The pricing desk

Know the real cost of the AI you are about to buy.

An independent desk for current prices, ranked comparisons, and the jobs people are actually searching. We hide dated briefings instead of leaving last quarter’s advice on the homepage.

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New · GPT-6 Astra

The $20 workload: when GPT-6 Astra earns its premium

Official pricing, independent tests, safety caveats and a direct comparison with GPT-5.6 Sol.

Read the GPT-6 Astra verdict

Wires & labs

StratecheryAn Interview With Intuit CEO Sasan Goodarzi About Accounting and AI The Verge AIBig Tech’s big AI buildout will not end until someone stops it The Guardian TechnologyUK found to be ‘dangerously’ reliant on China for critical minerals needed for defence and AI arXiv cs.CLSRRM: A Retrieval-Reconstruction Benchmark for Evaluating Long-Context Memory in Small Language Models arXiv cs.CLAI-Driven SaaS Platform Integration: AI Express for Unified Generative AI Services with Pay-As-You-Go Credit Systems and Scalable Microservice Architecture arXiv cs.AIWho May Overrule the Agent? Evidence-Gated Authority in LLM Review Institutions arXiv cs.AIUncertainty-Aware Resource Orchestration for Agentic AI Systems arXiv cs.LGStress-Testing the Robustness of LLM-Based Causal Inference arXiv cs.LGLanguage Models Can Benefit from Domain-Specific Inductive Biases OpenAI NewsSetting a new standard for responsible AI infrastructure TechCrunch AIApple is reportedly cutting budgets for its internal AI usage The Guardian TechnologyScare campaigns: Victoria’s major parties trade blows over AI-generated videos of leaders in election ads TechCrunch AIAI PACs spent millions trying to shape Congress — here’s how they fared SiliconANGLE AIMeta acquires AI coding startup Conductor, whose app runs several coding agents at once SiliconANGLE AIAI agents meet billable hours as Certinia rethinks services delivery Ars TechnicaBig Tech claims voters’ AI backlash is “anti-Trump” not “anti-tech”The Verge AIGemini for Home now plugs into AT&T’s smart security system The DecoderChatGPT can now turn text prompts and photos into animated GIFs with OpenAI's Images 2.6 model StratecheryAn Interview With Intuit CEO Sasan Goodarzi About Accounting and AI The Verge AIBig Tech’s big AI buildout will not end until someone stops it The Guardian TechnologyUK found to be ‘dangerously’ reliant on China for critical minerals needed for defence and AI arXiv cs.CLSRRM: A Retrieval-Reconstruction Benchmark for Evaluating Long-Context Memory in Small Language Models arXiv cs.CLAI-Driven SaaS Platform Integration: AI Express for Unified Generative AI Services with Pay-As-You-Go Credit Systems and Scalable Microservice Architecture arXiv cs.AIWho May Overrule the Agent? Evidence-Gated Authority in LLM Review Institutions arXiv cs.AIUncertainty-Aware Resource Orchestration for Agentic AI Systems arXiv cs.LGStress-Testing the Robustness of LLM-Based Causal Inference arXiv cs.LGLanguage Models Can Benefit from Domain-Specific Inductive Biases OpenAI NewsSetting a new standard for responsible AI infrastructure TechCrunch AIApple is reportedly cutting budgets for its internal AI usage The Guardian TechnologyScare campaigns: Victoria’s major parties trade blows over AI-generated videos of leaders in election ads TechCrunch AIAI PACs spent millions trying to shape Congress — here’s how they fared SiliconANGLE AIMeta acquires AI coding startup Conductor, whose app runs several coding agents at once SiliconANGLE AIAI agents meet billable hours as Certinia rethinks services delivery Ars TechnicaBig Tech claims voters’ AI backlash is “anti-Trump” not “anti-tech”The Verge AIGemini for Home now plugs into AT&T’s smart security system The DecoderChatGPT can now turn text prompts and photos into animated GIFs with OpenAI's Images 2.6 model

