Estimated reading time: 7 minutes · Prices last checked: 10 October 2026
- Three plans, three prices, all in AUD: ChatGPT Plus is A$30/month, Claude Pro is A$34/month (or A$340/year), and Google AI Pro is A$32.99/month.
- Cheapest month to month: ChatGPT Plus. Cheapest if you pay yearly: Claude Pro, at about A$28.33/month.
- Best bundle: Google AI Pro throws in 5 TB of storage and YouTube Premium Lite, so it’s the bargain if you’d pay for those anyway.
- Businesses on Google Workspace: Gemini comes with Business Standard (A$19.80/user/month) and up, so you may already be paying for it.
- Two plans is where it adds up: Claude Pro plus ChatGPT Plus is A$64/month. Make that call on purpose, not by forgetting to cancel a trial.
You’re standing at the checkout of three AI subscriptions, and a year ago every one of them waved roughly the same number at you: twenty US dollars, give or take what your bank felt like charging. Now all three show Australians a price in Aussie dollars — and for the first time, they’re actually different. So which is worth it? “Which model is smartest” is the wrong question. This is the Australian-specific breakdown of what Claude Pro, ChatGPT Plus and Google AI Pro (the plan formerly known as Gemini Advanced) actually cost, what each one includes, and where the value quietly leaks out through the bottom of the bucket. For every other AI tool priced in AUD, see The Real Cost of AI in Australia.
Jump to: The pricing table · Claude Pro · ChatGPT Plus · Google AI Pro · The two-plan trap · Gotchas · FAQ
Three Prices, All in Aussie Dollars (Finally)
The old version of this comparison was all about the exchange rate: one plan billed in AUD, two drifting around in US dollars. That’s over. On their pricing pages, viewed from Australia, OpenAI, Anthropic and Google now all quote Australian dollars. The price you see is much closer to the price you pay.
Two small catches survive. First, GST: Anthropic says its prices include 10% GST; the other two pages don’t say either way, so check your invoice (more in Does ChatGPT charge GST in Australia?). Second, your bank: most big-bank credit cards charge an international transaction fee of around 3%, and it can apply even to Aussie-dollar purchases from overseas companies. Neither is a catastrophe. Both compound when you’re running two subscriptions and a couple of API keys on top.
The Pricing Table (Because Someone Has to Do the Maths)
| Plan | Monthly | Yearly option | What the pricing page lists |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT Plus | A$30 | None (monthly only) | Advanced reasoning, image creation, deep research, projects and scheduled tasks, custom GPTs, Codex |
| Claude Pro | A$34 (incl. GST) | A$340/year (about A$28.33/month) | Claude Code, Projects, Research, Claude in Chrome and Microsoft 365, more usage than the free plan |
| Google AI Pro | A$32.99 | Not listed | Gemini 3.1 Pro, video generation, Gemini in Gmail and Docs, 5 TB of storage, YouTube Premium Lite |
Prices checked on each company’s pricing page from an Australian connection on 10 October 2026. Claude’s prices include GST; check your invoice for the others. Card fees are not included.
Want cheaper or heavier? All three have tiers either side:
| Company | Budget tier | Power-user tier |
|---|---|---|
| OpenAI | ChatGPT Go, A$13/month | ChatGPT Pro, from A$155/month |
| Anthropic | None (Free plan) | Claude Max, from A$170.01/month |
| Google AI Plus, A$7.99/month | Google AI Ultra, from A$149.99/month |
So who’s cheapest? Month to month, ChatGPT Plus at A$30. If you’ll commit for a year, Claude Pro at about A$28.33/month undercuts it — and ChatGPT Plus doesn’t offer a yearly plan at all. Google AI Pro is the dearest of the three at A$32.99, but it’s the only one that also hands you 5 TB of Google storage and YouTube Premium Lite. If you’d be paying Google for storage anyway, the AI part is close to a freebie.
Claude Pro: The Novelist Who Also Codes
Claude Pro earns its spot when your work is mostly text going in and better text coming out: long policy documents, meeting transcripts, thesis chapters, or a codebase that needs a patient reviewer rather than a hype machine. The plan now includes Claude Code, Research, Projects, and Claude inside Chrome and Microsoft 365, so it’s less of a single-purpose writing tool than it used to be.
What it doesn’t list: image or video generation. Claude Pro is a scalpel, not a Swiss Army knife. If you want one tool to also make your Instagram graphics, you’ll be disappointed roughly on schedule. And it’s the dearest of the three month to month — the yearly plan is where it wins on price.
ChatGPT Plus: The Swiss Army Knife, Now in Aussie Dollars
ChatGPT Plus is the safe answer for the “just give me one subscription” crowd: advanced reasoning, image creation, deep research, projects, scheduled tasks, custom GPTs and Codex, all in one place. It’s the golden retriever of AI plans — not always the most precise, but enthusiastic about every task and rarely useless.
