AI subscription affordability by country2026-10-15
Intelligence Hours
Index.
The Intelligence Hours Index (IHI) measures AI subscription affordability by country: the gross minimum-wage work required to pay for a specified monthly AI plan. It is a labor-time price index, not a benchmark of AI model capability.
A common dollar price. Unequal hours.
How many hours at the local minimum wage buy one
month of AI?
In 🇺🇸 United States — Washington DC, work
1h05m
to afford AI for one month.
1.09 IHI · hours
#2 of 25 ranked countries
$20 / month
This result uses older verified inputs. Check the source dates below.
Monthly price
$20 benchmark: median of ChatGPT Plus, Claude Pro and Google AI Pro.
US list price · before taxes · gross minimum wage. Free AI access also exists.
See the calculation and source dates
Monthly subscription$20Intelligence Hours Index
Gross hourly minimumUSD 18.4USD 18.4 / hour
Reference exchange rate1 USD / USDFX 2026-10-15 · Wage verified 2026-09-28
Time, made visible1 bar = 8 hours
0.14 workdays8h is a visual unit, not a legal working day.
General adult, non-tipped employee; sector and coverage exceptions may apply.
Open official sources and regional detailsThe question behind the index
Gold. Oil. Now intelligence.
Gold and oil help us read the dollar’s global role. Dollar-priced AI raises a new question: how much of a country’s work buys access to intelligence? IHI translates a common subscription price into local labour time.
Why now? The US has directed its executive branch to use “SI” and promotes American AI technology exports. SI policy · AI export policy · Read the argument
Lower hours. More purchasing power.
Improving the index means reducing the work needed to buy the same benchmark. Raising the minimum wage is one route. It is not the only one.
- Higher local wages
- More pay per hour buys the same subscription with less work, if the exchange rate holds.
- A stronger currency
- Fewer local currency units per dollar reduce the cost, even when the local wage stays the same.
- Productivity that reaches purchasing power
- Productivity is not a direct input. Its gains affect IHI when they reach the measured wage or exchange rate. Neither link is automatic.
A lower dollar subscription price also lowers hours. National competitiveness can inform this discussion; IHI directly measures the price-to-wage relationship, not competitiveness or productivity. Actual earnings also depend on wage coverage and compliance.
Try wage and FX changes
Same $20 AI. Different hours.
A hypothetical starting point: 50 local units per hour and 10 local units per USD give 4 hours of work.
50 local units / hour
10 local units / USD · Starting exchange rate
The same hours as the starting point
Illustration only. Inputs stay in this page and do not change country scores, ranks or shared results. A lower rate in local units per USD means a stronger local currency. Rank also depends on other countries.
The global ranking
Where is AI most affordable?
Lower IHI = fewer hours of work and greater purchasing power for this benchmark. Rank 1 requires the fewest hours.
25 countries ranked50 countries in scopeCapital jurisdiction · IHI = required work hours
Data coverage: 354 verified or structural · 73 estimated · 119 awaiting data · 25 countries not ranked
Estimates, comparison-only price scenarios, missing data and countries with no general statutory minimum are excluded from verified rankings. Reference times are shown with their assumptions. They are never assigned zero hours.
Choose your AI
One country. Different plans.
🇺🇸 United States — Washington DC
Regular monthly USD prices from official providers. Country access refers to the
consumer web service; local paid-plan checkout may differ.
Your wage, your hours
How much of your time?
Enter your gross hourly wage in US dollars. Your input stays in this browser and is excluded from the index, share links and downloads.
— h — m
For one month of the benchmark subscription.