Answer · confidence: partial

In October 2026, which AI tools are free, and what do paid ones cost?

Research question: As of October 2026, which AI tools are free and which are paid for ordinary users, what are the current subscription prices and usage limits of the major chatbots and image or video generators, and what changes in access, pricing, or availability have occurred in the last two years?

The records show that some tools have free tiers: Microsoft Copilot's standard chatbot and Microsoft Designer with its Image Creator are available in the free version ³, and Claude's free tier on claude.ai uses dynamic limits over a rolling window of about five hours, with no concrete figures published ¹⁶¹⁸. Paid tiers in the facts include Microsoft Copilot Pro at US$20 per month, a January 2024 figure ⁵, Claude Pro at 20 USD per month with Max at 100 or 200 USD per month ¹⁷, and ChatGPT Pro at $200 per month, introduced in December 2024 ¹⁵, but the facts do not give current ChatGPT Plus pricing or limits, so current prices cannot be confirmed for most tools. Access has changed notably: Sora's first generation launched publicly only for ChatGPT Plus and Pro users in the US and Canada in December 2024 ¹¹, the Sora app shut down on April 26, 2026 ¹⁰¹⁴, and its API was discontinued on September 24, 2026 ¹⁰, the newest dated fact in the set. Other changes include Microsoft discontinuing Copilot on WhatsApp in November 2025 ⁷, Microsoft's planned merger of consumer Copilot with M365 Copilot announced in August 2026 ⁸, and Anthropic's use of identity verification for certain Claude features from April 2026 ²⁰.

Checked 2026-10-21. Only documented and supported facts are used.

Dig deeper on this question

Sources

[1] supported

In a 2025 survey of South Korean adults, 70.6% of respondents had used generative AI in the previous year.

"Descriptive results show that 70.6% of respondents used GenAI in the previous year, yet only 20.6% of users, or 14.6% of the total sample, paid for access."

Freemium Generative AI as a Socio-Technical System: Paid Commitment and the Premium Digital Divide in South Korea (2026)

[2] supported

Google's Gemini API terms say free-tier content may be used to improve service quality, while paid content is excluded from such use.

"E.g., Google’s Gemini API terms state that free tier content may be used to improve service quality, while excluding paid content from such use [21, 20]."

Freemium Is All You Need (2026)

[3] supported

Microsoft Copilot's standard chatbot and Microsoft Designer (with its Image Creator for generating images from text prompts) are available in the free version of Microsoft Copilot.

"Several default chatbots are available in the free version of Microsoft Copilot, including the standard Copilot chatbot as well as Microsoft Designer, which is oriented towards using its Image Creator to generate images based on text prompts ."

Microsoft Copilot

[4] supported

Freemium platform models can create a premium digital divide, where paid access stratifies users even after basic connectivity and initial use are achieved.

"Free generative AI (GenAI) services appear to democratize access, but freemium platform models can create post-access stratification after basic connectivity and initial use have been achieved."

Freemium Generative AI as a Socio-Technical System: Paid Commitment and the Premium Digital Divide in South Korea (2026)

[5] supported

Microsoft launched a paid premium tier, Microsoft Copilot Pro, at US$20 per month.

"In January 2024, a premium service, Microsoft Copilot Pro, was launched, costing US$20 monthly."

Microsoft Copilot

[6] supported

The 2023 article suggests that generative AI services could use a freemium model, offering a basic AI service free of charge or funded by advertising, with payment required for an upgrade to a service operated by humans. This is a speculative 2023 proposal, not a description of actual pricing.

"It is quite likely that the freemium business model can be utilized here, as the basic service can be offered free of charge (or generating revenue by featuring advertisements) while the elevation to a human service would trigger a payment."

The rise of generative AI and possible effects on the economy (2023)

[7] supported

Microsoft discontinued Copilot on WhatsApp and other third-party messaging platforms after platform policy changes affecting third-party chatbots.

"In November 2025, Microsoft announced that Copilot would be discontinued on WhatsApp and other third-party messaging platforms, with support ending on January 15, 2026."

Microsoft Copilot

[8] supported

Microsoft announced plans to merge the consumer Copilot with M365 Copilot, removing features such as Mico, Deep Research, and group chats.

"Mico, Deep Research, group chats and other features would be removed."

