OpenAI appears to be developing a new subscription tier named ChatGPT Pro Lite, with a proposed price of $100 per month. This information comes from developer Tibor Blaho, who discovered references to the plan within the code of the ChatGPT web application. While OpenAI has not officially confirmed the new tier, its discovery points to a strategic move to address a significant gap in its current pricing structure.
The $180 Chasm: Addressing a Key Market Need
Currently, OpenAI’s subscription lineup for individuals includes a Free plan, a Go plan at $8 per month, a Plus plan at $20 per month, and a Pro plan at a steep $200 per month. This massive $180 jump between the Plus and Pro tiers has been a point of criticism for many users. Freelancers, researchers, and developers often find the Plus plan’s usage limits restrictive but cannot justify the high cost of the Pro plan. A $100 Pro Lite plan is positioned to fill this void, targeting power users who need more capacity without the full expense of the top-tier offering.
What to Expect from ChatGPT Pro Lite
Based on the code references, the Pro Lite plan is expected to offer substantially more than the Plus tier. It may provide three to five times the usage quota for OpenAI’s more advanced deep reasoning models. Additionally, there are indications that the plan could be specifically optimized for Codex usage, catering to developers and others who rely on ChatGPT for coding tasks.
OpenAI offers several subscription plans, including Free, Go ($8 per month), Plus ($20 per month), Pro ($200 per month), Team, Business, and Enterprise.
The Competitive Landscape and Strategic Imperatives
The potential introduction of Pro Lite comes as OpenAI faces intensified competition and financial pressures. Rivals like Google’s Gemini and Anthropic’s Claude are capturing significant market share, with Claude 4 reportedly overtaking OpenAI in enterprise spending. Anthropic, in particular, has found success with its $100 Claude Max plan, demonstrating a clear market for a mid-tier professional offering. By introducing a similarly priced plan, OpenAI could better compete for these valuable users. This move is also seen as a way to generate revenue amid rising compute costs and a reported annual loss.
A Look to the Future: Paving the Way for Advanced Features
The Pro Lite tier could serve as more than just a pricing bridge; it may become the gateway for next-generation AI capabilities. OpenAI recently hired Peter Steinberger, the creator of the open-source agent framework OpenClaw, signaling a future that is “extremely multi-agent.” These advanced, always-on agent features would require significantly more computational power than standard chat interactions. A $100 plan could be the entry point for users wanting to access these powerful, compute-heavy functionalities, creating a clearer distinction between casual and professional AI use cases.
