Hisashi SpaceNovember 5, 2026 · 12 min read
Which AI Subscription Is Worth It? ChatGPT vs Claude vs Gemini vs Grok, Checked on the Official Pricing Pages
Which AI subscription is worth paying for?
There is a comparison chart going around that sums up each AI in one line. It has 145K views on TikTok. I opened every official pricing page behind it. Most of it holds up. Three things are wrong, and they can cost you money.
I made a video about it. This article has what the video has no room for: every plan and price per service from the official pages, what each paid tier adds over free, a table of which plan fits which kind of work, and a checklist before you pay.
The short version
- All five services have a free plan: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok and Perplexity.
- Gemini inside Gmail and Docs is not part of the free plan.
- Grok's plan names have changed. The pricing page now lists Free, Plus, Premium, Super and Ultra.
- Building a custom GPT is listed as a ChatGPT Plus feature.
- Some prices you see are annual prices shown per month. Read the small line under the number.
- The real question is not free or paid. It is whether you hit the free limit in the work you do every day.
I have run a company in Japan for 22 years. AI now does a big part of my daily work. Paying for the wrong plan is money out of the account every month, so I checked.
How I checked
I read each official pricing page on November 5, 2026. Prices below are copied as the page shows them, in US dollars.
Two notes before the tables.
- Opened from Japan, OpenAI's pricing page shows yen (Plus is ¥3,000 a month there). The US dollar prices for ChatGPT come from OpenAI's own Help Center articles.
- Claude's and xAI's pages say their prices do not include tax.
The page names and addresses are listed at the end.
The chart, and the three mistakes
| Service | The chart says | What the official page shows |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | The all-rounder | Holds. Chat, images, voice, deep research and Codex are all listed, even on Free. But building a custom GPT is listed under Plus (mistake 3). |
| Claude | Long docs and writing | Holds. The context window is "Up to 1M, varies by model" on every plan, including Free. |
| Gemini | Inside your Google apps | Mistake 1. Gemini in Gmail starts at Google AI Plus. Gemini in Docs starts at Google AI Pro. |
| Grok | Live news and trends | Mistake 2. The plan names in the chart are out of date. |
| Perplexity | Research with sources | Holds. "Every answer includes inline citations from trusted sources." |
ChatGPT: plans and prices
| Plan | Price | Where the price comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Pricing page |
| Go | Shown in yen from Japan (¥1,400 a month). I could not read a US dollar price. | Pricing page |
| Plus | $20/month, billed monthly | Help Center, "What is ChatGPT Plus?" |
| Pro 100 | $100 a month | Help Center, "About ChatGPT Pro tiers" |
| Pro 200 | $200 a month | Same |
| Pro 500 | $500 a month (the only Pro tier with "Ultrafast") | Same |
The Help Center says: "Currently, we do not support annual billing" for Plus. So there is no yearly discount on Plus.
The Go card on the pricing page carries one more line: "This plan may include ads."
What Free gets you, in the page's words:
- "Unlimited text chats with GPT-6", with the footnote "subject to abuse guardrails".
- Limited messages with uploads, image creation, voice chats, deep research, memory and context, and Codex access.
What Plus adds over Go and Free:
- "Advanced reasoning models with GPT-6"
- Expanded messages and uploads, deep research, memory and context
- "Projects, scheduled tasks, and custom GPTs"
- Expanded Codex usage
The comparison table on the same page also shows how much text one chat can hold.
| Free | Go | Plus | Pro | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GPT Instant total context window | 27K | 54K | 54K | 128K |
| GPT Instant input maximum | ~12 pages of text | ~40 pages of text | ~40 pages of text | ~250 pages of text |
Mistake 3: custom GPTs
The chart suggests you can build your own custom GPT for free. On the pricing page, "Projects, scheduled tasks, and custom GPTs" sits in the Plus column. It is a small mistake, but it is exactly the kind of thing people pay for and then find they already had, or the other way round.
Claude: plans and prices
| Plan | Price on the page | Billing |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | |
| Pro | $17 per month with annual subscription discount ($200 billed up front). $20 if billed monthly. | Monthly and annual |
| Max | $100 per month | Monthly |
| Ultra | $200 per month | Monthly |
The page says: "Prices shown don't include applicable tax."
