PSA vs SGC vs CGC vs TAG: Card Grading Prices and Speed Compared

PSA, SGC, CGC and TAG all authenticate a card, grade it on a 10-point scale and seal it in a hard plastic slab, but they differ sharply on price, speed and how much they tell you about the grade. As listed in September 2026, the cheapest way in runs from $17 a card at CGC (with a 25-card minimum and a 150-working-day estimate) to $59.99 at PSA, whose lower-priced Value tiers are paused. Pick on three things: what your card is worth, how long you can wait, and whose slab buyers of your kind of card actually pay for.

Every price and turnaround below comes from the graders' own pages, checked in September 2026. Turnarounds are estimates that none of the four guarantee, and fees change often, so open the grader's page before you fill in a submission form.

The four graders at a glance

	PSA	SGC	CGC	TAG
Lowest listed tier	Standard, $59.99 per card	Standard, $50 per card	Bulk, $17 per card	Basic, $22 per card
Card value cap on that tier	$1,000 max insured value	$1,500 max declared value	$500 max value	$300 insurance cap
Estimated turnaround	90 to 100 business days	40+ business days	150 working days	45+ business days
Minimum order	Not stated	Not stated	25 cards	10 cards
Top grade	10 (Gem Mint)	10 Pristine, then 10 Gem Mint	Pristine 10, then Gem Mint 10	10 Pristine, then 10
Status in September 2026	Value tiers "temporarily paused"	Standard and expedited listed	All tiers listed	Site banner says "regular tiers paused"

Two cautions on that table. TAG's tier list comes from its help center, dated April 2026, while its pricing page carried a "regular tiers paused" banner in September, so confirm what TAG is accepting before you plan around it. And the value caps matter as much as the price: each grader ties its tiers to what the card is worth, so a card that grades well can outgrow the cheapest tier.

PSA

PSA describes itself as the largest and most respected third-party authentication and grading company for trading cards. Its pricing page listed five service levels in September 2026, with a note that its cheaper Value services are temporarily paused:

• Standard: $59.99 a card, up to $1,000 insured value, an estimated 90 to 100 business days
• Priority: $79.99, up to $1,500, 70 to 80 business days
• Express: $199, up to $2,500, 20 to 30 business days, and adds grader notes on the card's defects
• Super Express: $349, up to $5,000, 10 to 15 business days
• Premier: $599, up to $10,000, 7 to 10 business days

PSA grades on a 1 to 10 scale. Its definition of a Gem Mint 10 includes centering within about 55/45 on the front and 75/25 on the back, among other conditions. You do not have to join PSA's paid Collectors Club to submit, according to PSA's FAQ; the club's benefits include member pricing and specials. The full step-by-step is in our guide to submitting cards to PSA.

SGC

SGC's pricing is set by declared value and speed. For standard-size raw cards it listed two speeds in September 2026:

• Standard (40+ business days): $50 for cards declared up to $1,500, and $85 up to $3,500
• Expedited (2 to 3 business days): from $150 for cards up to $3,500, rising through $250, $500, $1,000 and $2,000 to $3,750 for cards over $100,000, plus $375 for each additional $10,000 of value

SGC says its turnaround clock starts once an order has been unboxed and logged, not when it arrives. Its scale runs from 1 to 10 in half-point steps and splits the top grade in two: 10 Pristine, which requires 50/50 centering among other things, and 10 Gem Mint.

CGC

CGC Cards has the lowest entry price of the four and the widest spread of tiers. Its September 2026 fee table for direct submissions by CGC Collector members:

• Bulk: $17 a card, cards worth up to $500, 25-card minimum, an estimated 150 working days
• Economy: $20, up to $1,000, 90 working days
• Standard: $55, up to $3,000, 10 working days
• Express: $100, up to $10,000, 5 working days
• WalkThrough: $300, up to $100,000, 2 working days
• Unlimited Value: $300 plus 1% of fair market value, 2 working days

CGC's note on value is worth reading twice: if it decides a card's fair market value is higher than the value you declared, it moves the card to the correct higher tier and charges you the difference. Its scale separates a Pristine 10, virtually flawless with 50/50 centering, from a Gem Mint 10, where centering can be up to about 55/45 on the front and 75/25 on the back. Membership levels and discounts are on CGC's membership page.

TAG

TAG Grading pairs its 10-point grade with a 1000-point TAG Score and QR-accessible digital grading reports. Its help-center list of services, dated April 2026:

• Basic: $22 a card, 10-card minimum, 45+ business days, insurance capped at $300 a card
• Standard: $39, 30 business days, $500 cap, adds the 1000-point TAG Score
• Express: $59, 15 business days, $1,000 cap
• Priority: $149, 5 business days, $2,500 cap, adds the enhanced DIG+ report with 1000-point subscores
• Walkthrough: $299, 2 to 3 business days, $5,000 cap

TAG's scale is 1 to 10 with a separate 10 Pristine, and its reports lean on the 1000-point score behind the 10-point grade. The caution from the table stands: in September 2026 its pricing page banner read "regular tiers paused" alongside "priority grading avail", so check which tiers are open before you commit.

How to choose

Start with the card's value. Every grader caps each tier by value, whether it calls that insured value, declared value or maximum value. Put the card in the tier its graded value belongs in, not the cheapest one. If you are not sure it is worth grading at all, work through whether a card is worth grading first.

Then decide how long you can wait. The cheapest tiers are also the slowest: 150 working days at CGC's Bulk tier, 90 to 100 business days at PSA's Standard tier. If you are grading to sell into a moment, a faster tier can matter more than the fee.

Then check what buyers pay for your card in each slab. The same card at the same grade can sell for different amounts in different graders' slabs, and the gap varies by card, era and grade. Look up recent sales of your exact card by grader in a price tool; our Card Ladder vs Market Movers comparison covers two that show sales history.

Finally, match the report to your needs. If you want to know exactly why a card got its grade, TAG's reports and PSA's grader notes on Express and above say more than a bare number.

Whichever grader you choose, the card travels to it on the ladder's third rung, in a penny sleeve inside a semi-rigid holder, never a toploader. Our Card Saver 1 review explains why.

What we couldn't confirm

• Which of TAG's regular tiers were open in September 2026. Its banner said paused; its help center still listed them.
• When PSA's Value tiers will return, and at what price.
• Minimum order sizes at PSA and SGC. Neither pricing page states one.
• Resale premiums by grader. We don't print them, because they vary card by card and change with the market.

FAQ

Which grading company is cheapest in 2026? CGC's Bulk tier had the lowest listed fee in September 2026 at $17 a card, but it requires at least 25 cards, caps each card's value at $500 and carried a 150-working-day estimate. For a single card, SGC's $50 Standard tier was the lowest listed fee among the four.

Do I need a membership to submit to PSA? No. PSA's FAQ says you are not required to join its Collectors Club to submit. The paid club adds member-only service levels and grading specials, so it mainly pays off for people who submit often.

What is the difference between Pristine 10 and Gem Mint 10? SGC, CGC and TAG split the top grade in two. CGC, for example, reserves Pristine 10 for virtually flawless cards with 50/50 centering and gives Gem Mint 10 to cards that miss one Pristine requirement. PSA's top grade is Gem Mint 10.

Can I count on a grader's turnaround estimate? Treat it as a rough guide. All four describe their turnaround times as estimates, and SGC starts the clock only once your order has been unboxed and logged, not when the box arrives.

Which grader should I use for vintage cards? Nothing on the four graders' fee pages answers that directly, and resale differences by grader vary by card. Compare recent sales of your specific card in each grader's slab before you choose, and weigh the value caps on each tier.