AI subscriptions compared: 14 plans + subscription-vs-API

Last verified 2026-08-30 · prices change often — confirm on the official site · consumer plans only; for developer API prices see the price table

Recent changes

2026-07-30Zhipu GLM Coding Plan moved to credits, Lite / Pro / Max up 130%~260% vs V2 (existing users renew at V2)
2026-07-20Kimi paused new subscriptions for new users due to compute limits
2026-06-24Doubao went paid — ¥68 / 200 / 500 three tiers, free tier kept

Chinese AI subscriptions

Several remain fully free; paid-tier perks are set in each vendor's app.

Doubao ByteDance

On sale

$10 from/mo

Free tier stays — everyday search, writing, image and voice remain free

Standard $10/mo
Plus $30/mo
Pro $74/mo

IThome launch report 2026-06-24 + App Store IAP multi-source 2026-08-30

Kimi Moonshot AI

On sale

$7.3 from/mo

Adagio free tier: ~6 agents/mo, 1 parallel task, 200 pro-database queries

Andante $7.3/mo
Moderato $15/mo
Allegretto $30/mo
Allegro $104/mo

Kimi Help Center · pricing official 2026-08-30

GLM Coding Plan Zhipu AI

On sale

$18 from/mo

No free tier (developer coding plan, distinct from Zhipu Qingyan consumer membership)

Lite $18/mo
Pro $80/mo
Max $160/mo

IThome 2026-07-31: transparent credits, from ¥118/mo official 2026-08-30

Zhipu Qingyan Zhipu AI

On sale

$2.8 from/mo

Has a free tier (limits unverified)

Monthly $2.8/mo
1-month $8.8/mo
Premium $18/mo

App Store Zhipu Qingyan IAP list multi-source 2026-08-30

iFlytek Spark iFlytek

On sale

$2.2 from/mo

Basic chat is free

Monthly $2.2/mo

App Store iFlytek Spark IAP list multi-source 2026-08-30

Currently fully free (no consumer paid tier)

DeepSeek DeepSeek

Free

Web/app fully free; no consumer paid tier (paid = metered API only)

Public info (community consensus) multi-source 2026-08-30

Tencent Yuanbao Tencent

Free

Q&A, document processing and AI creation are all free; no paid membership yet

Public reports (no official Tencent statement) multi-source 2026-08-30

ERNIE Bot Baidu

Free

Fully free since 2025-04-01 (prior ¥59.9/mo Pro cancelled & refunded), no return to paid seen

Free-launch reports 2025-02 + migration multi-source multi-source 2026-08-30

Tongyi Alibaba

Free (unverified)

Free

Appears free per public info; no first-hand official confirmation

Public info unverified 2026-08-30

Global AI subscriptions (USD)

Tier inflation is real: $8 → $20 → $100 → $200; free / low tiers now carry ads.

ChatGPT OpenAI

On sale

$8.0 from/mo

Free tier available; the US free tier began showing ads in 2026

Go $8.0/mo
Plus $20/mo
Pro 5× $100/mo
Pro 20× $200/mo

Multi-source (cloudzero / fritz.ai, etc.) multi-source 2026-08-30

Claude Anthropic

On sale

$20 from/mo

Free tier includes web search, memory and file creation

Pro $20/mo
Max 5× $100/mo
Max 20× $200/mo

Anthropic official pricing page official 2026-08-30

Gemini (Google AI) Google

On sale

$5.0 from/mo

Free to use (limits not officially listed)

AI Plus $5.0/mo
AI Pro $20/mo
AI Ultra 5× $100/mo
AI Ultra 20× $200/mo

Google official page + 9to5Google multi-source multi-source 2026-08-30

Grok xAI

On sale

$10 from/mo

Free to use, tighter limits

SuperGrok Lite $10/mo
SuperGrok $30/mo
SuperGrok Heavy $300/mo

Multi-source (ai-toolbox / felloai, etc.) multi-source 2026-08-30

Perplexity Perplexity AI

On sale

$20 from/mo

Basic search unlimited, Pro Search limited daily

Pro $20/mo
Max $200/mo

Multi-source (finout / screenapp, etc.) multi-source 2026-08-30

Subscription vs API: run your numbers

A subscription buys peace of mind by the month; API buys cheap by the token. Enter your real usage to see what API actually costs and which subscriptions it beats.

Messages per day30

Input tokens each600

Output tokens each500

Priced at this API model

API monthly cost $0 ≈ per month

At this usage, API beats these subscriptions

Subscription price = each product's cheapest paid tier; CNY prices converted at 1 USD = 6.7209 CNY.

Estimate your API bill → · Not sure which model? Try the Model Picker →

Four rules to avoid overpaying

Under ~30 messages a week? Don't pay. Light use rarely hits free-tier limits.
Buy only the one you keep hitting limits on, monthly not yearly. Limits change often; annual gives up your leverage.
Don't buy a chat plan for coding. Code burns agent tokens; a flat Coding Plan or metered API is usually cheaper.
Light users rotate free tiers. DeepSeek, Yuanbao and ERNIE are fully free today — rotate when you hit a wall.

About the data：Every price carries a source, verification date and confidence (official / multi-source / unverified). Unverified items are labelled as such. Some vendors' pricing pages block scraping, so prices are cross-referenced from third parties. Spot something stale? Check the source and let us know.

FAQ

Subscription or API — which is cheaper?

For light-to-moderate chat, a subscription is simpler (flat monthly, no overage). For high-frequency, programmatic or long-output use, metered API is often cheaper. Use the calculator on this page with your real usage to find the crossover.

Which Chinese AIs are still fully free?

DeepSeek, Tencent Yuanbao and ERNIE are fully free on the consumer side today; Tongyi is unverified. Light users can rotate across them at zero cost.

How much is Doubao membership?

Standard ¥68/mo, Plus ¥200/mo, Pro ¥500/mo (verified students ¥38 on Standard). The free tier stays.

Is ChatGPT Plus ($20/mo) worth it?

Depends on usage. Worth it if you need Deep Research / Sora / Agent daily; for occasional Q&A the free tier or API is cheaper.

Why is every AI charging now?

Rising compute cost plus the end of free-growth. Doubao going paid, GLM Coding price hikes and ChatGPT ads on free are all signals — though Chinese vendors still offer free options.