Chatbot Pricing in May 2026: What Changed and What Didn't

Three chatbot pricing changes landed in April and early May 2026, and you'd be forgiven for missing them. The AI news cycle moves fast, and pricing updates rarely get the headline treatment that new model announcements do.

Here's what moved, what it actually means, and whether any of it should change what you're paying for.

Poe dropped its entry price from $20 to $5

The most significant change: Poe launched a $5/month subscription tier in April. Previously, the cheapest plan cost $20/month, or $16.67/month billed annually. The new entry plan gives you access to dozens of AI models including GPT-5.4 and Claude through a single interface.

Poe's model is different from standalone chatbots. You pay Poe, and Poe routes you to whichever model fits the task. For casual users who want to try different AI tools without juggling separate subscriptions, $5/month is an easy decision. The $20 floor was a real barrier for anyone who just wanted occasional access to premium models without committing to one of them.

If you're currently paying $20/month for a single-model subscription and you use more than one AI tool regularly, Poe at $5 is worth a serious look.

ChatGPT added a $100/month middle tier

OpenAI launched a new Pro tier at $100/month on April 9, 2026, filling a gap between Plus ($20/month) and the existing $200/month Pro plan.

The $100 tier gives you roughly 5x the usage limits of Plus, with full GPT-5.5 access. OpenAI has bundled in a promotional 10x Codex usage through May 31; after that it settles to 5x Plus. The $200/month plan stays, offering 20x Plus limits for parallel and continuous workloads.

Plus at $20/month still includes GPT-5.5 Thinking — both Standard and Extended modes — just with tighter daily limits. OpenAI also added a $8/month "Go" plan with ads for lighter users.

Whether the $100 tier makes sense comes down to one question: are you hitting your Plus message caps? If you are, the middle tier gives you room without jumping to $200. If you're not, Plus still works fine.

Google rebranded Gemini and trimmed the price by one cent

This one's mostly administrative. Google renamed Gemini Advanced to "Google AI Pro" earlier this spring and set the new price at $19.99/month. It was previously listed at roughly $20/month.

The features are identical: Gemini 2.5 Pro access, 1M context window, Deep Research, full Google Workspace integration, and 2TB of storage. The plan itself didn't change — just the name.

If you've been searching for "Gemini Advanced" pricing and landing on outdated pages with different names, this is why.

Google also added a "Google AI Ultra" tier at $249.99/month with Gemini 3.1 Pro access and experimental features. That's a new high-end product, not a change to the existing plan.

What stayed the same

Claude, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot, and Grok all held their pricing. Claude Pro is $20/month. Perplexity Pro is $20/month. Copilot Pro for individuals is $20/month. Grok's X Premium bundle is $8/month.

Nothing to do if you're on any of those.

The one change that actually matters

Poe's $5 floor is the most practically significant move here. It's the first time a serious multi-model access platform has hit sub-$10, and for users who switch between Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini depending on the task, it can replace multiple subscriptions at a fraction of the combined cost.

ChatGPT's $100 tier is a sensible middle option for Plus users who need more headroom. Google's rebrand is noise.

For current pricing across more than 180 chatbot platforms, chatbot.gallery keeps an updated catalog. If you're trying to figure out which AI subscription fits your actual workflow, for.chat has recommendations organized by task.

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