AI chatbots now fall into three main types: general-purpose tools, workflow-focused bots, and enterprise platforms. Each one is priced differently based on what you use it for and the kind of value it provides.
For individuals and small teams, most leading chatbots, such as ChatGPT Plus, Claude Pro, Perplexity Pro, and Google Gemini Advanced, cost about $20 monthly. This plan gives you access to their top models, such as GPT-4o or Claude 3.5 Sonnet, known for speed, creativity, and accuracy.
Businesses and developers pay differently. Instead of flat rates, they’re charged based on usage or completed actions. Platforms like Microsoft Copilot and Zapier Agents charge per user or per workflow, while models such as DeepSeek Reasoner and Claude Opus use token-based pricing. The goal is to match costs to results, using premium models for creative work and cheaper ones for repetitive tasks.
Top AI chatbots and their pricing
ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Microsoft Copilot lead the market with powerful models that support advanced reasoning, writing, and coding. These platforms shape how most people use AI for work, learning, and creativity.
1. ChatGPT (OpenAI)
ChatGPT remains the most widely used AI chatbot, known for generating content, answering complex questions, and helping users brainstorm or code. It runs on OpenAI’s top models, GPT-4o and GPT-5, which are designed for both speed and accuracy.
Pricing:
- Free (₦0/month): Limited GPT-5 access with slower responses and basic features.
- Go (₦7,000/month): More uploads, faster image generation, and better model access.
- Plus (₦31,500/month): Full GPT-5 access with advanced reasoning, agent mode, and creative tools like Sora video generation.
- Pro (₦299,900/month): Unlimited GPT-5 usage, early feature access, and expanded workspace tools.
- Business (₦45,000 per user/month): Secure collaboration for teams with admin controls and data privacy.
- Enterprise (Custom): Tailored for large organisations with advanced security, privacy, and support options.
API Access:
Developers can use GPT-5 or GPT-5 Mini via API.
- GPT-5: $1.25 per million input tokens, $10 per million output tokens
- GPT-5 Mini: $0.25 input, $2 output per million tokens
- Fine-tuning: Starts at $25 per million tokens
ChatGPT’s wide range of plans makes it accessible to everyone, from casual users to global enterprises.
2. Claude (Anthropic)
Claude is built for accuracy, long documents, and safe AI interactions. It’s popular among researchers and organisations handling sensitive data or reports. The top models are Claude 3.5 Sonnet and Claude 3 Opus, both known for handling large amounts of text with strong attention to detail.
Pricing:
- Claude Pro: $20 monthly ($17 if billed yearly).
- Claude Max: Starts at $100 monthly for more usage limits.
- Claude API: High-end model Claude 3 Opus costs about $15 per million input tokens and $75 per million output tokens. The lighter Claude 3.5 Haiku is far cheaper at $0.80 input and $4 output per million tokens.
Claude also includes Claude Code, which lets you write and run code directly in your browser.
3. Gemini (Google)
Google’s Gemini 2.5 and newer versions stand out for strong multimodal abilities, text, image, and video, and deep connections to Google tools like Gmail, Docs, and Drive, making it ideal if you already use Google Workspace.
Pricing:
- Gemini Advanced (Google AI Pro): $19.99 monthly with access to top models and a large 1M token context window.
- Gemini AI Ultra: $249.99 monthly with more processing power and features like Veo 3.1 for video generation.
- Gemini Code Assist: For developers, pricing starts from $19 per user/month and goes up to $54 per user/month for enterprise users. Gemini’s key advantage is how it fits into your daily workflow within Google apps, eliminating the need for third-party tools.
4. Microsoft Copilot
Microsoft Copilot is designed to improve productivity inside Microsoft 365 apps like Word, Excel, and Outlook. It blends Microsoft’s own AI with OpenAI models to handle writing, summarisation, and code-related work.
Pricing:
- Copilot for Microsoft 365: Part of the Microsoft 365 Premium plan at $199.99 yearly (around $16.67/month).
- Copilot Studio: $200 monthly, providing 25,000 Copilot credits to build custom AI agents and workflows for teams or organisations.
Research, real-time, and multi-model chatbots
Some chatbots stand out because they give you access to live information, source citations, or multiple AI models in one place. These tools are ideal for research, analysis, and productivity.
1. Perplexity
Perplexity AI is one of the best chatbots for research. It provides accurate answers backed by sources and is excellent for students, professionals, and analysts.
Pricing:
- Free Plan: 5 Pro Searches per day with basic AI access.
- Perplexity Pro ($20/month or $200/year): Unlocks over 300 searches per day, file uploads, image generation, and access to top models like GPT-5 and Claude Sonnet.
