ChatGPT Plans: Free vs Go $8 vs Plus $20 vs Pro From $100, What You Get

ChatGPT has four individual tiers as of October 8, 2026, and the names on the pricing page tell you less than the feature grid underneath them. Free costs nothing and gets “Unlimited text chats with GPT-6” with limited uploads, images and research; Go is “$8 per month” in the US, adds “More messages with tools” and “Longer memory,” and “may include ads”; Plus is “$20/month” and is the first tier with the advanced reasoning models and the larger context windows; Pro starts at $100 and comes in three usage tiers, $100, $200 and $500, with the $500 tier the only one with “Ultrafast” responses. This guide turns OpenAI’s plan cards and feature grid into one table, with the model access and context limits per plan, and notes where OpenAI’s own pages still disagree. For Claude and Gemini alongside, see our AI plans comparison.

The quick answer

• Free, $0: “Unlimited text chats with GPT-6,” but limited messages with uploads, image creation, voice chats, deep research, and memory and context
• Go, $8: everything in Free plus more messages with tools, more uploads, more image creation, more voice chats and longer memory. Also: “This plan may include ads.”
• Plus, $20: everything in Go plus “Advanced reasoning models with GPT-6,” expanded messages, uploads and deep research, “Projects, scheduled tasks, and custom GPTs,” and expanded Codex usage
• Pro, from $100: three usage tiers, “Pro reasoning powered by GPT-6 Astra,” an always-on agent called Dot, unlimited and faster image creation, and maximum deep research. Tiers: Pro 100 at $100, Pro 200 at $200, Pro 500 at $500
• Context windows: 27K tokens on Free, 54K on Go and Plus, 128K on Pro for Instant; 256K on Go and Plus and 400K on Pro for reasoning
• The model line: Free and Go run GPT-5.6 Luna by default and do not get GPT-5.6 Sol; Plus and Pro do

Key facts at a glance

	Free	Go	Plus	Pro
Price	$0	$8 a month	$20 a month	$100, $200 or $500 a month
OpenAI’s tagline	”Best for trying out ChatGPT"	"Best for longer conversations"	"Best for advanced work and productivity"	"Best for research and coding”
Ads	Not stated	”This plan may include ads.”	Not stated	Not stated
GPT-5.6 Sol	No	No	Yes	Unlimited*
GPT-6 Astra and GPT-6 Sol	No	No	Yes	Expanded
GPT-6 Luna	Yes	Yes	Yes	Expanded
GPT-5.6 Sol Pro	No	No	No	Yes
Legacy models	No	No	Yes	Yes
Instant context window	27K	54K	54K	128K
Reasoning context window	Varies	256K	256K	400K
Instant input maximum	~12 pages of text	~40 pages of text	~40 pages of text	~250 pages of text
Response times	Limited on bandwidth and availability	Limited on bandwidth and availability	Fast	Ultrafast on eligible tiers
Projects, scheduled tasks, custom GPTs	No	No	Yes	Expanded

Plan lines and the feature grid are from OpenAI’s pricing page; prices from the pricing page’s plan cards, the Plus help article, the Go announcement and the Pro tiers article. All read October 8, 2026. The asterisk is OpenAI’s: “Unlimited subject to abuse guardrails.”

Free: unlimited chat, limited everything else

The pricing page calls Free “Best for trying out ChatGPT” and lists “Unlimited text chats with GPT-6” first, with a caveat in the footnote: “Unlimited text chats subject to abuse guardrails.” Everything after that is capped: messages with uploads, image creation, voice chats, deep research, memory and context, Codex access and ChatGPT Work access on desktop are all marked limited. The grid puts numbers on the context: “27K” tokens for the Instant window, “~12 pages of text” as the input maximum, and “Varies” for reasoning.

The models article explains what “GPT-6” means at this tier: “GPT-5.6 Luna is becoming the default model for Free and Go users,” and “Free and Go users do not have access to GPT-5.6 Sol.” Their “Think” option “uses GPT-5.6 Luna, not GPT-5.6 Sol.”

Go: $8, more of the same, possibly with ads

Go is the cheapest paid step. OpenAI’s launch post says “In the US, Go is available for $8 per month,” and sells it on volume: “10x more messages, file uploads and image creation than the free tier,” plus “Longer memory and context window.” The pricing page’s Go card, “Best for longer conversations,” lists more messages with tools, more uploads, more image creation, more voice chats and longer memory, and then the line no other card has: “This plan may include ads.”

In the grid, Go moves the Instant window from 27K to “54K,” the input maximum to “~40 pages of text,” and the reasoning window to “256K.” It does not move the models: GPT-5.6 Sol, GPT-6 Astra and GPT-6 Sol are marked No on Go exactly as on Free, and legacy models stay unavailable.

Plus: $20, where the models change

The Plus article prices it plainly: “ChatGPT Plus is a subscription plan that provides enhanced access to the ChatGPT web app for $20/month,” and “Price: $20/month (billed monthly).” The pricing page’s card, “Best for advanced work and productivity,” opens with “Advanced reasoning models with GPT-6” and adds “Expanded messages and uploads,” “More complex and accurate image creation,” “Expanded deep research,” “Expanded memory and context,” “Projects, scheduled tasks, and custom GPTs,” “Expanded Codex usage” and “Early access to new features,” with “Limits apply.”