What Free gets you:
- "Limited usage every 5 hours and every week"
- Sonnet and Haiku models (Opus is marked "No" on Free)
- Web search, files, code execution, memory, connectors and Artifacts
- Projects: "Up to 5"
- Context window: "Up to 1M, varies by model"
What Pro adds:
- More usage. The FAQ says: "Pro gives you at least 5x more usage per 5-hour session than Free."
- Opus
- Claude Code, Research, Claude in Chrome and Microsoft 365
- "Hand off and schedule tasks"
- Projects without the "Up to 5" cap of Free
What Max and Ultra add:
- Max: "5x Pro usage every 5 hours and every week", "$100 a month in API credits", priority access at high traffic times.
- Ultra: "No 5-hour limit" (for verified accounts), "10x Pro usage every week", "$200 a month in API credits".
Gemini: plans and prices
| Plan | Price on the page | Usage | Storage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0/month with a Google Account | 15 GB | |
| Google AI Plus | $4.99/month | "2x higher usage access than Free" | 400 GB |
| Google AI Pro | $19.99/month | "4x higher usage access than Free" | 5 TB |
| Google AI Ultra | Starting at $99.99/month (5x vs AI Pro), or $199.99/month (20x vs AI Pro) | Starting at 20 TB |
What Free gets you:
- "Access to our Flash-Lite model"
- "Image generation and editing"
- Deep Research, Gemini Live, Canvas and Gems
The footnote on usage says the limit "refreshes every 5 hours until you reach your weekly limit."
Mistake 1: Gemini in Gmail and Docs is not free
The chart puts Gemini "inside your Google apps". That is true, but only on paid plans.
| Plan | Gemini inside Google apps, as the page lists it |
|---|---|
| Free | Not listed |
| Google AI Plus ($4.99) | "Gemini in Gmail, Vids, and more" |
| Google AI Pro ($19.99) | "Gemini in Gmail, Docs, Vids, and more" |
| Google AI Ultra | "Highest limits to Gemini directly in Google apps" |
So if Gmail is what you want, the cheapest plan that lists it is $4.99. If you need Docs, the page lists it from $19.99. The page also says Gemini for Gmail, Docs and more is "available in select languages", and Google AI plans are for ages 18+.
The free Gemini app is still good. It just does not sit inside your inbox for free.
Grok: plans and prices
Mistake 2: the plan names are out of date
If you follow an old screenshot, you will look for a plan that is not called that anymore. This is what x.ai/pricing lists today.
| Plan | Price on the page | Usage, as the page compares it |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0/month | Limited |
| Plus | $8/month | Basic |
| Premium | $30/month | 4x Plus |
| Super | $100/month | 15x Plus |
| Ultra | $200/month | 50x Plus |
Things on the same page that are easy to miss:
- "Prices shown do not include applicable taxes or fees."
- "Cancel anytime, at least 24 hours prior to renewal to avoid additional charges."
- The usage pool is shared across Grok and Cursor, and "Your allowance refreshes weekly."
- Plus and above also come with X features, such as the Premium checkmark. Plus has "Less timeline ads". Premium has "Ad-free scrolling on most surfaces".
xAI's own FAQ answers "What is the right plan for me?" like this: "We recommend Premium for new AI users, Super for daily agent users, and Ultra for power users. Plus is recommended for social creators with limited AI usage."
Perplexity: plans and prices
| Plan | Price on the page |
|---|---|
| Free | $0 (sign up for free) |
| Pro | $17 /month or equivalent, when billed annually |
| Max | $167 /month or equivalent, when billed annually |
The page shows only the annual number. I am not giving a monthly price, because the page does not show one.
The FAQ explains the difference from Free: "The free plan limits advanced searches to a few per day and locks you to a single default model. Pro unlocks more advanced searches with multi-step reasoning, access to all premium AI models, increased file uploads, and image generation capabilities."
On sources, the FAQ says: "Every answer includes numbered inline citations that link directly to original sources."
The FAQ also says students and educators can get Pro at a discounted rate through SheerID verification.
What free actually gets you
Before you pay anything, this is what each free plan includes, from the same pages.
| Service | Included on Free | How the limit is described |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | Text chats, uploads, images, voice, deep research, Codex | Text chats "Unlimited", subject to abuse guardrails. The rest "Limited". |
| Claude | Sonnet and Haiku, web search, files, code, memory, Artifacts, up to 5 projects | "Limited usage every 5 hours and every week" |
| Gemini | Flash-Lite model, image generation and editing, Deep Research, Gemini Live, Canvas, Gems | Refreshes every 5 hours until a weekly limit |
| Grok | "Limited Chat requests" and "Limited agent requests" | Allowance refreshes weekly |
| Perplexity | Answers with citations | "Advanced searches to a few per day", one default model |
So the real question is not free or paid. It is whether you hit the limit on the work you do every day.
