The Best ChatGPT Alternatives for Marketers in 2023
In the dynamic world of marketing, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become all the rage. And with good reason — when used properly, it can be a valuable tool. You’ve likely heard the buzz around ChatGPT, developed by OpenAI. ChatGPT has gained significant attention and boasts some impressive capabilities, but it’s not the only innovative AI platform on the market today.
Depending on your specific needs, you may find an alternative to ChatGPT more useful. Many ChatGPT-like platforms have emerged recently as AI technology progresses, making it tough to decide on the best option. But don’t worry — we’ll explore the drawbacks of ChatGPT and compare the features and pros and cons of some top alternative AI platforms so you can make an informed decision about which platform best aligns with your marketing goals.
What Is ChatGPT, and Why Is It Popular?
ChatGPT is an advanced natural language processing tool powered by AI technology. Open AI created the first version of what would eventually become ChatGPT in 2018. ChatGPT was trained on a large data set to communicate with human-like capabilities. The tool allows you to converse with a chatbot that can help you with things like research, writing essays, composing songs, and debugging computer programs. It’s changed how everyone — even developers — uses AI. ChatGPT is a versatile tool that’s helped marketers automate some aspects of their customer support and content creation processes.
The tool has been wildly popular since its launch. According to Sam Altman, ChatGPT had more than one million users in the first five days after launching. And Swiss Bank UBS notes that ChatGPT is the fastest-growing app of all time — even surpassing TikTok.
Because ChatGPT is still relatively new and collecting data, its basic service is still free to use. As of May 2023, a premium service — ChatGPT Plus — is available for $20 per month. Although the premium service still offers an “experimental” version of the tool, it allows you the ability to use it without downtime and with priority response times and access to new features as they become available.
ChatGPT’s features have been continually improving since its introduction on November 30, 2022. OpenAI is working on a new version of the tool that’s rumored to be released sometime at the end of 2023. But as of today, the tool isn’t perfect. And depending on your needs, it might not offer everything you need from an AI chat platform.
Why Look for Alternatives to ChatGPT?
ChatGPT may be all the rage today, but it’s not without shortcomings and limitations that could prompt some users to seek alternatives. These limitations include:
Cost: ChatGPT Plus costs $20 per month, which not everyone can or is willing to spend on access to an AI platform. And if you want to avoid downtime, you’ll likely want to upgrade from the free version to the more reliable, premium subscription.
Inability to generate real-time data: Since ChatGPT was trained on data from and before September 2021, it can't generate real-time data. It has very limited knowledge of the world and events after 2021, so there’s a chance it could produce inaccurate information about events occurring over the last couple of years. It relies on the timestamp of the user’s message to determine the current date. OpenAI has said they have plans to add plug-ins that will allow ChatGPT to browse the internet and have access to more recent information.
Limited capacity for users: If you’ve used ChatGPT, you’ve likely encountered a message stating something like “ChatGPT is at capacity or down.” This happens quite often due to heavy traffic from people using the tool. If you need to do something quickly, it's pretty annoying.
Inaccurate responses: You can’t believe everything ChatGPT tells you as absolute truth. Sometimes it goes as far as to give totally inaccurate information. Since it doesn’t use the internet to locate answers and instead uses its training to “guess” the most likely word in a sentence, it’s prone to error. In some cases, the tool may even provide answers that are unintentionally biased or prejudiced. You should always fact-check the responses ChatGPT provides — and fact-checking can take a lot of time, which negates the reason you wanted to use the tool in the first place.
Grammatical issues: ChatGPT has limited ability to correct grammatical errors or misspelled words at this time. You should always double-check content generated by ChatGPT to ensure grammatical accuracy — especially if you’re using it to generate any sort of marketing content.
Lack of common sense: ChatGPT can generate human-like responses, but at the end of the day, it’s just technology. It doesn’t have the level of common sense that we have as humans, and it often lacks the background knowledge and context that we have. Sometimes ChatGPT provides answers to questions that just don’t make logical sense.
Lack of emotional intelligence: ChatGPT doesn’t have true emotional intelligence. It’s unable to understand the subtle emotional cues we can detect as humans. It also has trouble responding appropriately to more complex emotional situations.
Limitations understanding context: ChatGPT can’t understand sarcasm and humor — it’s not a sentient being with emotions. If you attempt sarcasm or humor in a message to ChatGPT, it likely won’t understand and could provide an inappropriate or irrelevant response.
Limitations with multi-tasking: ChatGPT isn’t great at multitasking. It performs best when it has one task to complete or one question to answer at a time. If you give the tool multiple requests, it will have trouble prioritizing them, and you’re more likely to end up with inaccurate information.
