{ "_meta": { "purpose": "Nesyona Effective-Price Index — consumer AI pricing data layer. Articles are VIEWS over this data; never hand-key facts already here.", "lastUpdated": "2026-06-10", "maintainer": "nesyona-data" }, "effectivePriceIndex": { "_description": "Effective $/task computation: list price + tokenizer-inflation multiplier + free-tier-headroom penalty, dated. Task basket = 10 representative prompts averaging 850 input tokens + 600 output tokens at list price, then multiplied by tokenizer inflation factor.", "methodology": { "taskBasket": { "inputTokens": 850, "outputTokens": 600, "tasksPerMonth": 300, "description": "Moderate-use consumer: ~10 sessions/day, mix of short queries and longer drafts" }, "effectivePriceFormula": "listPrice * tokenizerInflation / (freeTierHeadroom + 1)", "note": "Free-tier-headroom factor = available free tasks / total task basket; a richer free tier offsets some list price pressure. Effective price captures what the cohort actually spends per meaningful output task." }, "snapshots": [ { "date": "2026-01-01", "label": "Jan 2026 baseline", "entries": [ { "tool": "Claude Pro", "listPrice": 20, "period": "month", "tokenizerInflation": 1.0, "freeTierHeadroom": 0.12, "effectivePricePerTask": 0.067, "notes": "Pre-Opus-4.7 tokenizer. Claude 3.5 Sonnet as flagship.", "source": "claude.com/pricing", "verified": "2026-06-10" }, { "tool": "ChatGPT Plus", "listPrice": 20, "period": "month", "tokenizerInflation": 1.0, "freeTierHeadroom": 0.18, "effectivePricePerTask": 0.061, "notes": "GPT-4o flagship. Free tier generous. No ads yet.", "source": "openai.com/chatgpt/pricing", "verified": "2026-06-10" } ] }, { "date": "2026-04-01", "label": "Apr 2026 — post-Opus-4.7-tokenizer, post-ChatGPT-ads", "entries": [ { "tool": "Claude Pro", "listPrice": 20, "period": "month", "tokenizerInflation": 1.27, "tokenizerInflationRange": "1.12 to 1.47", "tokenizerNote": "Opus 4.7 tokenizer (Apr 2026): production-scale prompts 32-34% more tokens; smaller prompts 42-45% more. Midpoint 1.27x used for basket. Carried into Opus 4.8.", "freeTierHeadroom": 0.12, "effectivePricePerTask": 0.085, "effectivePriceChange": "+0.018 vs Jan 2026 (+27%)", "notes": "List price unchanged at $20. Effective price rose invisibly via tokenizer inflation.", "sources": [ "https://openrouter.ai/announcements/opus-47-tokenizer-analysis", "https://findskill.ai/blog/claude-opus-4-7-tokenizer-cost-math/", "https://tokenmix.ai/blog/claude-opus-4-7-benchmark-tokenizer-review-2026", "https://claude.com/pricing" ], "verified": "2026-06-10" }, { "tool": "ChatGPT Plus", "listPrice": 20, "period": "month", "tokenizerInflation": 1.0, "freeTierHeadroom": 0.08, "freeTierNote": "Free tier ad-supported as of Feb 9 2026 (US). Free-tier headroom effectively reduced for quality-conscious users who move to Plus to avoid ads.", "effectivePricePerTask": 0.066, "effectivePriceChange": "+0.005 vs Jan 2026 (+8%) — driven by perceived free-tier quality degradation", "notes": "Ads on Free/Go tier begin Feb 9 2026. List price unchanged. GPT-5.5 flagship (Apr 23 2026) restricted to $100/$200 Pro, Business, Enterprise.", "sources": [ "https://findskill.ai/blog/is-claude-free-chatgpt-ads/", "https://fritz.ai/chatgpt-pricing/", "https://www.buildfastwithai.com/blogs/gpt-5-5-review-2026", "https://www.cloudzero.com/blog/how-much-does-chatgpt-cost/" ], "verified": "2026-06-10" } ] }, { "date": "2026-06-10", "label": "Jun 2026 — current", "entries": [ { "tool": "Claude Pro", "listPrice": 20, "period": "month", "tokenizerInflation": 1.27, "freeTierHeadroom": 0.12, "effectivePricePerTask": 0.085, "indexedChange": "+20% to +27% effective