700,000 users are ditching ChatGPT — here's why and where they're going

In early February 2026, something unusual started happening in the AI world: people did more than complain about ChatGPT — they organized against it. The movement, which spread across Reddit and Instagram under the hashtag #QuitGPT, has grown into one of the most visible consumer tech boycotts in recent memory, with the campaign's website claiming over 700,000 users have pledged to cancel their $20/month ChatGPT Plus subscriptions. (Those numbers come from organizers and haven't been independently verified, but the broader discontent is real and well-documented).

So what's actually going on? We dug into the grievances, the data and the alternatives to help you decide whether now is the time to switch.

The $25 million political flashpoint

Donald Trump with phone wearing a red hat — (Image credit: Megan Briggs/Getty Images)

The spark for #QuitGPT was a political donation. FEC filings revealed that OpenAI President Greg Brockman made a $25 million personal contribution to MAGA Inc., a pro-Trump super PAC. For a user base that skews toward creative professionals and younger tech workers, that was a dealbreaker.

Actor Mark Ruffalo amplified the message to his tens of millions of social media followers, reframing the monthly subscription not as a software expense but as an indirect political contribution. The movement's website puts it bluntly: if you're paying for ChatGPT Plus, you're funding the company whose leadership is funding this.

The ICE contract controversy

The political backlash intensified after reporting from FedScoop and The Washington Post revealed that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has integrated a GPT-4–powered tool into aspects of its hiring and screening processes.

For critics, the disclosure shifted #QuitGPT from a partisan protest to a broader ethical debate over whether consumer subscription dollars help support tools used in controversial government enforcement operations.

ChatGPT has changed

Beyond politics, many power users — particularly developers — say they're leaving because ChatGPT has simply gotten worse to use. The complaint centers on GPT-5.2's much-criticized tendency toward "sycophancy": long-winded, overly cautious responses that moralize when users just want direct answers.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has publicly acknowledged the company "screwed up" the writing quality in recent updates.

Reddit threads and developer forums are full of users describing the same frustration: asking for code and getting an ethics lecture. That shift in tone has made switching feel less like a sacrifice and more like an upgrade.

Where are people actually going?

gemini vs claude — (Image credit: Shutterstock)

The #QuitGPT movement is notably pro-alternatives rather than anti-AI. Organizers actively direct users toward three main competitors:

Claude (Anthropic) has become the go-to choice for developers and writers. Users consistently praise its ability to follow instructions without moralizing, its more natural conversational tone, and Anthropic's commitment to not training on user data. Claude has also recently expanded several premium features — including file creation — to its free tier, making it an easier switch for cost-conscious users.

Gemini (Google) is the logical destination for anyone embedded in the Google ecosystem. Its deep integration with Google Docs, Gmail, and Drive gives it a practical edge for workplace productivity, and its large context window makes it well-suited for document-heavy work. And now with the ability to generate images and even music right in the chat box, it's increasingly becoming the go-to chatbot.

Perplexity has made significant inroads with the developer community, particularly for users prioritizing raw reasoning performance and lower API costs.

Bottom line

So, should you switch? Well, that depends on why you're using ChatGPT in the first place. If your concerns are primarily ethical or political, the alternatives have matured to the point where switching involves real trade-offs but no longer means giving up capability. Claude, particularly with the launch of Sonnet 4.6 and Opus 4.6 is broadly competitive for writing and coding; Gemini is strong if you live in Google's ecosystem.

If your frustration is purely about product quality — the verbosity, the sycophancy, the sense that every request gets a disclaimer — that's also a legitimate reason to try something new. The AI market in 2026 is genuinely competitive in a way it wasn't 18 months ago.

What #QuitGPT really signals is that the era of ChatGPT as the default, unquestioned choice is over. Whether 700,000 cancellations is enough to move OpenAI's needle is an open question — but the pressure is real, and for the first time, the alternatives are too good to ignore.

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Amanda Caswell is an award-winning journalist, bestselling YA author, and one of today’s leading voices in AI and technology. A celebrated contributor to various news outlets, her sharp insights and relatable storytelling have earned her a loyal readership. Amanda’s work has been recognized with prestigious honors, including outstanding contribution to media.

Known for her ability to bring clarity to even the most complex topics, Amanda seamlessly blends innovation and creativity, inspiring readers to embrace the power of AI and emerging technologies. As a certified prompt engineer, she continues to push the boundaries of how humans and AI can work together.

Beyond her journalism career, Amanda is a long-distance runner and mom of three. She lives in New Jersey.

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