
Disclosure: NOXI publishes this comparison. NOXI is a presentation maker, not an AI assistant subscription, so it is not one of the ten scored plans; it appears only in the section for readers whose goal is a presentation. The rubric, the weights, every score and every official source are printed below so that you can re-score any plan yourself.
Quick answer: Pick Google AI Plus ($4.99 a month) or Google AI Pro ($19.99) for the most documented tools and storage per dollar, 87 of 100 each; Microsoft 365 Personal ($99.99 a year, 84) if you need Office; Claude Pro ($200 a year, 76) for long documents; ChatGPT Plus ($20 a month, 63) for OpenAI's tools. Official pages, checked 22 October 2026.
The real question is where $5 to $30 a month should go. Ten paid plans from seven vendors are scored here on six printed rules, using only what each vendor documents; the higher tiers from $99.99 to $500 a month are listed, not scored.
In short
- RankingGoogle AI Plus 87, Google AI Pro 87, Microsoft 365 Personal 84, Microsoft 365 Premium 83, Claude Pro 76, Mistral Pro 70, ChatGPT Go 69, Perplexity Pro 65, X Subscription Premium 64, ChatGPT Plus 63.
- Count the yearA $20 plan costs $240 a year. Claude Pro and Perplexity Pro sell a year for $200; OpenAI sells Go, Plus and Pro monthly only.
- MethodDocumented capability on six criteria; it does not measure answer quality, which no official page documents.
- Copilot ProNo longer sold; Microsoft 365 Premium ($199.99 a year) replaces it.
- StudentsUS college students aged 18+ can claim a free year of Google AI Pro if they redeem by 31 December 2026.
Key numbers
The ranking: 10 AI subscriptions side by side
Ten plans, ordered by their total out of 100 on rubric B. The 12-month cost is the cheapest official way to pay for a year. "Best when" is a fit statement resting on a documented fact. Ties are listed alphabetically.
| # | Plan | 12 months (USD) | Score | Best when |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Google AI Plus | $59.88 | 87 | Images, video, Deep Research and 400 GB for the lowest yearly price here. |
| 2 | Google AI Pro | $239.88 | 87 | You need a 1M-token window and would pay for 5 TB of storage anyway. |
| 3 | Microsoft 365 Personal | $99.99 | 84 | You need desktop Office at home, with Copilot inside, for about $8.33 a month. |
| 4 | Microsoft 365 Premium | $199.99 | 83 | Office for up to six people plus Researcher and "extensive" Copilot usage. |
| 5 | Claude Pro | $200 | 76 | Long documents and Research matter more than image generation. |
| 6 | Mistral Pro | $179.88 | 70 | You want published multiples: up to 6x messages and 40x images. |
| 7 | ChatGPT Go | $96 | 69 | ChatGPT with higher limits than Free for images and files, at $8 a month. |
| 8 | Perplexity Pro | $200 | 65 | Cited web answers and research reports are the job. |
| 9 | X Subscription Premium | $300 | 64 | You use Grok and X daily and want X Premium+ benefits in the same bill. |
| 10 | ChatGPT Plus | $240 | 63 | You want OpenAI's deep research, voice and images in one app. |
Cost for 12 months and bundled extras carry 40 of the 100 points, so bundles from Google and Microsoft rise and plans sold monthly only, such as ChatGPT Plus, fall.
How we scored: rubric B, six printed rules
Every plan was scored on documented capability from official pages opened on 22 October 2026: pricing pages, help centres, privacy pages and the vendors' own documentation. It is not a new hands-on test. A cell credits a feature only when an official page documents it for that plan; when a page we opened did not document a feature, the plan does not get the point, and the same treatment applies to every vendor. Weighted score = rating ÷ 5 × weight; the weights add up to 100.
| Code | Criterion (weight) | The rule, identical for every plan |
|---|---|---|
| B1 | Cost for 12 months (25) | The cheapest official way to pay for 12 months: the published annual price, otherwise monthly × 12. 5 = up to $100; 4 = $100.01–200; 3 = $200.01–240; 2 = $240.01–300; 1 = over $300. |
| B2 | Extras outside the assistant (15) | Non-AI extras in the price: cloud storage beyond the free tier, office desktop apps, or another paid service. 5 = two or more; 3 = one; 1 = none. |
| B3 | Published headroom (15) | 5 = the vendor publishes a number or multiple for this plan's usage against its free plan; 3 = "higher" or "more" in words only; 1 = nothing. |
| B4 | Tools (20) | Count six tools documented for the plan: web search, deep research, image generation, voice conversation, file creation (the assistant produces a document, presentation, spreadsheet or PDF, in the chat or in an office app, or exports to Docs or Slides), video generation. 5 = 5–6; 4 = 4; 3 = 3; 2 = 2; 1 = 0–1. |
| B5 | Long documents (10) | The largest context window the vendor publishes for this plan. 5 = 1M tokens or more; 3 = 128K to under 1M; 1 = under 128K; 2 = not published on an official page opened that day. |
| B6 | Training control (15) | 5 = the vendor states consumer chats on this plan are not used to train its models; 4 = an opt-out setting plus a chat mode excluded from training; 3 = an opt-out setting only; 2 = opt-out by request or form; 1 = no opt-out stated. |
Three facts would move scores. OpenAI, Microsoft, Perplexity, Mistral and xAI publish no context window on the pages we could open (chatgpt.com/pricing asks for a login), so they get 2 on B5; a published 1M-token window would add 6 points. Perplexity's "$17 /month … billed annually" matches its help centre's $200 a year (200 ÷ 12 = $16.67). xAI states Premium's usage as "4x more usage compared to Plus", not against Free, so B3 is 3; counting multiples of a paid tier would give Premium 70.
