Game Pass, PlayStation Plus and GeForce NOW get compared a lot, but each one does a different job. Game Pass and PS Plus are subscriptions with a game library, while GeForce NOW rents you cloud performance for games you already own. On the German store, Game Pass starts at €8.99 a month and PS Plus at €9.99 a month; GeForce NOW has a Free tier, and NVIDIA lists the paid tiers on its official price page. All prices were checked on 20 October 2026.
The comparison in one table
Monthly prices in euros from the official German pages of Microsoft and Sony on 20 October 2026. The operators state game counts as “over” a number, and the numbers change over time.
| Service | Tiers and monthly price | Game library | New games on release day | Cloud play | Where you play |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game Pass | Essential €8.99 to Ultimate €20.99, PC Game Pass €12.99 | over 50 to over 400 games depending on the tier | Ultimate and PC Game Pass yes, Premium within 1 year, Essential no | 5 to 15 hours a month depending on the tier, none in PC Game Pass | Xbox console, PC, other devices via cloud |
| PlayStation Plus | Essential €9.99 to Premium €18.99 | monthly games, plus a catalogue of hundreds of games in Extra and Premium | – | Premium only: PS5 games on PS5 and PlayStation Portal | PlayStation |
| GeForce NOW | Free, Performance, Ultimate (prices on nvidia.com) | no subscription library, you play games you own | not applicable | the whole service runs in the cloud | supported devices |
The dash for PS Plus means Sony does not list release-day games in its tier overview, so we do not claim them either.
Game Pass: a library for Xbox and PC
Microsoft sells four tiers. Game Pass Essential costs €8.99 a month on the German store and gives you over 50 games for console, PC and other devices, online multiplayer on console, in-game perks and 5 hours of cloud play a month. Release-day games are not included. Game Pass Premium at €12.99 a month has over 200 games, new games published for Xbox within a year of release and 10 hours of cloud play a month. Both tiers come with the first 14 days for €1.
Game Pass Ultimate costs €20.99 a month: over 400 games, new games on release day, plus EA Play, Fortnite Crew and Ubisoft+ Classics and 15 hours of cloud play a month. PC Game Pass at €12.99 a month is PC only: over 300 games, release-day games and EA Play, but no cloud play.
Cloud play works on supported devices such as phones, tablets, TVs or VR headsets, and it includes selected games you have bought. Our guide to Xbox Cloud Gaming shows how to start. The full breakdown is in Game Pass tiers, and the official German price list is on xbox.com.
PlayStation Plus: online play and a game catalogue
Sony sells PS Plus for 1, 3 or 12 months. Prices on the German store (playstation.com/de-de) on 20 October 2026:
| Tier | 1 month | 3 months | 12 months |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essential | €9.99 | €27.99 | €71.99 |
| Extra | €15.99 | €43.99 | €125.99 |
| Premium | €18.99 | €54.99 | €151.99 |
PlayStation Plus Essential includes monthly games, online multiplayer, exclusive discounts and bundles, cloud storage and Share Play. PlayStation Plus Extra adds a catalogue of hundreds of games on demand and Ubisoft+ Classics, which Sony values at €7.99 a month on the German store. PlayStation Plus Premium adds the Classics Catalogue with PS3 and PS2 games to stream, game trials and cloud streaming of PS5 games on PS5 and PlayStation Portal. How streaming in Premium works is covered in Premium cloud streaming.
For a closer look at each tier, read PlayStation Plus tiers. The official page is playstation.com.
GeForce NOW: cloud performance for your own games
GeForce NOW by NVIDIA has no library you pay for with a subscription. It streams games you own in supported stores such as Steam or the Epic Games Store, plus Ready-to-Play and Install-to-Play titles. Which games those are is explained in our GeForce NOW games guide.
There are three tiers: Free, Performance and Ultimate. The Free tier costs nothing, shows ads and has shorter sessions than the paid tiers. NVIDIA loads its prices by the visitor’s country, and we could not verify the euro prices for 20 October 2026, so we do not quote them. Check the current prices on the official price page and in our overview of GeForce NOW plans.
Paid memberships are billed monthly, every six months or yearly and renew automatically. You can cancel at any time and keep playing until the end of the paid period. GeForce NOW and Game Pass also work together: you can link PC Game Pass to GeForce NOW, as our linking guide shows.
Which service fits which player
This is not about which service is better. What matters is what you play on and whether you already own the games:
- You have an Xbox or a gaming PC and want to play from a library instead of buying single titles: that is what Game Pass does. PC Game Pass covers PC only, while Essential, Premium and Ultimate cover console and cloud.
- You have a PlayStation and want to play online with others: online multiplayer is part of all three PS Plus tiers. Extra adds the game catalogue, Premium adds streaming and PS3 and PS2 classics.
- You own games on Steam or Epic but not a powerful PC: GeForce NOW runs them on NVIDIA servers. Check the list of supported devices.
Cancelling a subscription
Game Pass and PS Plus continue until you cancel, and GeForce NOW renews automatically. Our guides on how to cancel Game Pass and cancel PS Plus walk you through it.
Join our Discord and ask other players which service they use and on what device: Discord GamersTogether.
FAQ
On the German store on 20 October 2026, Game Pass costs €8.99 to €20.99 a month (PC Game Pass €12.99) and PS Plus €9.99 to €18.99 for one month. For GeForce NOW prices, see the official NVIDIA price page.
Not as a subscription library. It streams games you own in supported stores, plus Ready-to-Play and Install-to-Play titles.
No. Cloud play is part of Essential (5 hours a month), Premium (10 hours) and Ultimate (15 hours).
Only PlayStation Plus Premium. It streams PS5 games on PS5 and PlayStation Portal, plus PS3 and PS2 games from the Classics Catalogue.
Yes. You can link PC Game Pass to GeForce NOW and launch its games in the NVIDIA cloud.
Information verified on 20 October 2026. More guides to stores and subscriptions are in the Gaming Platforms & Services section.