ChatGPT vs Claude vs Gemini vs Perplexity: 2026 Paid Plans
ChatGPT is the best all-round paid AI assistant in October 2026; Claude suits heavy writing and coding, Gemini is the best-value bundle and Perplexity is best for cited research.
ChatGPT is the best all-round paid AI assistant in October 2026, with a ladder from Go at $8 a month up to Pro at $500. Claude is best for heavy writing and coding, Gemini is the best-value bundle for Google users at £18.99 a month in the UK, and Perplexity is best for cited research.
Some links on this page may become affiliate links; it never changes our ranking. How we pick: see below. Prices checked 29 October 2026.
At a glance
| Tool | Best for | Entry paid price | Standout | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | Most people, all-round use | Go $8/month; Plus $20/month (US prices) | Widest ladder, Codex included on paid plans | Ads on Free and Go; Pro 200 allowance cut from 30 October |
| Claude | Writing, coding, long documents | Pro $17/month billed annually ($20 monthly) | Claude Code, Projects and Opus access on Pro | Rolling five-hour and weekly caps; top model needs credits on Pro |
| Gemini | Google users and best value | Google AI Plus £4.49/month; AI Pro £18.99/month (UK page) | Storage and Google app bundle | Plan pages are muddled on which model each tier gets |
| Perplexity | Cited research and fact-checking | Pro $17/month billed annually | Picks from several top models, with sources | Max is $167/month billed annually; no UK price confirmed |
1. ChatGPT: best all-round paid AI assistant
ChatGPT is OpenAI's assistant, and in 2026 it has the most rungs of any plan ladder here. OpenAI's own pricing documentation (which we could reach, unlike chatgpt.com/pricing, which blocked our automated fetch) lists Free, Go at $8 a month, Plus at $20, three Pro tiers at $100, $200 and $500, and Business at $20 per user per month billed annually or $25 monthly.
Plus is the sensible buy for most people. It includes Codex, OpenAI's coding agent, on the web, command line and IDE extension, with estimated message ranges per five-hour window that depend heavily on which model you pick. The same page names the GPT-6 family (Luna, Sol, Astra and a 6.1 line) and warns that older GPT-5.5 access ended on 14 October 2026. Exactly which model sits behind each chat tier is described differently across trackers, so check the in-app picker.
Expect churn at the top end. The Next Web reports that OpenAI added Pro 500 on 29 September, reopened Pro 200 with a smaller allowance, and from 30 October cuts Pro 200 included usage in ChatGPT Work and Codex from 20x to 10x the Plus allowance. A price tracker updated on 23 October also says Free and Go carry ads. All prices here are US dollars: we found no confirmed UK web price, though one UK App Store comparison lists Plus at £19.99.
Pros
- Cheapest sensible entry ($8 Go) and a clear step to $20 Plus
- Codex coding agent included from Plus upwards
- Business plan from two users at $20 per user annually
- Codex available on the web, command line and IDE extension from Plus
Cons
- Ads on Free and Go according to a tracker updated 23 October
- Pro 200 allowance cut from 30 October, with the plan reopened at a lower allowance
- Model names and what each tier gets change quickly
- No official UK price found in our checks
Pricing: Go $8 a month, Plus $20 a month (monthly billing only per one tracker), Pro $100, $200 or $500 a month, Business $20 per user monthly billed annually. US dollars, as of 29 October 2026.
Best for: most people who want one assistant for writing, search, analysis and coding.
2. Claude: best for writing, coding and long documents
Claude is Anthropic's assistant. On the pricing page the plans are Free, Pro at $17 a month with annual billing ($200 up front) or $20 monthly, Max from $100 a month, Team (Standard seat $20 annual, $25 monthly) and Enterprise. The page lists current models as Fable 5.1, Opus 5.5, Sonnet 5.5 and Haiku 5.5.
The structure differs from ChatGPT. Free gets Sonnet and Haiku; Pro, Max and Team add Opus; and Fable, the top model, is available through usage credits on Pro and at 50% of weekly limits on Max. Usage runs on a rolling five-hour window plus weekly limits on paid plans, so heavy days can hit a wall. Pro adds Claude Code, Projects, Claude in Chrome and Claude for Microsoft 365; Max adds higher output limits and monthly API credits.
Our pick for developers is to start on Pro and move up only if you hit the caps: Claude Code is bundled, which makes it unusually good value next to dedicated tools in our coding assistants comparison. Support pages say Pro pricing shows in local currency where supported; we could not confirm a UK figure from the vendor.
Pros
- Annual Pro is $17 a month, below ChatGPT Plus at $20
- Claude Code included on Pro and above
- Projects, connectors and Microsoft 365 integration on Pro
- Clear model ladder, including legacy models listed on the page
Cons
- Rolling five-hour and weekly caps mean heavy use needs Max
- Fable (the top model) is credit-metered on Pro
- Max is monthly billing only
- Model access differs by plan (Opus on Pro, Fable via credits), which takes reading
Pricing: Pro $17 a month billed annually ($200 up front) or $20 monthly; Max from $100 a month; Team Standard $20 per seat annual. US dollars, as of 29 October 2026.
Best for: writers, developers and analysts who work with long documents or code.
3. Gemini: best value for Google users
Gemini is Google's assistant, sold through Google AI plans. The UK page at gemini.google/subscriptions lists prices in pounds: Free £0, Google AI Plus £4.49 a month, Google AI Pro £18.99 and Google AI Ultra £79.99 or £189.99 depending on tier. It is the only vendor here where we could confirm UK pricing in sterling directly.
