Not any more. Its WhatsApp number stopped working on January 15, 2026. You use ChatGPT in its web, phone and desktop apps. Our assistant works by text (iMessage or SMS) and email.

Can ChatGPT send emails for me?

It can act on a connected Gmail, but it has no address of its own. Our assistant has its own address and can also reply as you if you connect your Gmail or Outlook.

Many people will. ChatGPT is a great free place to think and write; our assistant is for handing off the jobs that need doing.

ChatGPT vs Your Own AI Assistant: talk to it, or hand it the job?

ChatGPT is something you open and talk to: brilliant for questions, writing and ideas, and on paid plans it can click through websites. Our assistant is something you hand a job to by text or email; it has its own address and computer and keeps going until the job is done.

Short answer. For questions, writing, ideas and images, ChatGPT is the better pick, and its free plan is hard to beat. When the job needs doing rather than drafting (email the contractor, wait for the reply, chase it on Thursday, phone the shop), our assistant fits better: you text it, people can write back to it at its own address, and it works for days without you opening an app. It costs more, from $99 a month after a free trial.

Side by side

	ChatGPT	Your Own AI Assistant
What it is	OpenAI's chat assistant, which can now also browse the web and work on longer jobs for you on paid plans.	A personal AI assistant with its own email address and its own computer: you text or email it a job, it does the work and writes back.
Price	Free: $0; Go: $8/month; Plus: $20/month	Free trial (no card); then from $99 a month
Free to try	Free plan with limits	Free trial, no card: up to $250 of use or 14 days
Does the task itself	yes agent mode and Work tasks click through websites on paid plans; Free mostly answers and drafts	Yes on its own computer and browser, end to end
Its own email address	no it can read and act on your connected Gmail, but has no address of its own	Yes its own address people can write to
You can text it	no the WhatsApp number stopped working in January 2026	Yes you text it like a person
Its own computer and browser	partly agent mode uses a virtual browser; Dots get their own cloud computers on Pro and up	Yes its own cloud computer with a browser
Remembers you	Remembers facts and past chats across conversations; limited on Free, more on paid plans	Keeps notes about you and your jobs between conversations
Where it lives	web, iOS, Android, Mac and Windows desktop apps	Text (iMessage, SMS) and email; no app to install

Getting real tasks done

ChatGPT answers, writes, reads files and makes images on every plan. On paid plans, agent mode uses a virtual browser to click through websites for you and hands control back when a site needs you to sign in. Plus gets 40 agent messages a month; Pro gets 400. OpenAI's always-on agents, called Dots, have their own cloud computers but are only on Pro, Business Premium and Enterprise, and are still rolling out.

Our assistant has its own cloud computer with a web browser on every plan, including the free trial. It does the work there (forms, price comparisons, new accounts, support pages) and texts you when it's done. It can also phone a business for you.

Email, texting and follow-ups

ChatGPT can read and act on a connected Gmail, but has no email address of its own. You can't text it: its WhatsApp number stopped working on January 15, 2026, after a Meta policy change. Paid plans can schedule tasks or start them when a new Gmail message arrives, though users on OpenAI's own forum report scheduled tasks that never ran.

Our assistant has its own email address that anyone can write to, and you text it over iMessage or SMS. So you can say "ask the landlord when the boiler will be fixed and keep at him until he gives a date", and it emails him, reads his reply when it lands, and chases if he goes quiet.

What it costs

ChatGPT has a free plan, Go at $8 a month (which may include ads), Plus at $20 and Pro from $100. For most people, Free or Plus covers everything they need from a chat assistant.

Our assistant is free to try with no card, for up to $250 of use or 14 days, whichever comes first. Then plans run from $99 to $999 a month. It costs more because it runs its own computer and keeps long jobs going for you.

Who each suits

ChatGPT suits almost anyone who wants answers and drafts: the letter to the council, a recipe from what's in the fridge, help understanding a contract. It lives on the web, phone and desktop apps.

Our assistant suits people who want things off their plate and would rather text than learn an app: the shop owner who wants overdue invoices chased, the parent who wants the summer camp booked, the retiree who wants the insurance renewal sorted.

Pick ChatGPT if

You want answers, writing and ideas, fast
You want a free plan (or $8 to $20 a month)
You want to make images and talk by voice
You're happy to do the sending and chasing yourself

Pick Your Own AI Assistant if

You'd rather text a job than open an app
People need to write back to your assistant directly
The job takes days: follow-ups, waiting for replies
The job needs a phone call to a business

Questions people ask

Can I text ChatGPT?: Not any more. Its WhatsApp number stopped working on January 15, 2026. You use ChatGPT in its web, phone and desktop apps. Our assistant works by text (iMessage or SMS) and email.
Can ChatGPT send emails for me?: It can act on a connected Gmail, but it has no address of its own. Our assistant has its own address and can also reply as you if you connect your Gmail or Outlook.
Should I use both?: Many people will. ChatGPT is a great free place to think and write; our assistant is for handing off the jobs that need doing.

Updated 2026-11-08. Product facts from each maker's own pages: see ChatGPT and Your Own AI Assistant for sources.

Want an assistant that does the job, not just the draft?

Our pick gets its own email address and its own computer. You text it the job; it does the work and texts you back.

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