15 Sources
[1]
OpenAI Is Adding a $100-a-Month ChatGPT Subscription Because of Vibe Coding
Expertise Artificial intelligence, home energy, heating and cooling, home technology. Vibe coders who hit their ChatGPT usage limits too quickly on OpenAI's $20-a-month Plus plan no longer have to choose between waiting for a reset or splurging on a $200-a-month upgrade. The company on Thursday said it would introduce a new Pro plan, at $100 a month, that comes with higher limits in the increasingly popular Codex coding app. AI coding tools have exploded in popularity in the past several months, with Anthropic's Claude Code generating viral headlines at the end of 2025 and OpenAI's Codex seeing a boom in usage so far this year. OpenAI said Codex usage has risen more than 70% month-over-month. The problem is that having AI plan and write code for an app or tool uses a lot more tokens -- the basic unit of AI generation -- than just asking it to chat. Read more: OpenAI Plans to Combine Its AI Tools in a Desktop 'Superapp' OpenAI said in its announcement that the purpose of the new, cheaper Pro plan is to create a middle ground for those who want more time to code and create without paying 10 times the cost of the Plus plan. The new tier includes Codex usage limits five times higher than the Plus plan and access to all the other features of the existing $200-a-month Pro plan, including the ChatGPT Pro model. It also covers unlimited access to Instant and Thinking models. The $200-a-month Pro plan includes usage limits 20 times higher than those of the Plus plan. Anthropic offers similar pricing for its Claude AI subscriptions. Claude Max 5x offers five times the capacity of the $20-a-month plan for $100 a month, and Claude Max 20x offers 20 times the capacity for $200 a month. (Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET's parent company, filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, last year alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)
[2]
ChatGPT rolls out new $100 Pro subscription to challenge Claude
OpenAI has rolled out a new Pro subscription that costs $100 and is in line with Claude's pricing, which also has a $100 subscription, in addition to the $200 Max monthly plan. Until now, OpenAI has offered three subscription tiers. First is Go, which costs approx $8, second is Plus for $20, and then the final tier is at $200, a jump of $180. On the other hand, Anthropic does not offer an $8 subscription, but it has a $100 subscription that comes between the cheapest $20 and the expensive $200 subscription, and it works for the company because it caters to the coding audience. OpenAI has realized that it needs to go after coders and enterprises, similar to Anthropic's strategy. The company's answer is ChatGPT Pro, which is designed for people who rely on AI to get high-stakes, complex work done for $100. After this change, OpenAI's offering looks like the following: All Pro plans include access to advanced features, including: OpenAI says the Pro plan also includes unlimited access to GPT-5 and legacy models, but it's not truly unlimited because the typical "Terms of Use" policies apply, including sharing of accounts.
[3]
OpenAI's new $100 ChatGPT Pro plan targets Claude Max with five times the Codex access
In short: OpenAI launched a new $100 per month Pro plan for ChatGPT on 9 April 2026, inserting a new tier between the existing $20 Plus plan and the $200 Pro plan and directly targeting Anthropic's Claude Max, which is also priced at $100 per month. The new plan offers five times more Codex usage than Plus, access to the same model suite as the $200 tier, and a launch promotion that temporarily doubles that advantage: through 31 May 2026, subscribers get ten times the Codex usage of Plus. The move follows Codex crossing three million weekly users on 8 April, a growth rate the company describes as a 5x increase in three months. The new plan is the sixth pricing tier in ChatGPT's current structure, which now runs from a free account with advertising, through a $8 per month Go plan, the $20 per month Plus plan, to two versions of Pro at $100 and $200 per month, a $25 per user per month Business plan, and custom-priced Enterprise contracts. The $100 Pro plan sits directly between Plus and the existing $200 Pro tier, offering five times the Codex usage of Plus and targeting what OpenAI describes as "longer, high-effort Codex sessions" that Plus subscribers hit the ceiling on. The $200 Pro plan, by comparison, provides 20 times the Codex usage of Plus, making it four times more Codex-intensive than the new $100 tier. Despite the difference in usage limits, both Pro tiers give access to the same model suite: the exclusive GPT-5.4 Pro model, unlimited use of GPT-5.4 Instant and GPT-5.4 Thinking, and all other features available on the $200 plan. The differentiation between the two tiers is usage volume, not capability. As a launch promotion, subscribers to the new $100 plan will receive ten times the Codex usage of Plus through 31 May 2026; after that date, the standard five times limit applies. OpenAI also announced a rebalancing of the Plus plan's Codex allocation alongside the new tier, shifting Plus towards steadier day-to-day usage rather than allowing the longer burst sessions that the $100 plan is intended to serve. On 8 April 2026, the day before the $100 plan was announced, Sam Altman posted on X that OpenAI was resetting Codex's usage limits across all plans "to celebrate 3M weekly