Home/PSA vs. CGC vs. TAG
Comparison · 2026PSA vs. CGC vs. TAG: Which Grader Is Best for You?
Three graders, three fee ladders, three very different waits. Brand name alone doesn't tell you which one is right for the card in your hand.
PSA, CGC and TAG are the three third-party grading companies most often compared for Pokemon cards, and each trades off reputation, price and speed differently. PSA's cheapest open single-card tier is $79.99 with a 70-80 business day wait; CGC's Economy tier is $20 with a 90 business day wait; TAG Score is $79 with a 25 business day wait.
Quick verdict: if resale recognition on a vintage or chase card is what you're optimizing for, PSA still carries a real liquidity advantage for many buyers, even though it's the slowest and most expensive of the three at its cheapest open tier. If you want the lowest entry fee and don't need the card back fast, CGC's Economy tier at $20 is the budget option, though its 90 business day turnaround is the longest of the three. If speed matters more than brand and you're comfortable with a company that entered the market more recently, TAG Score turns around in 25 business days for $79. None of the three is wrong -- they're built around different tradeoffs, and the honest answer depends on what you're grading and why.
Overview comparison
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| Grader | Best for | Cheapest open single-card tier | Fastest available turnaround | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | Maximum resale recognition, especially vintage and chase cards | $79.99 (Regular, 70-80 business days) | 7-10 business days (Walk-Through, $599.00) | 9.0 |
| CGC | Lowest entry fee, growing recognition on modern and foreign cards | $20 (Economy, 90 business days) | 2 business days (WalkThrough, $300) | 8.4 |
| TAG | Fastest realistic turnaround at a moderate fee | $79 (TAG Score, 25 business days) | 25 business days (TAG Score, $79) | 7.6 |
"Cheapest open single-card tier" excludes tiers currently paused or requiring a bulk minimum -- PSA's cheaper Value tiers ($24.99-$64.99) are paused due to demand, and CGC's $17 Bulk tier needs a 25-card minimum. Scores are RarityPay's own editorial judgment weighing reputation, price and speed together, not a single objective metric.
Full fee and turnaround table, verified 2026-09-07
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| Grader | Tier | Fee | Turnaround | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | Regular | $79.99 | 70-80 business days | PSA's cheaper Value tiers ($24.99-$64.99) are currently paused due to demand |
| PSA | Express | $149.00 | 20-30 business days | |
| PSA | Super Express | $349.00 | 10-15 business days | |
| PSA | Walk-Through | $599.00 | 7-10 business days | PSA also publishes 5 further Premium tiers up to $9,999+ for high-value cards |
| CGC | Economy | $20 | 90 business days | Bulk ($17) needs a 25-card minimum, so it doesn't apply to a single card |
| CGC | Standard | $55 | 10 business days | |
| CGC | Express | $100 | 5 business days | |
| CGC | WalkThrough | $300 | 2 business days | |
| TAG | TAG Score | $79 | 25 business days | TAG's Basic/Standard/Express ladder shows paused on its own live backlog tracker; TAG Score is the tier actually open today. TAG's public pricing pages disagree with its own tracker -- reconfirm directly with TAG. |
Fees sourced from each grader's own live pricing page, verified 2026-09-07. Add roughly $10-15 (est.) for a single tracked, insured shipment either direction -- RarityPay's own estimate, not a grader-published figure, and higher for a higher-value card.
Each grader, reviewed
PSA
PSA is the most widely recognized third-party grader, and PSA-graded cards often carry a real secondary-market liquidity and recognition advantage for many vintage and chase cards -- buyers know the label and trust it without extra research. It suits a card where resale value depends heavily on buyer confidence. The tradeoff: its cheapest open tier is a 70-80 business day wait, and its truly budget Value tiers are currently paused, so there's no fast, cheap PSA path right now.
CGC
CGC has grown its share of the market, particularly for modern and foreign-language cards, and its Economy tier at $20 is the cheapest open single-card option across all three graders. It suits someone testing the waters on a lower-value card or grading in volume over time. The tradeoff is the same $20 tier carries a 90 business day wait, the longest cheap-tier turnaround of the three -- CGC's faster tiers cost meaningfully more.
TAG
TAG is a newer, faster entrant, and TAG Score's 25 business day turnaround at $79 beats PSA's comparable-fee Regular tier by a wide margin. It suits someone who wants a graded card back inside a month without paying CGC WalkThrough or PSA Walk-Through prices. The honest limitation: TAG's public pricing pages have disagreed with its own live backlog tracker, so confirm the current tier and wait directly with TAG before you submit, and it doesn't carry PSA's decades of resale-recognition history.
How we verified this
Every fee and turnaround figure on this page comes from each grader's own published pricing page, cross-checked on 2026-09-07, the same source RarityPay's own grade-EV calculator uses. Where a grader's public pricing disagreed with its own backlog tracker -- as with TAG's paused tier ladder -- we say so rather than picking whichever number looked better. We don't have a live connected feed to any grader's population report or census tool; for that, go to PSA's or CGC's own population and census tools directly rather than trusting a secondhand count.
How to choose
- Does this specific card's buyer pool actually pay a premium for one grader's label, or are you assuming it does?
- Can you wait 70-90 business days, or do you need it back inside a month?
- Is the fee a meaningful fraction of the card's raw value, or trivial next to it?
- Are you grading one card, or enough volume that CGC's bulk tier changes the math?
Run the numbers before you pick a grader on brand name alone. RarityPay's free grade-EV calculator weighs your predicted grade's probability against each grader's real fee, so you can compare the expected payoff, not just the sticker price.
FAQ
So which grader is actually the best?
There isn't one answer. PSA wins on resale recognition for vintage and chase cards, CGC wins on entry price, and TAG wins on turnaround at a moderate fee. Pick based on your card and your timeline, not brand reputation alone.
What's the cheapest way to grade a single Pokemon card?
CGC's Economy tier at $20 is the cheapest open single-card option among the three, though it carries a 90 business day turnaround. PSA's cheaper Value tiers are currently paused due to demand.
Which grader turns cards around the fastest?
CGC's WalkThrough tier is the fastest listed here at 2 business days for $300. PSA's Walk-Through tier runs 7-10 business days for $599, and TAG Score runs 25 business days for $79.
Can I check how many of my card have already been graded a 10?
RarityPay doesn't have a live connected feed to any grader's population data. Use PSA's Population Report or CGC's Census tool directly -- see how to read a population report before you rely on one.
How do I know if grading pays off before I pick a grader?
Run RarityPay's free grade-EV calculator. It weighs your card's predicted grade probability against real PSA, CGC and TAG fees to show whether grading beats holding the card raw, in expectation.
Run the numbers before you submit
See whether grading actually pays off for your card, weighed against real PSA, CGC and TAG fees.
No account needed. Two full analyses on us.
Prices, fees and grading-tier details reflect what's published on raritypay.com and by each grading company at the time this page was written and are subject to change.