Copy.ai has been one of the front-runner AI content-writing tools of the LLM era, alongside Jasper.
It has been one of the first to make GPT-3,5 creative writing to a wide audience. It also stood out by its ease of use and generous free plan.
But how does it fare against the native interface of the most powerful AI model, namely ChatGPT?
I’ve extensively used both tools in my content process, I’ll show you how they compare and which one you should choose.
Copy.ai against ChatGPT: comparison of the features
Let’s start by comparing each feature both tools bring to the table for content marketers.
ChatGPT
ChatGPT is the chatbot interface of the LLM model GPT-3,5 and GPT-4. It is a multi-usage app that assists you in your every use case. Content creation is especially very effective on ChatGPT if you use the right prompts.
The features include :
- Chat interface: you can ask ChatGPT anything, and it will answer for you.
- Web browsing capabilities: you can ask ChatGPT to extract information from a Bing search request. Useful to enrich your content with fresh knowledge.
- Data interpreter: you can ask ChatGPT to do calculations, create data visualization graphs, code, or other types of files.
- DALL-E: the paid version of ChatGPT comes with DALL-E’s built-in image generation capabilities. You can ask ChatGPT to generate a specific picture, and it will refine your prompts to match your expectations with DALL-E output. Great to illustrate your blog posts with visuals.
- Custom GPTs: you can set up and use ChatGPT with custom instructions and knowledge. For example, you can use customs GPTs tailored to your brand voice and knowledge.
Copy.ai
Copy.ai provides the same content writing interface as ChatGPT but with added features and control. One thing I find interesting about the Copy.ai user experience is that you can set up automatic processes and workflows to streamline your creative work even further.
Here are the main features :
- Chat interface: just like ChatGPT, you can ask Copy.ai chatbot to work on any new content project. You can attach a document so it can rely on its knowledge. There is even a prompt library included with pre-made instructions for your specific content use case. When the output is done, you can ask the bot to rewrite it or refine it in any way you want.
- Workflows: you can define a step-by-step process that Copy.Ai will follow based on data input. For example, you can ask it to repurpose your blog posts to LinkedIn posts by giving it links to your blogs as input.
- Brand voice: based on an extract you give, copy.ai can define your brand tone and personalize your content input in the right voice.
- Info base: you can upload a document for Copy.ai AI model to rely on when writing your content.
- Operating system: this advanced workflow interface enables you to streamline many workflows together.
What is the best tool for your use case?
When it comes to content writing, both ChatGPT and Copy.ai fit a wide range of use cases.
ChatGPT can help you generate blog posts, social media posts, and emails, granted you know how to use prompts. When you master prompting, it’s a great tool to create and repurpose any kind of content and material.
Copy.ai also supports a wide variety of use cases. It provides pre-made templates to create social media posts, blog posts, emails. It has recently focused on sales use cases like cold emailing, lead enrichment, and deal management.
This is more original, but for the other use cases, if you engineer your prompts in the right way in ChatGPT, you could easily do the same. The differences lie more in the way you’re going to use the tool than the use cases themselves.
What’s the most productive tool for content writing?
I’ve extensively tested both tools in my content process. Here’s my honest comparison of them :
ChatGPT’s main selling point is flexibility and customization. As long as you know how to prompt it, you can generate whatever piece of content in the specific style you need. I’ve spent time finding prompts processes that help me generate blog posts, LinkedIn posts, and newsletters at will. I’ve also learned how to make it adopt the voice and tone I’m looking for. Now I can leverage strong and fast prompting processes precisely tailored to my editorial and marketing expectations. I also benefit from the latest GPT-4 model embedded in ChatGPT, which always ensures solid and reliable results.
Copy.ai seeks to help you streamline fast and easy your content process. You don’t have to learn to prompt to get interesting results at first. Copy.ai provides you with the same chat interface as ChatGPT, but along with ready-to-be-used prompts to create the content you want. It gives you access to GPT-4 and other LLM models, which makes the output way more compelling and credible.
Where it gets really interesting is when you leverage Copy.ai’s workflow features. You can define your automated process to ask it to retrieve some data and generate content inspired by that data. You can ask it to repurpose your LinkedIn posts, while researching more references online, and enriching them with additional subject-matter expert interviews.
An even cooler thing, you can ask Copy.ai itself to set up any process you have in mind. This makes it possible to deploy productive and scalable content processes. Not everything is possible, though. You might be confronted with some internal limitations that won’t make you able to retrieve some specific data.