- Perplexity Max ($200/month): Designed for heavy users with unlimited access.
- Education Plan ($4.99/month): Discounted plan for verified students and educators.
If you do a lot of research or rely on verified sources, Perplexity’s citation-based answers make it a strong alternative to general chatbots like ChatGPT.
2. Grok (xAI)
Grok, built by xAI, connects directly to X (formerly Twitter) and delivers real-time insights from trending conversations, opinions, and social data. It’s known for its witty personality and instant access to what’s happening across the platform.
Pricing:
- Basic (Free): Limited access to Grok 3, with shorter memory, voice access, Aurora image generation, and basic projects and tasks.
- SuperGrok ($30/month): Access to Grok 4 with extended 128K token memory, faster responses, Imagine image model, and priority voice features.
- SuperGrok Heavy ($300/month): Exclusive preview of Grok 4 Heavy, extended access to Grok 4, longest 256K memory, and early access to new tools.
X Premium Access:
You can also use Grok directly on X through subscription tiers:
- X Premium: $8/month
- X Premium+: $16/month for unlimited Grok usage inside the X platform
API Access:
For developers, Grok’s API offers large context windows and token-based pricing starting at $3 per million input tokens and $15 per million output tokens.
If you need live social insights and trend analysis, Grok remains one of the few AI chatbots that gives you real-time access to global conversations.
3. Poe
Poe by Quora is a multi-model chatbot that lets you switch between major AI systems like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini with a single subscription. It’s useful if you want to compare model performance or test different AI responses without paying for each one separately.
Pricing:
- Poe Basic: Free with limited daily messages.
- Poe Plus ($4.99/month): Gives access to more models and daily “compute points.”
- Poe Pro ($19.99/month): Includes up to 1 million compute points monthly for power users and developers.
Poe’s biggest strength is flexibility. Instead of managing multiple subscriptions, you can handle your AI work from one platform and save money.
4. Merlin AI and ZenoChat
Both Merlin AI and ZenoChat go beyond conversation. They package productivity tools, image generation, and creative features alongside their chat capabilities.
Merlin AI works as a browser extension that combines top models like GPT-5 and Claude Sonnet with visual AI tools such as FLUX 1.1 Pro and Ideogram V3 Turbo. It’s used by freelancers, marketers, and content creators to summarise videos, write emails, and generate designs.
- Pricing: $19 monthly (billed annually at $228).
ZenoChat, part of the TextCortex suite, focuses on writing help, idea generation, and general productivity.
These chatbots show a new direction in AI: combining multiple tools into one workspace. Instead of just chatting, they help you complete full tasks from writing and editing to analysis and design.
Specialised and developer-focused chatbots
Some AI chatbots are built for specific uses, such as automation, education, or large-scale data tasks. These tools are ideal if you need high efficiency, technical control, or cost-effective solutions.
1. Zapier agents and chatbots
Zapier Agents and Zapier Chatbots are designed for automation. They connect with over 8,000 business apps, helping you automate tasks such as sending emails, logging CRM entries, and updating spreadsheets. You can train them with your company data and set their response style to match your brand voice.
Pricing:
- Zapier Plan: Starts at $19.99/month (billed annually).
- Zapier Agents Pro: Starts at $33.33/month, includes 1,500 actions monthly.
Zapier charges based on completed actions, not tokens. This means you only pay for what the bot actually does, like replying to customers or managing workflows, making it a strong choice for sales, customer support, and lead generation.
2. DeepSeek
DeepSeek focuses on developers who need fast, affordable AI for high-volume tasks. Its models, such as DeepSeek Chat and DeepSeek Reasoner, are known for efficiency and low compute costs. It also offers DeepSeek OCR, which handles large-scale document processing by efficiently compressing text data.
API Pricing:
- DeepSeek Reasoner: $0.28 per million input tokens and $0.42 per million output tokens.
DeepSeek is perfect for developers processing big data, building tools, or training models where cost control matters more than creative reasoning.
3. Khan Academy’s Khanmigo
Khanmigo is an educational AI tutor created by Khan Academy. It helps students think critically instead of giving them direct answers. Teachers use it for free, and parents can get access at a very low cost.
Pricing:
- Teachers: Free access.
- Parents and Learners: $4 monthly or $44 yearly, with up to 10 child accounts included.
Khanmigo shows how AI can make quality education affordable. Schools can also get custom enterprise plans with features like reporting tools and teacher dashboards.
4. Other specialised platforms
Le Chat Mistral: A productivity-focused chatbot from Mistral AI with strong open-source roots. The Pro plan costs $14.99/month and offers secure collaboration and compliance for European users.
