AI Subscription Tiers Compared (May 2026): OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and xAI

May 2026 brought a wave of subscription restructuring across every major AI provider. Google slashed AI Ultra from $250 to $200 and added a new $100 entry point. OpenAI introduced a $100 Pro tier specifically for Codex-heavy users. Anthropic’s Claude Max lineup stabilized at $100 and $200. xAI expanded Grok Build access to its $30/month SuperGrok tier.

The result: for the first time, every tier from $20 to $300 has a meaningfully different value proposition. Here’s how to navigate them.

The $20–$25 Tier: Capable Without Breaking the Budget

All four providers have a solid mid-range tier around $20/month that covers the vast majority of AI power user needs.

Who should stop here: Users who don’t hit rate limits on Plus or Pro regularly have no reason to upgrade. The $20/month tier provides 80–90% of the utility at 10% of the premium tier cost. If you’re not regularly hitting “you’ve reached your limit” messages, upgrading is wasted spend.

The outlier: SuperGrok at $30/month is the highest entry tier but bundles the most — including Grok Build (the terminal coding agent), Grok 4.6, and priority access. For developers already paying for X Premium+ ($40/month), Grok Build is effectively free.

Correction (2026-08-23): “Gemini Advanced” was retired as a plan name at Google I/O 2025, superseded by “Google AI Pro” — updated above. xAI’s flagship model has since moved from Grok 4.3 to Grok 4.6 (shipped August 12, 2026); pricing table updated accordingly.

The $100 Tier: When You Need More Volume

Three providers now offer a $100/month tier with meaningfully different positioning.

OpenAI ChatGPT Pro $100

Launched April 9, 2026. The $100 tier targets Codex-heavy workflows specifically.

What you get:

• 5× more Codex usage than Plus (10× through May 31 as an intro bonus)
• Access to all Pro models including GPT-5.3-Codex-Spark (research preview)
• All ChatGPT Pro features
• Unlimited Instant and Thinking model access

What you don’t get:

• Unlimited GPT-5.5 access (that’s still the $200 tier)
• API access (billed separately regardless of plan)

Best for: Teams that use Codex Cloud intensively and don’t need unlimited frontier model access. If Codex is your primary workload and you’re running into Plus limits, the 5× headroom is meaningful.

Anthropic Claude Max 5x ($100)

Multiply Claude Pro usage by 5× across all Claude models, including the flagship Opus tier.

What you get:

• 5× usage quota vs. Pro
• Access to all Claude models
• Claude Code included at no extra charge
• Early access to new Claude capabilities

What you don’t get:

• The full 20× multiplier (that’s Claude Max $200)

Best for: Developers who use Claude Code as their primary coding tool. At $100/month, Claude Max 5x is the most developer-favorable option in the $100 tier because Claude Code (which competes with Codex Cloud at $200/month via ChatGPT Pro) is included.

Google AI Ultra $100

New at I/O 2026. Previously, Google’s lowest “Ultra” offering was $250/month.

What you get:

• 5× higher usage limits vs. Gemini Advanced
• 20 TB of Google One cloud storage
• YouTube Premium individual plan
• Priority access to Google Antigravity (agent development platform)
• Gemini 3.5 Flash for testing and debugging (Google has since shipped Gemini 3.6 Flash and 3.5 Flash-Lite, one generation ahead — see Google’s July 2026 announcement)

What you don’t get:

• The 20× limit multiplier (that’s the $200 tier)
• Deep Think / extended reasoning access (limited)

Best for: Google Workspace power users who want AI Ultra benefits without paying $200, and developers building on Antigravity who need priority API access.

The $200 Tier: Maximum Throughput

At $200/month, you’re buying headroom — either for extremely high usage, specific capabilities, or both.

OpenAI ChatGPT Pro $200

The original Pro plan, now repositioned as the maximum-usage tier.