codex users," and committed to repeating the reset for every additional million users until Codex reaches ten million weekly users. Thibault Sottiaux, who leads the Codex product, stated: "Three million people are now using Codex weekly, up from two million a little under a month ago." OpenAI described the growth trajectory as a 5x increase in the preceding three months, with 70% month-over-month user growth. The scale of that growth reflects a shift in how developers are using AI coding tools. OpenAI rolled out a dedicated Codex app for macOS in February 2026, designed to move beyond line-by-line code generation into what the company called agentic, multi-task coding workflows: orchestrating multiple agents in parallel, running background jobs, and handling instructions that span hours rather than seconds. That architecture, with its longer-running sessions and heavier compute demands, is precisely the usage pattern that the $100 plan is priced to capture. A Plus subscriber who uses Codex for extended autonomous engineering tasks hits usage limits well before their billing cycle ends; the $100 plan is designed to be the next logical tier rather than a jump to $200. OpenAI made no attempt to obscure the competitive framing. The new plan is priced identically to Anthropic's Claude Max 5x tier, which also costs $100 per month and includes elevated limits for Claude Code, Anthropic's terminal-based agentic coding product. Claude Code has become the fastest-growing part of Anthropic's commercial portfolio, with an estimated $2.5 billion in annualised revenue by early 2026, and Anthropic has been constructing a developer ecosystem around it: Anthropic launched a marketplace for Claude-powered enterprise software in March 2026, with launch partners including Snowflake, Harvey, and Replit, connecting enterprise buyers with third-party applications built on Claude. The competitive dynamic sharpened further in the week before OpenAI's announcement. On 4 April 2026, Anthropic banned third-party agents from Claude Pro and Max subscriptions, preventing subscribers from routing their plan's usage limits through external frameworks such as OpenClaw; users wanting to continue using those tools must now pay separately under a new per-session "extra usage" system. OpenAI's announcement went in the opposite direction, increasing Codex availability at the $100 price point and doubling it temporarily to mark the launch. The contrast, at the identical price, was visible enough that most coverage described the new plan as a direct response to Anthropic's developer subscriber base. The new tier arrives during a period of accelerating commercial momentum for OpenAI. OpenAI's $122 billion raise at an $852 billion valuation, completed in March 2026, was led by SoftBank, NVIDIA, and Amazon, and included $3 billion from individual retail investors, a structure that many analysts read as groundwork for an IPO expected as early as the fourth quarter of 2026. The company is generating $2 billion in revenue per month and has more than 50 million paid subscribers across its plans. The $100 plan is part of a deliberate effort to fill the pricing gap between $20 and $200 that had, until now, left a large segment of heavy but not enterprise-grade users without a compelling upgrade path. The model powering the Pro tiers, GPT-5.4, which launched in March 2026 and introduced native computer use directly into Codex and the API, is the clearest statement of where OpenAI sees the next phase of developer adoption going: not prompting, but autonomous agents operating software, navigating file systems, and running multi-step workflows across applications for hours at a time. The $100 plan is the pricing expression of that bet. Whether it moves enough developers at the $100 Claude Max price point to make a measurable difference in Anthropic's subscriber base will be visible in both companies' next quarterly metrics.
[4]
ChatGPT just got a 50% cheaper Pro plan to take on Anthropic's Claude
OpenAI is now directly competing with Anthropic, which also offers a $100 Claude plan. OpenAI has introduced a new $100-per-month ChatGPT plan, driven by the growing popularity of its coding tool, Codex. The update was confirmed by Sam Altman on X, saying, "It is very nice to see Codex getting so much love. We are launching a $100 ChatGPT Pro tier by very popular demand." The new ChatGPT pricing lineup now includes a free tier (with ads), an $8 Go plan (also with ads), the $20 Plus plan (ad-free), and the new $100 Pro tier. The $200 Pro plan is no longer listed on ChatGPT's pricing page, though OpenAI confirmed to TechCrunch that it's still available. According to OpenAI, both the $20 Plus plan and the new $100 ChatGPT Pro plan are optimized for coding tasks, but the new plan offers significantly more headroom for users, including 5x higher Codex usage limits compared to the Plus plan. OpenAI isn't being subtle about its goal here. The company says the new plan is meant to compete directly with Anthropic, which already offers a $100/month plan for its Claude AI. The company also claims its Codex tool delivers more coding capacity per dollar during heavy usage. Despite the higher price, the $100 plan still comes with usage limits. For a limited time (until May 31), OpenAI is offering even higher-than-normal Codex limits on this tier, but those will be reduced later. For users who need even more capacity, the $200 Pro plan offers 20x higher limits than the Plus plan.
