Paid AI services are becoming increasingly popular. This is shown by a recent survey by the German digital industry association Bitkom among 579 AI users aged 16 and over.
According to the survey, 13% of AI users currently pay for such services, compared with 8% the previous year. A further 29% say they could imagine switching to a paid subscription in the future – also more than a year earlier.
The main reason for upgrading is better performance, cited by 67% of respondents. 55% also expect higher-quality results. Greater technical reliability is important to just over half. By contrast, data protection, additional features and an ad-free experience are considered less important and rank in the lower half of the reasons given.
Paying users spend an average of €20 per month, although actual spending varies considerably. Compared with 2025, this represents an increase of 25%.
By Maria Kleiner
Source: Golem, 20 May 2026, by Nils Matthiesen