Paying for an AI assistant in the UK is no longer a single-button decision. ChatGPT, Claude, Google Gemini, Perplexity and Grok each sell several consumer tiers, mix sterling and dollar pricing, and describe usage limits carefully. This guide covers consumer plans only — Free through individual Pro/Max/Ultra tiers — from official pages checked on 29 September 2026. Team, Business, Enterprise and API pricing are out of scope.
Where a provider does not publish a clear UK pound price, we keep the confirmed foreign figure and say so. We never invent a sterling conversion. Missing or ambiguous facts are labelled Not publicly specified.
Quick recommendations
- Best overall — ChatGPT Plus ($20/month). Broad everyday toolkit: advanced reasoning, expanded deep research, images, Codex and projects. Caveat: confirm the GBP total (and any tax) at checkout.
- Best for coding — Claude Pro ($20/month, or $17/month billed annually). Includes Claude Code with usage shared across chat and terminal. Caveat: heavy coding burns the same five-hour and weekly pools as chat.
- Best for research — Perplexity Pro ($20/month). Citation-first answers and deeper research tools. Caveat: Free is limited; sustained work belongs on Pro or Max.
- Best for images and video — Google AI Pro (£18.99/month). UK-priced, with Flow credits, video access and Google One storage. Caveat: heaviest creative and Deep Think access is on Ultra (£79.99–£189.99).
- Best for heavy use — Claude Max or ChatGPT Pro (both from $100/month). Higher individual ceilings (Claude 5×/20× Max; OpenAI Pro tiers). Caveat: confirm the sub-tier before you pay.
- Best free option — Gemini Free or ChatGPT Free. Gemini includes everyday access, image tools and Deep Research within limits; ChatGPT Free offers unlimited everyday text chats with limited premium features. Caveat: free quotas can tighten without a new plan name.
Comparison table
Columns used below: Usage and limits · Standout features · Best for · Caveats.
ChatGPT (OpenAI) — Usage and limits: Free/Go limited; Plus expands messages, deep research and Codex; Pro maximises usage (from $100). Standout features: GPT-6 / GPT-5.6 family, image gen, Dot on Pro, voice. Best for: everyday work and broad tooling. Caveats: Go headline price Not publicly specified on static pricing markup; confirm GBP at checkout.
Claude (Anthropic) — Usage and limits: Free for everyday questions; Pro ≥5× Free per 5-hour window; Max 5× or 20× Pro. Standout features: Claude Code, Projects, Research, Opus/Sonnet/Haiku, up to 1M context. Best for: coding and long writing. Caveats: USD billing; tax may apply; no fixed message count.
Google Gemini — Usage and limits: Free; Plus 2×; Pro 4× vs free; Ultra 5× or 20× vs Pro. Standout features: UK £ prices, Google One storage, Flow, Gemini in Google apps. Best for: UK buyers wanting AI + storage. Caveats: features vary by country; many AI benefits 18+.
Perplexity — Usage and limits: Free limited Pro Searches (help: 3/day); Pro/Max raise research and Computer limits. Standout features: citations, multi-model answers, Computer, Comet. Best for: research with sources. Caveats: Max is $200/month.
Grok (xAI) — Usage and limits: Free within limits; paid plans share a weekly usage pool. Standout features: Grok 4.6, web/X search, Imagine, Grok Bot on SuperGrok. Best for: real-time X/web and creative gen. Caveats: Lite/Heavy card prices Not publicly specified; USD pricing.
ChatGPT (OpenAI)
Plans: Free, Go, Plus, Pro (Business/Enterprise excluded).
Price: Free is free. Plus is $20/month (OpenAI help). Pro is From $100/month on the consumer pricing page. Go’s exact public headline price was Not publicly specified in the static pricing markup when checked. UK sterling totals and VAT treatment are Not publicly specified as a fixed public list — confirm at checkout.
