# ChatGPT vs Shadow

ChatGPT records 6,048,022,723 monthly visits with +2.2% month-over-month growth and Freemium pricing. Shadow records 17,796 monthly visits with -4.4% growth and Freemium pricing.

| Metric | [ChatGPT](https://openaitools.app/tool/chatgpt-4) | [Shadow](https://openaitools.app/tool/shadow) |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| Website URL | https://chatgpt.com | https://www.shadow.do |
| Categories | AI Chatbot, AI Assistant, AI Text Generator, AI Writing Assistants | AI Meeting Assistant, AI Transcription, AI Note Taker, AI Summarizer |
| Pricing Model | Freemium | Freemium |
| Monthly Visits | 6,048,022,723 | 17,796 |
| MoM Growth Rate | +2.2% | -4.4% |
| Primary Market | United States | United States |
| Direct Visits | 4,435,694,005 | 7,167 |
| Review Score | 4.8 | 4.3 |
| Saved Count | 108 | 1 |
| Supported Platforms | Website | Website |

## ChatGPT

ChatGPT has evolved from a single conversational chatbot into OpenAI's comprehensive AI workspace for consumers, software engineers, and enterprises. While legacy directory listings still reference the 2023 'ChatGPT-4' era, the platform in late 2026 runs on OpenAI's tiered reasoning architecture: Free and Go accounts default to GPT-5.6 Luna, Plus subscribers gain GPT-5.6 Sol with configurable Instant, Medium, and High thinking levels, and Pro and Business Premium subscribers unlock GPT-6 Pro, GPT-6 Astra, and GPT-5.6 Sol Pro with context windows reaching up to 400K tokens in reasoning mode.

Beyond text generation, ChatGPT integrates dedicated agentic and multimodal workflows directly into the interface. Users can launch Deep Research to synthesize multi-step cited reports across the live web, collaborate inside Canvas for side-by-side document and code editing, and run autonomous software engineering tasks through ChatGPT Work and Codex—which execute, test, and refactor code across full repositories. Real-time Advanced Voice Mode with live camera and screen sharing, native image generation, and direct connectors for Google Drive, GitHub, SharePoint, and Notion allow teams to query internal knowledge bases without manual file uploads.

In 2026, OpenAI restructured ChatGPT's pricing ladder to span casual users to heavy agentic builders. The $8/month Go tier bridges the gap between Free and the standard $20/month Plus plan, while the expanded Pro lineup ($100, $200, and $500/month) removes the five-hour rolling usage cap in Work and Codex, unlocks Astra Ultrafast on Pro 500, and rebates 100% of the monthly subscription fee in OpenAI API credits. Organizations can deploy ChatGPT Business (formerly Team) starting at $20/seat/month billed annually with SSO, admin governance, and contractual guarantees that company data is never used for model training.

**Pricing & Plans:** Free tier ($0) on GPT-5.6 Luna; ChatGPT Go at $8/mo; ChatGPT Plus at $20/mo; ChatGPT Pro tiers at $100/mo, $200/mo, and $500/mo (with matching monthly API credits); Business Standard at $20/user/mo billed annually ($25/mo monthly) and Business Premium at $100-$125/user/mo.

- **GPT-6 Astra & GPT-5.6 Adaptive Reasoning:** Automatically routes prompts or lets users select between Instant responses and Medium, High, or Extra High thinking depth across GPT-5.6 Luna, GPT-5.6 Sol, and flagship GPT-6 Pro/Astra models.
- **ChatGPT Work & Cloud Codex Agents:** Asynchronous software engineering and task agents that clone repositories, run terminal tests in sandboxed environments, resolve complex bugs, and submit pull requests.
- **Autonomous Deep Research:** Browses dozens of primary web sources, academic papers, and connected workspace documents over several minutes to compile structured, citation-backed analytical reports.
- **Interactive Canvas & Multimodal Voice:** Provides a split-screen editor for inline prose and code revisions alongside low-latency voice conversations with live screen and camera grounding.
- **Pro API Credit Rebate & Workspace Connectors:** Every Pro tier ($100, $200, $500/mo) includes its full subscription value in monthly OpenAI API credits, plus native integrations with GitHub, Google Drive, and Microsoft 365.

