Pokémon Home costs three times more than the service it replaces
You can use it for free, but there are several notable restrictions.
Ahead of the launch of Pokémon Home sometime next month, Nintendo has shared pricing for the upcoming cross-platform storage and transfer service. A month of the Premium subscription to Pokémon Home will set you back $3 every 30 days. Nintendo also plans to offer quarterly and annual subscription options, in which case you'll need to pay either $5 every three months or $16 per year. That is a significant increase from the cost of Pokémon Bank. The 3DS-exclusive service currently costs $5 annually.
For that price, you'll be able to store up to 6,000 Pokémon, as well as take better advantage of some of the app's marquee features. For instance, Pokémon Home includes an evolution of the franchise's fun roulette-style "Wonder" trades. As a premium subscriber, you'll be able to place up to 10 in a "Wonder Box," and Pokémon Home will then automatically pair you with other players to complete the trades, even if you don't have the app actively open on your Nintendo Switch or smartphone.
On both Switch and mobile, the app will also come with a judge function that will allow you to see how the stats on your companions compare to other Pokémon of the same species. If you're a competitive player, this feature alone will probably make Pokémon Home worth the price of admission since it will let you save the hassle of doing that in-game.
However, while Home is an improvement on Bank in a lot of ways, Nintendo is likely to face backlash for just how much it costs to use the new service. And while you can use Home without paying, the "Basic" tier is highly restrictive. It allows you to store a maximum of 30 Pokémon. You also can't move any monsters you have stored on Pokémon Bank without subscribing, meaning you can't bring over your favorite companions from 3DS entries like Pokémon X and Y.
Nintendo still has yet to share an exact release date for Pokémon Home. It also sounds like fans will have to wait to transfer any Pokémon they may have caught in Pokémon Go, as Nintendo says support for the mobile title is "in development." However, the company did say it plans to make Pokémon Bank free to download and use for one month after the release of Home to help players move all their monsters over to Sword and Shield. When the service does become available, you'll be able to pay for the Premium subscription through the eShop, App Store and Google Play Store. Tax is included in the list price when you pay for Pokémon Home through your phone.
Update 12:19PM ET: Added details about mobile pricing.
