This article was converted by SimpRead; the original source is appstoreprice.org
Background
I saw on X (formerly Twitter) that Passluo, a renowned expert mentioned the audit paper on AI proxy services. The paper’s core finding is that most domestic AI proxy services do not provide users with official, full-capability API access—and in many cases, they don’t even use the same underlying model. As users, we should already suspect this when we notice proxy API service prices are significantly lower than official ones; price itself tells the story.
My Subscriptions
Since heavily adopting ChatGPT starting in 2023, I have never used any proxy service. To date, I’ve subscribed to:
- ChatGPT Plus — Account registered in 2023; continuously active and never banned.
- Claude Pro Account ① — Subscribed since mid-2024; stable usage for over one year.
- Claude Pro Account ② — First account’s quota ran out; unable to afford Claude Max, so added a second account to effectively double usage capacity.
- GitHub Copilot Pro — Subscribed since 2024; renewed intermittently.
With these subscriptions plus Google AI Pro, I now have more than enough access to the Claude Opus 4.6 model. Occasionally using Codex as well, my current AI usage capacity is truly limitless—I genuinely cannot exhaust it.
Below are two screenshots of my App Store subscriptions. As you can see, besides AI services, I also subscribe to foundational services like iCloud+ and YouTube.
You’ll notice there are two App Store subscription screenshots above. That’s because these correspond to two entirely separate App Store regional accounts.
Next, I’ll walk you through the entire implementation process in detail. Everything described above is fully replicable by you—there are no bottlenecks or roadblocks.
Regional Selection
The very first step is registering an Apple ID for the appropriate App Store region. For example, if you want to purchase ChatGPT’s subscription, but Apple IDs are segmented across dozens of countries and regions worldwide—which region offers the lowest price?
Check directly on my website:
Take ChatGPT as an example: select the “ChatGPT Plus Monthly” option. As shown on the site, the standard $20 USD price drops to just ¥78 RMB on Turkey’s App Store. So now we know—we need to set up a Turkish App Store account.
Price comparison of ChatGPT Plus across regions — Turkey is cheapest
Apple ID Registration
Preparations:
An iOS device (iPad or iPhone)
A Turkish VPN node
An email address to receive verification codes
A Chinese mobile phone number
1. Verify Your Node
After connecting to the Turkish node, first verify your IP location via an IP-checking website. We recommend ip.skk.moe—it’s clean and straightforward.
If your VPN provider lacks a Turkish node, you may alternatively choose another low-cost region that does offer a node, and register there instead.
2. Register the Account
Navigate to account.apple.com to begin registration.
Note: Apple has updated its Apple ID sign-in URL. While it used to be appleid.apple.com, both appleid.apple.com and account.apple.com currently work.
As long as the region selected during Apple ID registration matches your VPN node’s location, registration will almost certainly succeed.
At this point, your Apple ID registration is complete—you can now log into the App Store on your iPhone.
3. Fill in Payment Address
After logging in, it’s highly recommended to fill in your Payment Address. Although you won’t have any Turkish payment methods, Apple still requires address details before purchases—and will prompt you to enter them otherwise.
Simply pick any Turkish address from Google Maps. No need for extreme precision—just city, street, and postal code suffice. For the phone number, enter the Chinese mobile number you used during registration (no +86 prefix needed; just input 1xx... directly). No SMS verification is required.
Apple Account Top-Up
Once preparations are complete, proceed to top up your Apple ID balance.
Gift cards for nearly any country are readily available on Taobao or Xianyu. Specifically for the Nigeria and Turkey regions:
Nigerian gift cards are currently only available on Xianyu. No other reliable channels have been identified yet.
Turkish gift cards are sold on both Taobao and Xianyu. Alternatively, you can buy them directly from Turkish e-commerce platforms (requires a Visa/MasterCard issued by a Chinese bank).
We do not endorse specific sellers. On Xianyu, search for “Nigerian gift card”, then sort by sales volume and lowest price to find trustworthy options.
Xianyu purchasing steps aren’t detailed here—after purchase, gift card codes are automatically delivered via message and ready for immediate redemption. For Turkey, however, self-purchase via e-commerce platforms is encouraged, especially for those holding Visa/MasterCards.
We recommend oyunfor.com: Türkiye’s Most Popular Website for Game Epin Sales and Digital Code Shopping.
The site defaults to Turkish; use Google Translate to switch to Chinese or English.
4
Click “App Store Gift Card” in the center of the top navigation bar, then select your desired denomination.
If no recommendations appear, simply search manually. After selecting your amount, click “Add to Cart”, then proceed directly to checkout.
5
Select your payment method
Here, you’re purchasing a 1000 TL (Turkish Lira) gift card. Supported methods include credit card and Binance Pay. When paying by credit card, three options appear on the right side—the first requires local Turkish payment, so choose either of the latter two. The last option incurs the lowest fee and is strongly recommended.
6
Enter payment information
The total payable is 1000 TL plus a 2.5% fee. For first-time credit card use, just enter your card number and expiration date.
7
Complete payment
Click “Continue Payment”, enter your bank’s SMS verification code, and finalize payment.
8
Receive gift card
Within minutes after successful payment, you’ll receive an email from Oyunfor containing your gift card redemption code(s). If purchasing multiple cards, all codes appear in one email—not split across several.
Finally, redeem the code(s) received via email directly in the App Store.
Purchasing Subscriptions
Using ChatGPT Plus as an example: First, log into the Turkish Apple ID in the App Store, then download ChatGPT using this ID. (If previously downloaded under a U.S. or other regional ID, delete the app first and reinstall.)
After installation, open ChatGPT, log into your personal account, and select and purchase the desired subscription directly within the app. If auto-renewal is enabled, simply ensure your Apple ID balance remains sufficient. You’ll also avoid account bans from ChatGPT or Claude.
And just like that—you now possess a legitimate, officially paid ChatGPT Plus subscription. No gray-market tools, no stolen cards—100% sourced from authorized online channels.
If you wish to subscribe to Claude Code’s Pro or Max plan, follow the same procedure: visit the official site, check which region offers the lowest price for Claude.
For Claude specifically, Nigeria offers exceptional value:
Rest assured: this is 100% the official, unmodified, full-capability model—no substitutions, no downgrades.
Also sharing my hands-on experience: Both of my Claude Pro accounts were purchased using Nigerian-region Apple IDs. Once the first account’s quota is exhausted, simply switch accounts inside the Claude app and repurchase the in-app subscription—effectively doubling your quota for double the cost. In fact, acquiring 5× quota this way ends up cheaper than buying the official 5× plan outright 
Claude subscription pricing in Nigeria
Final Notes
That concludes our full guide to obtaining stable, reliable ChatGPT and Claude subscriptions. To summarize, the only real hurdle is accessing VPN nodes for regions like Turkey, Nigeria, or the Philippines. If your current VPN provider already supports these nodes, you’re all set.
Going forward, I’ll continue publishing AI subscription and usage tutorials on GitHub, including:
- ChatGPT / Claude account registration guides (including solutions for regional restrictions)
- Comprehensive comparison and sourcing guide for low-cost regional gift cards
- FAQ: Account security, auto-renewal management, and ban prevention
- Practical tips for daily AI tool efficiency (prompt engineering, workflow design, etc.)
If you found this article helpful, please head to the GitHub project page and give it a Star—it’s where I’ll keep updating content 