ChatGPT Plans and Pricing vs the API: What $8 to $500 Buys

ChatGPT plans and pricing now run from free to $500 a month. OpenAI lists Free at $0, Go at $8, Plus at $20, three Pro plans at $100, $200 and $500, and Business at $20 per user per month billed annually, or $25 billed monthly, for two or more users.^[1][2] None of them includes API usage. The OpenAI API is billed separately, per token.

That split is where most cost questions start. This guide lists what each plan includes according to OpenAI's own pages, checked on November 4, 2026, and then shows what the same monthly amount buys on the API.

ChatGPT plans and pricing at a glance

Sources: OpenAI's pricing documentation and Help Center.^[1][2][3] The plan descriptions above come mostly from OpenAI's Codex pricing page, which lists models per plan; the chat features in each plan are on chatgpt.com/pricing. For Codex specifically, Go lists the same GPT-6 Luna desktop access as Free, so the reasons to pay $8 sit in those chat features.

The three Pro plans

OpenAI's Help Center, updated the day before our check, sets out the Pro tiers:^[2]

• Pro 100 ($100) and Pro 200 ($200) do not include Ultrafast. Pro 200 includes more usage than Pro 100.
• Pro 500 ($500) includes GPT-6 Astra Ultrafast and GPT-6.1 Sol Ultrafast and the highest usage.
• Ultrafast draws on the plan's included usage at 8x the Standard rate for the model, then on credits at 6x. Buying credits on Pro 100 or Pro 200 does not unlock it.
• A reduction to Pro 200 announced on September 29 has been cancelled; Pro 100 and Pro 500 now include twice their previous Work and Codex allowance.

OpenAI also notes that a larger allowance "does not guarantee twice as many completed tasks", because usage depends on the model, task and settings.^[2]

Where GPT-6 Astra is included

GPT-6 Pro, powered by GPT-6 Astra, is in ChatGPT for Pro 100, Pro 200, Business and Enterprise. Plus includes GPT-6 Astra in ChatGPT Work and Codex, and Astra in the Codex CLI requires version 0.153.0 or newer.^[3] If a model is missing from your account, see who gets GPT-6 Astra for the rollout and client checks.

When you hit a plan's limit

OpenAI's pricing page answers what happens at the ceiling. Plus and Pro subscribers who reach their usage limit can buy additional credits and keep working without upgrading; Business, Edu and Enterprise workspaces on flexible pricing buy workspace credits. Any user can also run extra local chats with an API key, charged at API rates.^[1]

Speed modes draw down that allowance faster. Fast mode uses included usage at 2.5x the Standard rate and purchased credits at 2x; GPT-6 Astra and GPT-6.1 Sol Ultrafast use 8x and 6x.^[1] One difference favors the subscription: GPT-6.1 Sol usage drawn from a plan has no long-context surcharge in Codex or ChatGPT Work, whereas the API bills prompts over 272,000 tokens at 2x input and 1.5x output for the whole request.^[1][4] Voice in the desktop app uses the Codex budget at $0.05 per minute.^[1]

What the same money buys on the API

The API charges per million tokens. At OpenAI's Standard rates, GPT-6.1 Sol costs $2 input and $10 output, GPT-6 Astra $10 and $50, and GPT-6 Luna $0.10 and $0.50.^[4] Assuming 10 input tokens for every output token, one million output tokens plus ten million input tokens costs:

So $20, the price of Plus, buys about two-thirds of that workload on GPT-6.1 Sol, or more than thirteen times it on Luna. These are arithmetic from list prices with an assumed token mix, not a measurement of how much a subscriber actually uses. Reasoning tokens count as output on OpenAI's reasoning models, which raises API costs for hard problems.^[5]

The comparison is not like for like in other ways. Subscriptions include the ChatGPT apps and Codex cloud features such as automatic code review; OpenAI lists Pro with Pro models, deep research, image creation, memory and file uploads. The API includes none of the apps but lets your own software call the model.^[1][2] OpenAI's Codex pricing also offers an API-key mode for automation, which bills at API prices and has no cloud features.^[1]

FAQ

Does ChatGPT Plus include API access?

No. API usage is billed separately at OpenAI's per-token prices. Codex can run on an API key instead of a subscription, billed at API rates.^[1]

What is the difference between Pro 100, Pro 200 and Pro 500?

Price, included usage and Ultrafast. Usage rises with each tier, and only Pro 500 includes Ultrafast.^[2]

How much does ChatGPT Business cost?

$20 per user per month billed annually, or $25 billed monthly, for two or more users.^[1]

Choosing between ChatGPT plans and the API

If people type into ChatGPT every day, a plan is simpler and comes with the apps and their features. If software calls the model, or usage is uneven, the API's per-token billing fits better, and a cheaper model such as GPT-6 Luna handles routine work for cents. reAPI serves the GPT-6 family through one OpenAI-compatible key, with GPT-6.1 Sol at $2 and $10 per million and GPT-6 Luna at $0.08 and $0.40 on its model pages as of November 4, 2026; our GPT model comparison covers the full lineup. For individuals, ChatGPT plans and pricing are the place to start.

References

1. OpenAI. Codex pricing (ChatGPT plans, API key and credits). Retrieved November 4, 2026 from learn.chatgpt.com/docs/pricing
2. OpenAI Help Center. About ChatGPT Pro plans. Retrieved November 4, 2026 from help.openai.com/en/articles/9793128
3. OpenAI Help Center. ChatGPT Work and Codex. Retrieved November 4, 2026 from help.openai.com/en/articles/20001275
4. OpenAI. GPT-6.1 Sol, GPT-6 Astra and GPT-6 Luna model pages. Retrieved November 4, 2026 from developers.openai.com/api/docs/models
5. OpenAI. Reasoning models. Retrieved November 4, 2026 from developers.openai.com/api/docs/guides/reasoning