OpenAI adds $100 ChatGPT Pro tier to rival Claude Max

Three days after Codex crossed three million weekly users, OpenAI moved to monetize that momentum. On April 9, the company launched a $100-per-month ChatGPT Pro plan positioned between the existing $20 Plus and the $200 flagship tier, matching Anthropic's Claude Max at the same price point. According to The Next Web, the new plan is the sixth pricing tier in ChatGPT's current structure.

The timing was not coincidental. Codex, OpenAI's AI coding agent, had hit three million weekly users on April 8, a figure representing a fivefold increase over three months. By offering a mid-market entry point built around Codex access, OpenAI is betting that developers who have outgrown Plus but cannot justify $200 per month will stay inside its ecosystem rather than migrate to Anthropic.

Codex at the center

The new $100 tier delivers five times the Codex usage of Plus, targeting users who run up against the ceiling on longer, high-effort coding sessions. Through May 31, a launch promotion doubles that figure to ten times the Plus allocation. After that date, the standard five-times limit applies. The $200 Pro plan, unchanged by the announcement, provides twenty times the Plus allocation, making it four times more Codex-intensive than the new mid-tier, as The Next Web reports.

What the two Pro plans share matters as much as what separates them. Both unlock the same model suite: GPT-5.4 Pro, unlimited access to GPT-5.4 Instant and GPT-5.4 Thinking, and every other feature on the top plan. The sole differentiator is usage volume. OpenAI also adjusted Plus's Codex allocation alongside the launch, reorienting it toward consistent daily usage rather than the extended sessions the new mid-tier is designed to absorb.

Six tiers and counting

ChatGPT's pricing ladder now spans six levels: a free tier with advertising, an $8-per-month Go plan, $20 Plus, the new $100 Pro, $200 Pro, and a $25-per-user-per-month Business plan, with Enterprise contracts priced separately above that. According to The Next Web, the new plan fills a gap between two tiers that already existed, one OpenAI apparently decided was too lucrative to leave for Anthropic to own unchallenged.

The proliferation of tiers reflects deliberate segmentation rather than opportunism. Rather than raising prices on existing plans, OpenAI is cutting the subscription curve more finely. A developer who codes daily but not at marathon length lands at $100. One running overnight agents or sustained research pipelines lands at $200.

The competitive angle

Anthropic launched Claude Max at $100 per month, and that price has since become a reference point for what a premium consumer AI subscription should cost. OpenAI's decision to match it exactly, rather than undercut or exceed it, signals that the company believes ChatGPT's brand and Codex's growth trajectory are sufficient to compete on parity. The promotional ten-times Codex window sweetens the offer through May, but the longer-term play is locking in developers before Anthropic deepens its own coding integrations.

Pressure now runs in both directions. Anthropic faces a well-resourced competitor at its flagship consumer price point. OpenAI must also satisfy its $200 Pro subscribers about why a plan with identical model access costs half as much. As The Next Web notes, the company is containing that tension by making usage volume the only dividing line between the two tiers.

Whether three million Codex weekly users translates into meaningful revenue at $100 a month is the number to watch in OpenAI's next financial disclosure. Anthropic will not wait long to respond.

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FAQ

What is different between the $100 and $200 ChatGPT Pro plans?
Both give access to the same model suite, including GPT-5.4 Pro. The $200 plan provides twenty times the Codex usage of Plus; the $100 plan provides five times, or ten times through May 31, 2026 under the launch promotion.

What is Codex?
Codex is OpenAI's AI coding agent integrated into ChatGPT. It reached three million weekly users by April 8, 2026, a fivefold increase over three months.

How does the new ChatGPT Pro compare to Anthropic's Claude Max?
Both cost $100 per month. Claude Max is Anthropic's premium consumer tier; the new ChatGPT Pro is OpenAI's direct competitor at the same price, with the differentiation hinging on Codex usage limits and ecosystem preference.

Is the ten-times Codex promotion permanent?
No. The doubled allocation relative to Plus applies only through May 31, 2026. After that, the standard five-times limit takes effect.