When exploring AI solutions for your business, you'll encounter these three names constantly: OpenAI, ChatGPT, and Voiceflow. Many business owners find the distinction confusing, often assuming they're competing products or alternatives to choose between.
The reality is simpler than it appears—and understanding the difference helps you make informed decisions about which tools serve your specific business needs.
Each serves a distinct purpose in the AI ecosystem. Let's explore what they actually do and when you'd use each one.
What it is: OpenAI is the research company that creates advanced AI models—essentially the "brains" that power AI applications. Their most well-known creation is GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer), the technology that understands and generates human-like text.
What it does: OpenAI develops the fundamental AI technology that other products and platforms use. They provide:
For business owners: You typically don't interact directly with OpenAI unless you're a developer building custom AI solutions. Instead, you use products and platforms built on top of OpenAI's technology.
What it is: ChatGPT is a specific application created by OpenAI—a conversational AI you can chat with through a simple interface at chat.openai.com. It's designed for general-purpose conversation and assistance.
What it does: ChatGPT provides:
For business owners: ChatGPT is excellent for personal productivity—drafting emails, researching ideas, solving problems, generating content. However, it's not designed to integrate directly into your business operations or interact with your customers on your behalf.
Key limitation: ChatGPT doesn't know anything about your specific business, can't access your systems, and isn't customizable for your unique needs. It's a general assistant, not a business tool.
What it is: Voiceflow is a platform that lets you design, build, and deploy custom AI agents specifically for your business—without coding. It uses OpenAI's technology (along with other AI providers) but gives you complete control over how that AI behaves and what it knows.
What it does: Voiceflow provides:
For business owners: Voiceflow is the tool you use when you want AI that represents your business, answers questions about your services, books appointments, qualifies leads, and integrates with your operations. It's the bridge between OpenAI's raw AI capabilities and your specific business requirements.
Here's how these technologies work together in a real business scenario:
Your customers interact with your custom AI agent (built in Voiceflow, powered by OpenAI) on your website. They don't see or need ChatGPT—that's a separate tool for different purposes.
Use ChatGPT when: You need personal productivity help—writing, research, brainstorming, learning new topics. It's for you, not for your customers.
Use Voiceflow when: You want to automate customer interactions—answering questions, booking appointments, qualifying leads, providing 24/7 support. It's for building AI that represents your business to your customers.
OpenAI: You don't "use" OpenAI directly unless you're a developer. Both ChatGPT and Voiceflow use OpenAI's technology behind the scenes.
These aren't competing products—they're complementary tools serving different purposes. Most business owners find value in using ChatGPT for personal tasks while implementing Voiceflow (or similar platforms) to build customer-facing AI automation.
The confusion stems from OpenAI being both a company name and a technology provider, but once you understand that relationship, the ecosystem makes perfect sense. OpenAI creates the intelligence, ChatGPT demonstrates what's possible, and platforms like Voiceflow let you harness that intelligence for your specific business needs.