ChatGPT’s $200 Pro Plan Returns With a Smaller Usage Allowance
Published by AINave Editorial • Reviewed by Ramit
OpenAI plans to reopen new subscriptions to its ChatGPT $200 Pro plan on September 30, after pausing sign-ups earlier in the month. The price stays the same, but the company is changing how it calculates usage: OpenAI’s Thibault “Tibo” Sottiaux says the new allowance works out to roughly half the previous plan’s API spend.
That figure is expressed in API dollars, not as a promised number of prompts, coding tasks or hours. It describes a change in the plan’s usage budget, but does not by itself tell subscribers how much work they will be able to complete.
The smaller allowance has two important qualifications
OpenAI’s stated case for the new arrangement is that lower API prices for GPT-6 Sol and Luna could make each dollar go further. But the available details do not quantify how those price cuts translate into ChatGPT usage for subscribers. That makes the API-spend comparison a concrete change, while the practical offset remains uncertain.
The other change concerns when subscribers can use their allowance. Sottiaux says the five-hour usage window will not return on the $200 tier. The previous window let subscribers concentrate their weekly allowance into a shorter period. Without it, the plan’s value may differ for people who need a burst of intensive work, even if the weekly allowance were otherwise comparable.
OpenAI also says it will announce more subscription perks that do not count toward usage, but has not specified them yet. Those perks could affect the overall package, but they do not change the stated reduction in API-dollar allowance.
Pro Max is a listing, not a confirmed plan
A separate, unannounced ChatGPT Pro Max tier appeared in a subscription-interface listing. Android Authority reports a listed price of $500 per month before taxes; one version displayed $600 including VAT. The listing mentions “Fastest Work and Codex,” maximum memory, 100GB of file storage, access to OpenAI’s most capable models and early access to features.
Those details are not a launch announcement. Pro Max has no confirmed release date or usage limits, so its listed price and benefits cannot yet be compared with the returning Pro plan as a complete offer. The clearest decision point for subscribers is the change OpenAI has described: the $200 tier returns at the same price, with roughly half the old API-spend allowance and no five-hour window.