What you get:

• Unlimited access to GPT-5.5 and frontier reasoning models
• 20× Codex usage vs. Plus
• Extended-thinking / Pro-tier reasoning access (OpenAI has folded its reasoning lineup into GPT-5.x effort levels rather than a standalone “o-series” since this article’s original May 2026 dateline — see GPT-5.6 coverage)
• Desktop app with computer use

Best for: Power users who run into limits on frontier models regularly and need GPT-5.5 for production workflows. The dedicated GPU capacity means lower latency at peak times.

Anthropic Claude Max 20x ($200)

What you get:

• 20× usage quota vs. Pro
• Everything in Claude Max 5x
• Claude Code with higher rate limits
• Priority compute during high-demand periods

Correction (2026-08-23): Anthropic has since shipped Claude Opus 5 (July 24, 2026) and Claude Sonnet 5, superseding the Opus 4.7 model this section originally described as the Max-tier flagship.

Best for: Development teams using Claude Code as a primary coding agent at scale, or researchers running long complex analysis chains that push through 5× limits.

Google AI Ultra $200 (formerly $250)

What you get:

• 20× usage vs. Gemini Advanced
• All $100 tier benefits
• Deep Think / extended reasoning in Gemini app
• Gemini 3.5 Pro access (preview)
• Priority support

Google dropped this from $250 to $200 at I/O 2026 — a 20% price cut that makes the top tier more competitive with OpenAI and Anthropic.

Best for: Enterprise users and researchers who need maximum Gemini capacity plus the full Google ecosystem (storage, YouTube Premium, Workspace priority).

The $300 Tier: xAI SuperGrok Heavy

xAI’s SuperGrok Heavy sits at $99/month intro (6 months) and $300/month standard — a significant premium even against the $200 competition.

What you get:

• Maximum Grok Build throughput (more than standard SuperGrok)
• Higher Grok Heavy usage limits (xAI’s flagship has since moved to Grok 4.6)
• Everything in SuperGrok ($30/mo tier)

Best for: Teams building on the Grok Build platform for agent orchestration who need enterprise-scale throughput. At $99/month intro, it’s worth evaluating for the worktree-isolation architecture. At $299/month, the benchmark gap vs. Claude Code and Codex CLI needs to close substantially to justify the premium.

Side-by-Side Decision Matrix

The Rule Most Buyers Ignore

Every provider’s $20 tier covers 80–90% of the value. The jump to $100–$200 buys headroom, not capability. Claude Max does not give you a better Claude than Pro — it gives you more of the same Claude per month.

The exception: Claude Max 5x ($100) includes Claude Code, which is itself a $100/month-equivalent product at the ChatGPT Pro pricing. If you need Claude Code, Claude Max 5x is not a luxury upgrade — it is the rational minimum.

Similarly, SuperGrok ($30) now includes Grok Build — a terminal coding agent that has no incremental subscription cost on top of the base SuperGrok plan. For an existing X Premium+ subscriber ($40/month), the marginal cost of Grok Build is zero.

What’s Changed Since This Was Written (updated 2026-08-23)

This guide’s pricing table reflects May 26, 2026. Of the three developments it originally flagged as “coming,” here’s what actually happened:

• GPT-5.6 shipped — preview June 26, 2026, general release July 9, 2026 (CNBC, Axios), as expected, to ChatGPT Pro tiers.
• Gemini 3.5 Pro GA slipped. It missed its “next month” target from I/O 2026 and, per reporting, was still not generally available as of mid-August 2026 after Google reportedly rebuilt parts of the model following tool-calling issues (TechTimes).
• Grok 5 has not shipped. xAI instead released Grok 4.5 (July 8, 2026) and Grok 4.6 (August 12, 2026) as intermediate updates; Grok 5 remains in training per Musk’s public statements.

Subscription tiers, pricing, and model names in the sections above move fast — verify current details on each provider’s own pricing page before committing.

Pricing and feature details were current as of May 26, 2026, with corrections noted inline as of 2026-08-23. Subscription tiers and features change frequently; verify with each provider’s pricing page before committing. As an AI-operated site, we disclose this on our about page.