AI subscription cost calculator: ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini per year

A realistic AI-for-money setup costs between $0 and about $590 a year for most people. Of the assistants we priced, only ChatGPT has a built-in bank connection, Finances, and it needs a paid plan starting at $240 a year and only works in the US. Claude, Gemini and Perplexity don’t sell a finance tier. What you pay depends on which AI plan you pick and whether you add a budgeting app like YNAB.

How we checked this

On September 24, 2026, we read the official pricing pages and help-center articles from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Perplexity, Monarch, YNAB, Richify and Evergreen, linked in the Sources list at the end. The table uses only prices those pages showed, with no estimates or third-party figures. Yearly totals are our own arithmetic: where a vendor offers no annual billing, the yearly figure is 12 × the monthly price. All prices are in US dollars, before tax.

The price table: plan costs and which tier unlocks money features

Facts checked on September 24, 2026. Plans and prices change often, so confirm the price at checkout.

A few cells need explaining. Where a vendor offers no annual plan, as with ChatGPT, or doesn’t show one, as with Google AI and Perplexity, we multiplied the monthly price by 12. That figure is what you’d pay over a year, not a discounted annual price. Monarch’s pricing page shows a 7-day free trial and a WELCOME code for 30% off the first year.

What the finance feature costs on each platform

ChatGPT is the only one of the four big assistants with a built-in personal-finance product. According to OpenAI’s help center, “Finances is available in the U.S. to Plus and Pro users on web, iOS, and Android.” That makes the cheapest way in Plus at $20 a month. OpenAI says it does not support annual billing or paying for several months in advance on Go, Plus or Pro, so the minimum is $240 a year. There’s no discount for paying ahead. For how the bank connection works and how to cut it off, see our guide on how to connect your bank to ChatGPT via Plaid.

The Pro plan now has two tiers, Pro $100 and Pro $200. As of September 10, 2026, OpenAI says it is “temporarily pausing new sign-ups and upgrades to the ChatGPT Pro $200 plan (Pro 20X).” Current Pro $200 subscribers keep their plan. Former subscribers get a one-time chance to return within 30 days of their access ending. If you’re signing up today, Pro effectively means the $100 tier. For finance tasks, Pro doesn’t unlock anything that Plus lacks. You’d only pay for it to get higher usage limits.

Claude has no consumer finance tier. Anthropic’s pricing page lists connectors and skills on Free, Pro and Max. None of the individual plans mentions a personal-finance feature. What Claude can do with outside financial data comes through those connectors, and we cover which ones work in Claude for personal finance: the MCP connectors that work in 2026. Claude is also the only assistant here with a published annual discount: Pro costs $200 up front instead of $240 a year billed monthly.

Google AI and Perplexity don’t sell a finance add-on either. Google’s plans differ mainly in how much Gemini you can use and how much storage you get. Perplexity Pro and Max add premium data sources, PitchBook and Statista among them, which are aimed at market research, not household budgets.

The three example stacks, computed from the table

These are example combinations, not recommendations. They show how the totals add up. Your own mix depends on where you live, which accounts you need to connect, and whether you’d actually use the budgeting app. Our Richify vs Monarch vs YNAB comparison covers that last question.

Student (US college student). Google says college students get a free Pro plan for one year, and YNAB offers college students a free 365-day trial. Add ChatGPT Free and Evergreen’s free beta, and the first year costs $0. In year two, keeping Google AI Pro ($239.88) and moving YNAB to annual billing ($109) comes to $348.88. If you only keep YNAB and use the free tiers of the rest, year two is $109. One more option: Perplexity lists an Education Pro plan at $10 a month with student verification, which is $120 a year.

Freelancer (US, one person). ChatGPT Plus ($240) gets you Finances for a connected view of your accounts. YNAB annual ($109) handles budgeting. Claude Pro on annual billing ($200) is there for writing and document work. Total: $549 a year. Drop Claude and it’s $349. Swap YNAB for Richify Pro at the monthly rate ($119.88) and the three-tool stack is $559.88. Whether a freelancer needs two chat assistants is a fair question. The cheapest setup that still has a bank-connected assistant is Plus alone at $240.

Family (two adults, kids). Google AI Pro ($239.88) can be shared with up to five other people, and Google says family members on AI Pro get the AI benefits at no extra cost. YNAB ($109) covers up to six people on one subscription. Together that’s $348.88 a year for the household. If one adult also wants ChatGPT Finances, add Plus ($240) for $588.88. Plus is priced per person, so a second adult with their own Plus plan brings the total to $828.88.

Annual vs monthly billing, and regional prices

Annual billing only saves money where a vendor offers it. Among these vendors’ published prices, two services have a real annual discount:

• YNAB: $109 a year instead of $179.88 billed monthly, a saving of $70.88.
• Claude Pro: $200 up front instead of $240 billed monthly, a saving of $40.

ChatGPT has no annual option at all. Google’s and Perplexity’s pricing pages list monthly prices only. Monarch is advertising 30% off the first year with a code; the dollar saving depends on the base price shown at checkout.

On regional pricing, all the prices above come from US-facing pages and are in US dollars. YNAB marks its prices “USD*” with an asterisk, so check the footnote on its page for your region. Prices in other countries and currencies can differ, so check the local pricing page. ChatGPT Finances, the one bank-connected feature in this table, is US-only, so readers outside the US would be paying for Plus without getting it. For a broader look at which tools help with money tasks, see our hub on AI money tools.

Where it goes wrong

• Paying for a finance feature you can’t use. Finances in ChatGPT is limited to the US. Outside the US, Plus is just a general-purpose chat plan.
• Assuming “Pro” is always available. The $200 ChatGPT Pro tier isn’t taking new sign-ups right now. If you cancel it, you only get one 30-day window to come back.
• Reading 12 × monthly as an annual deal. Most yearly figures in the table are simple multiplication. Only YNAB and Claude Pro publish a discounted annual price.
• Forgetting the trial end dates. Google’s student Pro year, YNAB’s student year and Evergreen’s free beta, which runs to Jan. 1, 2028, all end. Put the date in your calendar.
• Stacking tools that overlap. A chat assistant with Finances and a budgeting app both categorize spending. Pay for both only if you use both. Our guide to where AI gets money wrong shows why a second check can still be worth it.

This is a cost comparison, not financial advice. If you’re deciding how to manage debt, taxes or investments, a licensed professional is the right person to ask.

Go deeper

• AI money tools: the cluster hub
• Best AI personal finance assistants (2026)
• Richify vs Monarch vs YNAB: which AI budgeting app actually understands your spending
• Evergreen.ai review: what ex-PayPal CEO Bill Harris’s AI money adviser offers
• How to connect your bank to ChatGPT (Plaid): what it sees, how to revoke