Pokémon HOME: What's the difference between the Basic and Premium Plans?

What is Pokémon HOME anyway?

Pokémon HOME is the newest cloud-based service offered by the Pokémon Company. Pokémon HOME allows players to move their Pokémon from various core Pokémon Games, the Pokémon Bank, and, at a future date, Pokémon Go. Pokémon HOME doesn't just act as a storage system for Pokémon, either. It also has several ways to trade your Pokémon with other players, an evaluation feature, Pokémon News, battle data, and even its own Mystery Gifts. This service can be accessed for free with a Basic account, or for a recurring fee with a Premium account.

Pokémon HOME features

Pokémon HOME has several features that are available to both Basic and Premium subscribers, but there are a few key differences. A Basic account can be useful for moving a few Pokémon up to your current game, as well as using the GTS and Wonder Trade system. Still, if you want to store many Pokémon, especially from your Pokémon Bank, a Premium account is what you need.

Pokémon Bank Compatibility: While both Premium and Basic accounts can transfer Pokémon from Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let's Go, Eevee!, as well as from Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield, only a Premium account can transfer Pokémon from the Pokémon Bank. This means that all the Pokémon you've held on to from Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon, as well as any games from previous generations can only be moved to a Premium Pokémon HOME account.

Pokémon Storage: The main allure of a Pokémon HOME account is the ability to store your favorite Pokémon outside of the core games. With a Basic account, your storage is limited to only 30 Pokémon. For those of us who've been playing Pokémon games for the last couple of decades, that's not even enough for our Mythical Pokémon collection, much less all of our Legendaries. With a Premium account, you can store up to 6,000 Pokémon - a much more manageable number.

Wonder Box: The Wonder Box is a feature that allows for Wonder Trading (also known as Surprise Trading.) Wonder Trades are randomized Trades, which will enable you to choose any Pokémon you want to trade and get something completely random from another player's Wonder Box. While lots of these trades will be for very basic Pokémon, many people like to send out amazing Pokémon in Wonder Trades. I've even been lucky enough to get shiny Pokémon and Legendaries via Wonder Trade. With a Basic account, you can put three Pokémon in your Wonder Box at a time, but with a Premium account, you can have up to ten.

GTS: The Global Trading System, or GTS, is an online system that allows players from all over the world to list Pokémon they would like to trade. Players can specify what they would like in exchange and search through the listings of other players. It's basically classifieds for Pokémon. With a Premium account, you can have three Pokémon listed in the GTS at a time, whereas a Basic account only allows you to list one.

Room Trade: A new feature for Pokémon HOME is the Room Trade. These specialized rooms can hold up to twenty players and allow for trading between any of those players. These Room Trades work similarly to Wonder Trades, in that the players don't know what they'll receive until the trade is complete. Basic accounts can join Room Trades, but you'll need a Premium account if you want to create Rooms.

Pokémon Judging: Pokémon HOME has a Judge feature that allows players to determine the IVs/stats of their individual Pokémon. This is comparable to various Stats Judges in the core Pokémon games or the Team Leader Appraisals in Pokémon Go. This feature is only available to Premium accounts.

Premium all the way

While a Basic Pokémon HOME account might work if you only want to move a few Pokémon up from previous games or you want to use Wonder Rooms or the GTS occasionally, but to enjoy Pokémon HOME, a Premium account is necessary. Whether storing your many Pokémon, moving from Pokémon Bank, or taking full advantage of the other features, a Premium account will have you covered. And for as little as $16 a year, it's hardly going to break the bank.