ChatGPT vs Perplexity: Which AI Assistant Reigns Supreme?

Summary

• Perplexity excels for research and data-heavy tasks with 70.37% positive data processing reviews and distinct source citations
• Perplexity leads in coding assistance (64.52% positive) with deep search features and coding-specific praise
• ChatGPT offers better stability (40.54% positive vs. Perplexity's 25.0%) with fewer crashes and errors
• Both tools perform similarly in multimodal processing with high positive ratings (87.5% vs. 85.0%)
• Perplexity responds faster with 61.97% positive speed reviews and more frequent "fast" mentions (18 vs. 6)

Continue reading to discover which AI assistant best fits your specific needs across key performance dimensions based on real user feedback.

Introduction

In 2025, the AI assistant landscape continues to evolve rapidly, with ChatGPT and Perplexity emerging as two of the most popular choices for users seeking intelligent conversational tools. ChatGPT, launched by OpenAI in November 2022, quickly established itself as a household name, known for its versatile natural language processing capabilities. Perplexity, introduced shortly after, positioned itself as a knowledge-focused assistant with a emphasis on accurate information retrieval and source citation.

As AI adoption grows across personal and professional contexts, the demand for reliable, efficient, and specialized AI tools has never been higher. Both ChatGPT and Perplexity have built substantial user bases, with millions of active users relying on these platforms for tasks ranging from coding assistance to content creation, research, and daily productivity.

This comparison is essential for diverse audiences: developers seeking reliable code generation, marketers requiring quick information synthesis, students needing study aids, and casual users looking for helpful AI companions. By examining real user feedback across critical performance dimensions, we can determine which tool better serves specific needs and use cases.

Methodology

This comparison is based on an analysis of user reviews collected from major app platforms including the App Store and Google Play. These reviews were processed and labeled by a large language model using a predefined dimension lexicon, enabling systematic categorization by:

• dimension (specific performance aspects like response speed and text quality)
• sentiment (positive, negative, or mixed evaluations)
• keywords (user-stated terms and phrases highlighting specific experiences)

It's important to note that different tools may have varying review volumes, which could influence the balance of feedback. This analysis focuses on dimension-level insights, incorporating both positive/negative sentiment counts and emerging keyword trends to provide a comprehensive view of user experiences with each platform.

Dimension-by-Dimension Analysis

Data Processing

Data Processing reviews show ChatGPT with 33.33% positive, 50% negative, and 16.67% mixed mentions, with complaints including "subscription limit," "no response," and "glitches." Perplexity leads with 70.37% positive, 25.93% negative, and 3.7% mixed feedback, highlighted as an "essential tool" with "no hallucinations" and "distinct sources."

Reliable data processing is critical for users needing accurate, efficient handling of information—especially researchers, analysts, and professionals relying on consistent results without errors or interruptions.

Perplexity outperforms ChatGPT in data processing, offering higher satisfaction with fewer issues, making it the better choice for reliable and trustworthy data handling.

Coding Assistance

In the Coding Assistance dimension (60 total reviews), ChatGPT shows 45.83% positive, 29.17% negative, and 25.0% mixed mentions, with top keywords like "write ai bots" (coding-related) alongside unrelated terms. Perplexity leads with 64.52% positive, 19.35% negative, and 16.13% mixed reviews, highlighted by coding-specific keywords such as "positive coding experience" and "deep search feature."

Coding assistance is vital for developers, students, and professionals needing reliable code generation, debugging, and contextual support. Users prioritizing accuracy and relevant tools in programming tasks will find this dimension particularly important.

Perplexity is the better choice for Coding Assistance, offering higher positive feedback and more coding-focused praise, including mentions of positive experiences and useful features like deep search.

Multimodal Processing

ChatGPT received 87.5% positive and 12.5% negative reviews, with keywords like "no picture or video" and "make videos and photos" reflecting mixed media capabilities. Perplexity had 85.0% positive, 5.0% negative, and 10.0% mixed mentions, noted for "multi media" support but also "visual results misalignment."

Multimodal processing is critical for users needing to integrate text, images, or videos, such as content creators, researchers, or professionals working with diverse data types. It enhances versatility by enabling cross-media analysis and generation.

Both tools perform similarly with high positive ratings for multimodal processing. ChatGPT shows limitations in media support ("no picture or video"), while Perplexity faces occasional visual alignment issues, but neither has significant drawbacks in this dimension.

