Original Orient Adventures

ChatGPT vs Claude: When Your Go-To AI Lets You Down

The Problem That Started It All

Picture this: You’re in the middle of creating your monthly affirmations booklet, ChatGPT has been your reliable companion for months, and then… it starts crawling. Loading forever. Timing out. Basically becoming unusable right when you need it most.

That’s exactly what happened to me this week.

After relying heavily on ChatGPT for everything from generating business ideas to helping write my mental health and finance books, suddenly my main AI tool was letting me down. I had prompts saved, workflows established, and a comfort level built up. Then technology reminded me why having backup plans matters.

Enter Claude.

First Impressions: Claude vs ChatGPT

The Speed Factor
While ChatGPT was struggling to load a simple response, Claude was lightning fast. No joke—responses that would take ChatGPT 30+ seconds (when it worked) were coming back from Claude in under 5 seconds.

The Interface
ChatGPT feels familiar after months of use, but Claude’s interface is cleaner, less cluttered. It’s like switching from a messy desk to a minimalist workspace—sometimes cleaner actually helps you think better.

Response Quality
This surprised me. I fed both AIs the same prompts (when ChatGPT was working), and Claude often gave more structured, actionable responses. Not always better, but different in a way that sometimes clicked better for my brain.

Real-World Test: My Money-Making Prompts

I’ve been collecting prompts about making money, side hustles, and business ideas in ChatGPT for weeks. Time to see how Claude handled the same requests.

Test Prompt: “Give me 5 realistic ways to make $500 this month with skills I already have”

ChatGPT’s Response: (When it loaded) Gave me the usual suspects—freelancing, tutoring, selling stuff online, gig work, etc. Good but generic.

Claude’s Response: Asked me what skills I actually had first, then gave more targeted suggestions. More conversational, more personalized. It felt like talking to someone who was actually listening.

The Workflow Disruption

Here’s what nobody tells you about switching AI tools: Your workflow gets completely disrupted.

All my saved ChatGPT conversations with prompts I’d refined? Gone. Well, not gone, but not accessible when ChatGPT is being slow. All those follow-up conversations where I’d built on previous ideas? Interrupted.

With Claude, I’m starting from scratch. New conversation threads, new prompt refinements, rebuilding that context that made ChatGPT so useful for my specific projects.

What This Means for My Digital Products

Remember those products I mentioned—the ones with zero sales? I was planning to use ChatGPT to help me improve the product descriptions, create better marketing copy, and brainstorm ways to actually get some buyers.

Now I’m testing whether Claude can pick up where ChatGPT left off.

First experiment: I asked Claude to help me rewrite the description for my personal finance book. The result was more conversational and focused on the “why should you care” angle rather than just listing what’s in the book.

Second experiment: Asked for 10 blog post ideas related to my mental health book. Claude gave me ideas that felt more authentic to my personal experience approach rather than generic self-help topics.

The Honest Assessment

Claude Wins:

• Speed (obviously)
• Cleaner interface
• More conversational responses
• Better at asking clarifying questions

ChatGPT Still Has Advantages:

• Months of conversation history
• Refined prompts I’ve tested
• Familiar workflow
• Larger knowledge base for some topics

The Reality:
I probably need both. ChatGPT for when it’s working properly and I need that conversation history. Claude for when I need speed and fresh perspectives.

What I’m Testing Next Week

1. Can Claude help me finally get some sales? I’m going to ask it to analyze my current product listings and suggest improvements.
2. Monthly affirmations project: Since ChatGPT died on me mid-project, can Claude pick up the pieces?
3. Blog content creation: Which AI is better at helping me turn my experiences into engaging blog posts?

The Bigger Lesson

This whole situation reminded me of something important: Don’t put all your eggs in one AI basket.

Just like you wouldn’t rely on one income source or one marketing channel, maybe we shouldn’t rely on one AI tool. Each has strengths, weaknesses, and apparently, technical issues that can leave you hanging.

What’s your experience been? Have you tried multiple AI tools, or are you married to one like I was with ChatGPT?