Buyer guide · updated September 2026
Best AI subscription for students: start free, then pay for the bottleneck.
Students are easy to overcharge because every AI plan sounds like a study advantage. The smart route is boring: use free tiers first, identify the exact limit, then buy one plan that fixes it.
Student and budget plans
Live prices, verified September 25, 2026.
| Plan | Provider | Price | Per year | Models | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT Free | ChatGPT | Free | — | GPT-5.6 Luna (GPT-6 Luna in the desktop app) | Occasional questions and trying ChatGPT out. |
| Claude Free | Claude | Free | — | Sonnet and Haiku models (no Opus, no Fable) | Trying Claude's writing quality before paying. |
| Gemini Free | Gemini | Free | — | Gemini 3.6 Flash, limited Gemini 3.1 Pro | Casual use, especially on Android. |
| Copilot Free | Copilot | Free | — | Microsoft's default Copilot models | Quick questions on a Windows PC. |
| Perplexity Free | Perplexity | Free | — | Perplexity default search models | Anyone who wants cited answers. |
| Grok Free | Grok | Free | — | Grok base model | Trying Grok out. |
| DeepSeek (free app) | DeepSeek | Free | — | DeepSeek V4.1-Flash, V4-Pro | Anyone who wants strong AI for $0. |
| Le Chat Free | Le Chat | Free | — | Mistral models | Trying a European assistant. |
| MultipleChat Free | MultipleChat | Free | — | Limited daily access to major models | Trying side-by-side answers from several models. |
| Google AI Plus | Gemini | $4.99/mo | $59.88/yr (monthly × 12) | Gemini 3.6 Flash, more Gemini 3.1 Pro | Anyone who wants more storage plus better AI for under $5. |
| Le Chat Student | Le Chat | $5.99/mo | $71.88/yr (monthly × 12) | Same as Pro | Students in Europe. |
| ChatGPT Go | ChatGPT | $8/mo | $96/yr (monthly × 12) | GPT-5.6 Luna (GPT-6 Luna in the desktop app) | Everyday users who hit Free limits on uploads or images. |
| Perplexity Education Pro | Perplexity | $10/mo | $120/yr (monthly × 12) | Same as Pro | Students and teachers. |
| SuperGrok Lite | Grok | $10/mo | $100/yr (save 17%) | Grok 4.x | Testing Grok properly without paying $30. |
Best free stack
Perplexity Free is strong for cited background research. DeepSeek is useful for free reasoning. ChatGPT Free is fine for brainstorming. A free multi-model plan can help compare answers before paying.
When to pay
Pay when a recurring school task breaks: PDF uploads, citations, long-context summarization, coding help, language learning or exam prep. Do not pay because a homepage says 'Pro'.
Best picks by task
Research-heavy students should test Perplexity first. Writing-heavy students should test Claude. General students should test ChatGPT. Students who compare answers across tools should consider a multi-model workspace.
Academic caution
Do not submit AI output as your own work if your school forbids it. Use AI to explain, outline, quiz, critique and check sources. Keep citations and drafts traceable.
Source note
This guide is editorial. Plan names, limits and prices can change without notice. Always verify the official pricing page before buying or renewing.
Sources
Checked against the official pages below on September 25, 2026. Prices are USD before local tax. See how we verify prices and the change log.
- OpenAI — ChatGPT pricing
- OpenAI — API pricing
- Anthropic — Claude pricing
- Anthropic — API pricing
- Google — Gemini pricing
- Google — API pricing
- Microsoft — Microsoft Copilot pricing
- Perplexity AI — Perplexity pricing
- Perplexity AI — API pricing
- xAI — Grok pricing
- xAI — API pricing
- DeepSeek AI — DeepSeek pricing
- DeepSeek AI — API pricing
- Mistral AI — Le Chat pricing
- Mistral AI — API pricing
- MultipleChat — MultipleChat pricing