Compared

Maison and ChatGPTare not the same kind of thing.

One is a website you log into. The other is software you install on a machine you own. Almost every difference below follows from that one, and for a lot of people the website is genuinely the right answer.

Written by the people who make one of them Including where the other one wins
First, the honest part

Use ChatGPT. It is very good, and it is free.

We are not going to pretend otherwise, and a comparison that finds its author winning on every line is an advertisement. There are real reasons to choose the website, and most people should start there.

Choose the website if

You want it now, on anything, for nothing

It opens in a browser on any device you own, it costs nothing to try, and there is nothing to install or set up. Maison is $799 a month, needs a Mac with Apple Silicon, and takes about an hour the first time. That is a real difference and it points one way.

Choose the website if

The work is one question at a time

If what you need is a good answer to a discrete question, a website that gives you a good answer to a discrete question is the correct tool. The case for Maison only starts to pay once the work is continuous and the context is expensive to rebuild.

The differences that matter

Four of them, and they all come from where it runs.

01 Memory

A continuous history, not a session

  • Maison keeps what happened, what it meant, and what to do next time
  • Every person you have mentioned, every decision and the reason behind it
  • It survives restarts, upgrades, and changing the model underneath
  • You never introduce yourself twice, and never re-brief a project
02 Hands

It does the job, rather than describing it

  • Reads and writes files, sends mail, runs code, ships software
  • Splits a hard job across many workers and hands you the conclusion
  • Wakes on a schedule and follows up on what you mentioned last week
  • Keeps going overnight and is further along in the morning
03 Ownership

It runs on your machine

  • The memory is a database on your own disk, in files you can read
  • No training on your data, and zero conversations on our servers by default
  • Cancel or walk away and the memory is still there, and still yours
  • Nothing is exposed to the internet, and no public address exists
04 What you pay for

Software and people, not a seat

  • $799 a month for one machine, plus $250 for each person you add, up to four
  • Your own Claude account does the reasoning, billed by Anthropic, never marked up
  • Every install gets a person, and questions are answered by someone who built it
  • Bringing the price down is the plan, and the way it comes down is needing less of us
How to tell which one you want

Ask what the last conversation cost you.

Not in money. In explaining. If most of what you type is context that already exists somewhere in your own files, you are paying to re-supply what you already own, and it is the price a memory of your work removes.

Signal

You re-explain your situation weekly

The same background, the same constraints, the same list of things you already tried. That is context you own being thrown away on a schedule.

Signal

The answer is never the finished thing

You get a very good description of the work, then you go and do the work. The gap between those two is where most of the hours actually go.

Signal

The information is not really yours to give

Client material, a team's private work, a family's circumstances. Where that sits stops being a preference and starts being the deciding question.

The intelligence is the cheap part. What you tell it is the expensive part. How the memory works, or how it compares to Claude.

Questions

Questions about the two of them.

What is the difference between Maison and ChatGPT?

One is a website you log into and the other is software you install on a machine you own. From that follow the four differences that matter: Maison keeps one continuous memory, it goes and does the work rather than describing it, everything it learns lives on your disk, and it is bought as software with people behind it rather than as a seat.

Is Maison a ChatGPT alternative?

For some of what people use ChatGPT for, yes, but they are not the same kind of product. If what you need is a good answer to a discrete question, a website that gives you a good answer to a discrete question is the right tool and it is free. The case for Maison starts when the work is continuous and the context is expensive to rebuild.

When is ChatGPT the better choice?

When you want it now, on any device, for nothing, and when the work fits inside a single conversation. Maison costs $799 a month, needs a Mac with Apple Silicon, and takes about an hour the first time. That is a real difference and it points one way.

How do I tell which one I want?

Ask what the last conversation cost you, not in money but in explaining. If most of what you type is context that already exists somewhere in your own files, you are paying to re-supply what you already own, and a memory of your work is what removes it.

What does Maison cost compared to ChatGPT?

$799 a month for one machine, plus $250 a month for each person you add, up to four people besides you. Your own Claude account does the reasoning and bills to you separately at Anthropic's rate, never marked up. It is high because it is early, and every install gets a person from here.

Ten seconds of watching it run.

Tell us what you would hand it first. If it is not obviously better for you than what you already use, we will say so.