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What ChatGPT actually costs over five years

The sticker price is the start of it. Here is what ChatGPT adds up to over one, three and five years, plus the costs that never appear on a pricing page.

Information, not financial advice. Prices and terms change; check the source before you buy.

The five year number

Five years of ChatGPT comes to £1,200 on Plus. OpenAI prices individual plans per user per month and offers monthly billing on Go and Plus. Figures assume the Plus tier held for the full period at the current price. Verified 21 July 2026.

Year by year

Total cost of ChatGPT compared with Delphina after one, three and five years.
After 1 yearChatGPT£0 on Free, £84 on Go, or £240 on PlusDelphina£119.88
After 3 yearsChatGPT£720 on PlusDelphina£359.64
After 5 yearsChatGPT£1,200 on PlusDelphina£599.40

Delphina Wealth Builder at £9.99 a month, held flat.

OpenAI prices individual plans per user per month and offers monthly billing on Go and Plus. Figures assume the Plus tier held for the full period at the current price.

Costs that are not on the price list

These do not show up when you sign up, but they show up on your statement.

  • Hidden cost: Your own time entering balances by hand every time you want an up-to-date answer, because there is no account connection
  • Hidden cost: The cost of acting on an answer that applied the wrong tax year's allowances
  • Hidden cost: A separate tool or spreadsheet to actually hold the plan, since nothing is stored as a live forecast

Figures based on ChatGPT’s published prices(opens in a new tab), checked 21 July 2026.

What you are paying for

For understanding concepts, drafting questions for an adviser, and sense-checking your own thinking, that is a fair price. Genuinely good at explaining a concept such as salary sacrifice or the personal allowance taper in plain language. Free tier available, so there is no barrier to asking a question.

A five year total always looks large written down. Judge it against what the tool actually changes, not against the headline on its own.

Plans and tiers

This page is about the running total. For the tier structure and what each plan includes, see ChatGPT pricing.

The same five years on Delphina

Delphina's Free plan is £0 for as long as you want it, no card. Wealth Builder is £9.99 a month, so five years is £599.40 if you stay on it the whole time, billed in pounds with no FX fee.

ChatGPT is a better explainer than any planning tool, and if you are trying to understand what a SIPP is, it is a reasonable place to start. It cannot see your accounts, does not apply UK tax rules to your real numbers, and is not regulated. Delphina connects your accounts through Open Banking, applies ISA and UK pension rules to the actual balances, and keeps the forecast current, from Free through Wealth Builder at £9.99 a month to Investor at £19.99 a month.

See Delphina's plans

Check where you actually stand

More on ChatGPT

ChatGPT: common questions

It is worth it for understanding concepts, drafting questions for an adviser, and sense-checking your own thinking. It is a poor buy for anyone who needs it has no access to your actual accounts, so every number you plan with is one you typed in from memory, because that is not what it is built to do.

A five year total is worth measuring against something

The point of paying for any of this is a better outcome. Delphina shows you what your pensions and ISAs are actually on course to do, so you can judge whether ChatGPT is earning its fee.

Free plan: create an account, no card, no expiry. Takes about two minutes.