Morse vs ChatGPT: where your chats live, training, ads, and price

The Morse teamPublished October 29, 2026Facts checked October 29, 202610 min read

In Morse vs ChatGPT, the biggest privacy difference is where your chats end up. As of October 29, 2026, ChatGPT saves them on OpenAI's servers until you delete them and, on personal plans, may train on them unless you opt out, while Morse keeps your history encrypted in your browser and doesn't train on it. Choose ChatGPT if you want voice conversations, native phone and desktop apps, Codex, and unlimited free text chats; choose Morse if you want GPT without your account attached, models from several labs in one place, no ads on any plan, and end-to-end encrypted chats.

We read OpenAI's US privacy policy (updated September 10, 2026), its pricing page, and its help pages on data controls, model training, Temporary Chat, Locked Chats, memory, chat retention, voice, ads, phone sign-up, and the Go and Pro plans on October 29, 2026. OpenAI deserves credit for how plainly those pages read. Its Locked Chats article says outright what the lock doesn't do, and its memory page lists every place a memory can come from.

At a glance

As of October 29, 2026. Every ChatGPT fact links to OpenAI's own page.

Does paying for ChatGPT make it more private?

Only on ads. OpenAI's pricing page ends with a Privacy row, "Content is used to train our models," and it reads "Opt-out available" for Free, Go, Plus, and Pro alike (OpenAI). Pro now comes in three tiers, at $100, $200, and $500 a month (OpenAI). The $500 tier buys faster models and more usage, and it leaves your training default, chat storage, and staff access the same as on Free.

Ads stop at Plus, and on Free you can switch to an Ads-Free option with "lower usage limits" and no image generation or deep research (OpenAI). The default training setting changes only in a business workspace, such as one your employer or school runs: OpenAI says it doesn't train on Business, Enterprise, Edu, or Healthcare content by default (OpenAI). Its independent audits follow the same line. OpenAI's security page puts its SOC 2 Type 2 examination on "its API and ChatGPT business product services," and its ISO 27001 certification on the API, Enterprise, and Edu (OpenAI). Neither names the consumer plans. Only its ISO 42001 certificate, for managing AI systems, covers "consumer and business AI products."

Where does each keep your chat history?

ChatGPT keeps it on OpenAI's systems, and Morse keeps it in your browser. On ChatGPT, regular and archived chats "remain saved to your account until you delete them," and a deleted chat is scheduled "for permanent deletion from its systems within 30 days," unless it was already de-identified or OpenAI must keep it for "security or legal obligations" (OpenAI).

Several copies outlive the chat itself:

• Saved memories are "stored separately from chat history," and OpenAI may keep logs of deleted ones "for up to 30 days for safety and debugging purposes" (OpenAI).
• Files in Library stay until you delete them from Library, even after the chat is gone (OpenAI).
• Temporary Chats stay out of your history, but "OpenAI may keep a copy of a temporary chat for up to 30 days for safety purposes" (OpenAI).
• Voice clips from Live and Advanced Voice are stored with the transcript and "retained for 30 days" (OpenAI).

On Morse, the history is stored in your browser, encrypted, and Morse's servers don't keep your messages. Our guide to whether ChatGPT is private covers the rest of OpenAI's side, including staff access and shared links.

Does ChatGPT train on your chats, and does Morse?

ChatGPT does by default, and Morse doesn't at all. On ChatGPT Free, Plus, and Pro, "data sharing is enabled by default," and you turn it off under Settings, Data controls, Improve the model for everyone (OpenAI).

That one switch doesn't cover everything. OpenAI's pages describe three more rules:

• Voice has its own controls, Include your audio recordings and Include your video recordings, and with Improve the model on, transcripts from your voice chats may be used for training (OpenAI).
• Codex has a separate Include environments setting that the ChatGPT switch "does not change" (OpenAI).
• Feedback still counts after you opt out: a thumbs up or down means "the entire conversation associated with that feedback may be used to train our models" (OpenAI).

Morse has no switch to find, because it doesn't train AI on your content. The full history of OpenAI's training rules is in does ChatGPT train on your data.

Does ChatGPT have ads, and does Morse?

ChatGPT shows ads on Free and Go, and Morse shows none on any plan. OpenAI's ads page says "Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Edu accounts will not have ads," and that with personalization on, ads can draw on "past chats and memory" (OpenAI). OpenAI adds that advertisers get only "aggregated reporting such as views and clicks," and its pricing page says of the $8 Go plan, "This plan may include ads" (OpenAI). Locking a chat doesn't hide them: "If ads are available for your account, they may also appear in locked chats" (OpenAI). Every way to turn them off is in how to turn off ChatGPT ads.

Morse doesn't sell data, show ads, or run advertising trackers or third-party analytics.

Can you use GPT without OpenAI knowing it's you?

Not on ChatGPT itself. A signed-in account carries your "name, contact information, account credentials, date of birth, payment information, and transaction history," and OpenAI's log data "includes your Internet Protocol address" (OpenAI). Signing out gets you "one conversation at a time," kept "only for the current session on the same browser" (OpenAI), and OpenAI still receives the log data its policy describes. Phone-only sign-up exists in some countries, but "To upgrade to Plus, Pro, or Business, a user will still be required to verify an email" (OpenAI), and "You cannot unlink a phone number from an existing OpenAI account" (OpenAI).

