PlayStation Plus Essential

On PS Plus the answer is simpler than on the Xbox subscriptions and it does not change from day to day. Per month of access, the twelve month code costs roughly a third less than the monthly one, with the three month card in between. The reason is structural: PS Plus is sold almost entirely by the PlayStation Store itself, so what you see is the maker's orderly price ladder rather than the result of a dozen resellers competing. It is still worth checking the rate per 1 month on each variant before you buy, because Sony revises its pricing from time to time.

Three things: online multiplayer, cloud saves and the monthly games. There are usually a few of the latter at a time, and that is the fundamental difference from the higher tiers: Essential has no catalogue, only a rotating set. Games claimed in a given month stay available while the subscription is paid, but they do not become yours permanently. If a library to browse is what you want, this tier is not it.

The higher tiers swap a few monthly games for a catalogue. Extra holds 215 titles in our database, downloadable at any time, and Premium holds 529, with all 215 Extra games contained in Premium, so the top tier adds 314 entries plus classics and trials. If you need the subscription purely for online play, Essential is enough. If you want something to play without buying, the step up changes more than the price suggests.

Two different kinds of card are in circulation and they are easy to confuse. A PS Plus code adds subscription time straight to the account. A PlayStation gift card adds funds to the wallet, and the subscription still has to be bought with them. Both routes get you there, but the second takes an extra step and leaves you free to spend the balance on something else if you change your mind. Check the offer description to see which of the two is in your basket.

PlayStation codes are tied to a region and a code from one country will not work on an account registered in another. That is why we only show offers available in your country. It is also worth knowing that the top tier goes by a different name in some markets, because where Sony does not offer streaming of PlayStation 3 games, the variant sold there lacks that feature. Every other benefit is the same in both cases.