The scores: every cell and its arithmetic
Google AI Plus and Google AI Pro tie at 87 (listed alphabetically); Microsoft 365 Personal follows at 84 and Premium at 83, while ChatGPT Plus scores 63 because it is the only $20-class plan with no annual price, no bundled extra and no published usage number.
| Plan | B1 cost (25) | B2 extras (15) | B3 headroom (15) | B4 tools (20) | B5 long docs (10) | B6 training (15) | Total (arithmetic) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google AI Plus | 5 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 25 + 9 + 15 + 20 + 6 + 12 = 87 |
| Google AI Pro | 3 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 15 + 15 + 15 + 20 + 10 + 12 = 87 |
| Microsoft 365 Personal | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 25 + 15 + 9 + 16 + 4 + 15 = 84 |
| Microsoft 365 Premium | 4 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 20 + 15 + 9 + 20 + 4 + 15 = 83 |
| Claude Pro | 4 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 20 + 3 + 15 + 16 + 10 + 12 = 76 |
| Mistral Pro | 4 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 20 + 3 + 15 + 16 + 4 + 12 = 70 |
| ChatGPT Go | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 25 + 3 + 9 + 16 + 4 + 12 = 69 |
| Perplexity Pro | 4 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 20 + 3 + 9 + 20 + 4 + 9 = 65 |
| X Subscription Premium | 2 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 10 + 9 + 9 + 20 + 4 + 12 = 64 |
| ChatGPT Plus | 3 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 15 + 3 + 9 + 20 + 4 + 12 = 63 |

The evidence behind each cell, by criterion:
- B1: monthly × 12 for Google AI Plus, ChatGPT Go, Mistral Pro, Google AI Pro and ChatGPT Plus [1][3][14][31]; published annual prices for Microsoft 365, Claude Pro, Perplexity Pro and X Subscription Premium [11][19][29][33].
- B2: Google AI Plus lists 400 GB of storage (one extra); Google AI Pro lists 5 TB, YouTube Premium Lite and Google Home Premium Standard [14]. Microsoft 365 lists desktop Office apps, 1 TB or 2 TB of OneDrive storage and Microsoft Defender [19]. X Subscription Premium includes "full X Premium+ benefits" [35]. The other plans list no non-AI extra.
- B3: Google publishes 2x and 4x the free plan's usage [14]; Anthropic says Pro gives "at least 5x more usage per 5-hour session than Free" [11]; Mistral lists "up to 6x" Free messages and "up to 40x" image generations [31]. xAI lists Premium at 4x Plus, not against Free, which counts as words [33]; OpenAI ("higher usage limits", "higher model limits"), Microsoft ("higher than free", "extensive") and Perplexity ("extended access") use words only [2][3][19][28].
- B4: Google: Deep Research, images and Gemini Live on Free, video on Plus and Pro, Canvas export to Docs and Slides [14][16]. Microsoft: web search, image creation, Copilot Voice, Copilot in Word and PowerPoint, and Researcher on Premium only [19][23][24][25]. Claude Pro: web search, Research, voice, file creation [11]. ChatGPT Go: web search, images, voice and ChatGPT for PowerPoint, deep research not listed [2][5][7]; Plus adds deep research [3]. Perplexity Pro: web, research, images, video, "Create files and apps" [28]. Mistral Pro: web, deep research, images, spreadsheets and slides; its voice mode transcribes speech into a prompt, so it is not counted as voice conversation [31][40]. Grok on Premium: web search [37], voice, images and video [36][38], and Grok Bot, which returns documents, spreadsheets and slide decks [41].
- B5: Google publishes 128K tokens for AI Plus and 1 million for AI Pro [15]; Claude lists "Up to 1M" on every plan [11]. The other vendors publish no window on the pages we opened.
- B6: Microsoft states that Copilot prompts, responses and files are not used to train foundation models [22][26]. OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Mistral and xAI pair an opt-out with a chat mode excluded from training [6][39][17][40][37]; Perplexity documents an opt-out only [27]. Our guide to AI training settings shows each switch.