Stability

In the Stability dimension (201 total reviews), ChatGPT shows mixed performance with 40.54% positive mentions, 50.45% negative, and 9.01% mixed feedback, while Perplexity struggles more with only 25.0% positive, 66.18% negative, and 8.82% mixed reviews. ChatGPT’s top keywords reflect both strengths ("game changer," "life changing") and weaknesses ("glitches," "crashes," "errors"), whereas Perplexity is dominated by negative terms like "stopped working," "app crashes," "unusable," and "crashes."

Stability is critical for consistent user experience, as disruptions like crashes, errors, or glitches can derail workflows, especially for professionals, students, or daily users relying on AI tools for tasks. Unreliable performance undermines trust and practical utility.

ChatGPT demonstrates better stability than Perplexity, with higher positive sentiment and fewer negative mentions, though both tools face significant stability challenges, particularly around crashes and functionality issues.

Response Speed

For Response Speed, ChatGPT received 50.85% positive, 42.94% negative, and 6.21% mixed reviews, with top keywords including "fast" (6), "slow" (5), and "frustrating" (5). Perplexity outperformed with 61.97% positive, 31.46% negative, and 6.57% mixed mentions, highlighted by keywords like "fast" (18), "quick response" (7), and "quick answers" (7).

Response speed is critical for maintaining workflow efficiency and user satisfaction, as delays can disrupt tasks and increase frustration. This dimension is particularly important for professionals, students, and anyone relying on timely information to meet deadlines.

Perplexity is the better choice for Response Speed, with a higher positive review rate (61.97% vs. 50.85%) and more frequent praise for speed-related keywords like "fast" and "quick response," indicating more consistent and satisfying performance.

Memory & Context

Memory & Context (131 total reviews) shows ChatGPT with 23.68% positive, 60.53% negative, and 15.79% mixed mentions, with top keywords including "memory issues" (4), "frustrating" (3), and "memory issue" (3). Perplexity has slightly higher positive feedback (28.3%) and lower negative mentions (50.94%), alongside 20.75% mixed reviews, with top complaints like "inaccurate information" (4), "bad results" (3), "doesn't save chat" (2), and "no memory" (2).

Memory & Context is vital for maintaining coherent, continuous conversations, as it enables AI to retain prior details and avoid disjointed interactions. Users with long or multi-turn chats—such as researchers, content creators, or casual conversationalists—rely on this feature to ensure dialogue flows logically.

Both tools struggle with Memory & Context, but Perplexity performs marginally better, with higher positive feedback and fewer negative mentions. However, neither excels, as negative reviews remain the majority for both platforms.

Final Verdict

After analyzing user feedback across critical dimensions, Perplexity emerges as the stronger choice for most professional and research-oriented tasks, while ChatGPT maintains an edge in stability that may appeal to casual and reliability-focused users.

Recommendations by User Type:

Developers/Coders should choose Perplexity for its 64.52% positive coding assistance reviews, deep search capabilities, and specific praise for coding experiences. The tool's focus on technical accuracy and relevant features makes it particularly valuable for programming tasks.

Content Creators will benefit from either tool, with Perplexity offering faster response times (61.97% positive) and ChatGPT providing more stable performance for longer creative sessions. Both tools show strong multimodal processing capabilities with minimal drawbacks.

Business Users and Researchers should prioritize Perplexity for its superior data processing (70.37% positive) and distinct source citations, which are critical for professional information gathering and analysis tasks requiring accuracy and verifiability.

Casual Users may prefer ChatGPT for its better stability (40.54% positive vs. 25.0%) and more consistent performance, reducing frustration from crashes and errors during everyday use.

Key Strengths and Weaknesses:

ChatGPT strengths include better stability and established performance, but it struggles with data processing limitations and subscription restrictions. Perplexity excels in speed, coding assistance, and data handling with source transparency, but suffers from significant stability issues that can disrupt workflows.

Actionable Next Steps:

1. Try Perplexity first if your work involves research, coding, or data analysis requiring source verification
2. Choose ChatGPT if consistent performance and stability are your top priorities
3. Test both tools with your typical use cases to evaluate which better fits your specific workflow
4. Monitor future updates, as both platforms are actively evolving to address user feedback

Key Takeaways

• Perplexity leads in data processing (70.37% positive) and coding assistance (64.52% positive) with specialized features for technical users
• ChatGPT offers better stability (40.54% positive vs. 25.0%) making it more reliable for daily use
• Both tools show strong multimodal capabilities with minimal drawbacks in this area
• Perplexity provides faster responses with "fast" mentioned 3x more frequently than in ChatGPT reviews
• Memory and context handling remains a weakness for both platforms, with negative reviews dominating this dimension