Cost comparison · Updated September 2026
ChatGPT Plus + Claude Pro + Gemini vs BYOK — what the subscriptions really cost
Most people who want more than one AI end up paying for two or three consumer subscriptions. This page puts those prices next to what the same models cost per token through their APIs — and shows where each way of paying wins.
- Three subscriptions: $60
- All flagships: ≈ $25
- Everyday roster: ≈ $7
- Budget roster: ≈ $3
Add PolyCog's own $10 a month, or nothing on the free tier. The bars redraw the table; they never round down.
Three subscriptions cost $60 a month whatever you use; the same 60 sessions a month through your own keys cost about $25 with every seat a flagship, about $7 with everyday models and about $3 on the budget roster.
The short version
ChatGPT Plus, Claude Pro and Google AI Pro add up to about $60 a month before you touch Grok. Paying the same companies per token through their APIs — which is what BYOK means — costs most people a few dollars a month for the same frontier models, because you pay for what you use instead of for a seat. The subscriptions still win if you are a heavy all-day user of one flagship model, or you want the extras — image and video generation, voice, integrations — that the APIs do not bundle. PolyCog exists for the other case: several models, one question, paid at cost.
The subscriptions
Consumer plans, monthly billing, as published in September 2026. Each one buys generous access to one company's models plus that company's extras.
| Plan | Price | What it buys |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT Plus | $20/mo | GPT-6 Astra and the GPT-5.6 models, expanded messaging and uploads, image generation, deep research, custom GPTs |
| Claude Pro | $20/mo$17/mo billed annually | Everything in Free plus Claude Code, Cowork, Projects, Research; Max tiers from $100/mo for 5×–20× the usage |
| Google AI Pro | $19.99/mo | 4× the free usage of Gemini, Gemini 3 Pro access, Deep Search, Gemini in Gmail and Docs, 5 TB storage |
| SuperGrok | $30/mo | Grok 4.6 with higher limits, image and video generation |
| DeepSeek | Free | The consumer app is free; the API is paid per token |
| Three of them | $59.99/mo≈ $720 a year | ChatGPT Plus + Claude Pro + Google AI Pro. Add SuperGrok: $89.99/mo, ≈ $1,080 a year |
The same models, per token
What the companies charge developers — and BYOK users — per million tokens, from their own pricing pages, September 2026. A million tokens is roughly 750,000 words. Promotional rates are marked.
| Model | Input | Output | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Fable 5.1 | $10 | $50 | Anthropic's top model |
| Claude Opus 5 | $5 | $25 | |
| Claude Sonnet 5 | $2 | $10 | |
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | $1 | $5 | |
| GPT-6 Astra | $10 | $50 | OpenAI's top model |
| GPT-5.6 Sol | $4 | $20 | Promotional rate, at least through 21 Nov 2026 |
| GPT-5.6 Terra | $2 | $12 | |
| GPT-5.6 Luna | $0.20 | $1.20 | |
| Gemini 3.1 Pro (preview) | $2 | $12 | Prompts up to 200K tokens |
| Gemini 3.8 Flash | $0.75 | $3.75 | Introductory rate through 31 Dec 2026, then $1.50 / $7.50 |
| DeepSeek V4 Pro | $1.32 | $3.96 | Peak-hours rate; off-peak is cheaper |
| DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | $0.30 | $1.20 | Peak-hours rate; launched 10 Sep 2026 |
| Grok 4.6 | $2 | $6 |
This is the flagship-and-everyday subset. Every model PolyCog offers — all five providers — is on the full rate card, with a dated history of each price cut, increase and promotion, and how each provider’s flagship and cheapest model have been priced since its first public API price (September 2021 for OpenAI).
What a month of BYOK actually costs
A PolyCog session here means: four models answer your prompt in parallel, one debate round where each reads the others and replies, then a flagship writes the synthesis. Token counts are generous (about 800 in / 800 out per model for the first answer, 4,000 in / 700 out for the debate, 7,000 in / 1,000 out for the synthesis) and every figure is rounded up.
| Roster | Per session | Light20 sessions / mo | Typical60 sessions / mo | Heavy200 sessions / mo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BudgetGPT-5.6 Luna · Claude Haiku 4.5 · Gemini 3.8 Flash · DeepSeek V4.1 Flash · synthesis by DeepSeek V4 Pro | ≈ 5¢ | ≈ $1 | ≈ $3 | ≈ $9 |
| EverydayGPT-5.6 Terra · Claude Sonnet 5 · Gemini 3.8 Flash · Grok 4.6 · synthesis by Gemini 3.1 Pro | ≈ 11¢ | ≈ $3 | ≈ $7 | ≈ $22 |
| All flagshipsGPT-6 Astra · Claude Fable 5.1 · Gemini 3.1 Pro · Grok 4.6 · synthesis by Claude Fable 5.1 | ≈ 42¢ | ≈ $9 | ≈ $25 | ≈ $83 |
| Three subscriptionsChatGPT Plus + Claude Pro + Google AI Pro | — | $60 | $60 | $60 |
- Three subscriptions: $60
- All flagships + $10 plan, 60 sessions: ≈ $36
- Everyday roster + $10 plan, 60 sessions: ≈ $17
- Budget roster on the free tier, 60 sessions: ≈ $3
Add PolyCog's own $10 a month (or nothing on the free tier, or $250 once) and the everyday roster lands between $13 and $32 a month all-in for four frontier models plus a synthesis — against $60 to $90 for the subscriptions. The one row where the arithmetic flips is the last one: two hundred all-flagship sessions a month costs more than the three subscriptions and about what all four do, and if that is you, the subscriptions' flat price is a real advantage. PolyCog shows an estimate on every session and stops runs at a monthly cap you set, so the number is never a surprise.
