Category · 6 tools tracked, 6 with a published verdict
Chat assistants: which are worth paying for?
Our verdict on each tool's paid plans, its cheapest paid price and, where we have run it, our own test score. Prices are checked every day on the vendors' own pages; the last check was on Sep 28, 2026.
YES3 toolsDEPENDS3 toolsNO0 tools
Cheapest paid plan, compared
Prices checked Sep 28, 2026 · scores are free-tier averages- Gemini: cheapest paid plan $4.99/mo, our score 9.1 out of 10. 9.1 tested
- Le Chat: cheapest paid plan $14.99/mo, not tested by us yet. not tested yet
- Claude: cheapest paid plan $20/mo, not tested by us yet. not tested yet
- MiniMax: cheapest paid plan $22/mo, not tested by us yet. not tested yet
- Grok: cheapest paid plan $30/mo, not tested by us yet. not tested yet
How to read it
Each tool sits at its cheapest paid monthly price. A score badge marks tools we have tested; the others say "not tested yet", because we never guess a score.
Only 2 of 6 tools have a published score, too few to compare price with quality. With 3 or more scores this becomes a price-vs-score chart.
DeepSeek bills by usage or has no monthly USD price, so it sits in its own slot.
Data: our published tool pages. Scores are out of 10 (70% quality, 30% automatic checks). How we test
All chat assistants
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Claudeby Anthropic · verdict Sep 28, 2026YESPaying unlocks Claude Code, Opus, and higher limits that the free plan lacks.
Cheapest paid$20/moProFree planOur score—not tested yetPricing, docs & user reports -
Geminiby Google · verdict Sep 26, 2026YES
Paying adds massive storage and higher usage limits that make the tool practical for regular work.
Cheapest paid$4.99/moGoogle AI PlusFree planOur score9.1/10free tierTested by us · Sep 26, 2026 -
Grokby xAI · verdict Sep 28, 2026DEPENDS
SuperGrok adds speed and models; SuperGrok Plus adds 1080p video. Choose based on your need for video or just higher limits.
Cheapest paid$30/moSuperGrokFree planOur score—not tested yetPricing & docs only -
DeepSeekby DeepSeek · verdict Sep 25, 2026DEPENDSDeepSeek offers high-concurrency API access with usage-based billing, but lacks a free tier.
Cheapest paidusage-basedusage-based billingOur score—not tested yetPricing & docs only -
Le Chatby Mistral AI · verdict Sep 25, 2026DEPENDS
Pay for Pro if you need unlimited task scheduling and 15GB storage; the free plan covers casual use.
Cheapest paid$14.99/moProFree planOur score—not tested yetPricing & docs only -
MiniMaxby MiniMax · verdict Sep 28, 2026YESMiniMax has no free plan, but its paid tiers offer strong value for coding agents and heavy API usage.
Cheapest paid$22/moPlusOur score8.8/10paid tierTested by us · Sep 25, 2026