Count the year: 12-month costs side by side
Count the year, not the month: a $20 plan costs $240 a year, and an annual price, bundled storage or Office apps can make a pricier-looking plan the cheaper one. Five of the ten plans publish an annual price.
| Plan | Monthly price | Annual option | Cheapest 12 months |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google AI Plus | $4.99 | None shown on the US page | 4.99 × 12 = $59.88 |
| ChatGPT Go | $8 | None; OpenAI says it does not support annual billing | 8 × 12 = $96 |
| Microsoft 365 Personal | $9.99 | $99.99 a year | $99.99 (monthly would be $119.88) |
| Mistral Pro | $14.99 | None shown | 14.99 × 12 = $179.88 |
| Microsoft 365 Premium | $19.99 | $199.99 a year | $199.99 (monthly would be $239.88) |
| Claude Pro | $20 | $200 billed up front ($17 a month) | $200 (monthly would be $240) |
| Perplexity Pro | $20 | $200 a year | $200 (monthly would be $240) |
| Google AI Pro | $19.99 | None shown on the US page | 19.99 × 12 = $239.88 |
| ChatGPT Plus | $20 | None; billed monthly | 20 × 12 = $240 |
| X Subscription Premium | $30 | $300 a year ($25 a month) | $300 (monthly would be $360) |

Annual billing saves $40 on Claude Pro and Perplexity Pro (40 ÷ 240 = 16.7%) and 119.88 − 99.99 = $19.89 on Microsoft 365 Personal, the figure Microsoft prints [19]. It is paid up front, so it suits a tool you already use, not one you are trying.
ChatGPT Plus vs Claude Pro vs Google AI Pro: the three $20 plans
ChatGPT Plus, Claude Pro and Google AI Pro all list at about $20 a month, but they differ on yearly cost, bundled extras and the context window they publish. Claude Pro is the cheapest of the three over a year at $200; Google AI Pro is the only one with storage and other services included; ChatGPT Plus and Google AI Pro each document five of the six tools, and Claude Pro four, with no image generation listed on its plan page.
| Fact (22 Oct 2026) | ChatGPT Plus | Claude Pro | Google AI Pro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $20 a month, monthly only [3] | $20 monthly or $200 a year [11] | $19.99 a month [14] |
| 12 months | $240 | $200 | $239.88 |
| Stated usage | "Higher model limits" than Free [3] | At least 5x Free per 5-hour session [11] | 4x Free [14] |
| Context window | Not published on the pages we opened | Up to 1M tokens [11] | 1 million tokens [15] |
| Tools (of six) | Web, deep research, images, voice, file creation (5) | Web, Research, voice, file creation (4) | Deep Research, images, Gemini Live, Canvas export, video (5) |
| Bundled extras | None listed | None listed | 5 TB storage, YouTube Premium Lite, Google Home Premium Standard |
| Training control | Opt-out plus Temporary chat [6] | Opt-out plus Incognito chats [11][39] | Keep Activity off plus Temporary chats [17] |
| Rubric B score | 63 | 76 | 87 |
Start from the job: image generation with deep research and voice points to ChatGPT Plus or Google AI Pro, long files to Claude or Google (both publish 1M tokens), and a household that buys storage anyway to Google AI Pro.
ChatGPT plans explained: Free, Go, Plus and Pro
ChatGPT has four personal plans: Free ($0), Go ($8 a month), Plus ($20 a month) and Pro ($100, $200 or $500 a month), all billed monthly with no annual option [1][2][4]. Business costs $20 a user a month billed annually for two or more users, or $25 billed monthly [1]. OpenAI said on 31 March 2026 that ChatGPT had more than 50 million subscribers [10].
| Plan | Price | What OpenAI lists | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Web search, uploads, data analysis, image creation; no fixed cap on everyday text chats [5] | Not scored |
| Go | $8 a month | Everything in Free, with higher limits for images, files and data analysis [2] | 69 |
| Plus | $20 a month | Higher model limits, voice, images, file uploads, "Deep Research tools (where available)" [3] | 63 |
| Pro | $100, $200 or $500 a month | Pro models, Codex, deep research, image creation; Ultrafast on Pro 500 [4] | Not scored |
ChatGPT Go vs Plus: what the extra $12 buys
Plus costs $12 a month, or $144 a year, more than Go. OpenAI describes Go as Free with higher limits for "eligible features such as image generation, file uploads, and data analysis", adding that some advanced products "may require Plus" [2]. Plus adds priority access, higher model limits and deep research [3]. Choose Go for chat, images and files; choose Plus for deep research or heavier use.
Is ChatGPT Plus worth it?
ChatGPT Plus is worth $20 a month if you use deep research, voice and image generation together. It scores 63 here: full marks for tools, but monthly-only billing ($240 a year), no bundled extras and no published usage number or context window hold it back.
ChatGPT Pro vs Plus
ChatGPT Pro is for people who exhaust Plus. It comes in three monthly tiers, Pro 100 at $100, Pro 200 at $200 and Pro 500 at $500; Pro 200 includes more usage than Pro 100, and only Pro 500 includes Ultrafast mode [4]. OpenAI's pricing page says Pro plans "currently have no five-hour limit" for its coding product [1]. Subscribers who held Pro 200 between 22 and 29 September 2026 keep the earlier allowance until 29 October 2026 [4].
Claude plans: Free vs Pro vs Max
Claude has three individual plans: Free ($0), Pro ($20 a month, or $17 a month billed annually as $200 up front) and Max (from $100 a month, monthly only) [11][12]. Every plan, Free included, lists web search, voice mode, file creation with code execution, connectors, memory and a context window of up to 1M tokens that varies by model [11].
Claude Free vs Pro
Claude Pro adds at least five times the Free plan's usage per five-hour session, Research, Projects without the Free plan's limit of five, more Claude models, Claude Code, Claude in Chrome and Claude for Microsoft 365 [11]. Free already includes Slides, Docs, web search and file creation, so the upgrade buys volume, Research and extra surfaces.
Is Claude Pro worth it?