The grid is where Plus separates from Go. GPT-5.6 Sol, GPT-6 Astra and GPT-6 Sol flip to “Yes,” legacy models become available, and “Response times” move from “Limited on bandwidth & availability” to “Fast.” The context windows, though, are the same as Go’s: 54K Instant, 256K reasoning, about 40 pages of input. If you are paying $12 more for Plus, you are paying for models and features, not for a bigger window. Cancelling is covered in our ChatGPT Plus cancellation guide.

Pro: three tiers from $100

The pricing page lists Pro as “From” $100, “Best for research and coding,” with three usage tiers, “Pro reasoning powered by GPT-6 Astra,” longer Codex and ChatGPT Work sessions, “Dot, your always-on agent,” unlimited and faster image creation, maximum deep research, maximum memory and context, expanded projects, tasks and custom GPTs, and a research preview of new features.

The Pro tiers article names and prices them: Pro 100 at $100, Pro 200 at $200 and Pro 500 at $500. “Pro 200 includes more usage than Pro 100. Pro 500 offers the highest included usage of the three plans.” Pro 500 is also the Ultrafast tier: “ChatGPT Pro now offers Pro 500, a new $500/month plan that includes GPT-6 Astra Ultrafast and GPT-6.1 Sol Ultrafast.” In the grid, Pro’s windows jump to “128K” Instant and “400K” reasoning, with “~250 pages of text” as the input maximum, and GPT-5.6 Sol becomes “Unlimited*.”

There is a transition still running. “Pro 200 is also available for new subscriptions again,” but “New subscriptions that aren’t eligible for grandfathering include a lower usage allowance than previously offered with Pro 200.” Who is grandfathered: “Grandfathering applies if you had an active Pro 200 subscription at any point from September 22, 2026 through 10 a.m. Pacific Time on September 29, 2026. Eligible customers can use the previous included allowance through October 29, 2026.” After that, “your subscription will move to the lower included usage allowance. Your subscription price stays at $200/month.” Keeping the old allowance does not add Ultrafast: “Your subscription remains Pro 200.”

Where the documents disagree or leave gaps

Pro’s price depends on which page you read. The Go announcement lists “ChatGPT Pro at $200 USD/month”; the Pro tiers article now lists $100, $200 and $500. The pricing page says “From” $100.

The pricing page shows plan cards without dollar amounts in its text. The amounts in this guide come from the plan cards as displayed and from the help center and announcement pages, which state $8, $20 and $100 to $500 in words.

“GPT-6” means different models on different plans. Free’s “Unlimited text chats with GPT-6” run on GPT-5.6 Luna by default; Plus and Pro get GPT-6 Astra and GPT-6 Sol. The models article, not the pricing card, is where that is spelled out.

Ads are stated only for Go. The card says Go “may include ads”; the other cards say nothing about ads either way.

Plus and Go share the same windows. 54K and 256K on both; only Pro moves to 128K and 400K.

Before you choose

This is a sequence of checks, not a recommendation:

1. Decide whether models or volume is the problem. Go fixes volume at $8; only Plus and above change the models
2. Check the context numbers against your documents. About 12 pages on Free, 40 on Go and Plus, 250 on Pro for Instant
3. Read the ads line before buying Go. “This plan may include ads.” Plus and Pro cards carry no such line
4. If you are on Pro 200 from before September 29, note October 29, 2026. The old allowance ends then; the price stays $200
5. If you want Ultrafast, it is Pro 500 only. Pro 100 and Pro 200 do not include it
6. Set a reminder for the monthly charge. Plus is “billed monthly”; the Subscription Tracker carries the ChatGPT rows

Quick answers to what people search

How much is ChatGPT Plus? “$20/month (billed monthly),” per OpenAI’s help center.

How much is ChatGPT Go? “$8 per month” in the US, per OpenAI’s announcement; the plan “may include ads.”

How much is ChatGPT Pro? $100 (Pro 100), $200 (Pro 200) or $500 (Pro 500) a month; “Pro 500 offers the highest included usage of the three plans.”

What is the difference between ChatGPT Go and Plus? Go adds volume and memory to Free; Plus adds the advanced reasoning models (GPT-5.6 Sol, GPT-6 Astra, GPT-6 Sol), legacy models, Projects, scheduled tasks and custom GPTs, and “Fast” response times. The context windows are the same.

Does the free ChatGPT use GPT-6? The card says “Unlimited text chats with GPT-6,” and the models article says the default for Free and Go is GPT-5.6 Luna, with no access to GPT-5.6 Sol.

What is the ChatGPT context window by plan? Instant: 27K Free, 54K Go and Plus, 128K Pro. Reasoning: 256K Go and Plus, 400K Pro.

Does ChatGPT Go have ads? OpenAI’s pricing card says “This plan may include ads.”

Bottom line

As of October 8, 2026, ChatGPT’s ladder is $0, $8, $20 and $100 to $500, and the step that changes what model answers you is the $20 one; Go buys more of the free experience, possibly with ads, and Pro buys bigger windows, the GPT-6 Pro reasoning and, at $500, Ultrafast. Match the tier to the models and page counts you need, read the ads line on Go, and if you held Pro 200 before September 29, watch the October 29 allowance change.

Plan lines, feature grid entries and prices quoted from OpenAI’s ChatGPT pricing page, the Go announcement and three OpenAI Help Center articles, US versions, read on October 8, 2026. OpenAI says limits apply and change; its pages are the authority. This is general information, not financial advice.