By Kamil Kępiński , founder of SmophyAI

Last updated: 18 October 2026

More than half of AI users now pay for it. Menlo Ventures found that 55% of AI users said they pay for at least one AI product in 2026, in a Menlo Ventures survey of 5,067 US adults run with Morning Consult. The spending is uneven: Menlo Ventures found that the top 14% of payers account for 60% of spending. If you are one of the heavier payers, the useful question is no longer whether to pay for AI, but whether the plans you pay for overlap.

How many AI users pay for AI today?

Paying for AI has become the normal case for people who use it.

Menlo Ventures found that 55% of AI users said they pay for at least one AI product in 2026. Menlo Ventures based its 2026 State of Consumer AI report on a nationally representative survey of 5,067 US adults fielded in July with Morning Consult and weighted for education, gender, age, ethnicity and region.

That changes the conversation about AI costs.…