What’s the difference at the end between ChatGPT and Copy.ai? The first enables you to do anything with the right prompts given to GPT-4. The second makes this prompting process easier and somehow more scalable. It has the same chat interface and access to GPT-4 API, so basically you could do the same things as in ChatGPT. However, the workflow features make it possible to streamline data retrieval and content generation in a more seamless process.
At the end of the day, your choice will depend on whether you want to keep full control of the prompting process or get more advanced features to make the prompting faster and easier.
Which tool has the best value for money?
Both tools provide a wide pricing structure to accommodate many needs and target a variety of organizations.
ChatGPT
ChatGPT offers a range of subscription plans with different capabilities and ressources. Let’s explore how each plan can boost your content process:
- Free Plan: The Free Plan allows you to send unlimited messages and tap into the GPT-3.5 model across web, iOS, and Android platforms. It’s perfect for experimenting with AI content strategies at no cost, though you’ll experience slower response times and won’t have access to the advanced GPT-4 model. This plan suits you if you’re exploring AI’s potential or working on smaller projects.
- Plus Plan: The Plus Plan is for $20 per month per user. You’ll unlock the GPT-4 model, ensuring faster response times and a broader context window for crafting more complex and nuanced content. This plan also grants you access to powerful tools like DALL·E for creating images, browsing capabilities for research, and advanced data analysis tools. The 30-request limit every three hours means you’ll need to plan your content generation carefully though.
- Team Plan: Designed for content marketing teams, the Team Plan, at $25 per user per month (billed annually) or $30 per user (monthly), provides enhanced collaboration and efficiency. Enjoy all the benefits of the Plus Plan with higher message caps, an admin console for managing your workspace seamlessly, and robust data privacy features that keep your team’s data secure and private. This plan is perfect for teams looking to integrate AI deeply into their content marketing workflows.
- Enterprise Plan: For large content marketing departments requiring a scalable and secure AI solution, the Enterprise Plan offers customized pricing to fit your organization’s size and needs. It includes unlimited access to GPT-4, an expanded context window for in-depth content creation, and enterprise-grade security features to protect your data. This plan is the ultimate choice for content marketers in large organizations looking to leverage AI at scale.
Copy.ai
Copy.ai offers a wide range of pricing plans designed to accommodate various needs. Here’s a summary of their current pricing structure:
- Free Plan: Aimed at individuals, offering 1 seat, 2,000 words in chat, and 200 bonus credits, free forever with no credit card required.
- Pro Plan: For entrepreneurs or small teams, providing 5 seats, unlimited words in chat, and 500 workflow credits per month at $49/month when billed monthly, or $36/month when billed annually ($432/year).
- Team Plan: Geared towards growing teams, this plan offers 20 seats, unlimited words in chat, and 3,000 workflow credits per month for $249/month billed monthly, or $186/month ($2,232/year) when billed annually.
- Growth Plan: For businesses focusing on exponential growth, offering 75 seats, unlimited words in chat, and 20,000 workflow credits per month at $1,333/month billed monthly, or $1,000/month ($12,000/year) when billed annually.
- Expansion Plan: Designed for enterprises looking to expand their AI automations, with 150 seats, unlimited words in chat, and 45,000 workflow credits per month for $2,666/month billed monthly, or $2,000/month ($24,000/year) when billed annually.
- Scale Plan: For organizations ready to deploy generative AI at scale, offering 200 seats, unlimited words in chat, and 75,000 workflow credits per month at $4,000/month billed monthly, or $3,000/month ($36,000/year) when billed annually.
- Enterprise Plan: Tailored to organizations wanting to power their go-to-market strategy with AI, providing unlimited seats, SSO & InfoSec review, SOC II Type 2 certification, an account manager, dedicated AI training, and workflow enablement. Pricing for the Enterprise plan is customized and requires contacting Copy.ai’s sales team.
Which has the best value for money?
ChatGPT provides a free access tier and an affordable premium option at $20/month, offering a cost-effective solution for a wide range of content creation needs. Copy.ai’s pricing structure starts with higher prices, but is more varied, catering to individual, team, and enterprise needs with different features and workflow credits allocated across plans.
In essence, if your primary focus is on generating a broad variety of content with a tool that offers great flexibility and customization at a low cost, ChatGPT might be the better choice.
Conversely, if you’re looking for a tool specifically tailored for marketing content, with features designed to streamline the content creation process for marketing purposes, Copy.ai could offer better value for your specific needs.
The decision between ChatGPT and Copy.ai should be based on your specific content creation requirements, the type of content you prioritize, and your budget constraints.
Now you know what I think of ChatGPT and Copy.ai. Time to try it out by yourself!
