Plan vs API cost calculator
Pick a tool and how you use it. See what the same usage costs on the API and whether a $20, $100 or $200 plan is the better deal.
Claude Pro ($20) saves you about $9.04 a month vs the API.
Plan limits are not published in tokens, so heavy use can hit 5-hour or weekly caps.
| Plan | Price | vs API |
|---|---|---|
| Claude Pro 5-hour session + weekly | $20 | saves $9 |
| Claude Max 5x 5-hour session + weekly | $100 | costs $71 more |
| Claude Max 20x 5-hour session + weekly | $200 | costs $171 more |
Assumptions
- Light chat: 15 messages a day, about 2,000 input and 600 output tokens each, 0% of input served from cache.
- Heavy chat: 60 messages a day, about 6,000 input and 1,000 output tokens each, 30% of input served from cache.
- Coding assistant: 120 messages a day, about 20,000 input and 1,500 output tokens each, 60% of input served from cache.
- Heavy coding agent: 500 messages a day, about 40,000 input and 1,200 output tokens each, 85% of input served from cache.
- API cost uses list prices per 1M tokens from our API prices table, with cached input at the cached rate where the provider lists one. No batch discounts or free credits.
- Coding agents resend a lot of context, which is why the agent preset uses large inputs and a high cache share.
- The suggested plan is a rule of thumb: about $45 a month of API usage fits a $20 plan, up to about $320 a month fits a $100 plan, more needs a $200 plan. Vendors do not publish plan limits in tokens, so treat this as a rough guide.
- We compare plans from about $15 a month up, since cheaper tiers often do not include the top model. Team and per seat plans are left out.
- Plans also include apps, tools and features the API does not, and the API has no 5-hour or weekly caps.
FAQ
Is a $20 AI plan cheaper than the API?
For daily chat, usually yes once you send more than a few dozen messages a day. For light use the API is often cheaper. Move the sliders to see your case.
Why would a plan stop working for heavy use?
Plans have 5-hour and weekly caps. A heavy coding agent can burn through them, and then you wait for the reset or upgrade.
Are these numbers exact?
No. They are estimates from list API prices and typical message sizes. Your real token counts can be higher or lower.
More calculators
Claude Pro · Claude Max · ChatGPT Plus · Codex plans · Google AI Pro · Grok plans
See also API prices, best model for the task, plan limits and usage resets.