ChatGPT Will Have a Cheaper Subscription Plan (but Also Ads).
As OpenAI struggles to find new ways to monetize ChatGPT , the company today announced it is introducing a new, cheaper subscription tier for its AI chatbot, but will add advertising to both this new tier and free users.
ChatGPT Go first launched in India in August and later expanded to 170 countries worldwide. Today marks the first time it’s available anywhere, including the United States. It sits between the free and Plus plans, priced at $8 per month versus $20 per month for the Plus plan, and is arguably ChatGPT’s first “affordable” subscription.
Essentially, you’re getting an enhanced version of the free plan, as it doesn’t provide access to new models or features, but it does set higher limits on messages, downloads, images, and storage. It also provides unlimited access to the new ChatGPT 5.2 model , as opposed to the limited use provided by the free plan .
Essentially, it’s aimed at casual users who just want a little more from AI, but don’t necessarily want to use more advanced features aimed at power users, such as complex logical reasoning models or Sora’s video generation .
However, the price reduction compared to the Plus plan has a downside. ChatGPT Go also announced advertising, which OpenAI says is scheduled to begin testing in the US for both the free and Go plans “in the coming weeks.” Hints about advertising in ChatGPT have been circulating for some time, but now we have a rough idea of what it will look like.
OpenAI states that ads in ChatGPT will be clearly labeled , appear below responses, and target products relevant to your conversation. The company promises that ads won’t influence your responses and that your ChatGPT conversations will be private to advertisers, but over time, your ads will be personalized. However, you can disable ad personalization at any time and delete the data used for it.
Oddly enough, during the initial testing phase, OpenAI also stated that ads will only be shown to logged-in users. This means that if you plan to use the free plan, you can skip the ads for now by simply staying logged out. You’ll lose features like memory savings, but it may be worth it depending on your priorities. However, ChatGPT Go users will still see ads.
Along with the announcement, OpenAI published several examples of how in-app advertising will look, but no final decision has been made yet. It’s important to note that ads will not appear on accounts where the user either discloses they are under 18 or the company assumes they are. Similarly, sensitive topics such as health or politics will be kept ad-free.
Both of today’s announcements point to ways in which AI is aiming to become profitable by 2026, a goal that has consistently proven challenging for the companies operating these chatbots despite significant investment . Unsurprisingly, they’re using the same methods that pre-AI companies have been using for decades: advertising and subscriptions. But for now, OpenAI is making at least two promises that it hopes will make this news easier to digest.
First, the company states that it will “always offer a way to avoid ads in ChatGPT, including a paid ad-free plan.” This is likely small consolation for those who value their wallets. But second, and perhaps most surprising if true, OpenAI still maintains that it will not optimize “time spent in ChatGPT” at the expense of “user trust and usability.” This will benefit usability, but less time spent in the app will mean fewer ads. I’m curious to see how long OpenAI will stick to this commitment, especially given that financial incentives are pushing the company in the opposite direction.