The best AI subscription, by what you actually do
Arena tells you which model wins a chat battle. We answer the question that costs money: which AI subscription should you actually pay for? Ranked by value, workflow fit, files, limits, privacy and team use — not just raw IQ.
Category winners
Pick the lane that matches your work. Each category is scored from the relevant parameters in our matrix.
ChatGPT
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Best all-in-oneMultipleChat
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Best for businessCopilot
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Best for studentsGemini
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Best for codingChatGPT
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Best for researchPerplexity
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Best for writingClaude
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Best for files / PDFsClaude
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Best for privacyCopilot
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Best valueMultipleChat
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Cheapest useful planMultipleChat
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The weighted overall ranking
Every subscription scored out of 100 across 8 weighted categories.
Reasoning, math, coding, research, speed, file caps, exports, workflow, privacy and more — every parameter scored.