PSA vs TAG vs CGC vs BGS: Which Grading Company Is Best in 2026?

A year ago we wrote our original grading company comparison. The landscape has shifted enough that it deserves a fresh look — especially now that TAG has forced its way into the conversation.

If you graded Pokémon cards in 2023 or 2024, you basically had two real choices: PSA if you wanted maximum resale value, or CGC if you wanted to save money. BGS was hanging around in third place, and TAG was the new kid nobody quite trusted yet. Fast-forward to March 2026, and the picture looks meaningfully different. TAG has exploded in popularity, PSA has made real improvements to turnaround times, CGC continues to grow steadily, and BGS is in an increasingly awkward position under Collectors' ownership.

We've submitted cards to all four companies in the past six months. Here's where things actually stand.

The 2026 Grading Landscape at a Glance

	PSA	TAG	CGC	BGS
Economy Price	$20/card	$12-15/card	$15-18/card	$22/card
Economy Turnaround	90-120 business days	15-30 business days	100-130 business days	80-120 business days
Express Options	Up to $600 (walk-through)	Up to $75 (2-day rush)	Up to $250 (express)	Up to $250 (premium)
Grading Scale	1-10 (whole numbers)	1-10 (plus 1000-point TAG Score)	1-10 (half-point increments)	1-10 (with subgrades)
Resale Premium	Highest	Lowest (but growing)	Moderate	Moderate (declining)
Market Share Trend	Stable/dominant	Growing rapidly	Growing steadily	Declining
AI-Assisted Grading	No	Yes	No	No

The numbers tell part of the story, but the vibes tell the rest. Let's go company by company.

PSA in 2026: Still the King, but the Crown Feels Heavier

PSA remains the default choice for anyone grading cards to sell. That hasn't changed, and honestly, it probably won't change for years. The "PSA premium" — the extra money a PSA slab commands over the same card in a different slab — is still very real. For most Pokémon cards, a PSA 10 sells for 10-30% more than a CGC 10 and 20-40% more than a TAG 10.

But there are cracks forming, even if they're small.

What's Improved

PSA has gotten their turnaround situation under better control. During the 2020-2021 boom and the chaos that followed, economy submissions could take 6+ months. Now we're seeing economy orders come back in 90-120 business days fairly consistently. That's still not fast by any means, but it's predictable, which matters.

They've also improved their online portal and added better tracking features. Small things, but they add up to a smoother experience than the PSA of 2023.

What Hasn't Changed

Price. PSA is still the most expensive option for economy grading at $20 per card. For a single card, that's fine. For a stack of 50 modern cards, you're looking at $1,000 before shipping. That's a meaningful amount of money that only makes sense if those cards are worth enough for the PSA premium to justify the cost.

The other thing that hasn't changed is PSA's grading scale. It's still whole numbers only — no 9.5, no subgrades, no additional data points. You get a number between 1 and 10 and that's it. This used to feel fine, but now that TAG is offering a 1000-point precision score alongside the 1-10 grade, PSA's approach feels a little dated by comparison.

When PSA Still Wins

• High-value cards where maximizing resale is the goal
• Vintage Pokémon cards (PSA dominates vintage absolutely)
• Cards you're planning to sell on eBay, where PSA liquidity is unmatched
• Registry collectors building PSA sets

TAG in 2026: The Disruptor That's Actually Disrupting

TAG is the story of 2025-2026 in grading. When we wrote our original comparison piece, TAG was a footnote — interesting technology, not enough market trust. That's changed dramatically.

TAG's Growth by the Numbers

TAG's submission volume has grown significantly year-over-year, and we're seeing their slabs show up much more frequently in marketplace listings. More importantly, the collector perception has shifted. A year ago, people on Reddit and Discord were dismissive of TAG. Now, the conversation is more like "TAG is legit, but the resale isn't there yet." That's a big shift.

What Makes TAG Different

The core pitch is AI-assisted grading. TAG uses computer vision and machine learning to analyze cards before human graders make the final call. The AI catches things human eyes might miss — subtle surface scratches, micro-whitening on edges, centering measurements down to fractions of a millimeter. The human grader still makes the final decision, but they're working with much more data than a grader at PSA or CGC who's using a loupe and their own judgment.

