Samsung is testing a paid Max subscription for its Galaxy AI ecosystem priced at $4.99 per month, or $47.99 per year, according to specialized outlet SammyGuru, which obtained access to the plan and confirmed the pricing through analysis of its text strings.

The move revives a monetization effort Samsung first signaled in 2025, when the company began hinting that it intended to charge for access to parts of its AI ecosystem. It marks the clearest step yet toward splitting Galaxy AI into a free tier with hard usage limits and a premium tier with near-unlimited access.

What does the Max plan include?

Under the Max plan, users would gain access to existing Galaxy AI features with minimal usage restrictions, according to the report. Subscribers would also receive several tools that free-tier users cannot access at all:

• Gen Video, which generates new videos from users' photographs
• Bixby actions, which automate tasks across applications
• Daily report, an additional new function
• Higher usage limits across the ecosystem
• Unlimited use of existing tools such as the Photo Assistant

Free users, by contrast, will face usage limits on the AI functions they already use. Once those limits are exhausted, access to the technology stops. At that point, users can either subscribe to the Max plan or buy a credit package tied to the specific AI functions they want to keep using.

What did Samsung promise earlier?

Samsung launched Galaxy AI in early 2024 as a suite of generative artificial intelligence functions offered free to users of compatible phones. Through 2025, the company faced repeated questions over whether it would eventually charge for the ecosystem.

In July of last year, Samsung clarified its position. It said it would not charge for Galaxy AI features that run on the device by default, a list that includes:

• The Samsung Notes assistant
• Real-time translation
• The audio eraser
• The navigation assistant
• Generative wallpapers
• Zoom Nightography

The company is now drawing the line elsewhere. On-device default features remain free, but cloud-dependent and compute-intensive capabilities — such as the Photo Assistant and the new video generation tool — would sit behind usage caps or the Max paywall.

How much would it cost?

The reported pricing translates to roughly 4.46 euros per month or 42.88 euros per year at current exchange rates. A yearly subscription saves about $11.89 compared with twelve monthly payments — a discount of roughly 20 percent. For context, the monthly fee is comparable to the price of a single premium streaming subscription.

The pricing details come from SammyGuru's analysis of text chains within the subscription option, not from an official Samsung announcement.

Is it available now?

No. The Max plan exists only in internal testing, and Samsung has not made it available to users. The company has not announced a launch date or confirmed the final pricing.

Samsung's decision carries strategic weight for the broader smartphone market. If the plan ships, Samsung — the world's largest Android vendor — would become the first major handset maker to charge a recurring fee for core AI features, testing whether consumers will pay a monthly bill for capabilities the industry has so far given away.