ChatGPT Ads Are Here: Here’s How to Upgrade to Ad-Free or Switch to Another Chatbot

As artificial intelligence becomes more ingrained in our everyday lives, the idea of paying for an AI tool doesn’t seem nearly as optional as it did just a few years ago. For casual use generating text or images, the free plan of most chatbots should be sufficient. But if you need AI for heavier or more complex use, you can quickly run into limitations. Free chatbot plans can also be restricted to older AI models.

Now that ChatGPT is beginning to show ads, people are undoubtedly looking to get rid of them, and the new $ 8-a-month Go plan won’t cut it. If you’re looking to upgrade your chatbot, you might want to consider other options. While all paid plans offer higher limits, some give you even more benefits. 

Below, we’ll break down how much each plan of some of the most popular chatbots around costs and what your hard-earned money actually gets you.

By the numbers

Here’s a price breakdown of the most popular chatbots. 

Chatbot premium pricing

Chatbot	Tier	Monthly / Annual price
ChatGPT	Go	$8 | No annual pricing
ChatGPT	Plus	$20 | No annual pricing
ChatGPT	Pro	$200 | No annual pricing
Gemini	Plus	$8 | $80 / year
Gemini	AI Pro	$20 | $200 / year
Gemini	AI Ultra	$250 / No annual pricing
Claude	Pro	$20 | $200 / year
Claude	Max	$100 – $200 / No annual pricing
Perplexity	Pro	$20 | $200 / year
Perplexity	Max	$200 | $2,000 / year
Copilot	Personal	$10 | $100 / year
Copilot	Family	$13 | $130 / year
Copilot	Premium	$20 | $200 / year
Grok	SuperGrok	$30 | $300
Grok	SuperGrok Heavy	$300 | $3,000

ChatGPT Go, Plus and Pro

OpenAI’s first paid tier, Go, is its newest plan. For only $8 a month, you’ll get higher limits and more access across the board. That said, if you’re looking to avoid ChatGPT’s new ads, you won’t be able to do so with this plan and will need to bump up to the next tier to go ad-free. 

The second premium plan is ChatGPT Plus, which opens the doors to extended GPT-5 access and higher limits on messaging, uploads, data analysis and image generation. You’ll also get advanced voice mode with video and screensharing, the ChatGPT agent, and limited access to Sora video generation. 

If you want more, you can opt for the Pro plan, which costs $200 a month. This offers unlimited messages, uploads and image generation, and extended access to ChatGPT agent and Sora. Pro will unlock the more advanced GPT-5 Pro and o3 Pro models, with more computing power for more complex inquiries. 

(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)

Google AI Plus, Pro and AI Ultra

With Gemini, Google is integrated at the heart of the chatbot experience, making it a great option for Google power users. 

Google’s AI Pro offers more features across the board than the free version, unlocking Gemini in Google Workspace apps, the Flow filmmaking tool, and more advanced models in Search’s AI Mode. It doesn’t stop at Gemini, though. You’ll also get 2TB of storage for Google Photos, Drive and Gmail. This plan also includes a 10% credit on purchases from the Google Store. 

Despite the abundance of features in the Google AI Pro plan, Gemini’s free tier offers plenty for most people. 

Google’s highest tier is AI Ultra, which costs a whopping $250 a month, though there are typically discounts for the first few months. Still, it’s a lot of money, no matter how many extras are thrown at you. This plan provides the highest limits (read: not unlimited) for every feature offered by AI Pro, bumps 2TB of cloud storage to 30TB, and adds YouTube Premium, along with early access to the agentic prototype, Project Mariner.

Like ChatGPT, Google also introduced a new $8 plan. The Plus plan offers 200GB of storage and more access to the latest Gemini 3 Pro models. For a limited time, Google is offering the Plus plan at a 50% discount for the first two months. Even at full price, this plan is ideal for those who are just hitting the limits on the free plan but don’t need all the bells and whistles from the Pro plan. 

Copilot

Microsoft’s Copilot has the advantage of being preinstalled on a ton of Windows computers, making it incredibly accessible (like Gemini on Android). Although it’s based on ChatGPT models with Microsoft Graph, Copilot feels different enough to be its own thing. 

To my surprise, Copilot produced the most interesting images when I compared it to the other chatbots. Sometimes Gemini and ChatGPT generated similar images, but Copilot nearly always produced something more distinct. Even if I don’t do it all that often, I still consider it a go-to feature. 

Much like Google, Copilot integrates well with Microsoft 365 apps, though some of its features are locked behind Microsoft 365 for Business, like its NotebookLM competitor, Copilot Notebooks. Without jumping into 365 for business, Copilot offers three plans that give you access to higher limits and allow you to use it in select Microsoft 365 apps. The upgraded plans will also give you access to Deep research models and Actions, which allow Copilot to fill out forms for you or assist in shopping. 

Perplexity

Perplexity is our favorite chatbot for research, but the free version limits you to three Pro searches and Research uses per day. That might be fine for casual users, but those really trying to tap into Perplexity’s capabilities will want a bit more of everything, and you’ll need to pony up $20 a month to really get going with it. 

Perplexity Pro will give you unlimited Pro Searches and unlimited file uploads, and more file uploads per Space. It will also unlock image generation and access to more advanced models than the standard “best” model in the free version.  

Perplexity also has Comet, its limited-access web browser with AI baked right in. Pro and Max subscribers receive Comet Plus included in their subscription. 

Claude Pro and Max

The paid version of Anthropic’s Claude is in line with the competition, costing $20 a month, and it boasts a 5x boost in usage per session versus the free version during peak hours, though limits are still in place. Basically, if you send basic inquiries of up to 200 English sentences, each roughly 15 to 20 words, you’ll be able to send about 45 messages every 5 hours with Claude Pro. 

Despite taking the top spot on our best chatbot list, Anthropic’s pricing page for Claude’s Pro and Max plans feels a bit dry compared to others on the list. The $20 Pro plan’s first feature with “more usage” is immediately followed by an asterisk that references the limits in place for the Pro plans. Such limits are to be expected for anything that’s not the top plan, but they seem to depend on how you’re using Claude. In addition to more usage, the Pro plan will unlock Claude Code, unlimited Projects, access to Research mode and more Models. 

The Max plan offers even more usage than the Pro plan, increases the output limits on all tasks, provides priority access during peak traffic times and offers early access to new Claude features. This bump is likely helpful for the Claude power users out there and costs $100 per person per month.

Grok

Grok’s premium tiers are the most expensive for personal use, whether on a monthly or annual basis. The first premium tier, SuperGrok, will increase access to both Grok 3 and 4, extend token limits to 128,000, give you priority voice access, and include the Imagine image model. It costs $30 a month, or $300 for a year. This tier also opens access to Ani and Valentine AI companions. 

The next tier up is SuperGrok Heavy, and is mostly “more” of what you get from SuperGrok for $300 a month or $3,000 per year. This tier will give you preview access to Grok 4 Heavy, extend access to Grok 4, and provide unlimited access to Grok 3. SuperGrok Heavy has a higher token count and early access to new features.