Anthropic vs OpenAI

Anthropic and OpenAI subscription plans, prices, and usage limits side by side, source-linked and tracked over time. 2026 snapshot, last verified 2026-06-08. Cheapest plan across the two: OpenAI Go at $8/mo. For value-per-dollar and measured receipts, see the interactive LimitWatch app.

Provider	Plan	Price / mo	Limits	Confidence	Source
OpenAI	Go	$8	160 messages/3h (GPT-5.5) 10 messages/5h (GPT-5.5 Thinking)	official	src 2026-06-07
Anthropic	Pro	$20	5x Free 45 messages/5h · estimate	official	src 2026-06-07
Anthropic	Pro · Agent SDK	$20	$20 usage / mo	announced	src 2026-06-07
OpenAI	Plus	$20	160 messages/3h (GPT-5.5) 3,000 messages/wk (GPT-5.5 Thinking)	official	src 2026-06-07
Anthropic	Max 5x	$100	5x Pro 225 messages/5h · estimate	official	src 2026-06-07
Anthropic	Max 5x · Agent SDK	$100	$100 usage / mo	announced	src 2026-06-07
Anthropic	Max 20x	$200	20x Pro 900 messages/5h · estimate	official	src 2026-06-07
Anthropic	Max 20x · Agent SDK	$200	$200 usage / mo	announced	src 2026-06-07
OpenAI	Pro	$200	? messages (GPT-5.5)	official	src 2026-06-07

Recent Anthropic changes

No changes tracked yet — they appear here as snapshots accumulate.

Recent OpenAI changes

2026-04-23OpenAI Go GPT-5.4 Thinking -> GPT-5.5 Thinking (10 messages / 5h) src

2026-04-23OpenAI Go GPT-5.3 -> GPT-5.5 (160 messages / 3h) src

2026-04-23OpenAI Pro GPT-5.3 -> GPT-5.5 src

2026-04-23OpenAI Plus GPT-5.4 Thinking -> GPT-5.5 Thinking (3,000 messages / wk) src

2026-04-23OpenAI Plus GPT-5.3 -> GPT-5.5 (160 messages / 3h) src