The result is the TAG Score: a 1000-point precision score that sits alongside the traditional 1-10 grade. A TAG 10 with a score of 987 is different from a TAG 10 with a score of 952, and that granularity gives buyers more information. In theory, this should lead to more accurate pricing over time — a high-scoring TAG 10 should be worth more than a low-scoring TAG 10 of the same card.

The Price and Speed Advantage

TAG's economy tier runs $12-15 per card with turnaround times of 15-30 business days. Read that again. You're paying 25-40% less than PSA and getting your cards back in a fraction of the time. For anyone grading bulk modern cards, that math is compelling.

Their rush options are equally aggressive: $25 for 5-day turnaround, $50 for 3-day, $75 for 2-day. Compare that to PSA's express tiers that start at $75 and go up to $600.

The TAG Resale Problem

Here's the catch, and it's a real one: TAG slabs don't sell for as much as PSA slabs. Currently, a TAG 10 sells for roughly 65-80% of what a PSA 10 of the same card goes for, depending on the card. For some modern cards, the gap is narrower. For vintage cards, it's wider.

The question everyone asks is: "Does TAG's lower grading cost offset the lower resale value?" We dug into this in detail in our TAG vs CGC resale comparison and PSA vs TAG analysis, but the short answer is: it depends on the card's value. For cards worth under $75-100 in a PSA 10 slab, TAG often comes out ahead or breaks even after factoring in grading costs. For cards worth $200+, PSA's resale premium usually makes it the better financial choice.

When TAG Makes Sense

• Modern cards where the PSA premium doesn't justify the cost
• Bulk grading submissions (the per-card savings add up fast)
• Cards you're keeping in your personal collection
• When you need cards back quickly (nobody beats TAG on turnaround)
• Lower-value cards where grading cost is a large percentage of the card's value

CGC in 2026: The Reliable Middle Ground

CGC hasn't done anything flashy in the past year, and that's kind of the point. They've continued to build market share steadily, their prices remain competitive, and the CGC Perfect 10 has become a genuinely valuable designation in the Pokémon market.

CGC's Market Position

CGC sits comfortably between PSA and TAG on both price and resale value. Economy grading is $15-18 per card — cheaper than PSA, slightly more than TAG. Turnaround times are 100-130 business days, which is roughly in line with PSA and considerably slower than TAG.

The CGC slab aesthetic remains divisive. Some collectors love the clean look with the inner well and green label. Others find it bulky. This is pure preference and we're not going to pretend it isn't.

The Perfect 10 Advantage

CGC's biggest differentiator in 2026 is the Perfect 10 (Pristine) grade. This is CGC's version of a "super gem" — a card that scores 10 across every possible metric. CGC Perfect 10s are rare enough to be special but common enough that they actually trade regularly, which gives them real market value.

A CGC Perfect 10 of a desirable card can sell for as much as or even more than a PSA 10 of the same card. That's remarkable for a company that's generally considered the "budget" alternative to PSA. If you submit a card to CGC and it comes back Perfect 10, you've potentially done better than you would have with PSA.

Half-Point Scale Still Matters

CGC's use of half-point increments (9.0, 9.5, 10) gives collectors more precision than PSA. A CGC 9.5 occupies a space that doesn't exist in PSA's system — it's better than a PSA 9 but didn't quite make a 10. For collectors who want more information about their card's condition, this matters.

When CGC Makes Sense

• Budget-conscious grading where you still want a respected company
• Chasing the CGC Perfect 10 on cards you think are truly flawless
• Cards you're keeping in your collection (the half-point scale is nice for personal enjoyment)
• When you want a middle ground between PSA's cost and TAG's lower resale premiums

For a deeper look at how CGC stacks up against its competitors on resale value specifically, see our PSA vs CGC resale comparison and TAG vs CGC comparison.

BGS in 2026: The Awkward Fourth Place

We need to be honest about BGS. They're still a legitimate grading company with decades of history, but their position in the Pokémon card market is increasingly difficult to justify for most collectors.

The Collectors Acquisition Fallout

When Collectors (PSA's parent company) acquired Beckett in December 2025, it created an odd dynamic. PSA and BGS are now owned by the same company, and while Collectors has said BGS will operate independently, the market has responded with skepticism. Why would you send cards to BGS when the same parent company's other brand (PSA) gets you better resale value?