Limited knowledge: The tool has access to a lot of information, but it doesn’t have access to all human knowledge. It likely doesn’t know about very specific, niche topics, so you’ll want to fact-check. And since it doesn’t have knowledge of the world and events after September 2021, it won’t be aware of certain relevant developments or updates.
Need for fine-tuning: If your use case for ChatGPT is very specific, you’ll need to fine-tune it and “train” it to optimize its performance. This can be time-consuming and inefficient.
Computational resources required: ChatGPT requires quite a lot of resources to operate efficiently since it’s a complex AI platform. Running it can be expensive and may require specialized systems. This is something organizations need to consider before using the tool.
Trouble generating long-form content: As of today, ChatGPT isn’t great at generating long-form, structured content. Of course, its ability to do so will likely improve in the future. But for now, it’s best to use ChatGPT to generate shorter forms of content — like paragraphs or emails. There's no substitute for the human touch and insight when it comes to long-form content and nailing the right structure or narrative.
The Best ChatGPT Alternatives for Marketers in 2023
There are plenty of AI tools available today with features and benefits that rival ChatGPT. Some of the main reasons someone would opt to use an alternative are to gain access to advanced features, save money, or, depending on the use case, avoid hiring a developer. Here are the pros and cons of some of the best alternatives to ChatGPT:
Scripted
Scripted is an end-to-end AI-powered online platform connecting businesses with expert freelance writers to create high-quality, effective content at scale. Scripted offers the best of both worlds by combining the latest AI tools with expert, highly vetted writers. It’s a match made in heaven for content marketers. Scripted offers four plans beginning at $0 per month.
Features
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AI-powered content creation
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Strategy chatbot
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Keyword research tool
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Blog ideas
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Smart content brief
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Plagiarism and AI detection
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Writer research chatbot
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Performance reporting
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Publishing integrations
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SmartMatch technology
Pros
- Scripted Copilot: Scripted uses Scripted Copilot, an AI-powered content creation, throughout the entire content creation process. AI technology automates time-consuming steps, including content ideas and keyword research.
- AI chatbot: Scripted’s AI chatbot is a conversational tool that utilizes GPT-4. It can respond to your questions in a quick, human-like manner.
- SmartMatch technology: Instantly connects you with the best writer for your project based on writers’ subject matter expertise and experience, saving you valuable time.
- 100% human-generated content: Scripted’s tools detect plagiarism and AI-generated content. You’ll always receive content written by humans.
- Integrates with your favorite tools: Once your content is written, publishing it is easy. You can import your content directly into WordPress, HubSpot, and Facebook.
Cons
- Writer availability: Writer availability may be limited in cases where you need content on a very niche topic. The good news is that Scripted is always vetting more writers and only accepts 2% of writers to the platform to ensure you have access to the absolute best talent.
Chatsonic by Writesonic
Chatsonic is a ChatGPT alternative developed by Writesonic that claims to address the limitations of ChatGPT. Like ChatGPT, Chatsonic is also built on OpenAI’s GPT-4. It uses natural language processing and machine learning to generate text responses. Chatsonic is free to use until you hit the free word limit, and pricing for paid plans begins at $19 per month.
Features
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Text and image generation
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Voice command feature
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Translation to 20+ languages
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Option to remember previous chats
Pros
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Generates content using Google search: Chatsonic uses Google to provide the most accurate responses, although you’ll still want to fact-check.
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More modern than ChatGPT: The Chatsonic interface is more modern-looking and easy to use.
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Creates written content for specific uses: The tool comes with many pre-configured options for creating written content, and it can even generate Quora answers and list the pros and cons of a subject.
Cons
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Word limit: Chatsonic’s free trial has a 2500-word limit. Even if you’re a paid user, you’ll still have a word limit, although higher.
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Issues with images: Compared to DALL-E, Chatsonic’s image generation is disappointing. You don’t always get the images you want.
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Lack of current knowledge: Like ChatGPT, Chatsonic was training on information through 2021, so it’s unaware of current events and information.
Jasper
Jasper is an AI chatbot designed to generate marketing copy. This ChatGPT alternative can create blog posts, product descriptions, ad copy, video scripts, and more. Jasper also offers a large variety of templates. Jasper offers a free trial, and pricing for paid packages starts at $24 per month.
Features
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Text and image generation
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Grammarly integration
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Document sharing
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Plagiarism checker
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Brand voice customization
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Multi-user login
Pros
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Generates content quickly: After spending a few seconds on your inputs, you can get a full page of new content.
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Fleshes out new ideas: If you’re struggling with “writer's block,” Jasper can help come up with new angles for your content.
