ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini all have a free plan, a popular plan at about $20 a month, and expensive tiers for heavy users. The names and limits differ, and so does what you get for the money. This guide lines up every consumer plan side by side, as of November 2026, and then helps you pick one based on how you actually use AI.
All prices are US prices, billed monthly, before tax. Each one comes from the company's own pricing page, linked in the tables.
Every plan at a glance
| Price per month | ChatGPT | Claude | Gemini |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | Free | Free |
| Under $10 | Go, $8 | None | Google AI Plus, $4.99 (400 GB) or $9.99 (2 TB) |
| About $20 | Plus, $20 | Pro, $20 ($17 a month billed yearly) | Google AI Pro, $19.99 |
| About $100 | Pro, $100 | Max, $100 | Google AI Ultra, $99.99 |
| About $200 | Pro, $200 | Ultra, $200 | Google AI Ultra, $199.99 |
| Highest | Pro, $500 | Ultra, $200 | Google AI Ultra, $199.99 |
Sources: ChatGPT pricing, OpenAI Help: ChatGPT Plus, ChatGPT Learn: pricing, Claude pricing, Gemini subscriptions, Google One AI plans. Checked November 2026.
Two things stand out. Gemini has the cheapest paid plan at $4.99, and Claude is the only one of the three with no plan under $20. Claude Pro is also the only $20 plan with a yearly discount: OpenAI says ChatGPT Plus is billed monthly only.
The free plans
All three free plans are good enough for everyday questions, writing help, and summaries. The difference is where they cut you off.
- ChatGPT Free offers unlimited everyday text chats, with limits on uploads, image creation, voice, deep research, and memory.
- Claude Free includes web search, file creation, running code, and memory across chats, but usage is capped every five hours and every week. Heavy users hit the wall faster here than anywhere else.
- Gemini Free runs on Google's lighter Flash-Lite model and still includes image generation, Deep Research, Gemini Live voice chat, and 15 GB of Google storage.
If you ask a few questions a day, start on a free plan and only pay once you keep running into limits. Our guide to writing better AI prompts will get more out of any free plan before you spend anything.
The budget plans: ChatGPT Go and Google AI Plus
ChatGPT Go ($8) gives you more messages with tools, more uploads, more images and voice chats, and longer memory than Free. OpenAI notes that Go may include ads.
Google AI Plus ($4.99 or $9.99) doubles your Gemini usage limits, adds Google's Flash model and video generation, puts Gemini inside Gmail and other Google apps, and comes with 400 GB or 2 TB of storage. If you already pay Google for storage, AI Plus may cost you little or nothing extra.
Claude has nothing at this price. If you want Claude for less than $20, the free plan is the only option.
The $20 plans: ChatGPT Plus vs Claude Pro vs Google AI Pro
This is the tier most people end up on, and the three plans are built for different people.
| ChatGPT Plus | Claude Pro | Google AI Pro | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $20 | $20, or $17 billed yearly | $19.99 |
| Top models | Advanced reasoning with GPT-6 | Opus, Sonnet, and Haiku | Gemini 4 Argon and the Pro model |
| Research | Expanded deep research | Research | Deep Research |
| Coding | Codex included | Claude Code included | Antigravity (entry limits) |
| Extras | Projects, scheduled tasks, custom GPTs, image creation | Projects, Claude in Chrome and Microsoft 365, scheduled tasks | 5 TB storage, Gemini in Gmail and Docs, YouTube Premium Lite |
Pick ChatGPT Plus if you want one assistant that does a bit of everything well: chat, images, voice, research, and custom GPTs. It has the broadest feature set of the three.
Pick Claude Pro if most of your use is writing, editing long documents, or coding. It costs the least at the $20 tier if you pay yearly, but its usage limits are the tightest. Claude says Pro gives at least five times the free plan's usage per five-hour session.
Pick Google AI Pro if you live in Gmail, Docs, and Drive. The 5 TB of storage and YouTube Premium Lite are worth real money on their own, which makes this the best value of the three if you would pay for those anyway.
For a deeper look at how the assistants differ beyond price, see ChatGPT vs Claude, ChatGPT vs Gemini, and Claude vs Gemini.
The top tiers: $100 to $500 a month
These plans are for people who use AI for hours every day, usually for coding or long research projects.
- ChatGPT Pro comes in three tiers: $100, $200, and $500 a month. It adds Pro reasoning, longer Codex sessions, unlimited image creation, and maximum deep research. The $500 tier adds Ultrafast mode.
- Claude Max ($100) gives five times Pro's usage. Claude Ultra ($200) gives ten times Pro's weekly usage and removes the five-hour limit for verified accounts. Both include monthly API credits ($100 on Max, $200 on Ultra).
- Google AI Ultra costs $99.99 for five times AI Pro's limits or $199.99 for twenty times, plus 20 TB or more of storage, the full YouTube Premium plan, and first access to new features.
If you are not sure you need one of these, you don't. Start at $20 and move up only when you hit your limits most days.
Which plan should you choose?
- You use AI a few times a week: stay on a free plan. Any of the three is fine.
- You want to pay as little as possible: Google AI Plus at $4.99 or ChatGPT Go at $8.
- You want the most features for $20: ChatGPT Plus.
- You write or code all day: Claude Pro, and pay yearly to bring it to $17 a month.
- You already pay Google for storage: Google AI Pro, since the storage and YouTube Premium Lite offset much of the price.
- You don't want a subscription at all: cutGPT is free on iPhone, Android, and the web, gives you several AI models in one app, and eligible users earn rewards paid to PayPal. It won't replace a $200 plan for heavy coding, but for everyday questions it costs nothing.
To see how these compare with Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot, and Grok, check the full AI pricing comparison.
Frequently asked questions
Is ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini cheaper?
Gemini has the cheapest paid plan (Google AI Plus, $4.99 a month). At the popular tier all three cost about $20, and Claude Pro drops to $17 a month if you pay for a year up front.
Do ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini all cost $20 a month?
Their most popular plans do: ChatGPT Plus is $20, Claude Pro is $20, and Google AI Pro is $19.99. All three also have free plans and much more expensive tiers.
Can I pay yearly to save money?
Claude Pro offers yearly billing at $200 ($17 a month). OpenAI says ChatGPT Plus is monthly only. Check Google's subscription page for any yearly offers in your country.
Which $20 AI plan is the best value?
It depends on what you already pay for. Google AI Pro includes 5 TB of storage and YouTube Premium Lite, so it's the best deal if you'd buy those anyway. ChatGPT Plus has the widest set of features, and Claude Pro is strongest for writing and coding.
Are there free alternatives to paying for AI?
Yes. All three have free plans with usage limits. cutGPT is another free option that lets you use several AI models in one app without a subscription.