Claude Pro is worth it for long documents, Research and Claude Code, and at $200 billed annually it is the cheapest $20-class plan over a year. It scores 76: full marks for its 1M-token window and 5x multiple, but no image generation or bundled extras. Pay monthly first, then switch to annual.
Claude Max vs Pro
Claude Max costs $100 a month for 5x Pro's usage or $200 a month for 20x, per five-hour session, and is billed monthly only [12]. Max adds higher output limits, priority access at busy times, early access to features and $100 or $200 a month in API credits for the Claude Platform [11]. Moving from Pro to Max 5x multiplies the price by 5 (100 ÷ 20) for five times Pro's usage.
Google AI plans: Free, AI Plus, AI Pro and AI Ultra
Google sells four personal tiers in the US: Free, Google AI Plus at $4.99 a month, Google AI Pro at $19.99 and Google AI Ultra from $99.99 [14]. The Free plan already lists image generation and editing, Deep Research, Gemini Live, Canvas, Gems and Gemini Notebook, so the paid tiers buy usage, storage, video generation and a larger context window.
| Tier | US price | Usage | Context window | Storage and extras |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Standard limits | 32K tokens | 15 GB |
| AI Plus | $4.99 a month | 2x Free | 128K tokens | 400 GB; video generation; Gemini in Gmail and Vids |
| AI Pro | $19.99 a month | 4x Free | 1 million tokens | 5 TB; YouTube Premium Lite; Google Home Premium Standard; Gemini in Chrome |
| AI Ultra | $99.99 or $199.99 a month | 5x or 20x AI Pro | 1 million tokens | From 20 TB; YouTube Premium individual |
Usage and context windows are from Google's help page [15]; prices and extras from the US subscriptions page [14].
Google AI Plus vs Pro
Google AI Pro costs $15 a month more than AI Plus (19.99 − 4.99) and buys twice the usage (4x Free against 2x), a 1M-token window instead of 128K, 5 TB of storage instead of 400 GB, YouTube Premium Lite, Google Home Premium Standard and Gemini in Chrome's auto browse [14][15]. Both list video generation. Over a year the gap is 239.88 − 59.88 = $180. Choose Pro for very long documents or if you would buy the storage anyway.
Gemini free vs Pro, and is Gemini Pro worth it?
Gemini's Free plan already includes image generation, Deep Research and Gemini Live, so Google AI Pro is worth it when you hit the free limits, need the 1M-token window (Free has 32K), or would use 5 TB of storage and YouTube Premium Lite. Without the bundle, its $239.88 a year buys mostly usage.
Is Google AI Pro free for students?
Yes, for eligible US college students aged 18 and over: Google offers a free year of Google AI Pro that must be redeemed by 31 December 2026, needs a payment method and verification each year, and then renews at $19.99 a month unless cancelled [18]. Students whose 2025 AI Pro trial has expired can also qualify, according to the same page.
Microsoft 365 with Copilot, and what replaced Copilot Pro
Microsoft now sells Copilot for home users inside Microsoft 365 plans: Personal at $99.99 a year or $9.99 a month, Family at $129.99 a year or $12.99 a month, and Premium at $199.99 a year or $19.99 a month [19]. All include desktop Office apps with Copilot, Microsoft Defender and OneDrive (1 TB on Personal, 2 TB on Family and Premium). Family is not scored: its AI is for the owner only and matches Personal's.
| Plan | Price | Copilot usage (Microsoft's words) | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal | $99.99 a year | "Higher than free"; Copilot in Word, Excel and PowerPoint; image creation; voice | 84 |
| Family | $129.99 a year | "Higher than free", AI for the subscription owner only; up to 6 people for apps and storage | Not scored |
| Premium | $199.99 a year | "Extensive"; adds agentic AI for advanced research and analytics (Researcher) | 83 |
What happened to Copilot Pro?
Copilot Pro is no longer available for purchase. Microsoft announced on 1 October 2025 that it would stop selling Copilot Pro and introduced Microsoft 365 Premium at $19.99 a month, combining Microsoft 365 Family and Copilot Pro [21]. Its support page says existing subscribers could keep using Copilot Pro with support ending on 1 August 2026, and names Premium as one option for continued extensive Copilot use [20].
Microsoft's privacy page says Copilot prompts, responses and file contents in Microsoft 365 apps for home "aren't used to train foundation models" on Personal, Family, Premium and Pro plans [22], which is why both Microsoft plans score 5 on B6.
Perplexity Pro, Mistral Pro and Grok on The X Subscription
Perplexity Pro, Mistral Pro and Premium on The X Subscription score between 64 and 70, and each leads on one documented point: Perplexity documents five of the six tools, Mistral publishes the most specific multiples against Free, and xAI prints an annual price for every paid tier.
Perplexity Pro price
Perplexity Pro costs $20 a month or $200 a year according to Perplexity's help centre, and the Pro page shows "$17 /month or equivalent, when billed annually", which is $200 ÷ 12 rounded [27][29]. Education Pro costs $10 a month with SheerID verification [28]. Pro adds extended Pro Search (Free gets a "very limited amount"), image and video generation, deep research and "Create files and apps" [28]. Searches may be used to improve Perplexity's AI unless you opt out [27]. Perplexity Max costs $200 a month or $2,000 a year [30].
