We all know about Custom GPTs, but many people don't know about ChatGPT Projects.
It is one of the most underrated features that ChatGPT offers. This feature can totally change how you learn and work with information.
Using ChatGPT Projects, you can cut your learning time for any topic in half. It also makes research tasks much easier and faster. You can upload your own documents and chat with them directly instead of searching through pages of content.
The best part is that ChatGPT Projects gives you answers based only on your uploaded files. This means no wrong information and much better results for your specific needs.
So let's explore ChatGPT Projects and learn what it is, how it works, what makes it different from Custom GPTs, and what are some of the best alternatives. We'll also cover pricing and whether it's worth the cost and many more.
Let's get started.
What are ChatGPT Projects?
ChatGPT Projects is a new feature where users can create custom spaces for their tasks, but they are not like Custom GPTs.
In ChatGPT Projects, users can upload different kinds of documents, including PDFs, Docs, Excel sheets, etc., and chat with the documents or make ChatGPT perform certain tasks like coding, writing, etc., based on the uploaded documents. Once the users upload all the documents, images, etc., then they create a knowledge base in the ChatGPT projects.
The major advantage of ChatGPT Projects is that all the responses will be based on the uploaded documents or knowledge base, so there will be little to no hallucinations, and also, ChatGPT will be very good at performing tasks related to the knowledge base because it has all the information about it.
On top of it, users can also give custom instructions to ChatGPT to give specified outputs, and they can also add previous chats to the projects.
This way, old conversations will be added to the projects and create a better knowledge base on the topic, giving better responses.
Use Case:
Students can upload all of their subject study materials into ChatGPT Projects and chat with the model, asking it to summarize or explain a certain topic. In a similar way, they can learn complex topics faster. They can even create custom infographics or diagrams for visual understanding.
To access ChatGPT projects, we need to get Plus or Pro subscriptions, which cost as follows:
How to use ChatGPT Projects?
Using ChatGPT Projects is very easy; just get a ChatGPT Pro or Plus subscription. Then you get a new section in the left sidebar named "New Project." Click on it and give a name to the project.
Add files or images by clicking on the add files button, and if you want, you can also give custom instructions. If you prefer a specific tone or structure, enter them in the instructions.
Once you upload the documents, start chatting within the project. It's a simple and straightforward process.
If you want additional tools like image creation, searching the web, or writing code, then you can click on tools and use the feature within the project.
Difference between ChatGPT Custom GPTs and Projects?
In terms of definition, custom GPT users can create a custom version of ChatGPT, whereas ChatGPT Projects is a temporary custom workspace for users.
So in ChatGPT Projects, users can upload images, documents, etc., and create a knowledge base, set custom instructions, and in that particular project, all the responses will be based on the knowledge base. In Custom GPTs, you more or less can do the same thing: you can set custom instructions, define a tone or personality, and even upload files that the GPT can always refer to.
But the major difference comes in their use cases. ChatGPT Projects are for text-based work — such as summarizing a research paper, analyzing a dataset, or managing a writing project — and are not meant to have a personality or long-term reuse.
Whereas Custom GPTs are ideal for users who want to create a reusable chatbot for things like tutoring, customer support, writing, for external API integration, or personal productivity, more task-based work.
However, they do have one major difference, which is shareability. ChatGPT projects cannot be shared with others; we can share Custom GPTs with others.
In both ChatGPT custom GPTs and Projects, the most significant differences are in customization depth, shareability, and intended use cases. Projects are for private, organized workflows; Custom GPTs are for building and sharing specialized AI assistants.
Is there a better alternative to ChatGPT Projects?
Elephas is a better alternative to ChatGPT Projects. It has better features, low pricing, and also better functionality.
Elephas has a feature called Super Brain, where users can upload different documents, files, images, and even YouTube videos and webpages, then chat with them—just like in ChatGPT Projects. Additionally, Elephas allows integration with tools like Obsidian, DEVONthink, Roam Research, and more.
In ChatGPT projects, the uploaded documents will be processed in the OpenAI cloud, and we have to manually disable the option to not use our uploaded documents or chats for future LLM training.
Whereas in Elephas, you can run it completely offline using local LLM models, or you can even run it using AI providers such as Gemini, ChatGPT, Claude, Deepseek, etc., using APIs, so you have complete control over how Elephas will work.
You can run it offline and make sure that your document processing happens on-device for privacy, or if you like a certain LLM better, such as Gemini, you can use Gemini APIs to run Elephas.
Not only the Super Brain feature, Elephas also has many writing features such as instant grammar fix, content rewrites, email replies, and many more. One of the writing features I like is the tone replication, where users input some of their writing and Elephas analyzes it, and from then on, users can create content and reply to emails based on their own tone.
So not only it can help you in research but also help you in writing tasks.
We also recently added workflow automation features where users can automate some of their workflows, such as searching the web for a topic, filling PDF forms, and creating presentations. You can even create custom workflows.
Personally, once I created a workflow where I give a topic to Elephas, it searches the web and adds the best sources to the super brain, takes the main points, and converts it into a presentation. My complete workflow of creating a presentation on a topic is done.
There are also many supporting features such as super commands similar to Mac's spotlight where users can use it to search the internet for quick web searches so they don't have to switch between tabs, and also YouTube and web page summarization features and many more.
Elephas costs only $8.99/month compared to ChatGPT Projects which cost $20/month, and Elephas even has lifetime offers.
ChatGPT Projects are temporary workspaces for users where they can upload documents, images, code, etc., and create a knowledge base to chat with it and learn topics better and faster, useful in research tasks.
The major difference between ChatGPT projects and Custom GPTs comes down to their use cases. Projects are best used for research tasks like summarizing research papers and analyzing documents, etc., whereas Custom GPTs are used for long-term chat tasks such as customer support, writing, for external API integration, and to share with others. We cannot share ChatGPT projects with others.
If you want a better alternative to ChatGPT projects, then check Elephas; it only costs $8.99/month.
In Elephas, you can upload your documents just like in ChatGPT Projects and chat with them, create presentations, diagrams, etc., and it also has writing and automation features and most importantly you can run Elephas offline for privacy.
Unlike ChatGPT, which only helps in research, Elephas helps users in everyday tasks.
ChatGPT Projects is a custom workspace where you can upload documents, PDFs, Excel sheets, and images to create a knowledge base. You can then chat with these documents and get responses based only on your uploaded content, reducing wrong information.
2. How much does ChatGPT Projects cost per month?
ChatGPT Projects requires a Plus or Pro subscription. The Plus plan costs $20 per month, while the Pro plan is $200 per month. You cannot access ChatGPT Projects with the free ChatGPT version.
3. What is the difference between ChatGPT Projects and Custom GPTs?
ChatGPT Projects are private workspaces for research and document analysis that cannot be shared. Custom GPTs are reusable chatbots with personalities that can be shared with others and used for customer support, tutoring, and long-term tasks.
4. Can you share ChatGPT Projects with other people?
No, you cannot share ChatGPT Projects with others. They are private workspaces meant for personal use only. If you want to share AI assistants with others, you need to use Custom GPTs instead, which have sharing features built in.
5. What are the best alternatives to ChatGPT Projects?
Elephas is a top alternative that costs only $8.99 per month compared to ChatGPT's $20. It offers similar document upload features, works offline, supports multiple AI providers, and includes extra writing tools and workflow automation features.