And for plain one-model chat?
The same arithmetic for ordinary chatting, with the conversation history re-sent on every message (about 2,000 tokens in, 500 out per message).
| Model | 10 messages a day | 40 messages a day | The subscription |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Sonnet 5 | ≈ $3 | ≈ $11 | Claude Pro $20 |
| GPT-5.6 Sol | ≈ $6 | ≈ $22 | ChatGPT Plus $20 |
| Claude Fable 5.1 | ≈ $14 | ≈ $54 | Claude Pro $20 (with limits) or Max from $100 |
| GPT-6 Astra | ≈ $14 | ≈ $54 | ChatGPT Plus $20 (with limits) or Pro from $100 |
- $20
- ≈ $11
- ≈ $22
- ≈ $54
- ≈ $54
The honest edge: all day on one flagship, the subscription wins. Per-token pricing pays off for several models at normal volumes, not for maximal volume to one.
This is the honest edge of the comparison: forty messages a day to a flagship through the API costs more than the flagship's own subscription. Per-token pricing rewards people who use several models thoughtfully, not people who chat with one top model all day.
Where the subscriptions win
A comparison you can trust has to cut both ways.
The extras
Image and video generation, voice modes, Claude Code and Cowork, Gemini inside Gmail and Docs, custom GPTs, deep-research modes. None of that comes through a plain API key. If those are why you subscribe, keep the subscription.
Heavy single-model use
Chat with one flagship all day and the flat price wins. The API is cheaper for breadth and for normal volumes, not for maximal volume to one model.
Zero setup
A subscription is one card on one site. BYOK is a developer console and a key at each provider you want — about five minutes each, once, and a payment method or prepaid credit on each.
A predictable bill
Per-token pricing moves with your usage. Provider spending limits and PolyCog's monthly cap keep it bounded, but a subscription never needs bounding.
Where BYOK wins
You pay for what you use
A quiet month costs a few cents. A subscription you barely used still cost $20.
Every model, one place
Five providers' current models side by side, debating and synthesized, for less than one subscription for most people.
Verifiable to the cent
Every call is in your own provider dashboard with the model name on it. No credits, no points, no "unlimited, subject to fair use".
Nothing to lose
The keys and the provider accounts are yours. If PolyCog vanished tomorrow, every key would still work in any other BYOK tool.
Common questions
Is the API cheaper than ChatGPT Plus?
For most people, yes, by a wide margin. Forty messages a day to Claude Sonnet 5 through the API — with conversation history re-sent each time — costs about $11 a month at September 2026 list prices; the same to GPT-5.6 Sol about $22, and to GPT-6 Astra about $54. Ten messages a day costs a few dollars. The subscription wins only when you send a very large volume to a top model every day, or when you want the bundled extras.
What does BYOK mean?
Bring Your Own Key. You create an API key at OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, DeepSeek or xAI, paste it into PolyCog once, and every prompt runs under your own account at the provider's published per-token prices. The calls appear in your own provider dashboard, so the bill is verifiable to the cent.
How do I get API keys?
Each provider has a developer console where you add a payment method or buy prepaid credits and create a key — about five minutes per provider, no code required. PolyCog stores the keys encrypted and walks you through it. You only need keys for the providers you actually want to use.
What do the subscriptions include that the API does not?
Image and video generation, voice modes, the companies' own apps and integrations (Claude Code and Cowork on Claude Pro, Gemini inside Gmail and Docs on Google AI Pro, custom GPTs on Plus), deep-research modes, and a flat price that does not grow with use. If those are why you subscribe, keep the subscription.
Can I cap what BYOK usage costs?
Yes, twice over. Every provider lets you set a spending limit on your account, and PolyCog shows a per-session estimate and a monthly cap of its own that stops runs before you cross it. The estimates are deliberately rounded up.
Do the providers train on API data?
As of their published policies, the paid APIs of OpenAI, Anthropic and Google do not use your inputs to train models by default, which is a stronger default than several of the consumer apps offer. Policies change; check each provider's current data-use page before relying on this.
See the difference in one prompt
Run the same question through several frontier models, watch them debate, and read the synthesis. Free sample mode, no signup, no keys needed.
Free tier forever · $10/mo · $250 lifetime · your API keys, your bill