Several big AI companies now sell a cut-price tier below their main plan, such as Google AI Plus and ChatGPT Go, while Claude, Perplexity and Grok still don't. Some are real upgrades over free; others mostly exist to make the main plan look reasonable.
Google AI Plus ($4.99/mo) is the cheapest plan worth paying for: limited Gemini 3.1 Pro, double the free limits, 400 GB of storage and Gemini Notebook, shareable with family. ChatGPT Go ($8/mo) is the budget pick if you prefer ChatGPT.
| App | Free tier | Paid from | Top plan | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gemini | Yes | $4.99/mo | $99.99–199.99/mo | Google ecosystem users, video generation, very long documents (1M tokens) |
| ChatGPT | Yes | $8/mo | $500/mo | Everyday writing, brainstorming, image generation, casual coding |
| Poe | Yes | $4.99/mo | $249.99/mo | Power users who want to compare GPT, Claude, Gemini and niche bots without juggling separate subscriptions |
| Mistral Vibe | Yes | $14.99/mo | $24.99/mo | Users who want a privacy-conscious European alternative to ChatGPT/Claude with all-day agentic coding built in |
| Character.AI | Yes | $4.99/mo | $9.99/mo | Roleplay, fandom chat, and companion-style conversation with persistent characters |
| DeepSeek | Yes | — | — | Math, logic, coding for users on a budget — or curious experimenters |
Monthly prices in US dollars before tax, from each vendor's official pricing (US list price; weekly-billed plans converted to a monthly figure). Updated October 7, 2026
AI Plus doubles the free limits, gives limited access to Gemini 3.1 Pro, and throws in 400 GB of storage and Gemini Notebook — shareable with up to 5 family members.
Pick it if: you want the most for the least, especially if you'd pay for Google storage anyway.
Full Gemini pricing →Go keeps the free GPT-5.6 Luna model but adds memory, projects and image generation beyond Free's limited allowance. You don't get Plus's Sol model or Deep Research.
Pick it if: ChatGPT Free's limits annoy you but Plus feels like too much.
Full ChatGPT pricing →Starter costs $4.99/mo for 10,000 points a day and unlocks max input size and full chat history — but frontier models eat points quickly.
Pick it if: you want to dip into many different models and bots on a small budget.
Full Poe pricing →Pro is $14.99/mo with expanded message and search limits plus all-day agentic coding; verified students pay $5.99/mo for up to 12 months.
Pick it if: you want a full assistant below the usual flagship price and prefer a European provider.
Full Mistral Vibe pricing →The new lite tier starts at $4.99/mo with fewer ads, and c.ai+ removes ads entirely with unlimited swipes and voice calls. It's built for roleplay, not as a general assistant.
Pick it if: you want character chat, not homework or work help.
Full Character.AI pricing →Before paying anything, try DeepSeek: unlimited chat with no ads and no paid tier at all. Sometimes the cheapest subscription is none.
Pick it if: you're comfortable with a China-hosted service and want to spend nothing.
Full DeepSeek pricing →If you already know you want a main-tier plan, paying yearly brings some of them down: Claude Pro, Perplexity Pro and Microsoft 365 Premium all cost less per month on annual billing. Only do this after a month or two on monthly billing, once you're sure you'll keep using it.
ChatGPT Go at $8/mo, less than half the price of ChatGPT Plus ($20/mo). The model is the same as on Free; what you pay for is memory, projects and more image generation.
Yes, if you'll use or share the storage: for $4.99/mo the household (up to 5 family members) shares the 400 GB, and you get twice Gemini's free usage plus limited Gemini 3.1 Pro. If you need Deep Research or the 1M-token context, go straight to AI Pro.
No. Claude Pro at $20/mo is the entry paid plan, a bit cheaper per month if billed annually. Below that there's only Claude Free with limited daily usage.
How we choose: prices come from each vendor's official pricing page and are re-checked every week. We take no affiliate fees, so rankings aren't for sale.