The rise and rise of ChatGPT

According to OpenAI, the US-based group that owns ChatGPT, everyone’s favourite chat bot acquired 1 million users in 5 days, after launching in November 2022. By comparison, it took Instagram about 2.5 months to reach 1 million users. Netflix had to wait 3.5 years.

We asked ChatGPT how many users it has currently, but it played coy. Estimates peg the number at around 180.5 million. In January 2024, the website generated 1.6 billion visits.

It’s safe to say that ChatGPT is here in a big way, and it seems to be here to stay.

Most people use the free version of ChatGPT but there is also a paid-for version called ChatGPT Plus. The main differences: Plus accepts images and voice prompts as well as text; it’s more developer-friendly; and it’s more up-to-date since it can access the internet in real time. (Free ChatGPT cannot.) Subscribing to Plus also gives you access to the latest AI models and other OpenAI tools like the image generator DALL-E 3.

According to our data, these features are obviously sufficient because there has been a healthy uptick in subscriber numbers in South Africa since January 2023. So much so that more users paid for ChatGPT Plus in January 2024 than booked a night on Airbnb.

A subscription to ChatGPT Plus costs US$20 per month. Taking the fluctuating exchange rate into account from November 2023 to January 2024, that works out to an average spend of R387 per month.‍

Yup, ChatGPT Plus costs three times more than Netflix and 3.5 times more than Amazon Prime. Except for DSTV – where the average spend among the users we track is R563 per month – it’s the most expensive subscription service that we’ve analysed in this Nugget.

On top of that, our data shows that ChatGPT Plus subscribers are more likely to have multiple monthly subscriptions. Looking at entertainment subscriptions, we dug deeper and found that Plus subscribers are more like to also subscribe to services like YouTube Premium, Amazon Prime and Spotify. This could mean that they’re younger and potentially more tech savvy.

Oh yes, the orcas.

There you have it. If you want to find out more about how Reveal’s unique data and analysis can help your business, get in touch. We can track any aspect of consumer spending in real time, from grocery retail to whale-watching trips.

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