The one company now controls PSA, BGS, and SGC — roughly 79% of the grading market. That consolidation has made some collectors uncomfortable, and it's arguably pushed more volume toward CGC and TAG as true independent alternatives.

BGS Still Has Subgrades

The subgrade system (Centering, Corners, Edges, Surface) is still BGS's calling card, and it's still genuinely useful information. If you want to know exactly why your card didn't get a 10, BGS tells you. A BGS 9.5 with four 9.5 subgrades tells a very different story than a BGS 9.5 with a centering score of 8.5.

But TAG's 1000-point score now provides similar granularity in a different format, and TAG does it at a fraction of the cost and time. The subgrade monopoly that BGS used to have isn't a monopoly anymore.

The Black Label Dream

A BGS Black Label 10 — where every single subgrade is a perfect 10 — still commands massive premiums. These are exceedingly rare, and for certain high-end cards, a BGS Black Label is the most valuable slab you can have. But the odds of getting one are very low, and submitting to BGS hoping for a Black Label is more of a lottery ticket than a strategy.

When BGS Still Makes Sense

• You specifically want subgrades for detailed condition information
• You're chasing a BGS Black Label 10 on a high-value card
• You're already invested in a BGS registry set
• Sports card crossover collectors who use BGS for their other cards

Head-to-Head: Resale Value Comparison

This is what most people actually care about. Here's how the same card, same grade of 10, typically sells across different companies:

Card	PSA 10	CGC 10	TAG 10	BGS 10
Modern chase card (~$100 PSA 10)	$100	$78-88	$68-80	$75-85
Modern chase card (~$300 PSA 10)	$300	$240-270	$200-240	$230-260
Vintage (Base Set era, ~$500+)	Full premium	70-80% of PSA	55-70% of PSA	75-85% of PSA

These are rough ranges and individual cards will vary, but the pattern is consistent: PSA at the top, CGC and BGS in the middle (with CGC increasingly edging ahead), and TAG at the bottom but climbing.

The key insight is that you can't just look at resale value — you have to factor in grading cost. If PSA charges $20 and TAG charges $12, TAG needs to be within $8 of PSA's resale price to break even. For lower-value cards, that math often works in TAG's favor.

Our Recommendations for 2026

After submitting hundreds of cards across all four companies, here's our current decision framework:

Grade with PSA if:

• The card is worth $150+ raw and you plan to sell it
• It's a vintage card (anything pre-2020 basically)
• You want maximum liquidity and the fastest sale
• You're building a PSA registry set

Grade with TAG if:

• The card is worth under $75 raw and you want it graded regardless
• You're grading 20+ cards at once and cost matters
• You need cards back fast (TAG's turnaround is unbeatable)
• You're grading for your personal collection, not resale
• You appreciate the AI-assisted consistency and TAG Score data

Grade with CGC if:

• You think the card has a shot at a Perfect 10
• You want a well-respected slab at a lower price than PSA
• You prefer the half-point grading scale
• You want an independent company (not owned by Collectors)

Grade with BGS if:

• You want detailed subgrades for condition analysis
• You're going for a Black Label 10 on a premium card
• You collect BGS slabs specifically

The Honest Truth

The grading market in 2026 is more competitive than it's ever been, and that's good for collectors. TAG's rapid growth has put real pressure on pricing and turnaround times across the industry. CGC continues to prove that you don't need to be PSA to be respected. And PSA, while still dominant, can no longer coast on brand recognition alone — they've had to actually improve their service.

If we had to pick one trend to watch, it's TAG's resale value trajectory. If TAG 10s continue closing the gap with CGC 10s over the next 12-18 months (and the current trajectory suggests they will), TAG becomes a much more compelling choice for a wider range of cards. We're not there yet, but the direction is clear.

For a deeper dive into specific company matchups, check out our detailed comparisons:

• TAG vs CGC: Which Has Better Resale Value?
• PSA vs TAG: Is TAG Worth It Yet?
• PSA vs CGC: Which Sells for More?
• Is It Worth Grading Pokémon Cards?
• What Pokémon Cards Should You Grade in 2026?

The right grading company isn't about which one is "best" — it's about which one is best for what you're trying to accomplish. Figure out your goal first, then the choice becomes pretty straightforward.