The honest trade-off is that breadth is easy to pay for and hard to use. A quick look at what you actually do with it often reveals someone paying for image creation and deep research to, in practice, reword emails. If that’s you, the A$13 ChatGPT Go plan might do — though OpenAI notes that Go may include ads.
Google AI Pro: Fantastic If You Already Rent an Apartment in Google’s Building
Google AI Pro (the plan that used to be called Gemini Advanced) is the plan whose value is almost entirely contextual. On the AI alone, at A$32.99/month, it’s the dearest of the three. But it’s really a bundle: Gemini in Gmail and Docs, video generation, 5 TB of storage and YouTube Premium Lite. If your family photos already live in Google Photos and you’re paying for storage, the maths changes fast.
For businesses, flip the frame again. Google Workspace includes Gemini in Gmail, Docs, Meet and more from Business Standard at A$19.80/user/month (monthly billing). Business Starter at A$9.90 only gets Gemini in Gmail. If your team is already on Standard or Plus, you’re not comparing A$30 versus A$34 versus A$32.99 — you’re comparing them with A$0 extra.
The Two-Plan Trap (Or: Why “$30” Becomes “$64”)
So what happens once you’ve picked one? Quite often, you pick a second. Here’s what the usual pairings cost each month:
- Claude Pro + ChatGPT Plus: A$64 (or A$58.33 with Claude on yearly billing). Claude for writing and long documents, ChatGPT for images and everything else.
- Google AI Pro + Claude Pro: A$66.99 (or A$61.32 with Claude yearly). Gemini because it’s already in your Google life, Claude for drafting.
- ChatGPT Plus + Google AI Pro: A$62.99.
None of these pairings is irrational. But if you’re doing AI on a budget, make the two-plan decision deliberately. A cheaper option for the second slot is often pay-as-you-go API usage through a workflow tool like n8n: a few dollars for the occasional image or specialty task instead of a second flat fee. AI Token Pricing Explained covers how that billing works.
Gotchas
- AUD prices don’t always mean no card fee. Banks can charge their international transaction fee (typically around 3%) on Aussie-dollar purchases from overseas companies. Check your statement, or use a card without international fees.
- GST isn’t shown the same way everywhere. Anthropic says its prices include GST. OpenAI and Google’s pricing pages don’t say. Overseas companies have to charge GST to Australian consumers (ATO), but business accounts with an ABN can be invoiced differently, so check the actual invoice.
- Yearly billing changes the winner. Claude Pro is A$34 monthly but about A$28.33 on yearly billing. ChatGPT Plus is monthly only. Google Workspace says a one-year commitment saves 16%.
- Workspace’s “Gemini included” has fine print. Business Starter only gets Gemini in Gmail. The full set — Docs, Meet and more — starts at Business Standard. Don’t upgrade a whole team’s plan just to “get Gemini free” without doing that arithmetic first.
- Usage limits still exist. All three plans cap how much you can use them. If you’re pushing hundreds of long prompts a day, no A$30 plan is your final destination; you’re looking at a power-user tier or the API.
What’s Next
The local-billing fight is over: all three now show Australians AUD prices. The next round is bundles and tiers. Google is already making the assistant a feature of things you pay for anyway (storage, Workspace), while all three are stretching their ranges at both ends — A$7.99 to A$13 budget tiers below, A$150-plus power tiers above. Somewhere in the next year, the honest comparison probably stops being “Claude vs ChatGPT vs Gemini” and starts being “which platform have you already surrendered your documents to.”
These prices are re-checked monthly, alongside every other tool in The Real Cost of AI in Australia.
Related guides on FNG
- The Real Cost of AI in Australia — every major AI tool priced in AUD
- AI Token Pricing Explained — how pay-per-use AI is billed, and how to use fewer tokens
FAQ
- Which one is cheapest for an Australian? Month to month, ChatGPT Plus at A$30. On yearly billing, Claude Pro at A$340/year (about A$28.33/month). Google AI Pro is A$32.99, but includes 5 TB of storage.
- Is ChatGPT Plus still billed in US dollars? Not any more for Australians: OpenAI’s pricing page shows A$30/month. Your bank may still add an international transaction fee if the charge is processed overseas.
- What happened to Gemini Advanced? It’s now part of Google AI Pro, at A$32.99/month in Australia. There’s also Google AI Plus at A$7.99 and Google AI Ultra from A$149.99.
- Is Google AI Pro worth it on its own? On the AI alone, it’s the dearest of the three. Counting the 5 TB of storage and YouTube Premium Lite, it’s good value if you’d pay for those anyway.
- Do I need two plans? Probably not. Two plans costs A$58–A$67 a month. For a budget setup, pick one plan for the job you do most and cover the gaps with pay-as-you-go API usage.
Written by Scott (Freaky Newguy), a Sydney-based IT worker. How I check prices.
Sources
- Pricing pages, checked from an Australian connection on 10 October 2026: ChatGPT, Claude, Google AI plans and Google Workspace
- GST on imported digital services: Australian Taxation Office
- Card fees: NerdWallet Australia, international transaction fees