Microsoft Copilot

[9] supported

Gemini Advanced (Gemini 2.5 Pro) supports a context window of up to 1 million tokens, which is significantly larger than the 128K tokens supported by ChatGPT Plus and the 200K tokens supported by Claude Pro.

"Yes, Gemini Advanced (Gemini 2.5 Pro) supports up to 1 million tokens of context—approximately 750,000 words or 1,500 pages of text. This is significantly larger than ChatGPT Plus (128K tokens) and Claude Pro (200K tokens)."

Did ChatGPT Plus Prices Increase? What Happened (2026)

[10] supported

The Sora app was shut down on April 26, 2026, and its API was discontinued on September 24, 2026, ending the service for all users.

"The app was shut down on April 26, 2026 and the application programming interface (API) was discontinued on September 24, 2026, marking the end of the Sora AI brand as a whole."

Sora (text-to-video model)

[11] supported

The first generation of Sora was released publicly only for ChatGPT Plus and ChatGPT Pro users in the United States and Canada in December 2024.

"with the first generation of Sora released publicly for ChatGPT Plus and ChatGPT Pro users in the United States and Canada in December 2024."

Sora (text-to-video model)

[12] supported

Disney made a $1 billion investment in OpenAI in December 2025 to allow its characters to be used in the Sora AI video generator.

"Disney making $1 billion investment in OpenAI, will allow characters on Sora AI video generator"

Sora (text-to-video model)

[13] supported

OpenAI temporarily shut down Sora's early access for all artists after they released the video-generation tool in protest.

"After 3 hours, OpenAI shut down Sora's early access temporarily for all artists"

Sora (text-to-video model)

[14] supported

OpenAI shut down the Sora app and sora.com on April 26, 2026, and the Sora API is scheduled to end on September 24, 2026.

"OpenAI shut down the Sora app and sora.com on April 26, 2026, and the API is scheduled to end September 24, 2026."

Sora 2: What It Was, Why It Ended, and What to Use Instead (Updated August 2026)

[15] supported

ChatGPT Pro, a $200/month tier offering unlimited access to o1 and o1-pro, was introduced on December 5, 2024.

"Dec 5, 2024 ChatGPT Pro introduced $200/month (new tier)"

ChatGPT Pricing History: Every Price Change from Launch to 2025

[16] supported

The free version of Claude on claude.ai is subject to dynamic usage limits calculated over a rolling window of about five hours, and the number of messages actually allowed varies with the complexity and length of inputs.

"Die kostenlose Version von Claude auf claude.ai unterliegt dynamischen Nutzungslimits, die über ein rollendes Zeitfenster von etwa fünf Stunden berechnet werden, wobei die tatsächliche Anzahl möglicher Nachrichten je nach Komplexität und Länge der Eingaben variiert."

Claude

[17] supported

Claude uses a freemium model, with paid Pro at 20 USD per month and Max at 100 or 200 USD per month offering expanded capacity.

"Das Modell entspricht einem Freemium -Ansatz, bei dem die kostenlose Nutzung als Einstieg dient und erweiterte Kapazitäten über die kostenpflichtigen Abonnements Pro (20 USD/Monat) und Max (100 bzw. 200 USD/Monat) verfügbar sind."

Claude

[18] supported

Anthropic does not publish concrete usage limits for the free tier, which has repeatedly drawn criticism for lack of transparency.

"Anthropic veröffentlicht keine konkreten Grenzwerte für die kostenlose Stufe, was wiederholt zu Kritik an mangelnder Transparenz geführt hat."

Claude

[19] supported

The launch of Claude apps for iOS in May 2024 and Android in July 2024 made Claude more accessible to private users.

"Durch die Einführung von Apps für iOS im Mai 2024 [ 122 ] und Android im Juli 2024 [ 123 ] wurde Claude auch für private Nutzer zugänglicher."

Claude

[20] supported

In April 2026 Anthropic began using identity verification in Claude for certain use cases, and Claude can ask users to provide a valid official ID when accessing certain features.

"Im April 2026 begann Anthropic, für einzelne Nutzungsszenarien eine Identitätsprüfung in Claude zu verwenden. [ 124 ] [ 125 ] Beim Zugriff auf bestimmte Funktionen kann Claude Nutzer dazu auffordern, einen gültigen amtliche"

Claude