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 ๐ป๐ณ Vietnam โ Lang Son โ Zone IV, work
to afford AI for one month.
This result uses older verified inputs. Check the source dates below.
$20 benchmark: median of ChatGPT Plus, Claude Pro and Google AI Pro.
US list price ยท before taxes ยท gross minimum wage. Free AI access also exists.
See the calculation and source dates
Employees working under labour contracts and paid by the hour in statutory Zone IV. The workplace's commune or ward determines the zone; this is not a province-wide rate.
Open official sources and regional detailsGold. Oil. Now intelligence.
Gold and oil help us read the dollarโs global role. Dollar-priced AI raises a new question: how much of a countryโs 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 โSIโ and promotes American AI technology exports. SI policy ยท AI export policy ยท 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.
See the formula and its limitsSame $20 AI. Different hours.
A hypothetical starting point: 50 local units per hour and 10 local units per USD give 4 hours of work.
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.
Where is AI most affordable?
Lower IHI = fewer hours of work and greater purchasing power for this benchmark. Rank 1 requires the fewest hours.
Data coverage: 354 verified or structural ยท 73 estimated ยท 119 awaiting data ยท 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.
One country. Different plans.
๐ป๐ณ Vietnam โ Lang Son โ Zone IV
Regular monthly USD prices from official providers. Country access refers to the
consumer web service; local paid-plan checkout may differ.
| AI plan | USD / month | Hours of work | Service availability |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT GoOpenAI | $8 | 11h 34m | Available Sources & scopeChatGPT ยท Available Listed for consumer web access. Paid-plan checkout, payment methods and individual features may have additional restrictions. Official support list Checked 2026-09-29 |
| ChatGPT PlusOpenAI | $20 | 28h 55m | Available Sources & scopeChatGPT ยท Available Listed for consumer web access. Paid-plan checkout, payment methods and individual features may have additional restrictions. Official support list Checked 2026-09-29 |
| ChatGPT Pro โ MoreOpenAI | $200 | 289h 13m | Available Sources & scopeChatGPT ยท Available Listed for consumer web access. Paid-plan checkout, payment methods and individual features may have additional restrictions. Official support list Checked 2026-09-29 |
| Claude ProAnthropic | $20 | 28h 55m | Available Sources & scopeClaude ยท Available Listed for consumer web access. Paid-plan checkout, payment methods and individual features may have additional restrictions. Official support list Checked 2026-09-29 |
| Claude Max โ 5รAnthropic | $100 | 144h 37m | Available Sources & scopeClaude ยท Available Listed for consumer web access. Paid-plan checkout, payment methods and individual features may have additional restrictions. Official support list Checked 2026-09-29 |
| Google AI PlusGoogle | $4.99 | 7h 13m | Available Sources & scopeGemini ยท Available Listed for consumer web access. Paid-plan checkout, payment methods and individual features may have additional restrictions. Official support list Checked 2026-09-29 |
| Google AI ProGoogle | $19.99 | 28h 54m | Available Sources & scopeGemini ยท Available Listed for consumer web access. Paid-plan checkout, payment methods and individual features may have additional restrictions. Official support list Checked 2026-09-29 |
| Google AI Ultra โ 5รGoogle | $99.99 | 144h 36m | Available Sources & scopeGemini ยท Available Listed for consumer web access. Paid-plan checkout, payment methods and individual features may have additional restrictions. Official support list Checked 2026-09-29 |
| Google AI Ultra โ 20รGoogle | $199.99 | 289h 13m | Available Sources & scopeGemini ยท Available Listed for consumer web access. Paid-plan checkout, payment methods and individual features may have additional restrictions. Official support list Checked 2026-09-29 |
| SuperGrokxAI | $30 | 43h 23m | Country access unconfirmed Sources & scopeGrok ยท Country access unconfirmed We have not verified an official country-level support statement for this service. A working website or status page does not establish local access. Provider guidance |
| SuperGrok PlusxAI | $100 | 144h 37m | Country access unconfirmed Sources & scopeGrok ยท Country access unconfirmed We have not verified an official country-level support statement for this service. A working website or status page does not establish local access. Provider guidance |
| Kimi PlusMoonshot AI | $19 | 27h 29m | Country access unconfirmed Sources & scopeKimi ยท Country access unconfirmed We have not verified an official country-level support statement for this service. A working website or status page does not establish local access. Provider guidance |
| Kimi ProMoonshot AI | $39 | 56h 24m | Country access unconfirmed Sources & scopeKimi ยท Country access unconfirmed We have not verified an official country-level support statement for this service. A working website or status page does not establish local access. Provider guidance |
| Kimi MaxMoonshot AI | $99 | 143h 10m | Country access unconfirmed Sources & scopeKimi ยท Country access unconfirmed We have not verified an official country-level support statement for this service. A working website or status page does not establish local access. Provider guidance |
| Kimi UltraMoonshot AI | $199 | 287h 47m | Country access unconfirmed Sources & scopeKimi ยท Country access unconfirmed We have not verified an official country-level support statement for this service. A working website or status page does not establish local access. Provider guidance |
| ChatGPT Pro 500OpenAI | $500 | 723h 04m | Available Sources & scopeChatGPT ยท Available Listed for consumer web access. Paid-plan checkout, payment methods and individual features may have additional restrictions. Official support list Checked 2026-09-29 |
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.