AI subscriptions — ROI and API value
AI subscription ROI: what each plan costs and its estimated API-credit equivalent. Direct plans use a session-based model with prompt caching. Prices updated in June 2026.
Updated: July 26, 2026 at 08:08 AM
| № | Service | Plan | Type | Price | API equivalent | Savings $ | Savings % | Models | Method |
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| 1 | Anthropic | Claude Pro | Direct | $20 | $55 | +$35 | +175% | Sonnet 4.6 Opus 4.7 |
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| 2 | Anthropic | Claude Max 5x | Direct | $100 | $280 | +$180 | +180% | Sonnet 4.6 Opus 4.7 |
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| 3 | Anthropic | Claude Max 20x | Direct | $200 | $1200 | +$1000 | +500% | Sonnet 4.6 Opus 4.7 |
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| 4 | OpenAI | ChatGPT Plus | Direct | $20 | $140 | +$120 | +600% | GPT-5.5 |
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| 5 | OpenAI | ChatGPT Pro | Direct | $100 | $550 | +$450 | +450% | GPT-5.5 GPT-5.5 Pro o1 Pro |
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| 6 | OpenAI | ChatGPT Pro Max | Direct | $200 | $1500 | +$1300 | +650% | GPT-5.5 GPT-5.5 Pro o1 Pro |
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| 7 | OpenAI | ChatGPT Business | Direct | $25 | $160 | +$135 | +540% | GPT-5.5 GPT-5.5 Pro |
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| 8 | OpenAI | ChatGPT Enterprise | Direct | $50 | $400 | +$350 | +700% | GPT-5.5 GPT-5.5 Pro o1 Pro |
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| 9 | AI Plus | Direct | $7.99 | $24 | +$16 | +200% | Gemini 3.1 Pro |
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| 10 | AI Pro | Direct | $19.99 | $150 | +$130 | +650% | Gemini 3.1 Pro |
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| 11 | AI Ultra | Direct | $99.99 | $500 | +$400 | +400% | Deep Think Gemini Ultra |
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| 12 | xAI | X Premium | Direct | $8 | $16 | +$8 | +100% | Grok 4 |
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| 13 | xAI | SuperGrok Lite | Direct | $10 | $25 | +$15 | +150% | Grok 4 |
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| 14 | xAI | SuperGrok | Direct | $30 | $120 | +$90 | +300% | Grok 4.3 Grok 4 |
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| 15 | xAI | SuperGrok Heavy | Direct | $300 | $1050 | +$750 | +250% | Grok 4.3 Grok 4 |
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| 16 | GitHub Copilot | Pro | Proxy | $10 | $40 | +$30 | +300% | GPT-5.5 Sonnet 4.6 Gemini 3.5 |
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| 17 | GitHub Copilot | Pro+ | Proxy | $39 | $90 | +$51 | +131% | GPT-5.5 Sonnet 4.6 Gemini 3.5 |
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| 18 | Cursor | Pro | Proxy | $20 | $70 | +$50 | +250% | Claude Sonnet GPT-4o Gemini Pro |
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| 19 | Cursor | Pro+ | Proxy | $60 | $160 | +$100 | +167% | Claude Sonnet GPT-4o Gemini Pro |
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| 20 | Windsurf | Pro | Proxy | $20 | $85 | +$65 | +325% | SWE-1.5 Sonnet 4.6 GPT-5.4 |
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| 21 | Windsurf | Max | Proxy | $200 | $420 | +$220 | +110% | SWE-1.5 Sonnet 4.6 GPT-5.4 |
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| 22 | Poe | Standard | Proxy | $19.99 | $45 | +$25 | +125% | GPT-5 Opus 4.6 Gemini 3 Pro DeepSeek-R1 |
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| 23 | Trae.ai | Lite | Proxy | $3 | $25 | +$22 | +733% | GPT-5.4 Sonnet 4 Kimi K2 |
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| 24 | Trae.ai | Pro | Proxy | $10 | $85 | +$75 | +750% | GPT-5.4 Sonnet 4 |
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| 25 | Trae.ai | Ultra | Proxy | $100 | $920 | +$820 | +820% | GPT-5.4 Sonnet 4 |
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| 26 | Alibaba Cloud | Qwen Pro | Direct | $50 | $580 | +$530 | +1060% | Qwen3.5-Plus Kimi K2.5 GLM-5 |
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| 27 | Opencode | Go | Proxy | $10 | $60 | +$50 | +500% | Opencode Assistants |
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How the API equivalent is estimated
Direct subscriptions (usage-based)
The provider also creates the model (Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, xAI). The equivalent uses a session model and accounts for prompt caching.
Proxy subscriptions (credit-based)
An IDE or aggregator plan. The equivalent is based on published usage credits spent at the underlying models' API rates.
⚠️ Estimates are approximate and message limits are dynamic. Verify current pricing on the official websites.