ChatGPT Plans Explained: Free vs Go vs Plus vs Pro (2026)

Prices checked on October 18, 2026.

OpenAI sells ChatGPT in five main plans for individuals and teams. The differences come down to model access, how much you can use it, and how much of Codex, OpenAI’s coding agent, you get.

One note before the table: ChatGPT’s own pricing page didn’t show dollar amounts when we checked. The prices below come from OpenAI’s Codex pricing page, which lists the ChatGPT plans (OpenAI). Confirm them at chatgpt.com/pricing before you buy.

The plans at a glance

Prices checked on October 18, 2026.

Plan	Price	Best for	Source
Free	$0	Trying ChatGPT, everyday questions	OpenAI
Go	$8/month	Light users who want more than Free	OpenAI
Plus	$20/month	Regular users, writers, developers	OpenAI
Pro	From $100/month ($100, $200 or $500 tiers)	Heavy daily use	OpenAI
Business	$20/user/month billed annually, $25 monthly (2+ users)	Small teams	OpenAI

Enterprise and Edu plans are sold through OpenAI’s sales team.

Free

Free includes unlimited text chats, subject to abuse guardrails, plus limited image creation, voice, deep research and memory (ChatGPT pricing). It also includes limited Codex access for quick coding tasks in the desktop app (OpenAI).

Go ($8/month)

Go adds more messages with tools, more uploads, more image creation, more voice chats and longer memory than Free (ChatGPT pricing). Model access is the same as Free in OpenAI’s comparison table. Codex is limited to lightweight tasks in the desktop app.

Worth knowing: OpenAI says Go “may include ads.”

Plus ($20/month)

Plus adds advanced reasoning models, projects, scheduled tasks and custom GPTs, and “Expanded Codex usage” (ChatGPT pricing). Codex works on the web, in the CLI, in the IDE extension and on iOS, plus Codex cloud (OpenAI).

OpenAI publishes estimated Codex message ranges per five-hour window for Plus, and says they “are not fixed message limits.”

Pro (from $100/month)

Pro comes in three usage tiers ($100, $200 or $500 a month). It adds Pro reasoning, maximum deep research, and unlimited, faster image creation. Usage is listed as “Unlimited subject to abuse guardrails” (ChatGPT pricing). For Codex, OpenAI says Pro plans “currently have no five-hour limit” (OpenAI).

Business ($20–$25 per user)

Business is for teams of two or more. It costs $20 per user per month billed annually, or $25 billed monthly (OpenAI). Business and Enterprise can also buy credits for extra usage (ChatGPT pricing).

Which plan should you pick?

• You use it a few times a week: Free.
• You want more without paying much, and ads don’t bother you: Go.
• You use it daily for work, or you want Codex in your IDE or terminal: Plus.
• You hit Plus limits regularly: look at the $100 Pro tier before the higher ones.
• You’re buying for a team: Business, billed annually if you can commit.

Comparing assistants? Read ChatGPT vs Claude.

Our take

Most people only need to choose between Free and Plus. Go at $8 makes sense if you hit Free's limits but don't need Codex or the bigger models. Pro is for people who use ChatGPT for most of their working day; if you're unsure, you're not one of them yet.

Our take

Most people only need to choose between Free and Plus. Go at $8 makes sense if you hit Free's limits but don't need Codex or the bigger models. Pro is for people who use ChatGPT for most of their working day; if you're unsure, you're not one of them yet.

Visit ChatGPT

---