**Strengths:** Full monthly fee rebated as usable OpenAI API credits across all three Pro tiers ($100, $200, and $500/mo); Removes the 5-hour rolling usage cap in ChatGPT Work and Codex on Pro plans for uninterrupted agentic coding; Budget-friendly $8/mo ChatGPT Go plan makes expanded memory and higher daily message caps accessible below Plus; Industry-leading multimodal ecosystem combining Deep Research, Canvas, Advanced Voice, and native image generation

**Limitations:** Plus ($20/mo) enforces 5-hour rolling message caps in Work and Codex and excludes GPT-6 Pro in standard chat; A five-tier consumer pricing ladder (Free, Go, Plus, and three separate Pro tiers) makes choosing the right allowance confusing; Instant context window on lower tiers (54K on Plus vs 128K on Pro) is smaller than Google Gemini's 1M-token standard window

[Profile (Markdown)](https://openaitools.app/tool/chatgpt-4.md)

## Shadow

Shadow starts from a complaint many knowledge workers share about meeting assistants: the bot that joins your call, the note-taker that locks your history behind a subscription, and the data that leaves your machine for someone else's servers. Shadow's answer is a native Mac app that operates entirely in the background. It has no bot that joins the meeting, auto-detects when a call begins, records and transcribes it locally, and stops on its own when the call ends. Speaker identification is done in real time, so transcripts arrive labelled with who said what.

The output is deliberately portable. Every meeting is written to your Mac as Markdown — transcripts, notes, and Skill results — with every call and every person linked into a knowledge base. You can open the folder as an Obsidian vault, sync it with iCloud Drive or Google Drive, search it with Spotlight, or point any AI agent at it. Shadow emphasises that there is a built-in advantage: because agents read the raw files rather than a connector's filtered view, tools like Claude, Codex, or OpenClaw get the complete context.

Between calls, Shadow is more than a note-taker. Press a keyboard shortcut on any screen and it can see what you're looking at, hear what you say, or read selected text, then run an Action Skill to produce an email, a set of notes, or code. Skills are just prompts you can edit or write from scratch, and a webhook can forward results to Zapier, n8n, or Make. The privacy stance is equally concrete: transcription is local, audio does not leave the device, meeting content is never used for model training, and you choose which Skills are allowed to call AI at all.

**Pricing & Plans:** Shadow is free to start, and the developer's stated policy is that every meeting is saved to your Mac as Markdown with no history limit on any plan — you keep the files even if you stop paying. For current paid tiers, check the pricing page inside the app.

- **Bot-free auto recording:** Shadow detects when a call starts, records automatically, and stops at the end — no bot in the meeting, nothing to remember to press.
- **On-device transcription:** Transcription runs on your Mac, with real-time speaker identification so you always know who said what.
- **Markdown you own:** Every call is saved as a clean .md file locally, openable as an Obsidian vault, backed up with iCloud or Drive, or searchable by Spotlight.
- **Meeting and Action Skills:** Run prompts on a completed call (notes, BANT, follow-ups, summaries) plus shortcut-driven actions on your screen between meetings.
- **Webhooks and automation:** A webhook pushes transcripts and Skill results into Zapier, n8n, or Make so meetings feed your existing workflows.

**Strengths:** No bot joins your call, so meetings stay natural; Local, on-device transcription with no history limits; Meetings stored as portable Markdown that works with Obsidian and AI agents; Flexible Skills you can edit or write from scratch

**Limitations:** Mac-only — there is no Windows or web app; Local-first storage means you manage your own folder, sync, and backups; By design it records without a bot, so you are responsible for getting consent from other participants; Skill output quality still depends on prompt craft, though Skills ship with sensible defaults

[Profile (Markdown)](https://openaitools.app/tool/shadow.md)

## Frequently Asked Questions

### How do ChatGPT and Shadow compare in monthly traffic?

ChatGPT has 6,048,022,723 monthly visits, while Shadow has 17,796. Traffic estimates describe audience size, not product quality.