Mistral Pro
Mistral's assistant, which mistral.ai's pricing page now presents as Vibe, has a Pro plan at $14.99 a month, and verified students pay $5.99 [31]. It is the plan that publishes the most specific multiples: up to 6x Free messages, 5x web searches and 40x image generations, plus spreadsheet and slide generation and deep research reports. Training is on by default for individual users, who can opt out in settings [32], and a Temporary Chat "isn't saved to your history or used to train our models" [40].
SuperGrok price: what new customers get now
New xAI customers no longer start on SuperGrok: they choose The X Subscription, while existing SuperGrok, Cursor and X Premium plans continue [33][34]. The X Subscription has five tiers: Free, Plus at $8 a month or $80 a year, Premium at $30 or $300, Super at $100 or $1,000, and Ultra at $200 or $2,000 [33]. Premium includes 4x Plus usage, Grok Bot, images and video, and full X Premium+ benefits [35][36].
We score Premium because it is the tier xAI recommends for new AI users, and the first to list Grok Bot, image and video creation and full X Premium+ benefits [35][36]; Plus is listed for "social creators with limited AI usage". Grok's consumer FAQ documents real-time web search, an "Improve the model" opt-out and Private Chat, whose content is not used for model training [37].
AI subscription usage limits by plan: what each vendor publishes
Usage limits decide how much you can do before a plan pauses. Most vendors now meter them in rolling windows rather than message counts, and only some publish multiples.
| Vendor | How limits work (official wording) | Multiples published |
|---|---|---|
| Anthropic | Limits reset on a rolling five-hour session window; paid plans add weekly limits [11] | Pro at least 5x Free; Max 5x or 20x Pro [11] |
| Limits refresh every 5 hours until you reach a weekly limit; video and Deep Research use the most [15] | AI Plus 2x, AI Pro 4x Free; Ultra 5x or 20x AI Pro [15] | |
| OpenAI | Free has no fixed cap on everyday text chats; tools have separate limits; Plus "may include usage limits such as message caps" [3][5] | None for Go or Plus; words only [2][3] |
| Microsoft | Usage described per plan in words; the FAQ links to details on credits [19] | "Higher than free" or "Extensive" [19] |
| xAI | One weekly pool shared across Grok and Cursor; Chat, Imagine, Voice and Bot draw from it [33][36] | Premium 4x, Super 15x, Ultra 50x Plus [33] |
| Mistral | Pay-as-you-go beyond the plan limit at API rates [31] | Up to 6x messages, 5x searches, 40x images [31] |
| Perplexity | Free: a "very limited amount" of Pro Searches; Pro: "extended access" [28] | None for Pro beyond "extended" [28] |
The higher tiers: ChatGPT Pro, Claude Max, Google AI Ultra and others (unscored)
Every major vendor sells a tier between $99.99 and $500 a month for heavy users; they serve a different budget, so they are listed, not scored.
| Tier | Price | Cheapest 12 months | Stated usage |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT Pro 100 / 200 / 500 | $100 / $200 / $500 a month | $1,200 / $2,400 / $6,000 | Pro 200 more than Pro 100; Pro 500 the highest, with Ultrafast [4] |
| Claude Max 5x / 20x | $100 / $200 a month | $1,200 / $2,400 | 5x or 20x Pro per five-hour session [12] |
| Google AI Ultra | $99.99 / $199.99 a month | $1,199.88 / $2,399.88 | 5x or 20x AI Pro; from 20 TB storage [14] |
| Perplexity Max | $200 a month or $2,000 a year | $2,000 | Top-tier model access with high limits [30] |
| X Subscription Super / Ultra | $100 / $200 a month; $1,000 / $2,000 a year | $1,000 / $2,000 | 15x or 50x Plus [33] |
What changed in 2025–2026: dated plan changes
The past year brought a $4.99 Google tier, an $8 ChatGPT tier and a $500 ChatGPT tier, ended Copilot Pro and replaced SuperGrok for new customers. Every row was read on the vendor's own page on 22 October 2026.
| Date | What changed | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Oct 2025 | Microsoft introduces Microsoft 365 Premium at $19.99 a month and stops selling Copilot Pro | Microsoft Copilot blog [21] |
| 1 Aug 2026 | Support ends for existing Copilot Pro subscribers | Microsoft Support [20] |
| Updated 21 Oct 2026 | ChatGPT Pro sold at $100, $200 or $500 a month; new Pro 200 subscriptions get a lower allowance, while holders from 22–29 September 2026 keep the earlier one until 29 October 2026 | OpenAI Help Center [4] |
| Live on 22 Oct 2026 | ChatGPT Go is available in every country ChatGPT supports, at $8 a month in the US | OpenAI [1][2] |
| Live on 22 Oct 2026 | Google AI Plus at $4.99 a month with 2x Free usage, in more than 160 countries and territories | Google [14] |
| Live on 22 Oct 2026 | New xAI customers start on The X Subscription; SuperGrok continues for existing subscribers | xAI docs [33][34] |
| 19 Oct 2026 | Gemini Apps Privacy Hub updated; Temporary chats "are not used to train Google's AI models" | Google [17] |
| 31 Dec 2026 | Last day to redeem Google's free year of AI Pro for US college students | Google [18] |
Which AI subscription is best for you: by situation
The best AI subscription is the one whose extras you would buy anyway and whose tools you will use every week.