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Sounds natural: Jasper matches the tone you’ve selected, with minimal errors.
Cons
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Lacks personality: Like ChatGPT, Jasper often generates content that sounds generic.
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Needs editing and fact-checking: Jasper relies on the information it finds online. If it pulls in inaccurate information, your content will be inaccurate.
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Struggles with niche topics: The tool works best when given straightforward prompts rather than complex topics.
Quillbot
Quillbot is an AI-powered tool for paraphrasing. It helps you take any piece of information on the web and make it your own. Quillbot offers a free plan and a subscription option for $19.95 per month.
Features
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Paraphrasing tool
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Grammar checker
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Plagiarism checker
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Summarizing tool
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Translation tool
Pros
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Easy to use: The Quillbot dashboard is simple to learn and use.
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Excellent grammar checker tool: The Quillbot grammar checker is comparable to Grammarly, so it can potentially save you money. It’s not a perfect tool, so you’ll still want to double-check its recommendations.
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Microsoft Word and Chrome Extensions: You don’t have to copy/paste the text into Google Chrome and Microsoft Word, which is a big time-saver.
Cons
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No AI content detection: Quillbot can detect plagiarism, but not AI-generated content.
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Manual intervention is often required: Like ChatGPT and other language models, Quillbot isn’t perfect. Content will need to be double-checked for errors.
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OpenAI’s GPT-3 AI writing isn’t available: Quillbot uses its own natural language processing tech to paraphrase and summarize content. As of today, there’s no option to use GPT paraphrasing.
AI-powered Microsoft Bing
You’ve likely heard of Microsoft Bing, even if you’ve never used it as your primary search engine. Unlike ChatGPT, Microsoft Bing’s AI tool is not just a conversational AI chatbot. It’s a search engine (Microsoft Bing) boosted with AI technology. Bing AI can now provide users with human-like chat answers to queries. Users can even follow up with questions to search queries via Bing AI’s conversational chatbot.
Features
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Multimodal search
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Free with a Microsoft account
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AI chatbot powered by GPT-4
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Image creator powered by DALL-E 2
Pros
Provides in-depth responses to search queries: Bing AI provides well-rounded, nuanced information to queries.
Generates content: Bing AI can generate content for marketers, including blogs, emails, product descriptions, and more.
Responds appropriately to harmful premises: For example, if you ask Bing AI how to lose 25 pounds in one week, it can tell you that losing 25 lbs in one week is not healthy.
Cons
Can provide false information: Like any AI tool, there’s a chance that Bing AI could provide false or misleading information since it sources its responses from the internet.
Requires the Microsoft Edge browser: Users will need to install Microsoft’s Edge browser for MacOS or Windows to use Bing AI. However, the good news is that Microsoft has made several recent updates to the Edge browser.
Google Bard
Google Bard is Google’s conversational generative AI tool and their ChatGPT alternative. It’s powered by LaMDA and is currently in the beta, or “experimental,” phase. Google Bard is similar to a search engine — it pulls information from across the internet — but it’s intended to provide nuanced responses to search queries. On the Bard site, it’s described as “your creative and helpful collaborator, here to supercharge your imagination, boost your productivity, and bring your ideas to life.” The tool is currently free to use.
Features
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Prompts and answers with images
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Integrations with apps, including Google Apps and Adobe
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Dark theme
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Image generation with Adobe Firefly
Pros
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Up-to-date information: The information pulled by Google Bard AI is more up to date than ChatGPT.
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Nuanced responses: Marketers can understand all sides of a topic quickly since Bard provides more than just one response.
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Allows for clarifying questions: Users can ask Bard AI questions for clarification or follow-up, which allows for deeper insights on a topic.
Cons
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Imperfect responses: Bard can be prone to providing inaccurate or false information. In fact, the AI chatbot made an error during a Google demo, causing Google to lose quite a bit in share value.
TruthGPT
TruthGPT, an AI chatbot backed by Elon Musk (who also helped found OpenAI), is a language model that’s focused on fighting misinformation. Its developers’ goal is to provide truthful, accurate information. The idea is to solve one of the biggest problems with AI tools and give TruthGPT an edge over OpenAI’s GPT-4. TruthGPT is available as a web and mobile app for iPhones and Androids and is free to use as of today.
Features
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A mobile app for both iOS and Android devices
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A “question mode” and “chat mode”
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Blockchain-powered and offers its own $TRUTH cryptocurrency token
Pros
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Apparently unbiased: While other AI tools may inadvertently offer biased information, TruthGPT aims to provide accurate, unbiased outputs.
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Complies information quickly: The tool collects data from a vast range of credible and alternative sources and compiles information within seconds.