### How do their growth rates compare?

ChatGPT has a month-over-month growth rate of +2.2%; Shadow has -4.4%.

### How does pricing compare?

ChatGPT: Freemium. Free tier ($0) on GPT-5.6 Luna; ChatGPT Go at $8/mo; ChatGPT Plus at $20/mo; ChatGPT Pro tiers at $100/mo, $200/mo, and $500/mo (with matching monthly API credits); Business Standard at $20/user/mo billed annually ($25/mo monthly) and Business Premium at $100-$125/user/mo. Shadow: Freemium. Shadow is free to start, and the developer's stated policy is that every meeting is saved to your Mac as Markdown with no history limit on any plan — you keep the files even if you stop paying. For current paid tiers, check the pricing page inside the app.

## Alternatives

| # | Tool Name | Monthly Visits | MoM Growth Rate | Pricing Model | Summary | Profile (Markdown) |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 1 | [Google Gemini](https://openaitools.app/tool/gemini-gemini-advanced) | 2,637,398,242 | -0.1% | Freemium | Provides massive context windows and deep Google Workspace integration, but trails behind in advanced coding workflows. | [.md](https://openaitools.app/tool/gemini-gemini-advanced.md) |
| 2 | [Claude](https://openaitools.app/tool/claude-2) | 1,253,439,413 | +23.8% | Freemium | Offers superior long-form writing and coding assistance with interactive artifacts, but lacks built-in deep web search. | [.md](https://openaitools.app/tool/claude-2.md) |
| 3 | [DeepSeek](https://openaitools.app/tool/deepseek) | 372,761,591 | +4.3% | Freemium | Delivers exceptional open-weight reasoning and math performance at lower cost, but features a simpler consumer interface. | [.md](https://openaitools.app/tool/deepseek.md) |
| 4 | [Grok](https://openaitools.app/tool/grok) | 203,846,050 | -0.8% | Freemium | Integrates real-time social media data and image generation directly into chat, but has fewer enterprise integrations. | [.md](https://openaitools.app/tool/grok.md) |
| 5 | [Notion](https://openaitools.app/tool/t) | 173,441,670 | +0.1% | Freemium | The AI workspace where teams and agents get work done together | [.md](https://openaitools.app/tool/t.md) |
| 6 | [Perplexity](https://openaitools.app/tool/perplexity-ai) | 88,310,223 | -3.7% | Freemium | Excels at real-time web research with verifiable inline citations, but offers less robust general conversational coding features. | [.md](https://openaitools.app/tool/perplexity-ai.md) |
| 7 | [Meta AI](https://openaitools.app/tool/meta-ai) | 43,935,687 | +27.7% | Free | Provides a completely free conversational assistant across social apps, but lacks advanced coding agents and deep research. | [.md](https://openaitools.app/tool/meta-ai.md) |
| 8 | [Cursor](https://openaitools.app/tool/cursor) | 23,297,751 | +8.4% | Freemium | The AI coding agent for building ambitious software | [.md](https://openaitools.app/tool/cursor.md) |
| 9 | [Kimi AI](https://openaitools.app/tool/kimi-chat) | 19,632,261 | -23.4% | Free | Specializes in processing exceptionally long documents for deep research, but lacks multi-modal voice and advanced code execution. | [.md](https://openaitools.app/tool/kimi-chat.md) |
| 10 | [Otter AI](https://openaitools.app/tool/otter-ai) | 7,360,981 | +9.6% | Freemium | AI meeting agent that transcribes, summarises, and turns every conversation into searchable knowledge | [.md](https://openaitools.app/tool/otter-ai.md) |

---
Source: https://openaitools.app/compare/chatgpt-4-vs-shadow

More Markdown: [Categories](https://openaitools.app/categories.md) · [Traffic rankings](https://openaitools.app/rankings.md) · [llms.txt](https://openaitools.app/llms.txt)