● Long readings and textbooks Gemini. Google AI Pro states a one-million-token context window.
● Everyday study work ChatGPT Go, $8/month, 10x the free tier on messages and uploads.
● Anything recent Grok free. Live web and X search, so it is not limited to a training cut-off.
If you cannot pay anything, the free-tier plan is further down and it works.
Read this before you cite anything. None of these three is a source. All of them can produce a confident citation to a paper that does not exist. Use them to understand material and to find leads, then verify every reference against the actual journal, library or course text before it goes in your work. Your institution’s rules on AI use come first.
| For students | Grok | ChatGPT | Gemini |
|---|
| Cheapest paid tier | SuperGrok $30/mo | Go $8/mo | AI Plus - price not published |
| Free tier useful for study? | Yes - live search included | Yes - ads planned in the US | Yes |
| Long reading capacity | 500k tokens (API) | Longer context on Go and Plus | One million tokens (AI Pro) |
| Topics after May 2026 | Live search covers it | Browsing on paid tiers | Search grounding |
| Deep research mode | Expert on SuperGrok | Included on paid tiers | Deep Research from AI Plus up |
| Storage for notes | None | None | 400GB to 5TB included |
| Student discount | Not published | Not published | Not published |
Long readings: Gemini, and it is not close
The single spec that matters most for studying is how much you can put in at once. Google AI Pro states a one-million-token context window. Grok 4.7 offers 500,000 tokens through the API. That is the difference between pasting a chapter and pasting the whole book with the reading list attached.
Google AI Pro also includes 5TB of storage and Deep Research, and AI Plus includes Deep Research with 400GB. If you are already paying for Google storage for your coursework, the AI plan is partly something you were buying anyway.
The catch is that Google states its usage limits in words rather than numbers. Since May 2026 the Gemini app uses a compute-based limit that refreshes every five hours until a weekly cap, and when you exhaust the biggest models it moves you to smaller ones. In an exam week that fallback is exactly when you will notice it.
Everyday study work: ChatGPT Go at $8
For the ordinary rhythm of coursework - explain this, summarise that, check my reasoning, turn these notes into questions - ChatGPT Go is the cheapest tier in this comparison that meaningfully lifts the ceiling. It gives GPT-5.2 Instant, a longer memory and context, and 10x the free tier on messages, file uploads and image creation. It rolled out worldwide on 16 January 2026 and is localised in some markets, which matters if you are not paying in dollars.
Two caveats. Ads are planned for Go and the free tier in the US, so the cheap tier carries a commercial layer. And GPT-5.2 Thinking, the stronger reasoning model you want for hard problem sets, is on Plus at $20/month, not on Go.
Recent topics: Grok free
grok-4.7 has a stated knowledge cut-off of May 2026. Every model here has one. The difference is that Grok puts real-time web and X search on its free tier rather than behind a subscription, so for a module covering something that happened this term it is the one that will not quietly answer from stale training data.
For a student that makes Grok a free second opinion rather than a subscription. SuperGrok at $30/month is the most expensive entry tier of the three and its advantages - image and video generation, higher rate limits - are not study advantages.
If you cannot pay anything
This works, and it is what most students should do before spending:
- Gemini free for reading and summarising. The free tier still carries Google’s long-context models, just with tighter limits.
- Grok free whenever the topic is recent or you want a second answer that is not from the same family of models.
- ChatGPT free for explanation and practice questions, accepting that ads are planned in the US.
- Rotate between them when you hit a limit. Three free tiers reset on different schedules, which in practice gives you more capacity than one cheap subscription.
If you then decide to pay for exactly one, the question is simple: are your readings long, or is your volume high? Long readings point to Google AI Pro. High volume points to ChatGPT Go at $8.
What none of them do well
- Citations. All three will invent plausible references. Check every one.
- Maths you cannot verify. Use them to explain method, not to hand you a final answer you cannot check.
- Your institution’s rules. Policies vary by university and by module. Nothing here overrides them.
- Replacing the reading. A summary of a text you never opened is not knowledge of that text, and it shows in a viva.
Frequently asked questions
Which AI is best for students in 2026?
For long readings, Gemini on Google AI Pro, because of the stated one-million-token context window. For everyday coursework at the lowest price, ChatGPT Go at $8/month. For topics newer than a model’s cut-off, Grok free, because live web and X search is on its free tier.
Is ChatGPT or Gemini better for homework?
ChatGPT for explanation, step-by-step reasoning and practice questions. Gemini when the homework depends on a long document you need to paste in whole. The deciding factor is the size of the input, not the subject.
Can I study with only the free versions?
Yes. All three have free tiers, and because their limits reset on different schedules, rotating between them gives you more total capacity than one cheap subscription. The trade-off is that you repeat context each time you switch.
Do any of them offer a student discount?
None of the three publishes a student price on its plan pages. ChatGPT Go at $8/month is the lowest published consumer price among them, and Google localises AI plan pricing by country, which in some markets lands lower than the US figure.
Will my university know I used AI?
Detection tools are unreliable in both directions, but that is not the question that matters. Most institutions now require disclosure of AI use rather than banning it. Check your own module policy, because it varies, and using an assistant against a stated rule is an academic offence regardless of whether it is detected.
Which is most accurate for facts?
For anything recent, Grok, because it searches live rather than answering from training data with a May 2026 cut-off. For established material all three are broadly comparable and all three occasionally state something false with full confidence, which is why verification is not optional.
Related comparisons
Sources
All plan prices and model names on this page were read from the vendor pages above on 29 October 2026. Where a vendor does not publish a monthly price on its own plan page, this page says so rather than repeating a third-party figure. Consumer AI pricing changes often and is localised by country, so check the vendor page before you subscribe.