Models and features: Free centres on everyday text (GPT-5.6 Luna) with limited uploads, images, voice, deep research, memory and Codex. Go expands those limited areas (and may include ads). Plus adds advanced reasoning (GPT-6 family as listed), expanded deep research, projects, scheduled tasks, custom GPTs and expanded Codex. Pro adds higher usage tiers, Pro reasoning (GPT-6 Astra), Dot, and maximum deep research/Codex.
Platforms: Web, iOS and Android.
Sources: ChatGPT pricing (en-GB), What is ChatGPT Plus?
Claude (Anthropic)
Plans: Free, Pro, Max 5×/20× (Team/Enterprise excluded).
Price: Free $0. Pro $20/month, or $17/month with annual billing ($200 up front). Max from $100/month. Prices shown exclude applicable tax. A fixed UK £ list was Not publicly specified on the main pricing page.
Usage: Rolling five-hour sessions plus weekly limits on paid plans. Free covers everyday questions; Pro is at least 5× Free per session; Max is 5× or 20× Pro. No fixed message count. Claude Code is on paid plans and shares the pool.
Features: Sonnet/Haiku on Free; Opus and more on Pro/Max; Research on Pro+; Projects (Free up to 5); Design/Slides/Docs and Microsoft 365 on Pro+; context up to 1M (varies by model). Web, iOS, Android and desktop.
Sources: Claude pricing, Pro plan help
Google Gemini (Google AI plans)
Plans: Free, Google AI Plus, Pro, Ultra (5× and 20×).
Price (UK): Free £0. Plus £4.49/month. Pro £18.99/month. Ultra £79.99/month (5× vs Pro) or £189.99/month (20×). From Google’s UK Gemini subscriptions page.
Usage: Compute-based limits that refresh about every five hours until a weekly cap; optional AI credits. Published relative multipliers: Plus 2× and Pro 4× vs free; Ultra up to 20× vs Pro.
Standouts: Gemini app (3.6 Flash; expanded 3.1 Pro by tier), Deep Research, image/video tools, Flow credits (200 / 1,000 / 10,000 or 25,000), Gemini Notebook, Gemini in Gmail/Docs and more on paid tiers, YouTube Premium Lite (Pro) or Premium (Ultra, where available), Google One storage (15 GB / 400 GB / 5 TB / from 20 TB). Deep Think and Gemini Spark are Ultra-oriented (selected countries). Many AI benefits are 18+.
Sources: Gemini subscriptions (UK), Google One AI plans (UK)
Perplexity
Plans: Free (Standard), Pro, Max (Education Pro exists; Enterprise excluded).
Price: Free $0/month. Pro $20/month. Max $200/month (help also lists $2,000/year; annual Max noted as web-app only). Fixed UK £ list Not publicly specified on the hub pricing page.
Usage: Free has limited Pro Searches (3/day in help-centre comparison). Pro/Max raise Pro Search, Research, uploads and Computer limits; Max adds highest limits and large Computer credits (pricing page highlights 10,000/month on Max). Further numeric quotas beyond published help text remain Not publicly specified.
Standouts: Inline citations, multi-model answers with preferred-model selection on Pro/Max, deep research, file/app creation, Comet, premium data sources on paid tiers.
Sources: Perplexity pricing, Which plan?, Max help
Grok (xAI)
Plans: Free, SuperGrok Lite, SuperGrok, SuperGrok Plus, SuperGrok Heavy (Business/Enterprise excluded). X Premium Grok access is a separate X product.
Price (x.ai/pricing cards): Free $0/month. SuperGrok $30/month. SuperGrok Plus $100/month. Lite and Heavy appear in the grid, but headline prices were Not publicly specified on the main cards. No UK £ list on that page.
Usage: Paid plans use a shared weekly usage pool across Chat, Imagine, Voice and Build. Extra Usage Credits from $5 on the web after the pool is exhausted. Exact pool sizes per tier are Not publicly specified beyond relative “higher” language.
Standouts: Grok 4.6, real-time web/X search, voice, connectors, Imagine image/video, Grok Build, Grok Bot on SuperGrok. Plus adds 1080p video, higher usage and peak priority. Web, iOS, Android.
