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Which AI
Ranking · 14 plans · updated 28 Sept 2026

Best subscription for software development

The best subscription for writing software, weighted hard toward independent coding benchmarks and whether a real coding agent is included.

WeightingIntelligence 26%Capacity 20%Features 12%Value 8%Reliability 9%Sentiment 25%Why these?
14 of 14 plans
  • 1
    Claude Pro
    Opus, Sonnet and Haiku. Fable only on paid usage credits.
    79.9Very good
    $20
    /month
    —
    Score breakdown
    Intelligence
    73
    Capacity
    not counted
    Features
    97
    Value
    77
    Reliability
    not counted
    Sentiment
    not counted
    High confidence
    Why it scores well
    • Strong capability for the price — Top-tier models and features for $20/month
    • Access to the strongest models we track — Epoch Capabilities Index 162.7 ECI (Anthropic: Claude Opus 5)
    Where it loses points
    • Missing features that matter for this category — Includes coding agent, file upload, integrations

    Usage basis: At least 5x more usage per 5-hour session than Free.

  • 2
    ChatGPT Plus
    GPT-5.6 in Chat. GPT-6 Sol and GPT-6 Astra in Codex, Astra with a small allowance (about 5–45 messages per 5 hours).
    77.0Very good
    $20
    /month
    —
  • 3
    Google AI Pro
    Gemini 3.8 Flash and 3.1 Pro, Deep Research
    72.3Good
    $19.99
    /month
    —
  • 4
    ChatGPT Pro
    GPT-6 Pro (Astra) in Chat, and GPT-6 Astra and Sol in Codex with much higher allowances
    72.0Good
    $100
    /month
    —
  • 5
    Claude Max (5x)
    Everything in Pro. Fable only on paid usage credits.
    69.3Good
    $100
    /month
    —
  • 5
    SuperGrok
    Grok 4.6 with higher rate limits
    69.3Good
    $30
    /month
    —
  • 7
    Claude Max (20x)
    Everything in Pro. Fable only on paid usage credits.
    67.1Good
    $200
    /month
    —
  • 8
    Perplexity Pro
    Grok 4.7, GPT-6 Sol, Gemini 3.8 Flash and Claude Sonnet 5, among others
    64.3Mixed
    $20
    /month
    —
  • 9
    SuperGrok Plus
    Significantly higher usage, 1080p video and priority access
    63.0Mixed
    $100
    /month
    —
  • 10
    Google AI Ultra (5x)
    Highest access to Gemini 3.8 Flash and 3.1 Pro
    62.7Mixed
    $99.99
    /month
    —
  • 11
    Google AI Ultra (20x)
    Highest access to Gemini 3.8 Flash and 3.1 Pro
    60.7Mixed
    $199.99
    /month
    —
  • 12
    SuperGrok Heavy
    Everything in SuperGrok Plus, highest usage and the multi-agent Heavy mode
    60.6Mixed
    $300
    unverified/month
    —
  • 13
    Google AI Plus
    Everything in Free, with higher limits
    60.1Mixed
    $4.99
    /month
    —
  • 14
    Perplexity Max
    Everything in Pro, with higher limits on Deep Research, file uploads and video
    53.9Mixed
    $200
    /month
    —

Listed, not ranked

Either the provider has closed the plan to new subscribers, or we have no independent benchmark for any model it includes — usually because the provider does not say which model you get. Rather than rank them on a guess or recommend something you cannot buy, we list them with their price and source.

  • ChatGPT Pro (20x)
    GPT-6 Pro (Astra) in Chat, and GPT-6 Astra and Sol in Codex with much higher allowances
    Not ranked: closed to new subscribers
    $200/month
    unverified
  • ChatGPT Go
    Expanded access to OpenAI's instant model
    Not ranked: no independently measured model
    $8/month
  • SuperGrok Lite
    A lighter SuperGrok tier. xAI lists it without a price or details on its pricing page.
    Not ranked: no independently measured model
    $10/month
    unverified