Subscription
vs API.
Is ChatGPT Plus worth it? Claude Max — 5x, 20x, or an API key? Enter your real usage and get the answer as a number: what the same volume would bill at API list prices, the break-even messages per day for all 12 plans, and which side wins. Plan prices verified on vendor pages, stamped per plan.
API side uses the vendor's published per-token list prices with prompt caching modeled (chat apps resend conversation history every turn — set cache to 0 for a stack without caching). Thinking models bill hidden reasoning tokens at the output rate — that's real spend in both worlds.
- ChatGPT Go$8.00/mo break-even 14/day plan saves $9.66/mo
- ChatGPT Plus$20.00/mo break-even 34/day ≈ break-even
- ChatGPT Pro 100$100/mo break-even 170/day API saves $82.34/mo
- ChatGPT Pro 200$200/mo break-even 340/day API saves $182/mo
- ChatGPT Pro 500$500/mo break-even 850/day API saves $482/mo
Plans cap usage in rolling windows and vendors don't publish those caps in tokens — verdicts compare the price of this volume, not entitlements. The higher the multiple, the more likely a cap cuts in first.
Six usage profiles
Click one to load it. Verdicts are computed from the current plan sheet and API snapshot — they move when a vendor reprices.
Your usage against every plan
The scenario configured above, priced against all 12 verified plans. Each ecosystem uses its selected API model. Break-even is the daily message count where API spend equals the plan price.
| Plan | Plan $/mo | API model | Same usage via API | Value × | Break-even /day | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT Go ChatGPT More messages, uploads and memory than Free · limited Codex · may include ads | $8.00 | GPT-5.6 Sol | $17.66 | ×2.2 | 14 | plan saves $9.66/mo |
| ChatGPT Plus ChatGPT GPT-6 reasoning models · expanded Codex and ChatGPT Work · deep research | $20.00 | GPT-5.6 Sol | $17.66 | ×0.9 | 34 | ≈ break-even |
| ChatGPT Pro 100 ChatGPT Lowest of three Pro tiers · Pro reasoning on GPT-6 Astra · monthly only | $100 | GPT-5.6 Sol | $17.66 | ×0.2 | 170 | API saves $82.34/mo |
| ChatGPT Pro 200 ChatGPT More usage than Pro 100 · allowance cut for new subscribers from 29 Sep 2026 | $200 | GPT-5.6 Sol | $17.66 | ×0.1 | 340 | API saves $182/mo |
| ChatGPT Pro 500 ChatGPT Highest Pro allowance · the only personal tier with GPT-6 Astra Ultrafast | $500 | GPT-5.6 Sol | $17.66 | ×0.0 | 850 | API saves $482/mo |
| Claude Pro Claude ~5× Free usage · includes Claude Code | $20.00 ($17.00 annual) | Claude Opus 4.8 | $22.07 | ×1.1 | 27 | ≈ break-even |
| Claude Max 5x Claude 5× Pro usage · higher Claude Code throughput | $100 | Claude Opus 4.8 | $22.07 | ×0.2 | 140 | API saves $77.93/mo |
| Claude Max 20x Claude 20× Pro usage · monthly billing only | $200 | Claude Opus 4.8 | $22.07 | ×0.1 | 270 | API saves $178/mo |
| Google AI Plus Gemini 2× Free usage · 400 GB storage | $4.99 | Gemini 3.8 Flash | $3.26 | ×0.7 | 46 | API saves $1.73/mo |
| Google AI Pro Gemini 4× Free usage · Gemini 3.1 Pro · 5 TB storage | $19.99 | Gemini 3.8 Flash | $3.26 | ×0.2 | 180 | API saves $16.73/mo |
| Google AI Ultra (entry) Gemini 5× AI Pro usage limits · 20 TB storage | $99.99 | Gemini 3.8 Flash | $3.26 | ×0.0 | 920 | API saves $96.73/mo |
| Google AI Ultra Gemini 20× AI Pro usage limits · cut from $249.99 at I/O 2026 | $200 | Gemini 3.8 Flash | $3.26 | ×0.0 | 1840 | API saves $197/mo |
Value × = what the same volume would bill at API list prices, as a multiple of the plan price. Plans cap usage in rolling windows vendors don't publish in tokens — a very high multiple means you'd likely meet those caps.
The math behind the verdict
The API side runs your profile through the same engine as our LLM API calculator: list input/output rates, prompt caching with cache-write premiums where vendors charge them, reasoning tokens billed at the output rate. The plan side is a verified price sheet — every plan carries the date it was checked on the vendor's page.
/* API side — per message */
input_rate = hit × cached_price + (1 − hit) × write_or_base_price
msg_cost = in_tokens × input_rate / 1M
+ (out_tokens + reasoning_tokens) × output_rate / 1M
/* verdict — per plan */
api_monthly = msg_cost × msgs_per_day × 30
value = api_monthly ÷ plan_price /* >1 → plan is better value */
break_even = plan_price ÷ (msg_cost × 30) /* messages per day */ Ecosystem model defaults follow what the consumer app actually serves: ChatGPT plans run on GPT-5.6 Sol, Claude plans on Claude Opus 4.8. Google's app runs Gemini 3.1 Pro, whose API price is still in preview — we price Google usage on Gemini 3.8 Flash, the closest stable rate, which slightly understates the API side. Swap the model in the calculator to test any other equivalence.
Full methodology lives at /methodology/. Found a stale plan price? Report it.
Three verdicts, real numbers
Computed from the current plan sheet and API snapshot — recalculated on every data refresh.
What each side actually buys
Plus, Pro, and Max tiers are "unlimited subject to guardrails" in marketing copy but throttle in practice — 5-hour windows, weekly ceilings, per-model quotas. Anthropic and Google publish relative multipliers (Max 20x = 20× Pro; Ultra = up to 20× AI Pro); OpenAI no longer publishes even that for its Pro plans. Nobody publishes absolute token numbers. A high value multiple here means the plan is a bargain and that you're the user those caps were written for.
Pay-as-you-go has no usage wall: heavy days just cost more. You also get programmatic access, model pinning, and batch/caching discounts. What you lose is the app: no Projects, no Deep Research button, no image generation UI — you're building your own harness or running a tool like Claude Code against a key.
Deep Research runs, agentic workspaces, image generation, voice, file uploads, memory — a $20 plan bundles workflows that would each bill separately via API. If you use two or more of them weekly, the plan's effective value is higher than the token math alone.
The same CLI works on a Pro/Max subscription or an API key. Subscription = flat bill, session caps; API = uncapped, metered per token with prompt caching. The coding presets above model exactly this decision — for full-time agentic work the flat plan usually wins by a wide multiple.
Claude Pro drops to $17/mo billed annually — a 15% cut that moves its break-even. As of 2026-10-02, Max and ChatGPT's paid tiers publish no annual discount on the web plans.
Worth it — answered.
The questions this calculator exists for, answered with the current numbers. Every figure recomputes when a vendor reprices.
Q · 01 Is ChatGPT Plus worth it? +
Q · 02 Is ChatGPT Pro worth it — and which tier? +
Q · 03 Is Claude Pro worth it? +
Q · 04 Claude Max 5x or 20x — or just use the API? +
Q · 05 Is the OpenAI API cheaper than ChatGPT Plus? +
Q · 06 What do Google's AI plans map to? +
Q · 07 How is the API cost computed? +
Q · 08 Do subscriptions really have usage limits? +
Deciding between tiers?
Feature-by-feature tier comparisons — limits, model access, and who each tier is actually for.
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