| Your situation | Plan that fits | 12 months | Why (documented fact) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lowest cost with images and video | Google AI Plus | $59.88 | Image and video generation, Deep Research, 400 GB [14] |
| Personal use, value for money | Microsoft 365 Personal | $99.99 | Office desktop apps, 1 TB and Copilot in one price [19] |
| A family sharing storage and Office | Microsoft 365 Family or Premium | $129.99 or $199.99 | Up to six people; AI for the owner [19] |
| US college student | Google AI Pro, student offer | $0 for the first year | Redeem by 31 Dec 2026 [18] |
| Student elsewhere | Mistral Pro student or Perplexity Education Pro | $71.88 or $120 | $5.99 a month [31]; $10 a month [28] |
| Long documents and research | Claude Pro or Google AI Pro | $200 or $239.88 | 1M-token windows [11][15] |
| OpenAI's deep research, voice and images in one app | ChatGPT Plus | $240 | All listed on Plus; deep research not listed on Go [2][3] |
| Cited web answers | Perplexity Pro | $200 | Research reports and citations [27][28] |
Student costs: Mistral 5.99 × 12 = $71.88 (for up to 12 months [31]); Perplexity 10 × 12 = $120.
Worked example: one consultant's two subscriptions, four options
Two $20 subscriptions cost $480 a year, and the cheapest change is often billing, not switching. The example is fictional; prices are official US prices on 22 October 2026.

Option C covers both of Daniel's documented needs on paper, image generation and a 1M-token window, at half the cost. He still chooses Option A from 1 December 2026, because C would mean moving every client project to a third tool, a switching cost the price table does not show, and B would drop a tool he uses weekly. His review date is 1 April 2027: Claude is then paid until December 2027, so the review decides only whether Go covers his ChatGPT use, which would be worth a further $144 a year (240 − 96).
To repeat the review, list each plan's 12-month cost and the one job it does that no other plan you pay for does; a subscription with no such job is the one to cancel.
Here are two slides from this article's worked example, as NOXI built them, unedited.


Prices outside the US: India, UK, Canada, Australia and Pakistan
All prices on this page are US prices in US dollars; local prices differ, so check each vendor's own page from your country before you buy. OpenAI bills in dozens of local currencies, including INR, GBP, CAD, AUD and PKR, for subscriptions bought on chatgpt.com, and app-store purchases are charged in local currency by Apple or Google [9]. Anthropic says Pro prices vary by region [13]. Google AI Plus is sold in more than 160 countries and territories, AI Pro in more than 150 [14]. Microsoft's store and Mistral's pricing page switch by country or currency [19][31]. We do not quote local prices we have not opened.
If your goal is a presentation: free options and our pick
If you are pricing a subscription for slides, you may not need one. Free tiers already document slide features: Claude lists Claude Slides on its Free plan [11], OpenAI lists ChatGPT for PowerPoint for Free and Go users with limited usage [7], and Gemini's Canvas can export to Google Slides [16]. Our AI presentation maker pricing index compares what each presentation tool costs per deck, and the best free AI presentation maker ranking covers the free routes.
Our pick for turning a brief into a designed deck is NOXI, a presentation maker rather than an assistant subscription. NOXI is free: no card and no watermark, with a monthly allowance of 1,000 credits per account, and a full deck uses about 25, which is about 40 decks a month. Describe the topic and NOXI researches it on the web first, then builds the slides; figure slides carry a source line linking to where each number came from. You download an editable PowerPoint (.pptx) with real text boxes and embedded fonts, or a PDF.
Further reading: the best AI presentation maker for students, how ChatGPT compares for presentations and how Claude compares for presentations, the survey results presentation guide for numbers on slides, and, beyond slides, our ChatGPT vs Claude comparison.
Key terms
Build it in NOXI: your subscription review as a deck
A subscription decision for a partner, a finance team or a household fits in ten slides. The flow uses Create from scratch. Three prompts to copy:
Create a [10]-slide review of our AI subscriptions for [our two partners]. We pay [$20 a month each for two assistants, billed monthly]. Show today's 12-month cost, three options with their 12-month cost and saving in dollars and percent, what each plan does that we use weekly, and end with one decision and a review date.
Create an [8]-slide budget proposal for [AI tools in 2027] for a team of [6]. Compare [three] plans on yearly cost per person and per team, bundled extras, usage limits and training controls, with the arithmetic on the slides and one recommendation.
Rewrite every slide title as a full sentence that states the finding. On the last slide, keep only the decision, the 12-month saving in dollars and percent, the start date and the review date.
Step 1 — Start free
Open noxi.ai and create a free account; no card is needed. Each account gets a monthly allowance of 1,000 credits, and a full deck uses about 25.
Step 2 — Choose Create from scratch and describe the deck
On Home, choose Create from scratch and paste Prompt 1 with your own plans, prices and audience. Name the plans you pay for today and the options you are weighing, so every slide uses your numbers.
Step 3 — Review the outline first
Choose to review the outline first: today's 12-month cost, one slide per option, a decision and a review date. Then generate and watch each slide being built.
Step 4 — Check the researched figures and source lines
A prompt-started deck is researched on the web first, and slides with figures carry a source line linking to where each number came from. Compare every price with the vendor's page and date.