This desk

DeskGrok Bot review: access, cost, risks and alternatives DeskChatGPT Work vs Claude Cowork: Best Agent for Knowledge Work DeskManus vs Genspark: Which Super Agent Produces Better Value?DeskBest Autonomous AI Agents: Manus, Genspark, ChatGPT Work and More DeskManus Pricing and Credit Calculator: What Each Completed Task Costs DeskAgentic AI: permissions as a line item DeskGrok Bot review: access, cost, risks and alternatives DeskChatGPT Work vs Claude Cowork: Best Agent for Knowledge Work DeskManus vs Genspark: Which Super Agent Produces Better Value?DeskBest Autonomous AI Agents: Manus, Genspark, ChatGPT Work and More DeskManus Pricing and Credit Calculator: What Each Completed Task Costs DeskAgentic AI: permissions as a line item

Tools

Price your own AI job

Pick what you do, set your volume, and see what it costs per month on 386 priced models. Defaults are typical, so change them.

Open the AI Cost Simulator

Customer support chatbot3,000 conversations a month

Budget pick: $1.74
Flagship default: $131

Coding assistant for a team4,400 requests a month

Budget pick: $4.12
Flagship default: $281

Invoice and form data extraction20K documents a month

Budget pick: $4.65
Flagship default: $416

AI agent workflows1,500 runs a month

Budget pick: $7.44
Flagship default: $735

AI Value FrontierWhich models give the most measured quality per dollar, and which you can drop.Decision Model Cost LabLabelling millions of items? Decision models against chat models, priced.

Estimates at typical volumes on current OpenRouter prices, not quotes. Budget pick is the cheapest model that cleared our benchmark for that job.

What search and traffic say buyers want

Start with a real buying question

Ranked from Search Console demand, real sessions and conversions on this site, and prices that moved this month. Open the one that matches what you are about to pay for.

Fresh briefings

All public guides

2026-11-04 · 10 min read

How to Reduce Your AI Costs by 80% Without Losing Quality

A practical guide to cutting AI spending through smart model routing, prompt optimization, and caching strategies.

2026-11-04 · 6 min read

API vs Subscription: How to Choose the Right AI Pricing Model

Pay per token if you send less than about 3.5M tokens a month on GPT-5.4, or 5M on Claude Sonnet 5. Above that, a $20 ChatGPT Plus or Claude Pro plan is cheaper. Most people who chat by hand sit below the line, so the API saves them money, as long as they can set it up.

2026-11-04 · 6 min read

Free AI Tools That Are Actually Good

Honest guide to AI tools with real free tiers — not bait-and-switch trials masquerading as free.

2026-11-04 · 5 min read

Best AI Tools Under $20/Month in 2026

The top AI tools you can use for $20 or less per month — covering writing, coding, research, and general productivity.

2026-11-04 · 8 min read

How to Audit Your AI Spend: A Step-by-Step Guide

A practical framework for auditing every dollar you spend on AI tools — subscriptions, APIs, and shadow spend — so you only pay for what you use.

2026-11-04 · 6 min read

Hidden Costs of AI Subscriptions Nobody Talks About

Beyond the monthly fee: the real costs of AI subscriptions including switching friction, seat creep, and the price of not optimizing.

Live comparisons

All public comparisons

2026-11-04

ChatGPT vs Cursor Cost in 2026: $20 Plus vs Cursor's $8 to $200 Tiers

ChatGPT Plus is $20 a month, flat. Cursor's cheapest plan with Claude or GPT is Premium at $30. Every Claude, GPT or Gemini request is billed on top, so a moderate coding month comes to about $42. Buy ChatGPT Plus if most of your AI time goes on writing and research. Buy Cursor Premium if you code for hours every day. Prices checked 17 October 2026.