Cons
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Hasn’t yet been proven: Apart from the TruthGPT whitepaper, there’s not a ton of information and feedback available on the tool at this time.
Bloom
Bloom is the world’s largest open multilingual language model. Bloom differs from other large language models (LLM) because of the effort put into researching, developing, and training the machine learning model. This large language model is available to anyone to use free of charge. Like the GPT-4 model, it can handle text generation, summarizing, and answering questions. Bloom is finalizing an inference API for large-scale use.
Features
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Multilingual support
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Open source
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Hosted inference API
Pros
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Trained on 46 natural languages: Bloom is useful for regions where English is not the main spoken language.
Cons
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High cost to run: Specialized hardware is required to run Bloom due to its size of 227 gigabytes.
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Needs to be sufficiently trained to work well: Training an LLM requires time and expenses. LLMs are typically best for organizations that can shell out high costs.
Perplexity AI
Perplexity AI is another ChatGPT alternative trained using OpenAI’s API. The website has a minimalist feel and offers ChatGPT-like functionality. Perplexity AI can hold conversations and provide nuanced responses with citations. The tool is currently free to use.
Features
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Dark mode
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Citations
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Minimal website layout
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Android and iPhone apps
Pros
Cites sources: Since Perplexity AI includes source citations with generated text, it’s easier and quicker to fact-check its responses.
GPT-4 powered co-pilot mode: This allows the tool to respond with clarifying questions to narrow your search and provide more accurate answers.
Holds good conversations: The AI chatbot can carry on a conversation without getting confused.
Cons
May accidentally copy from sources: You’ll want to check for plagiarism. Since Perplexity AI doesn’t have a plagiarism checker, this could be an additional cost.
Can’t remember past responses: Perplexity AI can't remember past responses and use them for context when answering future questions.
YouChat
YouChat is an AI-powered conversational search assistant powered by natural language processing. It uses a language model developed by You.com. YouChat can answer questions, suggest ideas, assist with translations, summarize text, and compose emails. It’s different from ChatGPT because you can also use it for online searches. YouChat is free to use since it’s still in beta.
Features
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Conversational search
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Quick responses
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Multimodal search
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Real-time information
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Mobile app
Pros
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Provides citations: Since YouChat provides citations for its responses, it’s easy to fact-check the information.
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Supports social media profiles: YouChat can search for people through social profiles. It also has a LinkedIn app.
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Contextual answers: YouChat can remember questions and provide follow-up answers based on context.
Cons
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Answers potentially damaging questions: ChatGPT has been trained to refuse to answer damaging questions, but YouChat has not.
Character AI
Character AI is a fun neural language model tool that allows you to have human-like conversations with an AI chatbot character. Character AI generates text responses and engages in contextual conversation. You can create a character of your choosing with its own “personality.” Character AI is currently free to use.
Features
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Neural language models
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Character creation
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Character AI themes
Pros
Conversational AI: Users can have conversations with AI chatbots to get help with research and content generation.
Numerous trained bots: Character AI offers multiple AI bots, so you can choose the one you like best.
Supports text-to-speech: Text-to-speech functionality may be convenient for some users.
Cons
Information may be inaccurate: Character AI’s website says it best — “a hallucinating supercomputer is not a source of reliable information.”
Speed: Character AI runs a bit slower than ChatGPT and other similar tools.
Choosing the Best ChatGPT Alternative for Your Needs
There are a lot of alternatives to ChatGPT on the market today. Marketers and content creators have many exciting options when choosing an AI model to aid in content generation efforts. Depending on your budget and the features you’re looking for, you may want to consider trying one or more ChatGPT alternatives. As artificial intelligence tools continue to develop, these tools will become more accurate, accessible, and efficient.
If you’re a writer or content marketer looking for an alternative to ChatGPT, Scripted’s AI tools might be just what you’re looking for. Scripted’s AI assistant, called Scripted Copilot, helps boost your content marketing efforts. This tool is integrated throughout our system, assisting with content ideas, ordering writing jobs, and analyzing your content’s performance. And our plagiarism and AI detection tools ensure 100% original, human-generated content.
At Scripted, we believe that AI platforms can be incredibly helpful as research or writing assistants. But remember, at the end of the day, there’s no substitute for the human touch — at least not yet.
Ready to Try Scripted?
At Scripted, we’re leveraging the power of AI tools along with our vast network of highly-skilled writers to create powerful, 100% human-generated content. Scripted is the go-to platform for businesses looking to scale their content creation efforts and take their content marketing strategy to the next level with AI-assisted writing.
Are you ready to gain access to Scripted’s content marketing technology and an incredible team of highly-vetted expert writers?
