OpenAI

OpenAI - Official ChatGPT Free AI Guide

🏢 Provider Information

Provider Name: OpenAI
Official Website: https://openai.com
Chatbot: https://chat.openai.com
Developer Platform: https://platform.openai.com
Type: Free Chatbot + Trial Credits API

📋 Product Overview

OpenAI is a leading artificial intelligence research and application company, renowned for developing ChatGPT and the GPT series of models. OpenAI is committed to ensuring that artificial intelligence benefits all of humanity, with products at the forefront of natural language processing, code generation, image understanding, and more.

Core Features:

🏆 Industry Standard - ChatGPT is the world’s most popular AI conversation product
🆓 Free Available - ChatGPT offers free version (GPT-4o has usage frequency limits)
🤖 Top Models - GPT-4o provides cutting-edge AI capabilities
🌍 Multimodal Support - Comprehensive text, image, and voice support
💻 Developer Friendly - Excellent API compatibility and mature ecosystem
🎁 API Credits - New users may receive trial credits (policies subject to change)

Information Update: This page was last updated in January 2026. Free policies and quotas may change at any time. Please refer to OpenAI Official for the most current information.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (World’s #1 AI Platform!)

🔐 Registration and Account

Registration Requirements

Chatbot (Free):

Requirement	Required	Notes
Account Registration	✅ Required	Email or third-party account
Email Verification	✅ Required	Email verification needed
Phone Verification	✅ Required	Required in some regions
Credit Card	❌ Not Required	Completely free

API Service (Trial Credits):

Requirement	Required	Notes
Account Registration	✅ Required	Email or third-party account
Phone Verification	✅ Required	Needed to get API key
Credit Card Binding	⚠️ Depends	Free credits no charge, needed after use
Real-Name Verification	❌ Not Required	No real-name needed

Registration Steps

Register Account

Visit https://chat.openai.com
Click “Sign up” to register or “Log in” to sign in
Choose registration method:
- Google Account (recommended)
- Microsoft Account
- Apple Account
- Email Registration

Verify Email

If using email registration, check your inbox for verification email
Click the verification link in the email
Complete email verification

Verify Phone Number

Enter phone number (supports China +86)
Receive and enter verification code
Complete phone verification

Start Using

After verification, you can use ChatGPT
For API access, visit https://platform.openai.com
Create API key in the console

🎯 Provided Services

OpenAI provides two main free/trial services:

1. Chatbot Service

Type: Web conversation interface
Access URL: https://chat.openai.com
Features: Completely free, unlimited conversations
Functions: Text chat, image understanding, file upload, web search (Plus), code execution

2. API Service

Type: RESTful API
Features: OpenAI standard interface, mature ecosystem
Models: GPT-4o, GPT-4o-mini, GPT-3.5-turbo, etc.
Trial: New users get $18 (3 months validity)

📊 Quota Overview

Chatbot Free Quota

Limit Type	Quota	Notes
GPT-4o Usage	Limited	Free version has usage frequency limits, may queue during peak hours
GPT-4o-mini	Available	Fast response, suitable for daily use
Single Conversation Length	Long	Supports long conversation context
Advanced Features	Partial	Image understanding free, web search needs Plus

Note: Specific limits are dynamically adjusted based on server load. Actual usage may vary.

API Trial Credits

Item	Details
Trial Policy	New users may receive trial credits (amount and conditions vary by period)
How to Obtain	After registration and verification, check your account Billing page
Post-Recharge Price	$0.15/1M tokens (GPT-4o-mini input) $0.6/1M tokens (GPT-4o-mini output)
Rate Limits	Dynamically adjusted based on account Tier

Note:

Trial credit policies change over time; historically ranged from $5-$18
Rate limits vary by account Tier. See OpenAI Rate Limits documentation

🤖 Supported Models

ChatGPT Free Version

GPT-4o (Priority Recommended):

Latest and most powerful model
Multimodal support (text, images)
Usage limits per 3 hours
Automatically switches to GPT-4o-mini when limit reached

GPT-4o-mini:

Lightweight fast model
Completely free, unlimited use
Suitable for daily conversations

API Available Models

Model	Context Length	Input Price	Output Price	Use Cases
gpt-4o	128K	$2.5/1M	$10/1M	Strongest capabilities
gpt-4o-mini	128K	$0.15/1M	$0.6/1M	Best value
gpt-3.5-turbo	16K	$0.5/1M	$1.5/1M	Fast response
o1-preview	128K	$15/1M	$60/1M	Complex reasoning
o1-mini	128K	$3/1M	$12/1M	Programming reasoning

🌟 Core Advantages

1. World-Leading AI Capabilities

ChatGPT:

