Claude Pro or Max? ChatGPT Pro too? Which combination, for which builder. The honest math.
$20
Pro Floor
$200
Max / Pro Tier
~$420
Serious Builder Stack
5h
Rolling Quota Window
Claude plans — when to upgrade
Pro
$20/mo · ~5× Free Thinking partner, light Code.
Entry
Max-$100
$100/mo · ~5× Pro Solo builder, daily Code.
Common
FULL-TIME
Max-$200
$200/mo · ~20× Pro Multi-agent, all-day Code.
Team
Pooled usage, SSO, admin controls.
Business
Recommended stack by user type
Solo iOS dev, daily build
Claude Max $200 + ChatGPT Pro $200 + Perplexity Pro $20
$420/mo
BEST VALUE
Indie builder, regular use
Claude Max $100 + Perplexity Pro $20
$120/mo
Web / full-stack dev
Claude Max $100 + Cursor $20 + Perplexity Pro $20
$140/mo
Upgrade Test
Free → Pro: when daily cap blocks you Pro → Max-$100: hit cap weekly Max-$100 → Max-$200:/usage at 80%+ daily Add ChatGPT Pro: need Images/Voice/Codex Add Perplexity: any research-heavy work
Common Mistake
Confusing the monthly billing total with the 5-hour rolling window. /usage shows the window — that's the cap that bites.
Other AI subscriptions
Add when…
ChatGPT Plus $20 / Pro $200 Images 2, Voice, Codex, Sora
Gemini Pro $20 / Ultra $200 Long context, Workspace, Antigravity
SuperGrok $30 / Heavy $300 Real-time X data, news-aware agents
Perplexity Pro $20 / Comet $200 Research, deep web reasoning