On Morse, GPT runs in Anonymous mode. Our proxy strips your account, email, and IP address and sends the request under Morse's own account. We compare the other ways to do this in how to use ChatGPT anonymously.

Is ChatGPT end-to-end encrypted?

No. OpenAI encrypts your content on the way to its servers and on its disks, and its servers decrypt it so the model can answer. Locked Chats, which OpenAI is still rolling out, adds a 4-digit PIN in front of chosen chats, and OpenAI's help article says locking does not "create end-to-end encryption or a separate encrypted vault," change how long OpenAI keeps the chat, or change your training setting (OpenAI). We go through what the lock hides in are ChatGPT Locked Chats encrypted.

Morse's E2EE mode encrypts the message on your device for one secure enclave, after your browser has checked that enclave's hardware proof. The checks a browser should run are in how to verify AI enclave attestation.

Which models can you use on each?

ChatGPT offers OpenAI's models only, and Morse bundles over 30 from several labs. On ChatGPT's pricing page, Free and Go get GPT-6 Luna and GPT-5 Thinking Mini, Plus adds GPT-6 Sol, GPT-6 Astra, GPT-6.1 Sol, the GPT-5.6 family, and legacy models, and Pro adds GPT-5.6 Sol Pro (OpenAI). The Free plan help article, updated two days before we read it, names a different model. It says "Free users have access to GPT-5.6 Luna" (OpenAI).

Morse's Free plan includes GPT-6 Luna too, with Claude Haiku 5.5, GLM 5.3 Flash, and more. Pro adds models such as Claude Sonnet 5.5, DeepSeek V4.1 Flash, and Grok 4.7, plus 250 credits a month for frontier models. It also adds unfiltered models, which give answers other apps refuse, such as dark fiction and straight medical and legal answers.

How much do Morse and ChatGPT cost?

Morse's Pro is $1 a month cheaper than ChatGPT Plus, and Morse offers yearly billing where OpenAI doesn't.

Where ChatGPT is better

• Free use. ChatGPT Free has unlimited everyday text chats, against Morse's 15 messages a day.
• Voice. ChatGPT's Live voice can search the web and use memory, and Advanced voice adds live video and screen sharing on iOS and Android (OpenAI).
• Apps. ChatGPT runs on iOS, Android, macOS, and Windows, and in Apple CarPlay on supported iPhones (OpenAI). Morse is a web app.
• Tools. Codex, ChatGPT Work, scheduled tasks, plugins, and connected apps such as Gmail (OpenAI, OpenAI), and deep research on every plan, limited on Free and Go.
• The largest GPT models. Pro reaches GPT-5.6 Sol Pro, and Pro 500 adds Ultrafast modes (OpenAI).

How Morse keeps your GPT chats off your OpenAI account

Every ChatGPT setting above is a rule about the copy OpenAI keeps, under an account with your email or phone number, your date of birth, and, on a paid plan, your payment details. Training, ads, memory, retention, and locks all decide what happens to that copy. Morse is built so your chats never sit on a server under your name.

• Anonymous, to keep using GPT without OpenAI knowing it's you. Our proxy removes your account, email, and IP address and sends the message under Morse's own account. OpenAI still sees the words, and may keep them for a limited time to check for abuse under its own policy, so leave names and identifying details out of the message.
• E2EE, for chats you'd want no company to read, OpenAI and Morse included. Your browser verifies the enclave's attestation, then encrypts the message so only that enclave can read it, and Morse's servers relay ciphertext they can't read. It runs open-weight models such as GLM, Kimi, and DeepSeek, without web search or image generation. The enclaves are run by third-party providers, not by Morse, and the guarantee depends on the enclave hardware and attestation working as designed. E2EE comes with Pro, $19 a month.
• Private, the default, for everyday chats no host should keep. Open-weight models and xAI's Grok run under zero data retention agreements Morse has with its inference, search, and other providers, and where a provider confirms zero retention on each reply, Morse checks it and refuses a reply that doesn't.

Whichever mode you pick, your history is stored in your browser, encrypted, and locked when you sign out. Unlocking takes two keys: one that never leaves your device and one our server gives you at sign-in. Morse doesn't train on your chats, sell your data, or show ads, and because we don't store chats, we usually have very little to give authorities. Clearing your browser deletes the history, and we can't recover it, so keep a copy of anything you need. Our privacy policy lists what the account itself holds.

Choose ChatGPT or Morse

• Choose ChatGPT if you talk to your assistant more than you type; want apps on your phone, laptop, and car; rely on Codex or connected apps; or want unlimited free text chats and will opt out of training yourself.
• Choose Morse if you want GPT without your account behind it; Claude, Grok, DeepSeek, and GLM in the same place; history that stays encrypted on your device; no ads or training on any plan; and E2EE chats for $19 a month.

Send a first message from the Morse home page without an account, or start free with no card.

Morse publishes this comparison. We've tried to keep it fair; if something's wrong or out of date, email hello@trymorse.ai.

ChatGPT is a trademark of OpenAI. Morse is not affiliated with or endorsed by OpenAI.