[Alternatives] Grok cut image generation from its free tier on 2026-03-19 and still publishes no quota: the paths around US$30 a month

Grok sells itself on two things: it lives inside X, and it answers with attitude. Neither of those is the problem. The problem is that xAI will not tell you how much of it you get for free, and since 2026-03-19 the free tier no longer makes images or video. If you are weighing whether to pay US$30 a month for SuperGrok, this piece maps the other routes: staying free, paying less, or paying once a year.

What we could and could not verify

We tried to read the official pricing page the normal way and failed. The page at grok.com/pricing returns fine, but the visible text is drawn by JavaScript, and the static HTML holds only Stripe price codes (Stripe is the payment processor). Opening it in a browser hits a Cloudflare human-verification wall, which we do not bypass. The page at x.ai/grok returned a 403 block three times in a row.

So the numbers below come from Apple’s App Store listing, where the in-app purchases are public. Every paid item there is a SuperGrok plan. Basic chat costs nothing. That is the one hard fact about the free tier.

Everything else about free usage comes from third parties. The site felloai.com states plainly that xAI has never published a free-tier figure anywhere. It reports that free users get the lighter Grok 4 Mini model, basic live web and X search, restricted voice mode, and no image or video generation since March. A per-hour message figure circulates online, but no official source backs it, so we do not print it.

One more thing to know: signing up needs an X account, and in Taiwan it also needs credit-card verification. Commercial use is allowed and outputs carry no watermark.

The paid ladder, by the App Store

Lite gives you basic chat, access to Grok Build, conversations 2x longer than free, one Expert-mode AI agent, a taste of image and video generation, and higher usage at normal speed. An “agent” here means the model works through a multi-step task on its own rather than answering one question at a time.

SuperGrok adds conversations 5x longer, smarter Expert-mode answers, more usage of the best model, image and video generation at HD 720p with 30-second clips, longer voice sessions, faster replies, and stronger code tools.

Plus is described only as more usage than SuperGrok. Heavy adds the highest usage at the fastest speed, larger agent teams, one-prompt app building with one-click web deployment, X Premium+ included, and dedicated support with early access. Heavy shows a limited-time 67% discount for three months before reverting to US$300 a month. No end date is listed.

On free trials: the page’s HTML contains flags with names suggesting a zero-price trial for the SuperGrok paywall. We could not read any terms, so treat a trial as possible, not promised.

Three paths if US$30 is too much

Path one: stay free and accept the fog. Text chat and basic live search still work at no cost. The catch is that the limit is unpublished, so you find the wall by hitting it. If your use is occasional and text-only, this is fine.

Path two: step down to Lite at US$10. You get the longer conversations, one agent, and a way to try image and video. It is the cheapest way to get generation back after the March removal.

Path three: pay yearly. The App Store lists SuperGrok at US$300 a year. Whether that beats twelve monthly payments is arithmetic we leave to you, since xAI publishes no comparison of its own. Only take this route if you already know you use Grok daily.

A fourth option is to leave. If what you need is a capable free chatbot with a published quota, other major assistants document their free limits. Grok’s real distinction is X integration and its voice. If you do not need either, you are paying for personality.

☀️ AMO, the budget-minded cat

The first question is always whether free is enough, and with Grok the honest answer is that nobody outside xAI knows. Free chat exists and costs nothing. Live search exists in a limited form. But the free tier lost image and video generation on 2026-03-19, and the company has never printed a message quota. That matters for budgeting because you cannot plan around a limit you cannot see. Our own notes flag exactly this: the line between free and paid is blurry, and free users trip throttling without warning.

Is paying worth it? At US$10, Lite is a reasonable bet if you want generation back or if free keeps cutting you off mid-task. At US$30, SuperGrok is a different decision. You are buying 5x longer conversations, 720p video up to 30 seconds, faster replies, and better code tools. If you only chat, that is a lot of money for speed.

The yearly SuperGrok at US$300 is for committed users only. Heavy at US$300 a month is not a consumer product in any budget sense, even with the 67% three-month discount, and Plus at US$100 has a one-line description. On the cheap end, my rule is simple: try free first, move to Lite when the wall annoys you, and stop there unless video is your job.

🌙 PIMI, the performance-minded cat

Does it do the job well? For live information, Grok’s edge is real. It searches X directly, which no rival chatbot does, and that is useful for tracking breaking events or public sentiment. The free tier keeps a basic version of that search, so the core selling point survives at no cost.

The performance gap opens in the model itself. According to felloai, free users get Grok 4 Mini, the lighter model, while paid tiers get more usage of the best model. Free voice mode is restricted. Free conversations are shorter, with Lite doubling the length and SuperGrok multiplying it by 5x. If you run long research threads or paste large documents, the free tier will feel cramped fast.

Generation is now a paid feature outright. SuperGrok delivers HD 720p images and 30-second video. Lite lets you try generation but is not described as full access. For code, only SuperGrok and above list stronger tools. Heavy’s agent teams and one-prompt app deployment are the most ambitious features, but at US$300 a month they target developers, not readers checking the news.

The honest performance verdict: the free tier does one thing well, live search, and does the rest in a smaller model with an unknown ceiling. SuperGrok at US$30 is where the tool becomes a serious daily assistant. Between them, Lite at US$10 is the best value for someone who mostly wants longer chats and occasional images.

Verdict: who should use it, who should skip it

Use the free tier if you want Grok’s X search and its tone for casual, text-only questions, and you can live with an unpublished limit. Pay US$10 for Lite if the free wall keeps interrupting you or you want to try images again. Pay US$30 for SuperGrok only if you need video, long voice sessions, or code tools every week, and consider the US$300 annual listing if you are sure.

Skip Grok if you need a documented free quota, if you have no X account or cannot pass Taiwan’s card verification, or if X integration means nothing to you. Skip Plus and Heavy unless you are building agents for a living. And whatever tier you choose, remember that the only price list we could confirm lives in Apple’s store, not on xAI’s own page.

Written: 2026-09-12 Price last verified: 2026-09-08 Tool last health-checked: 2026-09-12

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📎 Sources

All prices and quotas in this article come from AMPM’s verified dataset for Grok (last verified 2026-09-08); primary sources:

• https://grok.com/pricing
• https://grok.com

🐾 Meet the cats: AMO and PIMI

AMPM is a Taiwan-based AI-tool pricing watchdog. Our motto: ask before you subscribe. Two cats argue every tool from two sides:

• ☀️ AMO — the budget-minded cat. Always asks: is the free tier enough, and is paying actually worth it?
• 🌙 PIMI — the performance-minded cat. Cares about whether it works well, fast, and gets your job done.

When they are done arguing, you know whether to pay. Every number is checked by us, with the verification date at the end.

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