AI Series Part 3: ChatGPT and Anthropic top paid AI Tools by retention

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Over 89% of paying ChatGPT customers still paid for the platform after 1 quarter, and 74% after three quarters according to Earnest credit card data. ChatGPT developed the largest following, but also the most loyal of any paid AI tool. The only platform that has approached ChatGPT’s first quarter paid customer retention is Anthropic, retaining nearly 85% of users in the first quarter. 

There is a widening gap between the majority of LLM AI tools and ChatGPT and Anthropic in terms of paid retention. Most tools hover between 20-40% retention rates after the first three quarters. 

Cohort-specific retention rates are even more promising for ChatGPT. A study by Assistant Professor and Theta co-Founder Dan McCarthy found that younger cohorts (more recently joined customers) have higher than average retention. Additionally, the ChatGPT average retention curve is bending upwards in a ‘retention smile’ that indicates churned customers are returning to the service.