Step 5 — Edit by chat or on the slide
Paste Prompt 3 to tighten the titles, ask the AI to change one slide or the whole deck in plain English, click any element and say what to change, or edit text, tables and chart numbers directly on the slide.
Step 6 — Share, present or export
Share a view-only or edit link, present full-screen from NOXI, or download an editable PowerPoint (.pptx) with real text boxes and embedded fonts, or a PDF, free and with no watermark.
Frequently asked questions
- Which AI subscription is best?
- On our six-criterion rubric (official pages, 22 October 2026), Google AI Plus and Google AI Pro tie at 87 of 100, followed by Microsoft 365 Personal (84) and Premium (83). The rubric rewards yearly cost and bundled extras; if tools matter most, ChatGPT Plus, Perplexity Pro, X Premium, Microsoft 365 Premium and Google's plans all document five of six.
- Is ChatGPT Plus worth it?
- ChatGPT Plus is worth $20 a month if you use deep research, voice and image generation together, since OpenAI lists all three on Plus. It costs $240 a year because OpenAI offers no annual billing. For everyday chat, images and files, ChatGPT Go at $8 a month covers most of the same ground for $96 a year.
- What is the difference between ChatGPT Go and Plus?
- ChatGPT Go costs $8 a month and gives Free's features with higher limits for image generation, file uploads and data analysis. Plus costs $20 a month and adds priority access, higher model limits and deep research tools. OpenAI says some advanced products may require Plus. Neither plan can be paid annually.
- Is Claude Pro worth it?
- Claude Pro is worth it for long documents and research: it lists a context window of up to 1M tokens, Research, Claude Code and at least 5x the Free plan's usage per five-hour session. Billed annually it costs $200 a year, the lowest of the $20-class plans. Its plan page lists no image or video generation.
- What is Google AI Plus?
- Google AI Plus is Google's $4.99-a-month tier in the US. It gives twice the free plan's usage in the Gemini app, video generation, a 128K-token context window, Gemini in Gmail and Vids, and 400 GB of storage across Gmail, Drive and Photos. Google says it is available in more than 160 countries and territories.
- Is Google AI Pro free for students?
- Yes, for eligible US college students aged 18 and over. Google offers a free year of Google AI Pro that must be redeemed by 31 December 2026. A payment method is required, eligibility is verified each year, and the plan then renews at $19.99 a month unless you cancel it before the trial ends.
- Can I pay for ChatGPT annually?
- No. OpenAI's help centre says it does not support annual billing or paying several months in advance for ChatGPT Go, Plus or Pro, as of 22 October 2026. Business is the exception: it costs $20 a user a month billed annually for two or more users, or $25 billed monthly.
- What happened to Copilot Pro?
- Microsoft stopped selling Copilot Pro and introduced Microsoft 365 Premium on 1 October 2025, at $19.99 a month or $199.99 a year. Premium combines Microsoft 365 Family with extensive Copilot usage and the Researcher agent. Microsoft's support page says support for existing Copilot Pro subscribers ended on 1 August 2026.
- What does SuperGrok cost now?
- New xAI customers no longer buy SuperGrok; they choose The X Subscription, while existing SuperGrok plans continue. Its tiers are Plus at $8 a month, Premium at $30, Super at $100 and Ultra at $200, with annual prices of $80, $300, $1,000 and $2,000. Premium and above include full X Premium+ benefits.
- Is there a free AI that can make presentations?
- Yes. Claude's Free plan lists Claude Slides, ChatGPT for PowerPoint is available on ChatGPT Free with limited usage, and Gemini's Canvas exports to Google Slides. NOXI, a presentation maker, is free with 1,000 credits a month, about 40 decks, and exports an editable PowerPoint or PDF with no watermark.
Sources & methodology
How this comparison was made: every price, plan name, limit, tool and setting was read on the vendor's own pricing page, help centre, documentation or privacy page on 22 October 2026, in a browser where the page renders by script. Prices are US list prices in US dollars as displayed, excluding tax. Scores credit documented capability only; they are editorial judgements by NOXI, which is not scored. Daniel Okafor and his consultancy are fictional.
- [1] ChatGPT plan prices (Free, Go $8, Plus $20, Pro from $100, Business), usage wording, Pro five-hour note — OpenAI, ChatGPT pricing documentation; checked 22 October 2026.
- [2] ChatGPT Go features, limits, voice, availability in all supported countries, no annual billing — OpenAI Help Center, What is ChatGPT Go?; checked 22 October 2026.
- [3] ChatGPT Plus price, features, usage limits, no annual billing — OpenAI Help Center, What is ChatGPT Plus?; checked 22 October 2026.
- [4] ChatGPT Pro 100, 200 and 500, Ultrafast, grandfathering window, monthly billing only — OpenAI Help Center, About ChatGPT Pro tiers; checked 22 October 2026.
- [5] ChatGPT Free features: web search, uploads, image creation, Library, rate limits — OpenAI Help Center, ChatGPT Free Tier FAQ; checked 22 October 2026.
- [6] Improve the model for everyone setting and Temporary chat not used to improve models — OpenAI Help Center, Data controls in ChatGPT; checked 22 October 2026.