Sources: xAI pricing, Grok FAQ
Free-plan comparison
ChatGPT — What you get free: everyday text; limited uploads, images, voice, deep research, Codex. Main published free limits: premium features limited until Go/Plus/Pro.
Claude — What you get free: chat, web search, files/code, memory, Artifacts; Sonnet/Haiku. Main published free limits: everyday-question usage; no Claude Code; Projects up to 5.
Gemini — What you get free: Gemini app, images, Deep Research, Live, Canvas, Gems; 15 GB storage. Main published free limits: lower access to stronger models and Flow.
Perplexity — What you get free: cited answers, basic models, limited Pro Searches. Main published free limits: about 3 Pro Searches/day.
Grok — What you get free: web/X search, voice, connectors within free limits. Main published free limits: paid features pause when weekly paid pool ends; free Chat/Voice remain within free limits.
Free tiers are fine for trying tone and workflow. If you hit limits several days a week, one mid-tier plan is usually clearer value than stacking top-ups.
Recommendations by user type
- Students and light use: Strong free tier (Gemini or ChatGPT). Cheapest clear UK paid step: Google AI Plus at £4.49/month.
- Writers and knowledge work: ChatGPT Plus or Claude Pro — Claude for long prose; ChatGPT for images, voice and custom GPTs together.
- Developers: Claude Pro first (Claude Code). ChatGPT Plus/Pro for Codex/Dot. SuperGrok if Grok Build/Bot is the goal.
- Researchers: Perplexity Pro for citations; Gemini Pro for Deep Research plus storage; ChatGPT Plus for deep research inside ChatGPT.
- Creators: Google AI Pro in the UK for Flow and storage; SuperGrok/Plus for Imagine; Ultra/Max only after Pro is exhausted.
- Power users: Claude Max, ChatGPT Pro (from $100), Gemini Ultra, Perplexity Max or SuperGrok Plus — match the product to the workload.
Final verdict
Most UK individuals should buy one mid-tier plan, not three overlapping ones. ChatGPT Plus is the safest generalist; Claude Pro is the coding-first buy; Google AI Pro is the best published-in-pounds bundle with storage; Perplexity Pro wins when answers must carry sources; SuperGrok fits real-time X/web context and Grok’s creative tools.
Re-check checkout before you pay: several products still bill in US dollars, with tax only fully visible at purchase.
FAQs
1. Which plan is best value in the UK?
For a published pound price with storage, Google AI Pro at £18.99/month. For the assistant itself, ChatGPT Plus or Claude Pro at $20/month (confirm GBP at checkout).
2. Do prices include VAT?
Only when the provider says so. Anthropic excludes applicable tax from shown prices. Google lists UK pound prices. OpenAI, Perplexity and xAI inclusive UK totals were Not publicly specified on the pages checked — verify on the payment screen.
3. Is free enough?
Often for casual Q&A. Rarely for daily deep research, heavy coding agents, or frequent image/video generation.
4. When should I buy Max/Ultra/heavy Pro?
Only after you repeatedly hit mid-tier limits. The jump to $100–$200/month or Gemini Ultra at £79.99+ is steep.
5. Can I share a consumer plan?
Google One AI plans describe family sharing for storage and some benefits. Treat ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Grok consumer seats as individual unless the provider explicitly says otherwise.
6. Does this page track live prices?
It is a point-in-time comparison checked on 29 September 2026. Confirm on the official links before buying.
Methodology and official sources
Provider-owned pricing, product and help pages only (fetched 29 September 2026, Europe/London). Search snippets located URLs but were not treated as evidence. No invented currency conversions. Ambiguous quotas remain Not publicly specified.
Checked date: 29 September 2026 (Europe/London).
Primary sources: ChatGPT pricing · ChatGPT Plus help · Claude pricing · Claude Pro help · Gemini UK subscriptions · Google One AI plans UK · Perplexity pricing · Perplexity plan help · Perplexity Max · xAI pricing · Grok FAQ