The bundle is the selling point. Per Google's AI plans page, Plus includes 400 GB of storage, Pro includes 5 TB, and Ultra starts at 20 TB, alongside Flow credits, Gemini in Gmail and Docs and a family-sharing option for up to five other people. Pro lists Gemini 4 Argon and expanded Gemini 3.1 Pro access; usage limits are expressed as multiples of non-AI plans (2x for Plus, 4x for Pro).
The weak spot is clarity. The plans page labels Plus as including Gemini 4 Argon in one place while its feature list names only Flash, and some features are limited to the US. If you already live in Gmail, Drive and Docs, Pro is hard to beat on price; if you do not, you are paying for storage you may not need.
Pros
- UK prices in pounds, from £4.49
- 5 TB storage included with AI Pro
- Deep integration with Gmail, Docs and Drive
- Family sharing for up to five others
Cons
- Plan pages are inconsistent about which model each tier includes
- Some features (the Gemini agent, AI calling) are US and English only
- Usage limits are relative multiples, not stated numbers
- Value falls if you do not use Google apps
Pricing: Google AI Plus £4.49 a month, AI Pro £18.99, AI Ultra £79.99 or £189.99 on the UK page, as of 29 October 2026.
Best for: UK buyers, students and anyone already inside Google Workspace or Gmail.
4. Perplexity: best for cited research
Perplexity is an answer engine that searches the web and cites its sources, rather than a general chat assistant. Its pricing page lists Free, Pro at $17 a month billed annually and Max at $167 a month billed annually; trackers put monthly billing at $20 and $200.
Pro adds Perplexity Computer, deep research, model choice and premium data sources including PitchBook, Statista and S&P Capital IQ. The company says it draws on models from OpenAI, Google, Anthropic and NVIDIA and picks the best one per query, with Pro and Max users able to choose. Max raises Computer usage, adds 10,000 monthly credits and extra research limits.
It is the one to pay for when the job is "find me sources I can check", and weaker as a daily drafting partner. We found no confirmed pound price for Pro, so UK buyers should see what the checkout shows.
Pros
- Sources shown with answers
- Access to several vendors' models in one subscription
- Premium data sources on Pro
- Annual Pro at $17 a month
Cons
- Annual Max at $167 is a big step up
- No confirmed UK price
- Credit-based features make cost less predictable
- Less suited to long creative or coding work
Pricing: Pro $17 a month billed annually ($20 monthly per trackers); Max $167 a month billed annually ($200 monthly per trackers). US dollars, as of 29 October 2026.
Best for: researchers, analysts and anyone who needs sources, not just answers.
How we compared these tools
This is research, not hands-on testing. We read each vendor's live pricing pages on 29 October 2026, plus public news coverage and trackers where an official page would not load (ChatGPT's main pricing page returned an access error to our fetch). We ran no benchmarks, so we do not rank models on quality.
Weighting: price transparency and regional pricing 25%, what the plan includes beyond chat (coding, storage, research) 30%, usage-limit clarity 20%, plan stability and lock-in 15%, and UK/EU suitability 10%. Heavy weight went to limits because every vendor here caps usage on a rolling basis.
How to choose
- If you want one assistant for everything, pick ChatGPT Plus.
- If you write or code for hours a day, pick Claude Pro and move to Max only if you hit the caps.
- If you live in Gmail and Drive, or want the lowest UK price, pick Google AI Plus or Pro.
- If you need cited research, pick Perplexity Pro.
- If cost is the main issue, compare ChatGPT Go at $8 with Google AI Plus at £4.49.
- If you want several vendors' models under one login, see open-source front ends such as LibreChat in the directory.
Frequently asked questions
Which is better: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Perplexity?
It depends on the job. ChatGPT is the best all-rounder with the widest plan ladder. Claude is strongest for long writing and coding workflows, Gemini is best value if you use Google apps, and Perplexity is best for cited research. We compared plans and pricing on 29 October 2026, not model benchmarks.
How much does ChatGPT Plus cost in 2026?
ChatGPT Plus is $20 a month in the US, according to OpenAI's pricing documentation checked on 29 October 2026. Go is $8, and Pro comes in $100, $200 and $500 tiers. We could not confirm an official UK price; one UK App Store listing shows £19.99, which can differ from web checkout.
How much does Claude Pro cost?
Claude Pro is $17 a month when billed annually ($200 up front) or $20 a month billed monthly, per Anthropic's pricing page on 29 October 2026. It includes Claude Code, Projects and Opus model access. Max starts at $100 a month. Pro usage runs on five-hour windows with weekly caps.
What does Google AI Pro cost in the UK?
On Google's UK subscriptions page, Google AI Pro is £18.99 a month and Google AI Plus is £4.49 a month, as of 29 October 2026. Pro includes 5 TB of storage and expanded Gemini model access. Ultra is £79.99 or £189.99 depending on tier.
Is Perplexity Pro worth it compared with ChatGPT?
Perplexity Pro, at $17 a month billed annually, is worth it if your work is research with checkable sources, because every answer shows citations and Pro adds premium data sources. If you mainly draft, code or analyse files, ChatGPT Plus or Claude Pro covers more at a similar price.
Do any of these plans have usage limits?
Yes. All four cap usage. Claude uses a rolling five-hour window plus weekly limits, ChatGPT gives estimated message ranges per five hours on Plus, Google states limits as multiples of its free tier, and Perplexity meters Computer features with credits. Limits change often, so check the vendor's current page.
More from the directory: LibreChat, compare tools side by side, research and analysis tools, and our guides to AI coding assistants and AI writing tools.