[5]
OpenAI introduces $100/month Pro plan aimed at Codex users, here's what it includes - 9to5Mac
OpenAI is launching a revamped $100/month ChatGPT subscription aimed at Codex users. Here's how it compares to OpenAI's existing plans and what it includes. OpenAI introduced its Codex Mac app in February, giving developers new tools for agentic coding with artificial intelligence. The new ChatGPT Pro tier is especially designed for Codex users who have outgrown the $20/month ChatGPT Plus tier. ChatGPT Pro was previously only available for $200/month. OpenAI says the new version includes five times more Codex usage than Plus, access to all Pro features including exclusive models, and unlimited access to Instant and Thinking models. "To celebrate the launch, we're increasing Codex usage for a limited time through May 31st so that Pro $100 subscribers get up to 10x usage of ChatGPT Plus on Codex to build your most ambitious ideas," OpenAI says. While OpenAI has introduced a more affordable version of the ChatGPT Pro plan, the $200/month tier is still available for users with more needs. That means there are now two versions of ChatGPT Pro. Naming has never been a strength for the ChatGPT company. For clarity, OpenAI has an explainer with some helpful information. First, these are the two Pro tiers: "Both Pro plans include the same core capabilities," OpenAI says. "The main difference is usage allowance: Pro $100 unlocks 5x higher usage than Plus (and 10x Codex usage vs. Plus for a limited time), while Pro $200 unlocks 20x usage than Plus." You can learn more about the new ChatGPT Pro plan here and view all pricing here. Meanwhile, OpenAI has shared some Codex usage data. The company says Codex has more than 3 million weekly users. That's a 5x increase in three months with 70% month over month usage growth.
[6]
OpenAI Adds New $100/Month ChatGPT Subscription Tier for Heavier Codex Use
OpenAI today added a new subscription tier, which the company says is meant to support increasing Codex use. Codex is OpenAI's AI coding agent that's integrated into ChatGPT, and it competes with Anthropic's Claude Code. The new $100/month Pro tier provides 5x more Codex usage than the $20/month ChatGPT Plus plan. OpenAI says that it is best for longer, high-effort Codex sessions. ChatGPT also has a $200 Pro tier with a 20x higher usage allowance, and the $100/month plan is a new middle-tier option. Both the $100 and $200 plans share the "Pro" name. Pro subscribers will have access to all Pro features, including the Pro model and unlimited access to Instant and Thinking models. To celebrate the launch of the new plan, OpenAI is increasing Codex usage for a limited time. Through May 31, customers who subscribe to the $100/month Pro plan will get up to 10x usage of ChatGPT Plus on Codex. In addition to introducing the new plan, OpenAI is "rebalancing" Codex usage in Plus to support more sessions throughout the week, instead of longer sessions in a single day. OpenAI says the ChatGPT Plus plan is the best offer for steady, day-to-day usage of Codex, while the more expensive $100/month plan is a "more accessible" upgrade path for heavier daily use. With the $100 plan, OpenAI has pricing tiers similar to Anthropic. Anthropic has a $20/month Pro plan, a Max 5x plan for $100/month, and a Max 20x plan for $200/month.
