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News · OpenAI · September 10, 2026

Published . By , AI-assisted.

ChatGPT Pro $200's sign-up pause is over: Pro 200 reopened, and Pro 500 is new

Update, October 1, 2026: The pause is over: OpenAI's help article on its Pro tiers, updated September 29, 2026, says Pro 200 is available for new subscriptions again, still at $200 a month. GPT-6 Astra has been in llmwise since September 23, 2026: up to 31 GPT-6 Astra messages a month on Pro ($20).

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Facts checked against OpenAI Help Center: About ChatGPT Pro tiers, OpenAI Help Center: About ChatGPT Pro tiers (archived September 19, 2026), OpenAI Help Center: GPT-6 Pro in ChatGPT, OpenAI Help Center: GPT-6 Pro in ChatGPT (archived September 22, 2026), OpenAI Help Center: About ChatGPT Pro tiers (archived September 29, 2026, 17:53 UTC: “Updated: 49 minutes ago”). Updated .

Update, October 1, 2026

What changed on September 29, 2026, from OpenAI's own pages; the story as first published follows below, as it was.

  1. The pause is over: OpenAI's help article on its Pro tiers, updated September 29, 2026, says Pro 200 is available for new subscriptions again, still at $200 a month.[1][5]

  2. New Pro 200 subscriptions that aren't eligible for grandfathering get a lower usage allowance than Pro 200 had before, which OpenAI says reflects its increasingly efficient models.[1]

  3. A Pro 200 subscription active at OpenAI's eligibility cutoff, or in the seven days before it, keeps its previous allowance through October 29, 2026, then moves to the lower one at the same price.[1]

  4. A third tier, Pro 500, costs $500 a month and is the only Pro plan with Astra Ultrafast, with the most included usage of the three; Pro 100 is still $100.[1]

  5. OpenAI no longer publishes GPT-6 Pro's weekly counts: its help center now says only that Pro plans with higher usage allowances include higher limits for Pro models.[3]

What OpenAI announced

Each point is from OpenAI's own announcement unless its source says otherwise; the numbers link to the sources below.

  1. The pause covered sign-ups and upgrades to Pro $200 from Free, Go, Plus and Pro $100.[2]

  2. Existing Pro $200 subscriptions kept renewing as usual, and new or existing Pro $100 subscriptions weren't affected.[2]

  3. Anyone who had Pro $200 on September 10, 2026, or whose access ended in the 30 days before, could return to it once during the pause, within 30 days of their Pro $200 access ending.[2]

  4. Anyone else couldn't buy Pro $200 until the pause was lifted, and OpenAI's help article gave no date for that.[2]

  5. New Pro $200 promotion redemptions were paused too; a promotion already redeemed on an active subscription was unaffected.[2]

  6. OpenAI said both Pro tiers had the same core capabilities, and the difference was usage: Pro $100 had 5x Plus's, Pro $200 20x.[2]

  7. GPT-6 Pro, which OpenAI says is powered by GPT-6 Astra, came with both tiers: 50 messages a week in Chat on Pro $100, and 200 a week on Pro $200.[4]

Can you use GPT-6 Astra in llmwise?

What GPT-6 Astra costs you in llmwise, from the plans themselves.

GPT-6 Astra

GPT-6 Astra has been in llmwise since September 23, 2026. llmwise's catalog prices it at $10.00 per million tokens in and $50.00 out (OpenAI's list price). But a GPT-6 Astra message isn't billed by the token: the table below has its count on every plan.

GPT-6 Astra on every llmwise plan
PlanGPT-6 Astra
Free ($0)Not in the trial
Plus ($10)Not on Plus
Pro ($20)Up to 31 a month, about $0.65 each
Max ($50)Up to 100 a month, about $0.50 each
Ultra ($100)Up to 225 a month, about $0.44 each
Studio ($200)Up to 500 a month, about $0.40 each

A paid plan's month is one allowance the models share. So a monthly count is the most you get if the month goes to that model, and “each” is the plan's price divided by it. Every message's price is shown before you send it. Every plan.

The counts above come with each plan's fair-use limit, in AI cost a month: Plus's is $3.75, Pro's $7.50, Max's $20, Ultra's $42, Studio's $85. That leaves room for every message at typical sizes, less if messages run very long or research-heavy. Every limit, explained.

How did GPT-6 Astra do on our test prompts?

Beside Claude Fable 5.1 and Claude Opus 5.5, the models from other makers nearest in price per message.

GPT-6 Astra and the nearest-priced rivals: prompts passed
Prompt kindGPT-6 AstraClaude Fable 5.1Claude Opus 5.5
Writing5 of 53 of 54 of 5
Summarization5 of 53 of 55 of 5
Support replies3 of 54 of 55 of 5
In total48 of 5045 of 5049 of 50

All passed every prompt on coding, math, data analysis, translation, SQL, answering from documents, and tool use. Through OpenRouter, in our test runs of September 27, 28, 29 and October 2, 7, 8, 9, 15, 2026; every model got the same prompts. Read the replies.

Sources

  1. [1] OpenAI Help Center: About ChatGPT Pro tiers, checked .
  2. [2] OpenAI Help Center: About ChatGPT Pro tiers (archived September 19, 2026), checked .
  3. [3] OpenAI Help Center: GPT-6 Pro in ChatGPT, checked .
  4. [4] OpenAI Help Center: GPT-6 Pro in ChatGPT (archived September 22, 2026), checked .
  5. [5] OpenAI Help Center: About ChatGPT Pro tiers (archived September 29, 2026, 17:53 UTC: “Updated: 49 minutes ago”), checked .
Bar chart: GPT-6 Astra messages on each llmwise plan. Pro ($20): up to 31 a month; Max ($50): up to 100 a month; Ultra ($100): up to 225 a month; Studio ($200): up to 500 a month.
llmwise's published counts, plan by plan.

ChatGPT Pro's pause: questions

Can I use GPT-6 Astra in llmwise?

Yes, since September 23, 2026. GPT-6 Astra's messages a month: up to 31 on Pro ($20), 100 on Max ($50), 225 on Ultra ($100), 500 on Studio ($200). It isn't on Plus. It isn't in the free trial.

Can I still subscribe to ChatGPT Pro?

Yes, to any of the three tiers, OpenAI's help center says: Pro 100 at $100 a month, Pro 200 at $200, open to new subscribers again at a lower allowance than before, and the new Pro 500 at $500, the only one with Astra Ultrafast.

When will ChatGPT Pro $200 sign-ups reopen?

They have. OpenAI's help article, updated September 29, 2026, says Pro 200 is available for new subscriptions again; this page was last checked against it on the date shown at the top.

Do existing Pro $200 subscribers keep their usage?

Through October 29, 2026, if their Pro 200 subscription was active at OpenAI's eligibility cutoff or in the seven days before it, OpenAI says. After that it moves to the new, lower allowance, and the price stays $200 a month.

GPT-6 Astra on a $20 plan

On llmwise Pro ($20), up to 31 GPT-6 Astra messages a month, beside Claude and Gemini, with the count shown before you send.

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