ChatGPT Plus Review: Still the Default Choice?
TL;DR: ChatGPT Plus remains the safest default AI subscription in 2026. GPT-5.5 Instant is fast, capable, and versatile. But specialists, coders, researchers, creatives, may prefer targeted tools.
Two years on, the question most Australian business owners still ask me about AI tools is the simplest one: if I pay for just one, which should it be? The honest answer hasn't changed much. ChatGPT Plus is $20 a month (CloudZero confirms the price hasn't budged since launch), and it does more things adequately than any rival does brilliantly.
What has changed is the engine under the hood. In April 2026 OpenAI shipped GPT-5.5, and a faster variant called GPT-5.5 Instant followed within weeks. That model is now the default you get when you log in. It's quick, it handles most everyday work without complaint, and for a team that mostly writes, drafts, summarises, and asks questions, it's plenty.
The catch is the one that always applies to a generalist. ChatGPT Plus is the best first tool to buy and rarely the best second one. If your work lives in code, deep research, or hard reasoning, you'll eventually want something sharper alongside it. Here's where it stands, feature by feature.
What's New in 2026
ChatGPT Plus ($20/mo) now ships with:
- GPT-5.5 Instant as the default model (rolled out around 5 May 2026, note it replaced the earlier GPT-5.3 Instant, not GPT-4o, which had already been retired several models back)
- A "GPT-5.5 Creative" mode for writing, storytelling, and design (we couldn't confirm this one, OpenAI's documented GPT-5.5 variants are Instant, Thinking, and Pro, so treat any "Creative" tier as unconfirmed)
- Built-in web search (no plugin needed)
- Canvas for collaborative document editing
- Memory that persists across conversations
- Custom GPTs (reportedly over 3 million created, though far fewer are public and active, see below)
- Code interpreter for data analysis and visualisation
- Advanced Voice Mode with emotion and singing (OpenAI's voice mode can read emotional tone and sing)
The full set of paid features, web search, persistent Memory, code interpreter, Custom GPTs, and Advanced Voice, is well documented and in active use as of 2026.
GPT-5.5 Instant: The Workhorse
GPT-5.5 Instant is OpenAI's balanced model: fast enough for real-time chat, capable enough for most jobs. The figures in the table below were attributed to an "OpenAI June 2026 model card," which we could not locate, GPT-5.5 shipped in April 2026, and OpenAI's published benchmarks use newer suites such as Terminal-Bench, SWE-bench Pro, and FrontierMath rather than the legacy tests shown here. Read these numbers as unverified, and note the "GPT-5.5 Creative" column refers to a model we couldn't confirm exists.
| Benchmark | GPT-5.5 Instant | Claude Opus 4.8 | GPT-5.5 Creative |
|---|---|---|---|
| MMLU (reasoning) | 88.4% | 91.2% | 85.1% |
| HumanEval (coding) | 92.6% | 94.1% | 78.3% |
| MATH (mathematics) | 76.8% | 82.4% | 71.2% |
| WinoGrande (common sense) | 85.2% | 86.8% | 84.1% |
| Speed (tokens/sec) | 142 | 78 | 98 |
Claude Opus 4.8 is a real comparison point, Anthropic released it at the end of May 2026. If the speed figures above hold, GPT-5.5 Instant gives up a few points of reasoning for roughly double the throughput. For the bulk of daily work, that's a trade worth making.
Canvas: Collaborative Editing
Canvas is a side-by-side editing window (it launched in October 2024, not late 2025 as sometimes reported). You draft a blog post, a code snippet, or an email in one pane, and ChatGPT edits in place rather than spitting out a fresh version every time.
Real use case: We drafted this review in Canvas. ChatGPT proposed structural changes, fleshed out the thin sections, and flagged a couple of factual slips, all without touching the paragraphs that already worked.
Memory: Actually Useful Now
ChatGPT's Memory took a real step up in 2026, arriving alongside the GPT-5.5 Instant rollout. It now holds onto things like:
- Your coding style preferences
- Projects you're working on
- What you've told it to avoid ("I prefer Python over JavaScript")
- Professional context (role, industry, expertise level)
In our experience, after a couple of months it had picked up our style guide, our preferred libraries, and our common abbreviations without being reminded. That part is our own anecdote rather than a measured result, so take it as one team's mileage.
Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Most versatile AI tool | Not the best at any one thing |
| GPT-5.5 Instant is very fast | $20/mo adds up with other subs |
| Canvas editing is genuinely useful | Can feel generic next to specialised tools |
| Custom GPTs for every niche | Hallucination rate higher than Perplexity |
| Memory keeps improving | Advanced Voice still occasionally glitchy |
Verdict
Score: 8.8/10
ChatGPT Plus is still the best first AI subscription to buy. If you can only afford one AI tool, make it this one. Power users will want to add Cursor for coding, Perplexity for research, or Claude for the hard reasoning jobs, but as a starting point it's hard to argue with.
*Published June 12, 2026 | Benchmark figures above are attributed to OpenAI but could not be independently verified*