Claude starts at $20/mo, Grok at $8/mo. Both have a free plan. Every plan from both vendors, the limits each one actually publishes, and what changed recently, with a source on every line.
Pick Grok if you want the lowest monthly bill. Beyond price and free access, the deciding factor is which models and features you need; we track the money, not the model quality.
| Fact | Claude | Grok |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Free tier | Free tier |
| Cheapest plan | Pro · $20/mo | Plus · $8/mo |
| Top plan | Max 20x · $200/mo | Ultra · $200/mo |
| Plans tracked | 4 | 4 |
| Yearly discount | up to 15% | None shown |
| Allowance periods | 5-hourWeekly | Not stated |
| Latest change | benefit added | plan restructure |
| Last checked |
| Tool | Plan | Price | Limits as stated & source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude | Pro | $20/mo | More usage than Free per five-hour session plus a weekly limit across all models (resets at a fixed weekly time per account). Message counts not published; vary by message length, attachments, model. Claude Code included, sharing the same limits. Source: support.claude.com · checked 2026-10-16 |
| Claude | Max 5x | $100/mo | 5x the Pro per-session usage allowance; session limit resets every five hours; weekly limit across all models; separate weekly limit for Fable. Includes $100/month API credits. Source: support.claude.com · checked 2026-10-16 |
| Claude | Max 20x | $200/mo | 20x the Pro per-session usage allowance; five-hour session reset; weekly limit; separate Fable weekly limit. Includes $200/month API credits. Source: support.claude.com · checked 2026-10-16 |
| Claude | Enterprise | $20/mo | Usage billed at API rates. Source: claude.com · checked 2026-10-16 |
| Grok | Plus | $8/mo | Base shared AI usage pool across Grok, Cursor and X; Grok Chat, Voice, Imagine, Build; Grok API. Source: grok.com · checked 2026-10-16 |
| Grok | Premium | $30/mo | 4x Plus usage; latest Grok models; image & video generation; cloud agents. Promo: 50% off first month ($15). Source: grok.com · checked 2026-10-16 |
| Grok | Super | $100/mo | 15x Plus usage; 1080p video; priority access at peak times. Promo: $50 first month. Source: grok.com · checked 2026-10-16 |
| Grok | Ultra | $200/mo | 50x Plus usage; most powerful Chat models; earliest access. Promo: $100 first month. Source: grok.com · checked 2026-10-16 |
| Tool | Free? | What you get for $0 & source |
|---|---|---|
| Claude | Free tier | Free $0: chat on web/desktop/mobile, web search, file creation & code execution, memory, connectors, Artifacts, up to 5 Projects. Sonnet and Haiku models (no Opus); no Claude Code. Usage limits reset on a rolling five-hour session window; message counts not published. Source: claude.com · checked 2026-10-16 |
| Grok | Free tier | 'Free to try on the web and in the apps'; free tier has limited Chat, Imagine and Build usage. Limits not published. Source: x.ai · checked 2026-10-16 |
xAI announced one subscription for Grok, Cursor and X Premium; Premium bundles the benefits of SuperGrok, Cursor Pro and X Premium+ ('previously $90/month combined'). Existing SuperGrok plans continue.
Anthropic's platform release notes: 'Claude Max and Team plans now include monthly API credits.' Credits don't cover interactive Claude Code and don't roll over.
Announced July 28, 2025, effective Aug 28: an overall weekly limit and an Opus weekly limit, both resetting every 7 days. Anthropic estimated <5% of subscribers affected.
Grok is cheaper to start: Grok Plus costs $8/mo, against $20/mo for Claude Pro. At the top end, Claude Max 20x is $200/mo and Grok Ultra is $200/mo.
Claude: Yes. Free $0: chat on web/desktop/mobile, web search, file creation & code execution, memory, connectors, Artifacts, up to 5 Projects. Sonnet and Haiku models (no Opus); no Claude Code. Usage limits reset on a rolling five-hour session window; message counts not published. Grok: Yes. 'Free to try on the web and in the apps'; free tier has limited Chat, Imagine and Build usage. Limits not published.
Claude Max 5x ($100/mo): 5x the Pro per-session usage allowance; session limit resets every five hours; weekly limit across all models; separate weekly limit for Fable. Includes $100/month API credits. Grok Super ($100/mo): 15x Plus usage; 1080p video; priority access at peak times. Promo: $50 first month.
Claude: up to 15% off when billed yearly (Pro: $17/mo instead of $20). Grok: no yearly discount on the plans we track.
12 Oct 2026, Grok: SuperGrok folded into The X Subscription (Plus $8, Premium $30, Super $100, Ultra $200). 7 Oct 2026, Claude: Claude Max now includes monthly API credits ($100 on Max 5x, $200 on Max 20x). 28 Aug 2025, Claude: Claude Pro and Max get weekly usage limits on top of 5-hour limits.