HuggingChat: A free, open-source chatbot from Hugging Face that lets you test and use community-built models. Developers pay only when they deploy custom models on cloud infrastructure.
You.com: Combines AI chat with intelligent search and custom agents.
- Pro Plan: $15/month (64K context window)
- Max Plan: $175/month (200K context window)
Pi (Inflection AI): A personal AI assistant focused on emotional support and friendly conversations. It’s free for basic use and ideal if you want a supportive companion rather than a technical tool.
Enterprise agentic platforms and emerging AI solutions
At the enterprise level, AI chatbots go beyond conversations. These platforms are built to connect with your company’s core systems, handle secure data, and automate complex tasks. The real value lies not in the chatbot model itself but in the integration layer; the part that ensures compliance, security, and seamless performance within business tools like CRMs, ERPs, or HR systems.
1. Salesforce Agentforce
Salesforce Agentforce brings AI directly into the Salesforce CRM. It helps businesses automate data entry, customer responses, and lead management while improving data accuracy.
Pricing:
- Add-ons: Start at $125 per user/month for Sales or Service Cloud users.
- Industry Plans: Begin at $150 per user/month for specialised sectors like finance or healthcare.
- Extra Usage: Around $0.10 per action or $500 for 100,000 credits.
It’s costly but built for companies already using Salesforce. The strength lies in its native integration; everything works inside the same system without third-party tools.
2. Customer experience (CX) platforms
Large companies use specialised CX chatbots to manage high volumes of customer interactions while maintaining compliance.
- Kore.ai: Provides virtual assistants designed for regulated industries such as banking and healthcare. Pricing is custom and based on enterprise needs.
- Yellow.ai: Known for supporting over 135 languages, ideal for global businesses. Pricing is usage-based and tailored for large deployments.
- Ada CX: Helps automate support across chat and voice channels, with contracts often starting around $70,000 yearly.
- Genesys Cloud CX: Uses AI to manage full customer journeys across multiple platforms, blending chatbot and voice automation.
If your business serves customers across multiple languages or industries, these platforms help you maintain quality and consistency at scale.
3. Moveworks
Moveworks focuses on automating internal operations, such as IT support and HR services. It uses AI agents that can resolve tickets, answer employee questions, and automatically manage onboarding.
Pricing is custom and depends on the number of users, the level of integration, and security needs. Moveworks integrates tightly with tools like ServiceNow and Microsoft Teams, making it a strong option for large enterprises that want AI working behind the scenes to handle routine internal requests.
4. Meta AI and open-source enterprise models
Meta AI has contributed to enterprise AI by releasing the Llama family of open-source models. These models give organisations complete control over deployment and data security while reducing costs.
For example, Llama 3.3-8B is available at $0.0035 per million input tokens, making it one of the most affordable large models for enterprise use. Businesses can host it on their own servers or through cloud providers, eliminating the high transaction costs and privacy risks tied to closed APIs.
This makes Llama models a top choice for companies that need flexibility, data control, and predictable costs.
Final thoughts
AI chatbots have moved beyond simple conversations. The market now divides into two key pricing models: low-cost, usage-based plans for developers and high, fixed-cost enterprise platforms that guarantee security, compliance, and deep integration.
Here’s how to choose the right chatbot based on your goals:
1. For general productivity and creative work
If you need an all-round AI assistant for writing, research, or brainstorming, go for the $20/month plans.
- ChatGPT Plus is best for flexibility and advanced data analysis.
- Claude Pro is better suited to tasks that require accuracy, safety, and a more formal tone.
2. For workflow and team productivity
If your company already uses Microsoft or Google tools, stay within that system for better value and performance.
- Microsoft Copilot integrates perfectly with Word, Excel, and Outlook.
- Gemini AI Pro integrates smoothly with Google Workspace and offers strong multimodal support.
3. For research and multi-model access
If you test multiple models or need fast comparisons, Poe is a smart choice. It lets you use ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini under one subscription and easily compare outputs.
4. For cost-effective developer tasks
If your focus is backend processing, OCR, or large-scale data handling, DeepSeek offers unbeatable API pricing. It’s ideal for companies managing heavy data loads without needing top-tier reasoning models.
5. For large enterprises and automation
If your organisation relies on customer support or internal systems, invest in specialised enterprise platforms.
- Salesforce Agentforce is best for CRM-driven automation.
- Kore.ai and Yellow.ai are well-suited for global or regulated businesses.
- Moveworks securely and efficiently handles internal IT and HR automation.
6. For education and learning
Khanmigo stands out for affordability and accessibility. At $4 monthly, it brings AI-powered tutoring to students and families, making quality learning tools available to everyone.