What the main paid plan adds over free
| Service | Main paid plan | Price | What it adds over free |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | Plus | $20/month | Advanced reasoning, more messages and uploads, more deep research, projects, scheduled tasks, custom GPTs, more Codex |
| Claude | Pro | $20 monthly, or $17/month billed annually | At least 5x the usage per 5-hour session, Opus, Claude Code, Research, scheduled tasks, more projects |
| Gemini | Google AI Plus | $4.99/month | 2x usage, Flash model, Gemini in Gmail and Vids, 400 GB storage |
| Gemini | Google AI Pro | $19.99/month | 4x usage, Pro model, Gemini in Gmail and Docs, 5 TB storage |
| Grok | Plus | $8/month | Shared usage pool, Grok Chat, Voice, Imagine and Build, X features |
| Grok | Premium | $30/month | 4x Plus usage, latest Grok models, faster replies, images and videos |
| Perplexity | Pro | $17/month, billed annually | More advanced searches, all premium models, more uploads, image generation |
The bigger plans
If 20 dollars is not enough, every one of them has a bigger plan.
| Service | Plan | Price on the page |
|---|---|---|
| Claude | Max / Ultra | $100 / $200 per month |
| ChatGPT | Pro 100 / Pro 200 / Pro 500 | $100 / $200 / $500 a month |
| Gemini | Google AI Ultra | $99.99 or $199.99 a month |
| Grok | Super / Ultra | $100 / $200 a month |
| Perplexity | Max | $167 a month, billed annually |
These plans make sense when AI is doing hours of real work for you every day. That is how I use it. For most people, it is not day one.
Which one for which kind of user
Do not pick the smartest one. Pick by the job you do most.
| The job you do most | Start with | First paid plan to look at | Check this first |
|---|---|---|---|
| Long documents and writing | Claude | Pro, $20 monthly or $17/month billed annually | Whether the 5-hour and weekly limits on Free stop you |
| You live in Gmail and Docs | Gemini | Google AI Plus ($4.99) for Gmail, Google AI Pro ($19.99) for Docs | Which app you actually need it in |
| Live news and X trends | Grok | Plus ($8) or Premium ($30) | xAI recommends Premium for new AI users and Plus for social creators with limited AI usage |
| Answers you need to check | Perplexity | Pro, $17/month billed annually | The page shows only the annual price |
| A bit of everything | ChatGPT | Plus, $20/month | Custom GPTs and projects need Plus |
And try the free plan for a week first. Every one of these five has one.
Checklist before you pay
- Use the free plan for a week on your real daily work, not on test questions.
- Write down when you hit a limit, and on which feature.
- Open the official pricing page on the day you pay. A chart or screenshot may be old.
- Check the plan name on the page today. Grok's changed.
- Check that the feature you want is listed in the plan you are buying. Gmail and Docs are on different Google plans. Custom GPTs are on ChatGPT Plus.
- Check whether the price is monthly or an annual price shown per month. Claude's $17 and Perplexity's $17 are both annual.
- Check whether tax is included. Claude and xAI say their prices do not include tax.
- Check the billing cycle. ChatGPT Plus has no annual billing. Claude Max and Ultra are monthly only.
- Check how cancelling works. xAI says to cancel at least 24 hours prior to renewal. Google's page says no refunds for partial billing periods, except as required by law.
- Check the currency. Pricing pages can show your local currency, as OpenAI's did for me in Japan.
- Move up to a bigger plan only when AI is doing hours of work for you every day.
Viral charts are made once. Pricing pages change every month. Check the page before you pay.
Sources (official pages, read November 5, 2026):
- OpenAI, ChatGPT Pricing (chatgpt.com/pricing)
- OpenAI Help Center, "What is ChatGPT Plus?" (help.openai.com/en/articles/6950777)
- OpenAI Help Center, "About ChatGPT Pro tiers" (help.openai.com/en/articles/9793128)
- Anthropic, Claude Pricing (claude.com/pricing)
- Google, Gemini subscriptions, United States (gemini.google/us/subscriptions)
- xAI, Pricing (x.ai/pricing)
- Perplexity, Pro (perplexity.ai/pro)