2026-11-03

AI Subscription vs API Cost in 2026: Find Your Break-Even

$20 a month buys about 5M tokens of GPT-6 Sol or Claude Sonnet 5 on the API, at a 3:1 input-to-output mix. A typical chat user sends well under 1M tokens a month, so on paper the API is cheaper for most people. Pay for ChatGPT Plus or Claude Pro anyway if you want the app; put anything automated on the API. Rates checked 17 October 2026.

2026-11-03

Claude vs Cursor for Coding in 2026: API, Claude Pro or a Cursor Seat?

Claude Code on the $20 Claude Pro plan is the cheapest flat-rate way to code with Claude every day. Cursor Premium is $30 plus Claude usage on top, about $35 in a moderate month and $66 in a heavy one. The Claude API is cheapest per token, about $5 at moderate use, but it suits pipelines and products, not hands-on coding. Prices checked 17 October 2026.

2026-09-11

Microsoft Copilot vs ChatGPT Plus: Which Is Better for Office Work?

Microsoft Copilot Pro is $30/month; ChatGPT Plus is $20. Both run OpenAI's GPT-5 models — the question is whether native Word, Excel and Outlook integration is worth $10 more.

2026-10-27

DeepSeek vs ChatGPT vs Claude: The $0 vs $20/Month vs API Decision

DeepSeek's web chat costs $0 with no message cap. ChatGPT Plus and Claude Pro are $20 a month each, and that $20 buys features, not better everyday text answers: voice and images on ChatGPT, Claude Code on Claude. For text-only personal use, start with DeepSeek. If you are building on the API, compare token rates instead: DeepSeek V4.1 Flash is $0.30/$1.20 per 1M tokens at peak, against $2/$10 on Claude Sonnet 5.

2026-11-04

Claude Free vs Pro: Is Claude Pro Worth $20/Month?

Claude's free tier gives you Claude Sonnet 5 with limits. Claude Pro costs $20/month and adds higher limits, Opus 5 and Claude Code. Here is what the upgrade actually adds and who should pay.

Start with the job

Coding

Editors, agents, accepted diffs

Writing

Drafts that survive review

Research

Cited briefs, not busy agents

Support

Resolved tickets, not chat volume

Agents

Permissions as a line item

Design

Approved assets, not generations

Training desk

Learn the model, then price it

140 free lessons across 25 courses. Every one ends in what the model costs and the cheapest way to get the same result — no sign-up, progress saved in your browser.

All tutorials

New to AI? Start here

AI From Zero6 lessons · 30 min · no sign-upSix short lessons and no account needed to try the examples. Finish one real task with AI today, learn when not to trust it, and find out whether you need to pay for anything at all.Which AI Should I Use?6 lessons · 36 min · no sign-upSix needs, not six brands. For each one: two or three candidate tools, a prompt you can run to feel the difference, and a plain verdict on where to start and when to move.How to Talk to AI5 lessons · 28 min · no sign-upOne three-part habit, five short lessons, no vocabulary to memorise. Get a usable answer on the first try more often, and know exactly what to say when you do not.10 Things With AI5 lessons · 32 min · no sign-upTen small, useful jobs — an email, a summary, a plan, a spreadsheet question — each one done in two minutes with a prompt you can paste, and a note on which ones a free account handles.When AI Is Wrong6 lessons · 35 min · no sign-upA fluent answer is not a checked answer. Six short lessons that teach you why a chat model can be confidently wrong, how to spot it, and the one thirty-second check that works every time.AI With PDFs5 lessons · 33 min · no sign-upUpload a document, ask it questions, summarise it to the length you want, pull out the action items, compare two versions, and know exactly where a free plan stops being enough.

