ChatGPT Plus costs $20 per month. Claude Pro costs the same, $20 per month. While these AI tools grab the spotlight, I’ve found that neither offers the best bang for your buck.
For the same price, there’s a subscription that offers more than just a chatbot. You get access to the latest AI models, a massive 5TB of cloud storage, an AI video generator, and a stack of extras that I would otherwise pay for separately.
That subscription is Google AI Pro, and it’s the only AI plan I happily pay for every month.
Quiz
8 Questions · Test Your KnowledgeAI chatbots
Trivia challenge
From ChatGPT to Gemini — how well do you really know the world of AI chatbots?
ChatbotsGeminiHistoryTech GiantsAI Models
Begin
Which company released ChatGPT to the public in November 2022?
AGoogleBMetaCOpenAIDMicrosoft
Correct! OpenAI launched ChatGPT on November 30, 2022, and it became one of the fastest-growing consumer applications in history. It reached one million users in just five days after launch.
Not quite. ChatGPT was created and released by OpenAI, the San Francisco-based AI research company. While Microsoft is a major investor in OpenAI, it didn’t build or release ChatGPT itself.
Continue
What was Google’s AI chatbot called before it was rebranded to Gemini in February 2024?
ALaMDABApprentice BardCGoogle AssistantDBard
Correct! Google launched its chatbot as Bard in March 2023 before rebranding it to Gemini in February 2024. The rebrand aligned the chatbot with the underlying Gemini family of AI models powering it.
Not quite. The answer is Bard. Google launched the chatbot under that name in 2023, and while LaMDA was an earlier language model from Google, it was never the public-facing chatbot name. The service became Gemini in February 2024.
Continue
Which of the following is a tier of Google’s Gemini AI model family designed for on-device use on mobile phones?
AGemini FlexBGemini NanoCGemini MicroDGemini Lite
Correct! Gemini Nano is Google’s lightweight model optimized to run directly on devices like Pixel phones without needing a cloud connection. It enables on-device AI features while preserving privacy and reducing latency.
Not quite. The answer is Gemini Nano. Google’s Gemini family includes Nano for on-device tasks, Pro for a wide range of tasks, and Ultra for the most complex workloads. There is no Micro, Flex, or Lite variant.
Continue
What large language model powers Meta’s AI assistant, which is integrated into WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook?
AGrokBMistralCLlamaDFalcon
Correct! Meta AI is powered by the Llama family of large language models, which Meta has also released as open-weight models for researchers and developers. Llama 3 is among the most capable open models available.
Not quite. Meta’s AI assistant is built on Llama, the company’s own large language model series. Grok is xAI’s model, Mistral comes from the French startup of the same name, and Falcon was developed by the UAE’s Technology Innovation Institute.
Continue
Which AI chatbot was developed by Anthropic and is known for its focus on safe and helpful AI behavior?
AAriaBClaudeCCopilotDJasper
Correct! Claude is Anthropic’s AI assistant, built with a heavy emphasis on AI safety and alignment research. Anthropic was founded in 2021 by former OpenAI researchers, including Dario and Daniela Amodei.
Not quite. The answer is Claude, made by Anthropic. Copilot is Microsoft’s AI assistant, Jasper is an AI writing tool for marketing, and Aria is a virtual assistant used by some telecom providers. Claude stands out for its safety-focused design philosophy.
Continue
Microsoft integrated an AI chatbot into which of its products in February 2023, marking one of the most high-profile AI launches of the year?
AMicrosoft WordBMicrosoft TeamsCBingDOutlook
Correct! Microsoft relaunched Bing with an integrated AI chatbot powered by OpenAI technology in February 2023. The move was seen as a direct challenge to Google’s search dominance and kicked off a major AI arms race in the search industry.
Not quite. While Microsoft has since added AI features to Word, Teams, and Outlook through its Copilot initiative, the major February 2023 launch was the AI-powered Bing search engine. It put pressure on Google to accelerate its own AI chatbot efforts.
Continue
Which chatbot, launched in 1966 at MIT, is widely considered one of the earliest examples of a conversational AI program?
AALICEBSmarterChildCELIZADClippy
Correct! ELIZA was created by Joseph Weizenbaum at MIT in 1966 and simulated conversation by pattern-matching user input. Its most famous script, DOCTOR, mimicked a psychotherapist and famously fooled some users into thinking they were talking to a real person.
Not quite. The answer is ELIZA, one of the earliest and most influential chatbot programs ever created. ALICE came later in 1995, SmarterChild was a popular AIM bot in the early 2000s, and Clippy was Microsoft’s animated Office assistant — not a true chatbot.
