OpenAI. Pricing model: Hybrid (base + usage), Per token. Value metric: Per 1M input, cached-input and output tokens, by model; Subscription per user per month with usage allowances by model tier; credits for usage beyond the allowance.
At a glance
| Company | OpenAI |
|---|---|
| What it does | ChatGPT (Free, Go, Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise) |
| Pricing model | Hybrid (base + usage), Per token |
| Value metric | Per 1M input, cached-input and output tokens, by model; Subscription per user per month with usage allowances by model tier; credits for usage beyond the allowance |
| Free tier | Free: $0. Unlimited text chats with GPT-6 (abuse guardrails), GPT-6 Luna and GPT-5 Thinking Mini; limited uploads, image creation, voice, deep research, memory, Codex and ChatGPT Work.; No standing free tier for paid models; playground access. |
| Pricing page | chatgpt.com/pricing · openai.com/api/pricing/ |
Plans and prices
Prices as published on OpenAI's pricing page, checked 27 October 2026. They change often; check the live page before you rely on them.
ChatGPT (Free, Go, Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise)
| Plan | Price | Billing | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | monthly | GPT-6 Luna, GPT-5 Thinking Mini; limited tools |
| Go | $8 | monthly | More messages, uploads, image creation, voice and memory than Free. May include ads. |
| Plus | $20 | monthly | GPT-6, GPT-6.1 Sol, GPT-6 Astra, GPT-5.6 models; projects, scheduled tasks, custom GPTs, expanded Codex and ChatGPT Work |
| Pro 100 | $100 | monthly | Pro reasoning (GPT-6 Astra), Dot always-on agent, longer Codex/Work sessions; reported ~5x Plus usage |
| Pro 200 | $200 | monthly | More included usage than Pro 100 (allowance cut for new subscribers on 29 Sep 2026; reported 20x to 10x Plus) |
| Pro 500 | $500 | monthly | Highest included usage plus Ultrafast mode (8x allowance burn rate) |
| Business Standard seat | $20 annual / $25 monthly | per user per month, 2-200 seats | Workspace admin, connectors; buy credits for more access |
| Business Premium seat | $100 annual / $125 monthly | per user per month | Higher usage seat, mix with Standard seats |
| Enterprise | Custom | annual | Volume discounts; credit-based or token-based pricing options; invoicing |
Usage component. Included usage is consumed first, then a purchased credit balance for eligible features (Codex, ChatGPT Work, ChatGPT for Word/Excel/PowerPoint). Business and Enterprise workspaces can buy credits.
How credits/tokens work. Fast mode burns the included allowance at 2.5x the Standard rate; Ultrafast (Pro 500 only) burns it at 8x, then draws credits at 6x the standard credit rate. Buying credits on Pro 100/200 does not unlock Ultrafast. Existing Pro subscribers reportedly received a one-time 62,500-credit grant expiring 31 Dec 2026. OpenAI does not publish allowance numbers, only relative tiers.
OpenAI API (GPT-6 family)
| Plan | Price | Billing | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPT-6 Astra | $10 in / $1 cached / $50 out | per 1M tokens | Flagship reasoning model |
| GPT-6.1 Sol | $2 in / $0.10 cached / $10 out | per 1M tokens | Main general model |
| GPT-6.1 Terra | $1 in / $0.05 cached / $5 out | per 1M tokens | Mid-tier |
| GPT-6 Luna | $0.10 in / $0.01 cached / $0.50 out | per 1M tokens | Small/fast model |
| GPT-Image-2.5 | $8 image in / $2 cached / $30 image out; $5 text in | per 1M tokens | Image generation and editing |
Usage component. Pure pay-as-you-go. Batch API -50% on input and output (24h async); Flex processing cheaper with slower responses; data residency +10%.
How credits/tokens work. Prepaid or invoiced usage billed per token. Cached input is discounted 90-95% versus fresh input, which rewards prompt-caching architectures.
What changed in 2025–2026
Aug 29 2025: ChatGPT Team renamed Business. Jan 2026: ads introduced on Free and Go tiers; Go ($8) rolled out to 170 more countries and became OpenAI's fastest-growing plan. 2026: Premium Business seats ($100/$125) added beside $20/$25 Standard seats. 29 Sep 2026: Pro split into Pro 100/200/500; Pro 200 allowance cut for new subscribers (grandfathering for subscribers active 22-29 Sep until 29 Oct 2026); Hacker News reaction largely negative.
Aug 2025: GPT-5 launched at $1.25/$10 per 1M (per AssemblyAI gateway listing). 2026: GPT-5.5 listed at $5/$30 and GPT-6 Astra at $10/$50, so the top tier has moved up while small models (GPT-6 Luna $0.10/$0.50) keep getting cheaper.
What you can steal
Pricing
A cheap ad-supported tier (Go at $8) widens the funnel while a $500 tier captures power users, so price points now span 60x. If you shrink an allowance at the same price, publish the numbers: OpenAI's undisclosed 'more usage' wording drew the backlash, not the price.
Pricing
Model vendors now price a ladder: an expensive frontier tier and very cheap small models, with 50% off for anything that can wait. Route each task to the cheapest model that passes your quality bar and batch what is not real-time.
Sources
- chatgpt.com/pricing
- help.openai.com/en/articles/9793128-about-chatgpt-pro-tiers
- openai.com/business/pricing/
- openai.com/index/introducing-chatgpt-go/
- www.chosun.com/english/industry-en/2026/01/18/C72QGN3QFNB23C7MAOHEV5A2OU/
- justinmckelvey.com/blog/chatgpt-business-pricing
- www.dsebastien.net/2026-09-29-chatgpt-pro-500-the-500-plan-that-came-with-a-pro-200-cut/
- openai.com/api/pricing/
- www.assemblyai.com/pricing
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