OpenAI Launches $500/Month ChatGPT Pro 500 Tier With 'Ultrafast' Model Access

OpenAI has introduced a new top-tier subscription plan for ChatGPT called Pro 500, priced at $500 per month, according to an update quietly posted to the company's official help center. The page, first flagged in a Hacker News discussion, was updated within the past hour and had not been accompanied by any press release or public announcement at the time of writing.

The new plan sits above the existing Pro 100 and Pro 200 tiers and is distinguished by exclusive access to a model OpenAI calls Ultrafast, which is not available on the two cheaper plans. According to the help page, Ultrafast draws first from a subscriber's included usage allowance and then from a separate credit balance once that allowance is exhausted.

OpenAI's support page describes ChatGPT Pro broadly as including access to Pro models, the Codex coding tool, deep research capabilities, image generation, memory and file uploads. Pro 200 offers more usage than Pro 100, while Pro 500 offers the highest usage allowance of the three plans and is the only one that includes Ultrafast.

Alongside the launch of Pro 500, OpenAI has reopened new sign-ups for Pro 200, which the company says had been unavailable for a period. New Pro 200 subscribers who are not eligible for a grandfathered allowance will receive a lower usage limit than the plan previously offered, though the monthly price remains unchanged at $200. OpenAI attributed the reduced allowance to what it called increasingly efficient models.

Existing Pro 200 subscribers whose accounts were active at an unspecified eligibility cutoff, or during the seven days beforehand, can retain their previous usage allowance through October 29, 2026, provided their subscription stays active. After that date, those accounts will shift to the new, lower allowance while continuing to pay $200 a month. OpenAI said only affected users will be notified by email. The company was explicit that retaining the older allowance does not grant access to Pro 500 features or the Ultrafast model.

The help page also clarifies related policies, including that buying additional usage credits on Pro 100 or Pro 200 does not unlock Ultrafast at launch, that canceling a subscription does not end access immediately, and that failed renewal payments do not automatically terminate a plan.

OpenAI has not published a blog post, press release or public statement detailing the reasoning behind the new tier, and no company representatives have commented publicly. The help page itself offers no explanation for why Pro 500 was introduced or how it fits into OpenAI's broader subscription strategy, leaving open questions about how heavily used or in-demand the Ultrafast model is expected to be.