How to read an AI tool pricing page without getting caught out

While researching the first tools on this site we read a dozen official pricing pages. Several contradicted themselves, and a few left out basics. These are the checks we now run on every page before we publish a price.

1. Find the currency code

Most pages show a “$” and never name a currency. Some pages named one: Notion says “Price in USD”, Zapier lists USD and Perplexity “US$”. Others showed rupees or euros for the region we checked, for example ChatGPT, Gemini and Gamma in rupees and n8n and Pitch in euros. Prices can change with your location, so confirm on the vendor’s page. We list the currency a vendor shows and do not convert or rank across currencies.

2. Separate monthly billing from annual billing

A headline price is often the annual rate shown as a monthly figure. Jasper Pro, for example, is $69 per seat per month billed monthly and $59 on yearly billing. Look for the toggle, then write down both numbers and the commitment length.

3. Work out what a credit buys

Credit-based tools (video, voice, image) are hard to compare. Synthesia estimates about 100 credits per video minute. ElevenLabs lists about 1 credit per character of text to speech. Other pages give no conversion at all. If there is no conversion, the plan is harder to budget.

4. Check whether the price is per seat

Several plans are “per user” or “per seat”. Fathom’s Team and Business plans also list a two-user minimum. Multiply by your real headcount.

5. Free plan and free trial are different things

A free plan has no end date. A free trial does. Jasper lists a 7-day trial and no free plan. Otter lists a free Basic plan with a monthly cap. Copy.ai shows a “Try for free” button without saying which one it is. On this site we only call something a free plan or a free trial when the page does.

6. Treat promotions as conditions, not prices

Otter’s page carried lower prices marked “valid only with an India-issued credit card”. ElevenLabs shows a first-month discount on Creator without saying who qualifies. We list the standard price and note the promotion separately.

7. Note what the page does not say

Overage behaviour, refund terms and trial length are often missing. We record these as “not stated” so you can ask the vendor before you pay.

Related tools

The examples above come from the tool pages linked below, each with its source URL and the date we last checked it.