- [7] ChatGPT for PowerPoint and its availability on Free, Go, Plus and Pro — OpenAI Help Center, ChatGPT for PowerPoint; checked 22 October 2026.
- [8] Creating documents, presentations, spreadsheets and PDF files in ChatGPT — OpenAI, Work with files; checked 22 October 2026.
- [9] Local-currency billing for ChatGPT subscriptions — OpenAI Help Center, Multi-currency billing; checked 22 October 2026.
- [10] More than 50 million ChatGPT subscribers — OpenAI, Accelerating the next phase of AI (31 March 2026); checked 22 October 2026.
- [11] Claude Free, Pro and Max prices, features, context window, usage multiples, incognito chats, model training opt-out — Anthropic, Claude plans and pricing; checked 22 October 2026.
- [12] Claude Max 5x and 20x prices, usage, monthly billing only — Claude Help Center, What is the Max plan?; checked 22 October 2026.
- [13] Claude Pro price and regional pricing — Claude Help Center, What is the Pro plan?; checked 22 October 2026.
- [14] Google AI Free, Plus, Pro and Ultra US prices, usage multiples, storage, features, country counts — Google, Gemini subscriptions (US); checked 22 October 2026.
- [15] Context windows (32K, 128K, 1 million) and usage limits by plan — Gemini Apps Help, usage limits and context windows; checked 22 October 2026.
- [16] Canvas export to Docs, Slides and PDF — Gemini Apps Help, Canvas; checked 22 October 2026.
- [17] Keep Activity and Temporary chats not used to train Google's AI models (updated 19 October 2026) — Gemini Apps Privacy Hub; checked 22 October 2026.
- [18] Free year of Google AI Pro for US college students, redeem until 31 December 2026 — Google, Gemini for students (US); checked 22 October 2026.
- [19] Microsoft 365 Personal, Family and Premium prices, storage, apps, Copilot usage wording — Microsoft, Compare Microsoft 365 plans; checked 22 October 2026.
- [20] Copilot Pro no longer available for purchase; support end date — Microsoft Support, About Microsoft Copilot Pro; checked 22 October 2026.
- [21] Microsoft 365 Premium introduced; Copilot Pro no longer sold — Microsoft Copilot blog, Meet Microsoft 365 Premium (1 October 2025); checked 22 October 2026.
- [22] Copilot in Microsoft 365 apps for home: prompts, responses and files not used to train foundation models — Microsoft Support, your data and privacy; checked 22 October 2026.
- [23] Copilot Voice for personal accounts — Microsoft Support, voice features in Microsoft Copilot; checked 22 October 2026.
- [24] Web search with citations in Copilot for individuals — Microsoft Support, Transparency Note for Microsoft Copilot; checked 22 October 2026.
- [25] Researcher available to Microsoft 365 Premium and Pro subscribers — Microsoft Support, Get started with Researcher; checked 22 October 2026.
- [26] Updated Copilot app: prompts, responses and files not used to train foundation models — Microsoft Support, Copilot for individuals: your activity history; checked 22 October 2026.
- [27] Perplexity Pro features, annual-equivalent price, training opt-out — Perplexity, Perplexity Pro; checked 22 October 2026.
- [28] Perplexity Free and Pro features, Pro Search limits, Education Pro price — Perplexity Help Center, which subscription plan is right for you; checked 22 October 2026.
- [29] Perplexity Pro $20 a month or $200 a year; Max $200 or $2,000 — Perplexity Help Center, Using the Connector for Slack (lists plan prices); checked 22 October 2026.
- [30] Perplexity Max price and features — Perplexity Help Center, Perplexity Max; checked 22 October 2026.
- [31] Mistral Free, Pro, student and Team prices, multiples, features, training opt-out — Mistral AI, Pricing; checked 22 October 2026.
- [32] Individual users not opted out of training by default; how to opt out — Mistral Help Center, opting out of training; checked 22 October 2026.
- [33] The X Subscription tiers, monthly and annual prices, usage multiples, new customers — xAI docs, The X Subscription pricing; checked 22 October 2026.
- [34] New customers start on The X Subscription; existing plans continue — xAI docs, What is The X Subscription?; checked 22 October 2026.
- [35] X benefits by tier, full X Premium+ on Premium and above — xAI docs, X Premium customers moving to The X Subscription; checked 22 October 2026.
- [36] Plan features, Premium recommended for new AI users, usage pool — xAI, Pricing; checked 22 October 2026.
- [37] Grok web search, Improve the model opt-out, Private Chat excluded from training — xAI, Consumer FAQs; checked 22 October 2026.
- [38] Grok Imagine images and video, voice, file uploads — xAI docs, Welcome to Grok; checked 22 October 2026.
- [39] Incognito chats not used for training, on all Claude plans — Claude Help Center, incognito chats; checked 22 October 2026.
- [40] Temporary Chat not used to train; voice mode transcribes speech into text — Mistral docs, Vibe and Use Voice mode; checked 22 October 2026.
- [41] Grok Bot included on Premium; results returned as a document, spreadsheet or slide deck — xAI docs, plans and usage and Grok Bot, files and results; checked 22 October 2026.
Count the year before you pay for a month. And if the subscription was mostly for slides, NOXI builds the deck for free: describe the topic, review the outline, and download an editable PowerPoint.



