PSA vs CGC vs TAG vs BGS vs ACE: Which Grader Is Cheapest for Your Card?

There is no "cheapest grader." There's only the cheapest grader for your card — the one whose tier prices, turnaround, and insurance cap match the card's value, your patience, and your risk tolerance.

This is the practical comparison most articles skip. We're not going to tell you PSA is the gold standard or CGC has better centering — that's the slab-premium discussion, and it's a different decision. This is just: which grader will charge you the least for the same card, with adequate insurance, and how long will you wait?

The five graders, at a glance

Prices and turnaround above are current as of April 2026. SlabScore tracks these continuously and the calculator uses live tier data for every card score. None of this is the full picture — every grader has 5 to 13 tiers stacked on top of these baselines, with insurance caps and turnaround times that scale with price.

The tier matters more than the grader

Here's the trap: people pick a grader (often PSA, by reputation) and then pick a tier. The cheaper move is the opposite — start with the card's value, find the tier across all 5 graders that fits the insurance cap, then pick the cheapest one.

Example. A card worth $300 raw, expected to slab at $800. You need:

• A tier with insurance ≥ $800 (covers your card)
• The cheapest fee at that tier across all graders

Your shortlist might be:

Cheapest: CGC Modern at $20, and CGC includes subgrades. PSA costs about $13 more but often earns it back in slab premium — SlabScore's grade-premium component weighs exactly that trade-off per card, so you don't have to guess.

When PSA is actually the right call

PSA wins when:

• You're flipping for premium. PSA slabs sell for more than CGC / TAG / BGS / ACE on most cards. The fee differential is often dwarfed by the slab premium. SlabScore's grade-premium component (25% of the score) accounts for this — for high-value vintage especially, the PSA premium is real.
• You're submitting bulk for storage. PSA Value Bulk at $24.99/card is hard to beat for a 20+ card submission of moderns.
• You're optimizing for resale velocity. PSA-graded cards sell faster than other slabs on eBay, all else equal. If you need cash within 90 days, PSA is usually the right call even at a higher fee.

When CGC is the right call

CGC wins when:

• You need turnaround speed at a low fee. CGC Standard at 18 days is faster than PSA Value at 30 days, for a comparable price.
• You're grading magic cards. CGC has materially stronger market presence in MTG vs PSA; the slab premium tilts toward CGC for many MTG categories.
• You want subgrades. CGC and BGS offer subgrade reports (centering, edges, corners, surface) that PSA does not. If you're a buyer or seller who values transparency, this matters.

When TAG is the right call

TAG wins when:

• You want a low-fee entry point. TAG Basic at $22/card (10-card minimum) is among the lowest fees of the five majors.
• You want fast turnaround. TAG's published turnaround at every tier is faster than PSA. Standard is 30 business days vs PSA Value's 75.
• You've validated the slab premium for your card type. TAG slabs sell for less than PSA on most categories — the fee savings need to justify the slab discount. For modern bulk where the discount is small, TAG often wins on net.

When BGS is the right call

BGS wins when:

• The card might grade Black Label / Pristine. BGS's "Black Label" 10 (a 10 across all four subgrades) carries massive premiums on certain vintage and modern cards. If you have a candidate, BGS is the only path.
• You don't need an insurance cap. BGS doesn't publish per-tier insurance caps the way PSA / CGC / TAG do. For very high-value cards, BGS may be the only grader where the policy doesn't constrain you. (Verify in writing before submitting.)

When ACE is the right call

ACE is GBP-priced and primarily serves the UK / EU market. ACE wins when:

• You're in the UK or EU. Domestic shipping + customs avoidance often makes ACE cheaper than US-grader options after international fees.
• You want the fastest turnaround on the market. ACE's Express tier is 5 days, faster than every US competitor.

The cheat sheet

If you submit one card type repeatedly, this is the rough mapping:

This is a starting heuristic, not a rule. The actual cheapest grader for your card depends on the exact value, expected grade, and current tier prices. SlabScore runs that comparison automatically every time you score a card — open any card and click the tier chip to see all 5 graders side-by-side with projected ROI for each.

What to verify before you submit

Three things to check after picking a grader:

1. The card's PSA-10 value is below the tier's insurance cap. Otherwise the grader will upcharge you to a higher tier mid-process.
2. The current published turnaround matches your patience. Graders fall behind during card-show season (Apr / May / Sep / Oct) — published turnarounds are aspirational.
3. The tier's minimum-card requirement. Some bulk tiers require 20-50 cards in a single submission. Submitting 5 cards as "bulk" gets rejected or auto-upgraded.

Get these three right and you're submitting at the actual cheapest fee, not the wishful one.

See the comparison for your card. Open SlabScore → — paste any card, click the tier chip, see all 5 graders side-by-side.