[7]
ChatGPT's hidden backup model just got smarter -- as OpenAI adds a cheaper Pro option
OpenAI just quietly upgraded the fallback AI many ChatGPT users hit after rate limits, while also introducing a new $100 Pro tier * ChatGPT's hidden backup model just got smarter and it's a stealth upgrade that happens in the background * OpenAI also announced a new $100 Pro plan, shaking up who gets access to its best tools * The changes show OpenAI is making ChatGPT more tiered and more complex behind the scenes OpenAI just made two big changes to ChatGPT, but only one of them is obvious. The big news is that there's now a new $100 Pro plan that comes in cheaper than its $200 Pro option, but gives you more access to Codex, OpenAI's programming tool, than a Plus user would get. The second change is introducing a new ChatGPT's fallback model, for when you've hit your rate limits on ChatGPT-5.3 Instant. The new model is called ChatGPT-5.3 Instant Mini, and you can't select it in the model picker, since it's what you default to when you've hit your rate limits. Taken together, the new changes show OpenAI is reshaping both the free-flow experience of using ChatGPT and the way it packages higher-end access. The hidden upgrade you won't notice GPT-5 Instant Mini replaces ChatGPT-5.3 Instant as the fallback model you get after you've hit your GPT-5.3 Instant limits, which will depend on what plan you're on. Before the new release, you were defaulting to ChatGPT-5 mini. OpenAI claims that ChatGPT-5.3 Instant Mini outperforms GPT-5 Instant Mini across a range of different use cases. "Compared with GPT-5 Instant Mini, GPT-5.3 Instant Mini feels more natural in conversation, with stronger writing and contextual awareness throughout chat", OpenAI said in the release notes for ChatGPT-5.3 Instant Mini. The change is happening behind the scenes, but even if this only affects the "overflow" experience, it shows that this is where a lot of regular users end up. It's the Pro users who will be less likely to be affected, since they have much higher usage rates. The new $100 Pro tier At the same time, OpenAI is introducing a new $100/month Pro tier (£89 in the UK, AU price to be determined) aimed at longer, high-intensity Codex sessions. It includes unlimited access to GPT-5.4, access to GPT-5.4 Pro, and temporary up to 10x mode Codex usage than the Plus tier. What's confusing is that the $200/month Pro plan still exists, so now there are two plans for ChatGPT called "Pro". It's easiest to think of the $100/month plan as a middle tier between Plus and the more expensive Pro option. OpenAI describes the $100/month Pro plan as having 5x more usage than the Plus tier, while the $200/month plan has 20x more usage. Aside from that, everything between the two plans seems the same. What changes for Plus users There is also one small change for $20/month Plus users. The temporary Codex promotion on Plus is ending, so OpenAI is rebalancing Plus usage to support more sessions across the week, rather than for longer, high-intensity sessions on a single day. This is effectively OpenAI redefining what Plus is for: lighter, steadier everyday use rather than heavy-duty bursts. At the same time, it's introducing a new middle tier in the hope that those people using ChatGPT Plus for coding will upgrade. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button! And of course you can also follow TechRadar on TikTok for news, reviews, unboxings in video form, and get regular updates from us on WhatsApp too.
[8]
OpenAI introduces ChatGPT Pro $100 tier with 5X usage limits for Codex compared to Plus
OpenAI is making moves to try and court more developers and vibe coders (those who build software using AI models and natural language) away from rivals like Anthropic. Today, the firm arguably most synonymous with the generative AI boom announced it will begin offering a new, more mid-range subscription tier -- a $100 ChatGPT Pro plan -- which joins its free, Go ($8 monthly), Plus ($20 monthly) and existing Pro ($200 monthly) plans for individuals using ChatGPT and related OpenAI products. OpenAI also currently offers Edu, Business ($25 per user monthly, formerly known as Team) and Enterprise (variably priced) plans for organizations in said sectors. So why introduce a new $100 ChatGPT Pro plan, then? The big selling point from OpenAI is that the new plan offers five times greater usage limits on Codex, the company's agentic vibe coding application/harness (the name is shared by both, as well as a lineup of coding-specific language gmodels), than the existing, $20 monthly Plus plan, which seems fair given the math ($20x5=$100). As OpenAI co-founder and CEO Sam Altman wrote in a post on X: "It is very nice to see Codex getting so much love. We are launching a $100 ChatGPT Pro tier by very popular demand." However, alongside this, OpenAI's official company account on X noted that "we're rebalancing Codex usage in [ChatGPT] Plus to support more sessions throughout