Most users globally for AI conversation products
Top-tier natural language understanding and generation
Excellent multi-turn conversation context understanding
Extensive and deep knowledge base

2. Complete Multimodal Support

Image Understanding:

Upload images for analysis and discussion
Identify image content
Extract chart data
OCR text recognition

Application Scenarios:

Upload product photos, ask about usage
Upload math problem photos, get solutions
Upload design drafts, get feedback
Upload food photos, get nutrition analysis

3. Powerful Code Capabilities

Programming Assistant:

Code generation and explanation
Bug debugging and fixing
Code optimization suggestions
Multi-language support

4. Mature Developer Ecosystem

API Advantages:

Industry standard interface format
Extensive third-party integrations and tools
Comprehensive documentation and community support
Active developer community

⚠️ Usage Notes

Access Restrictions

Regional Restrictions: Mainland China cannot access directly, requires special network environment
Phone Verification: Some virtual numbers may not receive verification codes
Account Security: Recommend using strong passwords, enable two-factor authentication

Free Version Limitations

ChatGPT Free Version:

GPT-4o has usage frequency limits (~40-80 messages per 3 hours)
Automatically switches to GPT-4o-mini when limit reached
May need to queue during peak hours
Web search feature requires Plus subscription

API Free Credits:

$18 credits expire after 3 months
Free tier has rate limits (3 RPM)
Need to bind payment method after credits used

Content Policy

Follow OpenAI usage policies
Prohibited from generating harmful content
Prohibited from illegal uses
Respect copyright and privacy

Quota Management

Chatbot:

GPT-4o limits dynamically adjusted, no fixed number
Recommend reasonable use, avoid frequent refreshing
Can use GPT-4o-mini as alternative

API:

Check remaining credits in console
Set usage limits to avoid overspending
Monitor API call status

📊 Comparison with Other Services

Feature	OpenAI	Google AI Studio	DeepSeek
Free Chatbot	✅ Unlimited (GPT-4o limited)	✅ Completely free	✅ 50/day
Model Quality	🏆 Top-tier	Excellent	Excellent
Multimodal	✅ Complete support	✅ Complete support	✅ Supported
API Trial	$18/3 months	Completely free	¥5/7 days
China Access	❌ Needs VPN	❌ Needs VPN	✅ Direct access
Developer Ecosystem	🏆 Most mature	Good	Growing

💡 Selection Suggestions

Reasons to Choose OpenAI

✅ Highly Recommended:

Need the strongest AI capabilities
Looking for industry standard solutions
Developing applications needing good ecosystem support
Need complete multimodal support
Requirements for both Chinese and English

✅ Suitable Scenarios:

General AI conversation and consulting
Creative writing and content generation
Programming learning and development
Multimodal applications (image+text)
Enterprise-level application development

❌ Not Suitable For:

Mainland China users without VPN
Need extremely high free API quota
Pure Chinese applications (consider DeepSeek)
Need real-time ultra-fast response (consider Groq)

🎯 Use Cases

Personal Learning

Knowledge Q&A and learning tutoring
Language learning (supports multiple languages)
Programming learning and practice
Creative writing and brainstorming

Professional Work

Document writing and editing
Code development and debugging
Data analysis and reporting
Market research and analysis

Content Creation

Article and blog writing
Social media content
Script and story creation
Product descriptions and copywriting

Development Integration

Chatbot development
Intelligent customer service systems
Content generation tools
AI-assisted applications

📈 Model Performance

Comprehensive Capability Comparison

Model	Parameters	Performance Level	Price	Value
GPT-4o	Undisclosed	🏆 Top-tier	$2.5-10/1M	High
GPT-4o-mini	Undisclosed	Excellent	$0.15-0.6/1M	🏆 Extremely High
GPT-3.5-turbo	Undisclosed	Good	$0.5-1.5/1M	High

Specific Task Performance

Creative Writing: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Code Generation: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Logical Reasoning: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Multilingual: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Image Understanding: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Chinese Ability: ⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

📝 Changelog

December 2024: Launched o1 series reasoning models
November 2024: Released GPT-4 Turbo preview
May 2024: Launched GPT-4o (omni) multimodal model
2024: Continuously optimizing model performance and reducing API prices
November 2023: Launched GPT-4 Turbo and GPT-4 Vision
March 2023: Released GPT-4
November 2022: Launched ChatGPT

📧 Support & Feedback

Official Support: https://help.openai.com
API Support: Submit tickets through platform
Community Discussion: https://community.openai.com
Business Inquiries: https://openai.com/enterprise
Security Issues: [email protected]

Last updated on January 16, 2026

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