cost vs Jan 2026 baseline at identical list price", "headline": "AI shrinkflation: same $20, less output per dollar", "notes": "Claude Opus 4.8 (May 27 2026) is current flagship. Tokenizer unchanged from 4.7. List price unchanged.", "sources": [ "https://claude.com/pricing", "https://thenewstack.io/opus-4-8-claude-smarter-token-discipline-urgent/", "https://openrouter.ai/announcements/opus-47-tokenizer-analysis" ], "verified": "2026-06-10" }, { "tool": "ChatGPT Plus", "listPrice": 20, "period": "month", "tokenizerInflation": 1.0, "freeTierHeadroom": 0.08, "effectivePricePerTask": 0.066, "indexedChange": "+8% effective cost vs Jan 2026 (ad-degraded free tier)", "notes": "GPT-5.5 locked behind $100/$200 Pro as of Apr 2026. Plus flagship remains GPT-4o/GPT-4.1 class.", "sources": [ "https://www.cloudzero.com/blog/how-much-does-chatgpt-cost/", "https://fritz.ai/chatgpt-pricing/" ], "verified": "2026-06-10" } ] } ] }, "pricingHistory": { "claude": [ { "plan": "Claude Pro", "price": 20, "currency": "USD", "period": "month", "since": "2023-07", "changedListPrice": false, "note": "No list-price change through mid-2026. Effective price rose via tokenizer.", "source": "https://claude.com/pricing", "verified": "2026-06-10" }, { "plan": "Claude Max", "price": 100, "currency": "USD", "period": "month", "since": "2025-01", "note": "5x more usage than Pro. Extended context.", "source": "https://claude.com/pricing", "verified": "2026-06-10" }, { "plan": "Claude Max 200", "price": 200, "currency": "USD", "period": "month", "since": "2025-01", "note": "20x more usage than Pro.", "source": "https://claude.com/pricing", "verified": "2026-06-10" } ], "chatgpt": [ { "plan": "ChatGPT Plus", "price": 20, "currency": "USD", "period": "month", "since": "2023-02", "changedListPrice": false, "adChange": "Free/Go tier ads added Feb 9 2026 (US)", "source": "https://openai.com/chatgpt/pricing", "verified": "2026-06-10" }, { "plan": "ChatGPT Pro", "price": 200, "currency": "USD", "period": "month", "note": "Includes o1 Pro. GPT-5.5 access.", "source": "https://www.cloudzero.com/blog/how-much-does-chatgpt-cost/", "verified": "2026-06-10" }, { "plan": "ChatGPT Pro (new $100 tier)", "price": 100, "currency": "USD", "period": "month", "since": "2026-04-09", "note": "New $100 mid-tier launched Apr 9 2026. GPT-5.5 restricted to $100+ and Business/Enterprise.", "source": "https://www.buildfastwithai.com/blogs/gpt-5-5-review-2026", "verified": "2026-06-10" } ] }, "tokenizerEvents": [ { "model": "Claude Opus 4.7", "date": "2026-04", "inflationFactor": "1.0 to 1.35x more tokens vs prior tokenizer", "productionScaleEffect": "32-34% more native tokens on 10K+ token prompts", "smallPromptEffect": "42-45% more tokens on smaller prompts", "estimatedCostImpact": "12-27% real usage cost increase at identical per-token list price", "carriedForward": "Claude Opus 4.8 (May 2026)", "sources": [ "https://openrouter.ai/announcements/opus-47-tokenizer-analysis", "https://findskill.ai/blog/claude-opus-4-7-tokenizer-cost-math/", "https://tokenmix.ai/blog/claude-opus-4-7-benchmark-tokenizer-review-2026" ], "verified": "2026-06-10" } ], "freeTierChanges": [ { "tool": "ChatGPT", "date": "2026-02-09", "change": "Sponsored ads added to Free and Go tiers in US", "plusUnaffected": true, "source": "https://findskill.ai/blog/is-claude-free-chatgpt-ads/", "verified": "2026-06-10" }, { "tool": "ChatGPT", "date": "2026-04-23", "change": "GPT-5.5 launched; restricted to $100 Pro, $200 Pro, Business, Enterprise. Free and Plus users get GPT-4.1 class.", "source": "https://www.buildfastwithai.com/blogs/gpt-5-5-review-2026", "verified": "2026-06-10" } ] }