the week, rather than longer sessions in a single day." That sounds a lot like OpenAI is also simultaneously reducing how much ChatGPT Plus users can use its Codex harness and application per day. So, what are the current limits on the $20 Plus plan? The new Pro plan gives you 5X greater than...what? Turns out, this is trickier than you'd think to calculate, because it actually varies depending on which underlying AI model you are using to power the Codex application or harness, and whether you are working on code stored in the cloud or locally on your machine or servers. OpenAI's Developer website notes that for individual users, usage is categorized by "Local Messages" (tasks run on the user's machine) and "Cloud Tasks" (tasks run on OpenAI's infrastructure), both of which share a five-hour rolling window. Currently, it actually shows the $100 Pro plan gives you 10X the amount of messages as the $20 Plus plan (see below)! And as OpenAI's Help documentation states: "The number of Codex messages you can send within these limits varies based on the size and complexity of your coding tasks, and where you execute tasks. Small scripts or simple functions may only consume a fraction of your allowance, while larger codebases, long running tasks, or extended sessions that require Codex to hold more context will use significantly more per message." OpenAI's sudden move toward the $100 price point and expanded agentic capacity comes amid the unprecedented financial ascent of its chief rival, Anthropic. Just days ago, Anthropic revealed its annualized run-rate revenue (ARR) has topped $30 billion, surpassing OpenAI's last reported ARR of approximately $24-$25 billion. This growth has been fueled by the massive adoption of Claude Code and Claude Cowork, products that have set the benchmark for enterprise-grade autonomous coding. The competitive friction intensified on April 4, 2026, when Anthropic officially blocked Claude subscriptions from being used to provide the intelligence for third-party agentic AI harnesses like OpenClaw. To be clear, Anthropic Claude models themselves can still be used with OpenClaw, users just must now pay for access to Claude models through Anthropic's application programming interface (API) or extra usage credits, rather than as part of the monthly Claude subscription tiers (which some have likened to an "all-you-can eat" buffet, making the economics challenging for Anthropic when power users and third-party harnesses like OpenClaw consume more than the $20 or $200 monthly user spend on the plans in tokens). OpenClaw's creator, Peter Steinberger, was notably hired by OpenAI in February 2026 to lead their personal agent strategy, and has, since joining, actively spoken out against Anthropic's limitations -- advising that OpenAI's Codex and models generally don't have the same restrictions as Anthropic is now imposing. By hiring Steinberger and subsequently launching a Pro tier that provides the high-volume capacity Anthropic recently restricted, OpenAI is effectively courting the displaced OpenClaw community to reclaim the professional developer market.
[9]
ChatGPT just got a $100 plan, and it's not for everyone
Just when it felt like ChatGPT pricing couldn't get any more confusing, OpenAI has added yet another tier to the mix, and this one sits right in the middle with a neat $100/month price tag. And no, this isn't just a random new plan. It's very clearly aimed at a specific kind of user... the kind who's already pushing ChatGPT way harder than most people. OpenAI's new $100 plan is built for heavy users OpenAI has introduced a new $100/month ChatGPT Pro tier, positioned between the $20 Plus plan and the existing $200 Pro plan. The focus here is pretty clear: Codex users and power users who need more than what Plus offers, but don't want to go all the way up to $200. This new tier brings significantly higher usage limits: around 5x more than Plus, and even temporarily up to 10x more Codex usage. And there's a good reason for that push. OpenAI says Codex now has over 3 million weekly users, growing 5x in just three months with around 70% month-on-month growth. That kind of surge makes it pretty clear why the company is carving out a dedicated pricing tier for these heavy workflows. Recommended Videos On top of that, the plan includes access to more advanced models, deeper research tools, and expanded capabilities for agent-style tasks. In short, this isn't meant for casual users, but for people treating ChatGPT like a serious work tool. Not just a new plan, but a pricing shift This move signals a clear shift toward usage-based pricing, where heavier AI use comes at a higher cost. Given how expensive advanced workloads are, a one-size-fits-all plan was never going to last. But it also changes the vibe. What started as a tool for everyone is slowly becoming tiered by affordability. And if $100 is now the middle ground, AI is starting to look a lot like a premium subscription ladder.
