Directory · head to head
ChatGPT vs Claude
How their memory differs, from each one’s entry in the directory.
In the directory, which sorts systems by whose memory they hold, ChatGPT memory and Claude (app memory) are both filed under “Memory about you” (also “Work & project memory”). Both are closed source, and both keep memory in each maker's cloud. Both list Web among what they work with. Of the 11 mechanisms of human memory, ChatGPT memory has 4 built, 5 partly, 2 not known; Claude (app memory) has 0 built, 6 partly, 5 not known. Only ChatGPT memory has built Interference and Gist. Both have partly built Salience, Prospective (Claude: paid plans), Reconsolidation and Schemas. Not known for either, as the makers' docs don't say: Emotion and Association. Not known for Claude (app memory), as its makers' docs don't say: Forgetting, Retrieval and Consolidation. Of these, ChatGPT memory has built Forgetting (Plus & Pro) and Consolidation, and has partly built Retrieval (Plus & Pro).
ChatGPT memory’s page →Claude (app memory)’s page →All systems side by side →
Measured against human memory
ChatGPT memory4 built, 5 partly, 2 not known
Claude (app memory)0 built, 6 partly, 5 not known
built todayLonger = more of it built: a little, partly, built, in depth
Side by side
| ChatGPT memory | Claude (app memory) | |
|---|---|---|
| At a glance | ||
| Whose memory | Memory about you | Memory about you |
| Memory lives | OpenAI's cloud | Anthropic's cloud |
| API keys | None: sign in to ChatGPT | None, just a Claude account |
| Works with | ChatGPT on the web, iOS & Android apps, Mac & Windows apps | claude.ai on the web, Claude Desktop, Claude Mobile, Cowork in the cloud |
| License | Closed sourceProprietary | Closed sourceProprietary |
| Price | Free (limited memory); more on Go, Plus and Pro | Free; Pro $17/mo yearly or $20 monthly |
| Under the hood | ||
| Who writes memories | You, by asking it to remember; ChatGPT, when it judges something useful; and a background “dreaming” process that rewrites memory from many chats. | Claude itself, during the conversation, choosing what to save. You can also say “remember this”, or edit topics in settings. |
| Where they're kept | On OpenAI's servers, as saved memories and a synthesised summary. The details aren't published. | A set of topics on Anthropic's servers, encrypted at rest, with a separate space for each project. |
| How they're found | ChatGPT looks for relevant memories and past chats when they're likely to help, not on every reply. Sources show what it used. | Saved topics are brought into new conversations. On paid plans Claude can also search past chats when you ask, and shows links to them. |
| Extra AI calls | Nothing extra to pay: dreaming runs in the background on OpenAI's side, within your plan. | Not disclosed. It's part of the plan, with no separate charge. |
| Measured against human memory | ||
| ChatGPT memory | Claude (app memory) | |
| Of the 11 | 4 built, 5 partly, 2 not known | 0 built, 6 partly, 5 not known |
| Encoding | ||
| SalienceDecides what's worth keeping, and how much, as a memory is written. | ChatGPT decides which details are worth keeping, and on Plus and Pro you can raise or lower a memory's priority, but there's no documented importance score set as it's written. source | Claude decides what's worth saving as you chat, skips sensitive topics unless you opt in, and saves on request. There's no documented importance score. source |
| EmotionGives memories written with feeling more weight. | OpenAI doesn't say whether feelings in a conversation affect what's kept. | Not documented. The sensitive-topics setting is a privacy filter, not extra weight for feelings. |
| Storage | ||
| ForgettingLets unused memories fade over time on its own. | Automatic memory management moves less important saved memories to the background, judged by how recent they are and how often a topic comes up. source | Fading isn't documented. Topics even outlive the chat they came from: deleting a chat doesn't remove them. |
| InterferenceWhen a new memory closely matches an old one, notices and lets the newer one win. | Dreaming keeps memory current: when things change, the newer fact replaces the old one, so a trip you were planning becomes a trip you took. source | Claude updates a topic when things change (“mention that a deadline moved, and your next conversation already knows”), by its own judgement in the chat. source |
| Retrieval | ||
| RetrievalRemembering something makes that memory stronger. | Topics you talk about often stay “top of mind”, but that follows the conversation, not recalling the memory itself. source | Whether using a memory makes it stronger isn't documented. |
| AssociationLinks memories, so recalling one brings its neighbours. | Whether memories are linked to each other isn't documented. It finds related past chats by searching. | Topics are sorted into categories and projects, but links between memories aren't documented. |
| ProspectiveBrings a memory back at the right time without being asked. | You can ask for reminders as scheduled tasks, and tell the memory summary what topics to bring up and when. Nothing surfaces purely on its own since Pulse was retired. source | Claude can set up tasks that run on a schedule, but saved topics don't come back at a set moment; they're simply there in each new chat. source |
| Transformation | ||
| ConsolidationReworks memories between sessions: strengthening, merging, reorganising. | Dreaming is a background process that learns from many conversations and rebuilds memory between chats. source | It now saves topics as you chat “rather than summarizing conversations after they end” (the old daily summary was retired in July 2026). Any tidying between sessions isn't documented. |
| ReconsolidationCorrects a memory when it's contradicted, and keeps what it used to say. | Memory is updated as things change or when you say something is outdated, and saved memories can keep a version history on some plans. Whether the summary keeps what it used to say isn't documented. source | You or Claude can correct a topic and the fix applies from then on, but keeping what it used to say isn't documented. source |
| GistTurns many specific moments into general knowledge. | Dreaming turns many chats into a general picture of you: your preferences, projects and constraints. source | Topics are general facts drawn from many chats, like your role or working style, but as a side effect of saving. A monthly recap (beta) sums up your themes, but isn't kept as memory. source |
| SchemasForms beliefs about people and projects, and weighs new facts against them. | The memory summary is a picture of who you are that shapes answers, but how new facts are weighed against it isn't documented. source | It keeps topics on the people in your life and a summary for each project, but weighing new facts against them isn't documented. source |
The same table on the compare page, where you can add other systems.