One product, in depth

First Output 1016 lessons · 72 min · BeginnerSix lessons, six things you actually make. Start with one API call costing a fraction of a cent, finish with a working tool and a routing rule that keeps your bill boring.Claude 1018 lessons · 81 min · BeginnerEverything Anthropic's own Claude 101 teaches — plus what each plan and model actually costs, and the cheapest way to get the same result.ChatGPT 1018 lessons · 81 min · BeginnerLearn ChatGPT from zero, and learn exactly what each plan and model costs before you pay for one.Gemini 1018 lessons · 80 min · Beginner → IntermediateLearn what Gemini is, which model to pick, and what each plan and API call really costs before you pay Google a cent.DeepSeek 1018 lessons · 79 min · Beginner → IntermediateLearn the free chat app, the open-weight model family and the OpenAI-compatible API — and what each one actually costs.Mistral 1018 lessons · 72 min · BeginnerLe Chat, the Mistral model families, open weights, and what each one actually costs.Llama 1018 lessons · 79 min · Beginner → IntermediateOpen-weight models you can rent by the token or run yourself. Learn what that actually costs.Grok 1018 lessons · 73 min · Beginner → IntermediateLearn what Grok is, which model to pick, what it really costs, and how to keep the bill small.

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Updated recently

Pricing changelog

Pricing · Nov 4, 2026Devin Pricing: Free, Pro, Max and Teams ExplainedDevin Pricing: Free, Pro, Max and Teams Explained. Current official plans, limits, usage costs and a practical test for choosing without overpaying.Pricing · Nov 4, 2026Windsurf (Now Devin Desktop) Pricing: Free, Pro, Max, TeamsWindsurf Pricing: Free, Pro, Max, Teams. Current official plans, limits, usage costs and a practical test for choosing without overpaying.Compare · Nov 4, 2026ChatGPT vs Cursor Cost in 2026: $20 Plus vs Cursor's $8 to $200 TiersThe gap between the two plans is $10 before you send a single Claude request in Cursor, and it grows from there. ChatGPT Plus has no per-token bill: Instant chat does not draw on its usage allowance, but ChatGPT Work and Codex already do, and OpenAI says that from December the Plus allowance is shared across ChatGPT and Codex. Cursor Premium's $30 covers only Cursor's own Grok and Composer models; Claude Sonnet 5.5 costs $2 per 1M input tokens and $10 per 1M output on top. So Cursor costs $10 more at zero third-party use, $22 more in a moderate month and $50 more in a heavy one. What flips the answer is hours spent coding, not tokens. Under an hour a day, Cursor Free usually covers the editor side and ChatGPT Plus is your only bill.Compare · Nov 4, 2026ChatGPT vs Claude Cost in 2026: Which $20 Plan Wins?Neither is cheaper: both are $20/month. Claude Pro is the better $20 for writing, long documents and coding (it includes Claude Code); ChatGPT Plus is better for breadth, with GPT-5.5, image generation, voice and a broad tool ecosystem. If you would rather pay per token, Claude Sonnet 5 API is $2/$10 per 1M and GPT-5.4 is $2.50/$15, so a light month costs a few dollars on either.Best of · Nov 4, 2026Best AI Stack for SolopreneursA compact AI stack for solopreneurs who need writing, research, coding and light automation without a software bill that grows faster than revenue.Best of · Nov 4, 2026Best AI Tools for Founders in 2026The best AI tools for startup founders, ranked by leverage per dollar: strategy, research, writing and code without four overlapping subscriptions.Guide · Nov 4, 2026How to Reduce Your AI Costs by 80% Without Losing QualityA practical guide to cutting AI spending through smart model routing, prompt optimization, and caching strategies.Guide · Nov 4, 2026API vs Subscription: How to Choose the Right AI Pricing ModelPay per token if you send less than about 3.5M tokens a month on GPT-5.4, or 5M on Claude Sonnet 5. Above that, a $20 ChatGPT Plus or Claude Pro plan is cheaper. Most people who chat by hand sit below the line, so the API saves them money, as long as they can set it up.

How this desk stays honest

01Catalogue API prices are refreshed through the day. If a figure is more than two weeks old, we mark it stale instead of leaving it looking current.
02News briefings leave the public desk after three weeks. Evergreen money pages stay listed while the API catalogue is Live or Recent. We do not bump dates just to look current.
03The questions above are the buys people are actually weighing. New comparisons appear here while they are still current.

Partner picks

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