Which exporter fits your task?
Choose ChatShell for editable DOCX files and selected batch exports, ChatGPT Exporter for frequent free Markdown exports, or ACE for a free tool across several AI chat services. The choice changes when you need local PDF generation, a specific Word format, or a whole-account archive.
This comparison is published by the ChatShell team. We checked the linked official listings and documentation on October 23, 2026. Competitor features below are publisher claims, not results from a hands-on export benchmark; we do not assign quality scores.
Formats, free limits and practical restrictions
| Tool | Published formats | Free use and paid plans | Best fit and limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatShell | Single chat: PDF, Markdown, DOCX, JSON. Pro batch: HTML, Markdown, DOCX, JSON. | 3 PDFs and 5 exports across other formats per month, with a watermark. Standard: $4/month or $36/year. Pro: $8/month or $72/year. Pricing. | Native .docx output and a ZIP of selected chats. ChatGPT only; no batch PDF. File generation runs in your browser. |
| ChatGPT Exporter chatgptexporter.com | PDF, Markdown, TXT, CSV, JSON; selected-message export. | 3 PDFs per day; Markdown, TXT, CSV and JSON are free. Annual billing lists Starter at $1.99/month and Standard at $2.99/month. Pricing. | A larger free allowance for text exports. PDF requires sign-in and server processing. Its listed formats do not include DOCX. |
| ACE (AI Chat Exporter) Covai Labs | Markdown, JSON, HTML, PDF, Word (.doc), PNG. | The official listing describes it as free and open source, with no premium tier. | ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and other services in one extension. Local processing is claimed. Word output is .doc, which is a different format from .docx. |
Prices are the public prices checked above; checkout determines taxes and the amount due. ChatShell's first-month promotion applies to Standard monthly only. The comparison uses exact publishers because several extensions share similar names.
The privacy difference that changes PDF selection
ChatShell creates PDFs in the browser. ChatGPT Exporter's privacy policy says PDF content is processed on its backend in memory and discarded afterward; its other formats are processed locally. ACE describes local parsing and rendering on its official site.
If your work requires conversation content to stay off an exporter vendor's servers, that distinction matters before you compare layouts. Local generation can still require fetching the original conversation, images or fonts; ChatShell also makes separate license checks.
When you do not need an extension
For an eligible account archive, start with ChatGPT's built-in data export. It produces an account-data ZIP. An extension is useful when you need a selected conversation in a reading or editing format, or a selected batch for one project.
Check the file that matters to you
Before paying, export a non-sensitive conversation with one table, code block and formula. Open it in your actual reader or editor. Check the first and last messages, page breaks and images; for Word, try editing the equation. Published format support does not establish how well your particular document will render.