// Models · Subscriptions
Subscription vs API: is the plan worth it, or is the API cheaper?
Official API prices against official subscription prices (US and the cheapest region), with a usage calculator.
API prices checked 2026-10-25rates 2026-10-25 08:02blended = 3:1 input:output
01How many tokens your subscription money buys
Monthly subscription price ÷ the vendor’s top official model blended price (per 1M tokens).
| Subscription | US / mo | Cheapest region / mo | API model | Blended $/1M | US price = tokens | Cheapest = tokens |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT Plus | ¥134 | ¥105Philippines | GPT-6 Astra | 20 | 0.999M | 0.784M |
| ChatGPT Pro 200 | ¥1,337 | ¥1,049Philippines | GPT-6 Astra | 20 | 9.99M | 7.84M |
| Claude Pro | ¥134 | ¥118Pakistan | Claude Opus 5.5 | 8 | 2.5M | 2.21M |
| Claude Max 5x | ¥836 | ¥739Indonesia | Claude Opus 5.5 | 8 | 15.61M | 13.8M |
| Claude Max 20x | ¥1,671 | ¥1,478Indonesia | Claude Opus 5.5 | 8 | 31.23M | 27.61M |
| Google AI Pro (5 TB) | ¥134 | ¥114Egypt | Gemini 4 Argon | 4 | 4.99M | 4.25M |
| Google AI Ultra 20x (30 TB) | ¥1,337 | ¥1,003Tunisia | Gemini 4 Argon | 4 | 49.97M | 37.47M |
| SuperGrok | ¥201 | ¥175Türkiye | Grok 4.7 | 3 | 9.99M | 8.71M |
| SuperGrok Heavy | ¥2,005 | ¥1,574Philippines | Grok 4.7 | 3 | 99.94M | 78.45M |
Subscriptions cap usage by messages or multiples, not tokens; check each plan’s limits before deciding.
02Your usage: API cost vs subscription
Enter monthly input and output tokens (millions). Official prices, no caching or batch discounts.
| API model | API / month | Same-vendor subscriptions (US / cheapest region) |
|---|
03Relay prices vs official prices: the maths
Turn a reseller’s “¥X buys $1 of credit × group multiplier” into a real discount. We do not list or link any reseller.
- OpenAI Services Agreement §3.3(g)：“buy, sell, or transfer API keys from, to, or with a third party”
- Anthropic Commercial Terms：“resell the Services except as expressly approved by Anthropic”
- A relay sees every prompt and response, and can swap the model behind the name; we cannot verify where its credit comes from.
- Legitimately cheaper: the same model on official clouds and inference platforms – see cheapest LLM APIs; relay risks in detail: API relays。
FAQ
Is ChatGPT Plus cheaper than the API?
ChatGPT Plus costs about ¥134 a month in the US App Store. At GPT-6 Astra’s official price (per 1M tokens: $10 input, $50 output), that buys about 0.999M tokens at a 3:1 mix. Use more than that and the subscription wins – if its usage limits let you.
Do subscriptions publish token limits?
Mostly no – consumer plans describe usage in messages or relative multiples (e.g. “5x”), not tokens, so the break-even is a guide, not a guarantee.
Is “¥1 = $1” API credit a real 85% discount?
At 6.69 CNY per USD, paying ¥1 for $1 of credit is 85% below the official price – before any per-model multiplier the reseller applies. Official terms forbid reselling or transferring API keys, and a relay sees every prompt.