[10]
OpenAI Just Cut ChatGPT Pro's Price in Half
This pricing change directly targets Anthropic's Claude Code, which also offers a $100-per-month plan. While ChatGPT may have kicked off the generative AI era we now live in, it is far from alone these days. There is steep competition from multiple companies in this space, including Google, Anthropic, and even Microsoft -- which has a huge financial stake in OpenAI. To compete, it seems OpenAI is trying to make its paid subscription plans more attractive to users, as the company just cut the price of ChatGPT Pro in half. As reported by TechCrunch, OpenAI's new pricing model now offers a Pro plan at $100 per month, down from $200 per month. That now gives users a choice between the following: a free plan, which comes with ads; a Go plan offering more usage limits for $8 per month (still with ads); a Plus plan with extra models and exclusive features for $20 per month; and, now, the Pro plan, with the most usage limits across all of the company's models and features, for $100 per month. OpenAI doesn't list a $200 plan anymore, but it confirmed to TechCrunch that option is still available. If you use ChatGPT to answer your everyday questions, you might balk at the idea of spending $100 a month on the chatbot, let alone $200. But Pro plans aren't targeted at the everyday user; instead, the idea is for coders who rely on AI to help with programs to subscribe. In this case, that's through Codex, OpenAI's coding tool. OpenAI told TechCrunch that its Pro plan now offers five times more Codex access than the Plus plan, which might appeal to power users. (The hidden $200 plan offers limits that are 20 times higher than Plus, or four times higher than the $100 Pro plan.) Power users are who OpenAI is going after, too -- especially those who may be tempted by Anthropic's Claude Code tool, which also offers a $100-per-month plan. This isn't speculation, either: An OpenAI spokesperson directly acknowledged how they believe Codex offers more for the money than Claude Code: "The new $100 Pro Tier is designed to give developers more practical coding capacity for the money, especially during high-intensity work sessions where limits matter most. Compared with Claude Code, Codex delivers more coding capacity per dollar across paid tiers, with the difference showing up most clearly during active coding use." OpenAI still has the majority of the generative AI user base. Back in February, the company announced it had broken 900 million weekly active users, with more than 50 million consumer subscribers. Anthropic doesn't disclose its total users, but some analyses put its consumers at anywhere from 18 or 30 million, while a spokesperson told TechCrunch that paid subscription have more than doubled this year. At the high end, that's 30 millions users against 900 million. But Anthropic appears to be making more money than OpenAI. The former announced on Monday that its run-rate revenue had exceeded $30 billion, up from $9 billion at the end of 2025. OpenAI says it is generating $2 billion per month, which would put it at roughly $24 billion for the year -- at this point, anyway. Anecdotally, I have seen a lot of coders talk about using Claude Code, and far fewer discussing using ChatGPT Codex. While there are many AI companies out there, the fact that OpenAI called out Anthropic directly in this price cut shows they view them as a direct rival. It will be interesting to see how other things change as the race continues to heat up. Will OpenAI make more cuts, like it did when it killed Sora and dropped its AI video models? Only time will tell.
[11]
OpenAI launches new $100-a-month Pro plan for ChatGPT
OpenAI has introduced a new Pro plan priced at $100 per month for ChatGPT users, providing higher usage limits compared to the $20 monthly Plus plan. This new offering targets users who require more coding time through OpenAI's popular Codex application without the higher expense associated with the $200 monthly Pro plan. The Pro plan features Codex usage limits that are five times greater than those of the Plus plan. It also grants access to all functionalities available in the current $200-a-month Pro tier, which has usage limits 20 times higher than the Plus plan, including unlimited access to Instant and Thinking models. OpenAI noted that Codex usage has surged by over 70% month-over-month, reflecting the growing demand for AI coding tools. This new tier is designed to create a more balanced pricing strategy for users who find that coding requires significantly more tokens than standard chat requests. Anthropic provides similar subscription pricing for its Claude AI services, with the Claude Max 5x priced at $100 per month for five times the capacity of the $20 plan, and the Claude Max 20x at $200 for 20 times that capacity.
[12]
The gap between ChatGPT Plus and Pro just got a lot smaller - Phandroid
For a while, OpenAI's pricing lineup had a pretty obvious problem. You could pay $20 a month for Plus or jump all the way to $200 for Pro, with nothing in between. The new ChatGPT $100 plan changes that. OpenAI announced the new tier on Thursday, pitching it as a middle option for developers who've outgrown Plus but can't justify the full $200 Pro. The focus is squarely on Codex, OpenAI's AI coding tool built into ChatGPT. According to OpenAI, the $100 plan gives you five times more Codex usage than Plus. Through May 31st, that bumps up to 10x as a launch promotion. You also get access to all Pro features, including the Pro model and unlimited access to Instant and Thinking models. It's worth noting that OpenAI is also tweaking how Plus handles Codex at the same time. According to the company, it's "rebalancing" Codex usage in Plus to spread sessions across the week rather than concentrating them in a single day. That sounds like a daily cap getting a little tighter for Plus subscribers. OpenAI framed this as a positive adjustment, but the timing is hard to miss. The $200 Pro plan isn't going anywhere, and still offers 20x the Codex usage of Plus for the most demanding workflows. That leaves the new ChatGPT $100 plan sitting neatly in the middle. OpenAI was direct about the competitive motivation. According to a spokesperson quoted by TechCrunch, the new tier is a direct challenge to Anthropic's Claude, which has offered a $100 option for a while. Codex has also been growing fast. OpenAI says it now has over 3 million weekly users, up 5x in three months. For casual ChatGPT users who mostly use it for writing or general questions, Plus is still the move. The ChatGPT $100 plan is built for people who are already hitting Codex limits regularly.
