Gemini vs ChatGPT: plans, prices and limits compared

Gemini vs ChatGPT comes down to price ladders that line up closely. As of October 28, 2026, both have a free tier and a $20 plan: Google AI Pro is $19.99 a month and ChatGPT Plus is $20. ChatGPT has an $8 Go tier, Gemini has a $4.99 Plus tier, and both start their top tiers near $100.

This is a comparison from the companies' pricing pages and one published benchmark. Neither product was tested for this comparison.

Gemini vs ChatGPT plans and prices

All prices are US dollars a month, as read on October 28, 2026. Google's prices come from its subscriptions page. OpenAI's come from its Codex pricing page, because chatgpt.com/pricing blocked the request.

Both companies sell by usage multiples at the top. Google describes Plus as 2x the Free limits and Pro as 4x. Ultra gives 5x or 20x Pro. OpenAI's help center, as quoted in search results that could not be opened directly, describes Pro at $100 as 5x Plus usage and Pro at $200 as 20x.

What each plan gets you

Gemini's free plan includes the Gemini app with Flash-Lite, image generation, Deep Research, Gemini Live, Canvas and Gems, with 15 GB of storage. Google AI Plus adds video generation and 400 GB of storage. Google AI Pro lists the Gemini 4 Argon model, a 1M-token context window, 5 TB of storage, Gemini in Gmail and Docs, and YouTube Premium Lite. Ultra adds higher Flow credits, the highest limits and Project Genie, which is Ultra-only. Google's page also says Gemini 4 Argon is included with Plus, Pro and Ultra, but its Plus feature list does not mention it. Confirm that before you buy Plus for it.

ChatGPT Free and Go list GPT-6 Luna. Plus lists GPT-6.1 Sol and GPT-6 Luna. Pro includes everything in Plus, and the Pro $500 tier adds Ultrafast mode.

Developer and business options

Google also lists Google AI Studio and Antigravity, a coding tool, as free to start with basic rate limits. Gemini Enterprise Business covers up to 300 seats with 25 GiB of pooled storage per seat. The $30 tier has unlimited seats and higher limits. OpenAI lists Enterprise and Edu as contact sales, and says plans without flexible pricing get the same per-seat limits as Plus for most features.

Usage limits

Neither company publishes a prompt count for its chat app. Google says Gemini app usage is compute-based, refreshes every 5 hours and is capped by a weekly limit. Its page gives no numeric quotas for Deep Research or video.

OpenAI publishes five-hour estimates only for Codex, its coding agent. On Plus, as of October 28, 2026, that is 15 to 160 local messages for GPT-6.1 Sol and 350 to 3,000 for GPT-6 Luna. The page says Pro plans currently have no five-hour limit, that weekly limits may also apply, and that the numbers are estimates.

How the models compare on a benchmark

Artificial Analysis scores models on its Intelligence Index. On October 28, 2026 its leaderboard showed these scores. The site marked version 5.0 of the index as released on October 27, and it shows no date beside the scores.

Claude Opus 5.5 at max scored 58 in the same table. The index scores models, not apps. Which model you reach depends on the plan and the setting, so a score does not map directly onto a $20 subscription. The scores also differ from the ones in the ChatGPT vs Claude plans comparison, which read an earlier snapshot on October 27. Gaps of a few points are not decisive.

For Gemini, the free-tier details and student offer are in the guide on whether Gemini is free.

What the pricing pages do not say

Google does not publish prompt counts, and OpenAI does not publish chat message counts for Plus. Google's page also leaves open which plan its free-trial link applies to. Plans and limits change often, so check both pricing pages before you pay.