Checked on 13 October 2026. Choose an AI subscription around a recurring task and the account where you will do it, not the biggest feature list. This source-based comparison covers ChatGPT, Claude, Google AI and Microsoft 365 Premium, with an explicit evidence gap for Perplexity. It is not a hands-on benchmark or an answer-quality ranking. The provider links are official information, not affiliate links. Prices below are dated source evidence, not a local checkout quote or a verified discount.

Start with three separate budgets: the subscription charge, any extra usage, and the time needed to check the output. A plan can include several apps while those apps consume one allowance. A family bundle can share storage but not AI access. An annual price displayed per month can require a full year paid today. Write down these distinctions before comparing headline dollar or euro amounts; they answer different buying questions.

ChatGPT Plus is listed at $20 per month on OpenAI's current ChatGPT Work and Codex pricing page. That page establishes included work/coding access, not a fixed ordinary-chat message quota. It says ChatGPT Work and Codex share usage, with local messages and cloud chats drawing on the plan allowance. Task complexity, model, context, tools and caching affect consumption. Weekly limits may also apply. Do not translate a coding-message estimate into a promise about how many reports, images or normal chats you can complete.

OpenAI also distinguishes included subscription usage from purchased credits and API-key billing. Plus and Pro users can buy extra credits; API-key work follows separate API prices and does not provide the same cloud features. Faster modes can consume included usage at a different multiplier from purchased credits. For a buyer, the useful test is a normal working session with the model and speed you intend to use, followed by an inspection of the usage dashboard. Record the surface and billing method rather than assuming the same login makes every task prepaid.

Claude Pro is listed at $20 billed monthly, or $200 paid upfront annually, displayed as approximately $17 per month. Applicable tax is excluded. Twelve monthly payments would total $240 before tax; the annual option is $40 lower only if you genuinely need all twelve months. It is not a $17 cancellable monthly bill. Pro includes Claude Code and projects, but the current free-plan table also includes up to five projects. Paying simply to try any project organization would therefore be the wrong distinction; test the free entitlement first.

Anthropic's pricing FAQ says Claude activity on web, desktop, mobile and Claude Code shares a usage pool. It describes rolling five-hour session windows, additional weekly limits on paid plans, and model or feature caps that may also apply. There is no fixed message count independent of task size and complexity. Paid users may enable usage credits at standard API rates after hitting limits. Treat that as potential additional spend, not as unlimited access included in the headline price. Check Settings > Usage during your trial.

Do not assume every consumer AI plan either includes or excludes all API benefits. Claude's current table lists no monthly API credits for Pro but advertises credits on Max; Google lists specific developer-program benefits on higher AI tiers. Those are plan-specific entitlements, not a general API bundle. This comparison does not value promotional or restricted credits as cash or claim that they replace your existing API bill. If development is your main workload, confirm the exact platform, eligibility, expiry and overage terms before counting the benefit.

Google's official page was retrieved in its German locale. It distinguishes AI Plus, Pro and Ultra and shows a mixture of prices and incomplete price fields. The comparison table displays two AI Plus monthly amounts, €4.99 or €9.99, alongside storage variants, while other tier amounts are not readable in the fetched page. We do not choose one of those figures as your applicable offer or invent the missing Pro and Ultra prices. Open the signed-in checkout in your country and record the exact storage variant, introductory period if any, renewal price and tax treatment.

For Google, verify the particular app feature as well as the tier. The retrieved page describes Gmail proofreading on Plus, with Docs and Sheets benefits on Pro and Ultra. It also advertises features marked US-only, and other benefits dependent on device, age, country or language. The German page's presence does not mean every feature on it is available in Germany. Count storage, YouTube or smart-home benefits only if you can use them and would otherwise pay for them; an unused bundle benefit is not a saving.

Microsoft 365 Premium needs two distinct family calculations. The support page says apps and cloud storage can be shared with up to five other people, but AI features are for the subscription owner only. Six people sharing the plan does not create six Copilot AI entitlements. Its support page does not establish a current checkout price, so none is supplied here. If several household members need AI, compare the actual eligible-user cost rather than dividing the subscription charge by six.

There is also a dated Microsoft storage change worth checking before purchase. Its current support page says new Family and Premium subscriptions, including expired subscriptions that are repurchased, receive 2 TB of pooled OneDrive storage from 8 October 2026. It says existing Family and Premium subscribers move to 2 TB pooled storage on renewal from 2 May 2027. Pooled means shared across members, not 2 TB each; files and folders remain private. Existing subscribers should check their renewal date and account entitlement rather than assuming the new-purchase rule already applies to them.

A practical storage check is to total every member's current use before switching or renewing. For example, two people using 1.2 TB each would require 2.4 TB together, which exceeds a 2 TB shared allowance before anyone else joins. This is an illustrative calculation, not measured customer usage. Microsoft says storage can be extended, but this page does not establish the upgrade price. Include that quote in the household total and avoid treating expandable capacity as included capacity.

Microsoft's app conditions also affect whether the purchase solves your problem. Copilot in Excel requires AutoSave and a file saved to OneDrive; it does not work with an unsaved file under the documented condition. Access to work files through the described personal-plan features requires an employer enterprise subscription including desktop apps and enabled multi-account access, with government tenants excluded. App, platform and language limits apply. Ask your employer whether the exact workflow is permitted before buying a personal plan for company documents.

Perplexity's Pro page and an official help-center alternative both returned HTTP 403 during this check. That is a retrieval limit, not evidence that the product is unavailable. We retain it as a candidate for a source-led research trial, but do not quote a current paid price, research allowance or paid-plan verdict. Open the original source behind each answer and check whether it supports the claim. Linked citations alone are not an accuracy guarantee, regardless of provider.

Run a seven-day buying worksheet with two free candidates where available. Choose five repeatable, non-sensitive tasks: edit a report, extract a table, explain a spreadsheet, check a factual claim and draft a follow-up. For each, record the app and account, model or mode, minutes of work including corrections, unsupported claims, limit messages, and whether extra spending was enabled. Mark the result unusable, major rework, or usable after normal review. These are suggested evaluation steps, not results from a YNIX test.

Use conservative cost arithmetic. Monthly cost is the subscription plus tax and realistic extra usage or storage, minus only a bill you can actually cancel without losing a needed feature. Net time saved is the manual baseline minus prompting, checking and repair time. Thirty minutes genuinely saved each week is two hours over four weeks; it is not a guaranteed productivity improvement. Start with one monthly plan when the trial supports it, and consider annual billing only after the workflow is dependable.

Before paying, record who owns the subscription, who receives AI access, the shared usage pool, the billing channel, the renewal date and the cancellation route. Anthropic's current page says to cancel at least 24 hours before renewal to avoid the next charge, with app-store subscriptions managed through their billing channel. Do not generalize that rule to other providers. Cancellation is also distinct from deleting stored data. Review retention, training settings, sharing permissions and employer requirements for the exact account before uploading sensitive material.

Shortlist ChatGPT for an assistant plus work/coding workflow, Claude for projects and document work with a shared coding allowance, Google AI for eligible Google-app workflows, and Microsoft Premium when Office integration fits and one AI owner is sufficient. Those are workflow matches, not quality rankings. If meeting capture is the real bottleneck, use the linked meeting-note comparison instead of assuming a general chatbot replaces recording and consent workflows. Review the chosen plan after 30 days and keep it only if the recorded benefit exceeds the complete cost.