Continue
Grok is an AI chatbot developed by xAI. Which social media platform was it initially launched on as an exclusive feature?
ARedditBX (formerly Twitter)CLinkedInDTelegram
Correct! Grok was launched by Elon Musk’s xAI company and made available exclusively to X Premium subscribers on the X platform. It was designed to have a more irreverent and unfiltered personality compared to other AI chatbots.
Not quite. Grok was launched exclusively on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, which is also owned by Elon Musk. xAI developed the model to complement the X ecosystem, and early access was gated behind an X Premium subscription.
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What you get with Google AI Pro
More perks than you’d know about
I’m heavily invested in Google’s ecosystem, using Google Photos to back up all my photos and videos. All my important documents and PDFs are stored in Google Drive.
I also heavily use Docs and Sheets for work purposes. And then, there’s YouTube, my go-to platform for watching videos every night before bed.
So, any subscription that makes all of these better while throwing in access to cutting-edge AI models is a no-brainer.
That’s exactly what Google AI Pro offers. For $20 per month, it provides access to a plethora of tools and features.
For starters, it provides 5TB of storage space. With my ever-growing collection of photos and videos, which currently stands at around 1.6TB, this alone makes the plan’s $20 price tag worth it.
What makes the deal even better is that I can share the storage space with up to five family members or friends.
Credit: Lucas Gouveia / Android Police
Google previously offered 2TB of cloud storage with the AI Pro plan, recently increasing the storage limit to 5TB for free.
It recently started bundling YouTube Premium Lite for free with its AI Pro tier as well. I already pay for YouTube Premium.
However, since I don’t use YouTube Music, I’m happy to downgrade to the “Lite” experience, especially if I won’t have to pay for it from my pocket.
I’m yet to even get to the AI part, which is supposed to be the main point of the AI Pro plan.
This tier provides access to Google’s latest Gemini models with higher usage limits — up to four times more than the free tier.
Since I heavily use AI tools for work, the higher usage limits come in handy when researching, drafting, or just brainstorming ideas.
That expanded one-million-token context window is a lifesaver, too, especially when I’m working on complex projects with large documents.
And the AI perks don’t end there. Google AI Pro plan also unlocks access to Nano Banana Pro, Google’s best image-generation model. Plus, I get 1,000 monthly credits for video generation in Google Flow.
That’s yet another set of paid AI tools I no longer have to subscribe to separately, whether it’s for image editing or video generation.
As a long-time Google Pixel Watch user, I also used to pay for Fitbit Premium, now rebranded to Google Health Premium. Even that’s bundled with the AI Pro plan, saving me another $10 per month.
There are plenty more benefits that I’ve not listed here, including access to premium Google Photos features, a Google Home Premium Standard subscription, priority support, discount codes, and higher cashback on new Google devices, and higher upload limits in NotebookLM.
Individually, each of these subscriptions would easily cost me $50 to $60 per month. ChatGPT and Claude may have more capable AI models, but it’s hard to beat the value Google’s AI Pro plan offers.
For the same $20 per month, those services only provide access to their powerful AI models and little else.
Admittedly, I don’t use Gemini for coding, so its weaker coding skills aren’t a dealbreaker for me. For everything else — research, writing, brainstorming, and summarizing — Gemini holds its own just fine.
Yes, hallucinations are a problem, which forces me to double-check the generated responses all the time.
Related
I found a Gemini feature so good, I stopped using everything else
From chatbot to custom workspace
Google AI Pro isn’t for everyone
You need to be deep in Google’s ecosystem
Credit: Lucas Gouveia / Android Police
From a value perspective, Google’s AI Pro plan is easily the best-value AI subscription right now. However, it’s also not for everyone.
If you are not already living within the Google ecosystem — backing up your data to Google Drive, or using a Pixel Watch — then most of these perks will be pointless.
Plus, if you primarily use AI for coding or agentic tasks, a paid Claude or ChatGPT plan will serve you better.
For my workflow, though, none of that matters. At $20 per month, the AI Pro plan delivers more than three to four times its value.
The only AI subscription I happily pay for every month
I’ll freely admit that Gemini is not the smartest AI model out there. ChatGPT and Claude both excel over Google’s offering in several areas.
But, at least based on my workflow, I’m not just paying for an AI subscription based on which chatbot is the smartest.
I am also paying for the additional perks that come with an AI plan.
And that’s where Google trumps the competition, leveraging its ecosystem to offer more value for money by bundling a massive 5TB of cloud storage, an AI video generator, YouTube Premium Lite, and more.
Everyone else can keep debating which AI model is more powerful. I’m happy paying for the one subscription that quietly does almost everything for me.