[13]
OpenAI rolls out new ChatGPT Pro plan with Codex, Deep Research support
OpenAI introduced ChatGPT Pro plans for users who depend on AI to handle complex and high-stakes tasks. The plans are designed to provide higher usage limits along with access to advanced tools for research, coding, and content workflows. ChatGPT Pro is offered in two tiers with the same core capabilities but different usage limits. Both plans provide access to GPT-5 and legacy models with an unlimited usage model, subject to platform policies. The plans are structured for users who require extended access for frequent or intensive usage. ChatGPT Pro includes unlimited access to GPT-5 and legacy models, subject to OpenAI's Terms of Use. Restricted activities include automated data extraction, account sharing, and reselling access. Safeguards are in place to detect misuse, and temporary limits may be applied if required. Users can upgrade from the Pricing page or Settings → My Plan, with changes applied immediately. Key points: The company also noted that some users in Turkey, Vietnam, Indonesia, South Africa, and Egypt may not see the $100 Pro plan on iPhone due to a temporary display issue. In such cases, the plan may still be available through Apple subscription settings.
[14]
OpenAI launches $100 ChatGPT Pro tier for power developers
The group is accelerating its push into programming assistants with a new premium offering. This move comes amid intensifying competition with Anthropic. OpenAI has announced the launch of a ChatGPT Pro subscription priced at $100 per month, targeting users with intensive programming requirements. This new tier provides five times the usage capacity of the $20 Plus plan, specifically for long and complex coding sessions using the Codex tool. This initiative is part of a broader pricing segmentation strategy, as OpenAI now offers several subscription levels ranging from a free tier to advanced plans reaching $200 per month. The objective is to better capture value in a high-growth market where AI coding assistants are becoming essential tools for developers. Facing increased competition, notably from Anthropic with Claude Code, OpenAI is seeking to consolidate its market position. Codex already boasts several million weekly users, while programming assistants are emerging as one of the most dynamic segments in artificial intelligence, with use cases ranging from code generation to the automation of complex tasks.
[15]
OpenAI introduces new Pro tier for ChatGPT, targets heavy Codex users: All details
CEO Sam Altman says Codex has crossed 3 million weekly users, driving demand for higher limits OpenAI has officially announced its new mid-tier subscription plan for ChatGPT, specifically for users who rely heavily on its coding assistant, Codex. The new Pro tier costs $100 per month (around Rs 10,699 in India) and is made to offer higher usage limits compared to the existing Plus Plan. This comes when OpenAI aims to double down on Codex amid rising competition from Anthropic and its Claude Code platform. As per the company, the new tier offers up to five times more Codex usage compared to the $20 per month Plus plan that is suitable for developers handling longer and demanding coding sessions. However, it is positioned below OpenAI's premium $200 per month Pro subscription, which offers the highest usage limits. "We're introducing a new $100/month Pro tier. This new tier offers 5x more Codex usage than Plus and is best for longer, high-effort Codex sessions. In ChatGPT, this new Pro tier still offers access to all Pro features, including the exclusive Pro model and unlimited access to Instant and Thinking models," the company wrote in its official announcement on X. As per the reports, Codex has seen a surge in adoption, with CEO Sam Altman revealing that the tool has reached over three million weekly active users. OpenAI has also been adjusting usage limits in recent weeks to accommodate growing demand, showing the company's increased focus on developer-centric AI tools. The AI giant has also tweaked the usage limit for the Plus tier, which means a better balance toward more frequent sessions over extended usage periods. The company also said restructuring is intended to better distribute resources as more users adopt Codex. In the meantime, Anthropic is going to introduce the Mythos model but is holding the launch due to cybersecurity concerns. OpenAI is also working on a rival model called Spud, which was confirmed by OpenAI President Greg Brockman.
