it unreliable for everyday use since it’s often at capacity. The good thing is there are plenty of AI writers that are just as capable, and available whenever you need them. We put together a list of the best AI writers on the market and detailed everything you need to know before choosing your next writing assistant.
- Writing skills
- STEM knowledge
- Conversational
- Not always available
- Not connected to the internet
Features:
- Uses OpenAI’s GPT-3
- Can do text generation, solve math problems, and does coding
- Offers conversation capabilities
- Price: Completely free to the public right now
ChatGPT is a conversational AI chatbot that is able to produce text for you based on any prompt you input, generating emails, essays, poems, raps, grocery lists, letters and much more.
In addition to writing for you, it can chat with you about simple or complex topics such as “What are colors?” or “What is the meaning of life?” ChatGPT is also proficient in STEM and can write and debug code, and even solve complex math equations. The best part is that the service is completely free to the public right now because it is still in its research and feedback-collection phase.
The big downside is that the chatbot is often at capacity due to its immense popularity. However, OpenAI is in talks of releasing a professional version, which would be quicker and always accessible, at a monthly cost.
Also: How to use ChatGPT
- 50 different writing templates
- Copyediting features
- Plagiarism checker
- Focuses on written text
- Steep cost
Features:
- Uses OpenAI’s GPT-3
- Can summarize texts and generate paragraphs and product descriptions
- Checks for plagiarism and grammar
- Price: Starts at $49 per month
Like ChatGPT, Jasper also uses natural language processing to generate human-like responses. Jasper even uses the same language model as ChatGPT, OpenAI’s GPT-3, which was created by the AI research company behind ChatGPT.
With Jasper, you can input a prompt for what you want to be written and it will write it for you, just like ChatGPT would. The major difference with Jasper is that it has an extensive amount of tools to produce better copy. Jasper can check for grammar and plagiarism and write in over 50 different templates including, blog posts, Twitter threads, video scripts, and more.
If you need to generate written copy every day for your business, Jasper is the tool for you. However, at a $49-a-month cost, it is an investment.
- Readily available
- Free
- Source Citing
- UI lacks aesthetic appeal
- In beta stage
Features:
- Uses OpenAI’s GPT-3
- But lists sources for the text it generates
- It even uses Google sources (unlike most other AI writers)
- Price: Free
YouChat also uses OpenAI’s GPT-3, like ChatGPT and Jasper. With Jasper, you can input a prompt for what you want to be written and it will write it for you, just like ChatGPT would for free. The chatbot outputs an answer to anything you input including math, coding, translating, and writing prompts. A huge pro for this chatbot is that, because it lacks popularity, you can hop on at any time and ask away.
Another major pro is that this chatbot cites sources from Google, which ChatGPT does not because it doesn’t have internet access. For example, if you ask YouChat “What is soda?”, it will produce a conversational text response, but also cite sources from Google specifying where it pulled its information from. The chatbot is just as functional, without annoying capacity blocks, and has no cost.
- Up-to-date
- Variety of use cases
- Free trial
- Subscription cost
- Can’t do math
Features:
- Supported by Google
- Aware of current events (ChatGPT stops at 2021)
- Offers voice dictation, AI image generation, and more
- Price: The monthly cost starts at $12 per month
Chatsonic is a dependable AI writer, especially If you need an AI writer that is up-to-date on current events. Because Chatsonic is supported by Google, it is aware of current news and can provide you answers and stories that relate to it, which ChatGPT can’t do since its database doesn’t go past 2021.
Chatsonic also has some other cool features like voice dictation, which lets you speak prompts as you would with Alexa, and AI image generation. If you want to try it, you get a convenient free trial for 2,500 words with no credit card required. The monthly cost starts at $12 per month but goes all the way up to $650 per month depending on the number of words needed.
- Free
- Educational
- Easy to use
- Doesn’t write text
- No desktop version
Features:
- From Google
- Type in any question to generate a response
- Has fun graphics
- Supports scanning worksheet to get a specially curated answer
- Price: Free
If you want your child to also take advantage of AI to lighten their workload, but still have some limits, Socratic is for you. With Socratic, children can type in any question they may have about what they are learning in school and Socratic will generate a conversational, human-like response with fun unique graphics to help break down the concept.
The app, available on the App Store and the Google App Store, also has a feature that lets your kid scan their worksheet to get a specially curated answer. The app does have some limitations; for example, it will not just write an essay or story when prompted. However, this could be a positive thing because it curbs your child’s temptation to get a chatbot, like ChatGPT, to write their essay for them.
What is the best AI writer?
The best overall AI writer is ChatGPT because it is free and encompasses a wide range of skills that go beyond writing including coding, conversation, and math equations.
|
AI writer |
Price |
Key features |
|
ChatGPT |
Completely free to the public right now |
|
|
Jasper |
Starts at $49 per month |
|
|
YouChat |
Free |
|
|
Chatsonic |
The monthly cost starts at $12 per month but can shoot up depending on your needs |
|
|
Socratic |
Free |
|
Which AI writer is right for you?
While ChatGPT is our personal favorite, your use case may be hyper-specific or have certain demands. If you need a constant, reliable AI writer, there are other alternatives that might be better suited for you. If you just want an AI writer that produces clean copy, for example, then Jasper is for you. If you want to play around with an AI chatbot that isn’t always at capacity, YouChat might be the best option.
Lastly, if there is a child in your life, Socratic might be worth checking out. See our breakdown below:
|
If you want… |
Then choose this AI writer… |
|
The best AI writer overall |
ChatGPT |
|
The best AI writer for businesses and marketers |
Jasper |
|
The best ChatGPT alternative |
YouChat |
|
The best AI writer for news content creators |
Chatsonic |
|
The best AI writer for kids and students |
Socratic by Google |
How did we choose these AI writers?
In order to curate the list of best AI writers, we looked at the capabilities of each individual program including the individual uses each program would excel at. Other factors we looked at were reliability, availability and cost. Once we gathered all of this data, and tried them out for ourselves, we identified which AI writer would be best for the needs of different individuals and included them in the list.
What is an AI writer?
An AI writer refers to a chatbot that is capable of generating written content from a user’s input prompt. These AI writers are capable of writing anything from a rap song, to an essay upon a user’s request. The extent of what each chatbot is specifically able to write about depends on its individual capabilities including whether it is connected to a search engine or not.
How do AI writers work?
AI writers use language models to train the AI to produce human-like responses. Some AI writers are connected to the web and that is how they have up-to-date information, while others depend solely on the information they are trained with.
How much do AI writers cost?
AI writing programs vary in cost with some being entirely free and others costing as much to $600 a month. ChatGPT and YouChat are entirely free to use since both are still in their testing phases. Services like ChatSonic can cost up to $650 a month for 2,000,000 words and 15 seats.
Are there alternative ChatGPT AI writers worth considering?
Yes! Despite ChatGPT’s immense popularity, there are some major downsides to the AI chatbot, including that it is not always available. If you want to give the world of AI chatbots and writers a try, there are plenty of other options to consider. We deep-dived into five alternatives above, and some more below.
Read more about the best tools for your business and the right tools when building your business!
See also
About The Author
Add a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.