ChatGPT is having one of the biggest outages in its recent history, having been down for most of the day.
That’s left many people high and dry. For example, one of our readers was in the process of installing macOS into a virtual machine, using ChatGPT for guidance, when it mysteriously went offline. We’ve also heard from countless high school students who are using ChatGPT for their studies and who have assignments due, but are getting no help from the usually reliable AI.
But do not despair! While ChatGPT may be down, there are other AI chatbots that are up and running and ready to help you in whatever way you need.
1. Google Gemini
Gemini is the obvious first choice to go to as an alternative to ChatGPT.
For starters, it’s free to use and widely available as an app on both iOS and Android platforms, not to mention also available via the web.
It’s also got a host of features, including a few that ChatGPT doesn’t have – for instance Audio Overviews. It’s also got its own Deep Research feature for when you need an in-depth report on a complex subject.
Gemini is made by Google, so you can log in with your normal Google account (the same one you use for Gmail), and get started right away.
2. Claude
While Claude, from Anthropic, doesn’t get the same love that ChatGPT and Gemini do, it’s a solid performer.
However, it’s hampered slightly by not having the ability to search the web, so its knowledge is limited to whenever its knowledge base was last updated (currently end of January 2025).
That said, Claude is particularly good at academic tasks, so this might be the best choice for high school students.
Like Gemini, there’s also a free plan for Claude, so you can use it without paying, but you will need to set up an account in the apps on iOS or Android or at its website.
3. Perplexity
Perplexity is the original AI search engine, although it prefers to call itself an “answer engine”, so rather than having a flowing conversation with an AI chatbot, as you would in Gemini and ChatGPT, Perplexity is all about quickly finding out answers to whatever question you have.
It does this by searching the web, and producing detailed reports from which you can ask further questions, if necessary. It’s also very good at listing the sources for its information, so you can follow up on the answers it gives you.
Perplexity is free to use, with unlimited searches per day, and five pro searches. Paid plans are also available. Head to its apps on iOS or Android to use it or its website.
Hopefully ChatGPT will be back on its feet soon, but those three AI tools should help sustain you through the downtime.