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OpenAI introduced a new $100-per-month ChatGPT Pro plan to address surging demand from developers using its Codex coding tool. The new subscription tier sits between the $20 Plus plan and the existing $200 Pro option, offering five times more Codex usage than Plus. The move directly challenges Anthropic's Claude Max, which is also priced at $100 monthly, as AI coding tools see explosive growth across the industry.
OpenAI unveiled a new ChatGPT Pro plan priced at $100 per month on April 9, 2026, creating a middle ground between its $20 Plus plan and the existing $200 Pro tier
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. The launch comes as the company's Codex coding tool crosses 3 million weekly users, representing a 5x increase in just three months with 70% month-over-month growth5
. Sam Altman confirmed the update on X, stating the new tier arrived "by very popular demand" as Codex continues gaining traction among developers4
.
Source: FoneArena
The new OpenAI subscription tier directly addresses a critical pain point for developers who found the $20 Plus plan too restrictive but considered the $200 option too expensive. AI coding tools require significantly more tokens—the basic unit of AI generation—than standard chat interactions, causing users to hit Codex usage limits well before their billing cycles end
1
. This pricing gap left many vibe coding enthusiasts choosing between waiting for resets or making a $180 jump in monthly costs.
Source: VentureBeat
The $100 ChatGPT Pro plan delivers five times more Codex usage compared to the Plus plan, specifically targeting what OpenAI describes as "longer, high-effort Codex sessions"
3
. As a launch promotion running through May 31, 2026, subscribers receive ten times the Codex usage of Plus, temporarily doubling the standard advantage5
. The $200 Pro plan remains available for users with high-volume coding demands, offering 20 times the Codex usage of Plus—four times more than the new $100 tier3
.Both Pro plans include access to the same core capabilities, with the primary difference being usage allowance rather than features. Subscribers to either tier gain access to the exclusive GPT-5.4 Pro model, unlimited use of GPT-5.4 Instant and GPT-5.4 Thinking models, and all other advanced features
5
. This means developers can access cutting-edge artificial intelligence capabilities without paying for the highest tier unless their usage patterns genuinely require it.
Source: Phandroid
OpenAI made no effort to obscure the competitive intent behind the new pricing. The $100 price point matches Anthropic's Claude Max 5x tier exactly, which also costs $100 per month and includes elevated limits for Claude Code, Anthropic's terminal-based agentic coding product
3
. Claude Code has become the fastest-growing segment of Anthropic's commercial portfolio, with an estimated $2.5 billion in annualized revenue by early 20263
.The timing proves particularly strategic. Just days before OpenAI's announcement, on April 4, 2026, Anthropic banned third-party agents from Claude Pro and Max subscriptions, forcing users who wanted to continue using external frameworks to pay separately under a new per-session system
3
. OpenAI's move went in the opposite direction, increasing Codex availability and temporarily doubling limits to mark the launch. According to OpenAI, the company claims its Codex tool delivers more coding capacity per dollar during heavy usage compared to competitors4
.Related Stories
ChatGPT pricing now includes six distinct tiers: a free account with advertising, an $8 per month Go plan, the $20 per month Plus plan, two versions of Pro at $100 and $200 per month, a $25 per user per month Business plan, and custom-priced Enterprise contracts
3
. The $200 Pro plan no longer appears prominently on ChatGPT's pricing page, though OpenAI confirmed to TechCrunch it remains available4
.This structure mirrors the broader AI competition landscape, where companies increasingly recognize that developers and enterprises represent distinct market segments requiring tailored solutions. OpenAI has realized it needs to pursue coders and enterprises with the same intensity as Anthropic's strategy
2
. The company rolled out a dedicated Codex app for macOS in February 2026, designed to move beyond line-by-line code generation into agentic, multi-task coding workflows that orchestrate multiple agents in parallel and handle instructions spanning hours rather than seconds3
.To celebrate reaching 3 million weekly Codex users on April 8, 2026, Sam Altman announced OpenAI would reset Codex usage limits across all plans and commit to repeating the reset for every additional million users until Codex reaches 10 million weekly users
3
. This gesture signals OpenAI's commitment to supporting the developer community as it scales its AI coding tools infrastructure to meet surging demand.Summarized by
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