ChatGPT Pro 500 at $500 With Astra Ultrafast: OpenAI Cancels Planned Pro 200 Cut
OpenAI's Pro 500 costs $500 a month and is the only Pro plan with Ultrafast. OpenAI canceled the planned Pro 200 reduction for subscribers with the higher allowance, doubled lower allowances to match, and doubled Pro 100 and Pro 500 allowances. Tibo Sottiaux states the current usage figures as 10x, 20x, and 50x of Plus, respectively.
OpenAI announced Pro 500, a $500-a-month ChatGPT plan, at DevDay 2026 on September 29. At launch OpenAI said it "offers our highest usage allowance at 25 times the ChatGPT Plus allowance and includes access to Ultrafast," the new speed tier that launched for GPT-6 Astra in ChatGPT Work and Codex (OpenAI DevDay recap). Ultrafast now supports GPT-6 Astra and GPT-6.1 Sol (Codex speed docs). OpenAI reopened Pro 200 to new subscribers with a smaller allowance, then canceled the planned reduction for subscribers who had the higher allowance. As of October 30, 2026, its Pro tiers page says those subscribers keep the higher allowance, while subscribers on the lower allowance had it doubled to match; it also says Pro 100 and Pro 500 include twice their previous Work and Codex allowance (About ChatGPT Pro tiers).
On November 8, Tibo Sottiaux stated that the current Work and Codex allowances are 10x Plus for Pro 100, 20x for Pro 200, and 50x for Pro 500, with no five-hour limit on any Pro tier (Tibo Sottiaux on X). An archived version of OpenAI's Help Center listed Pro 100 at 5x Plus and Pro 200 at 20x; OpenAI later said Pro 100 and Pro 500 had doubled their previous Work and Codex allowances, preserved the higher Pro 200 allowance for subscribers who already had it, doubled lower allowances to match, and launched Pro 500 at 25x Plus (archived Pro tiers FAQ, current Pro tiers page, OpenAI DevDay recap, ChatGPT release notes). Those official baseline figures align with Sottiaux's current ratios, but the current Help Center does not print those ratios directly, so this article attributes the current values to him. OpenAI's usage guide independently confirms that all three Pro tiers currently have no five-hour Work and Codex limit and cautions that usage depends on the model, task, and settings rather than a fixed number of messages or tasks (Managing usage with GPT-6 Astra).
Verdict: Pay $500 if you exhaust Pro 200 in Codex or you want Ultrafast for interactive work with GPT-6 Astra or GPT-6.1 Sol. Stay on Pro 200 if it covers your week and speed is not your bottleneck: OpenAI canceled the planned reduction for subscribers with the higher allowance and doubled lower allowances to match, so the extra $300 buys scale and Ultrafast, not a rescue from a shrinking limit (About ChatGPT Pro tiers).
Key Takeaways
- Price and allowance: Pro 500 costs $500 a month. OpenAI launched it at 25 times the ChatGPT Plus allowance (OpenAI DevDay recap); after the allowance changes, Tibo Sottiaux says the current Pro 100, Pro 200, and Pro 500 allowances are 10x, 20x, and 50x Plus, respectively (Tibo Sottiaux on X).
- No five-hour Pro limit: OpenAI's usage guide says Pro 100, Pro 200, and Pro 500 currently have no five-hour limit in Work and Codex. The plans still have included allowances, and OpenAI says completed work varies by model, task, and settings (Managing usage with GPT-6 Astra).
- Ultrafast speed: GPT-6 Astra Ultrafast generates tokens up to 8x faster than Standard mode in Codex, about 300 tokens per second, and up to 6x faster in the API. GPT-6.1 Sol Ultrafast is now available too.
- Ultrafast cost: it uses included subscription limits at 8x the Standard rate and purchased credits at 6x (Codex speed docs).
- Who gets it: among Pro plans, Ultrafast is available only on Pro 500. Buying credits on Pro 100 or Pro 200 does not unlock it. (About ChatGPT Pro tiers)
- Pro 200 reversal: as of October 30, 2026, OpenAI says the reduction announced on September 29 is canceled. Subscribers who had the higher Work and Codex allowance keep it, those on the lower allowance had it doubled to match, the lower weekly GPT-6 Pro message limit now matches the higher one, and the price stays $200 (About ChatGPT Pro tiers).
- Against Claude: As of October 30, 2026, Anthropic's Max plan is $100 a month and its Ultra plan is $200 a month, and Claude Code's fast mode is paid from usage credits rather than subscription limits.
ChatGPT Plans Compared: Plus, Pro 100, Pro 200 and Pro 500
OpenAI's Codex pricing page lists Pro "Plans at $100, $200, or $500 USD per month" and Plus at $20 (Codex pricing). An archived Help Center FAQ listed Pro 100 at 5x Plus and Pro 200 at 20x; OpenAI later said Pro 100 and Pro 500 had doubled their previous allowances, canceled the planned Pro 200 reduction, and launched Pro 500 at 25x Plus (archived Pro tiers FAQ, About ChatGPT Pro tiers, ChatGPT release notes, OpenAI DevDay recap). On November 8, Sottiaux clarified the current figures as 10x for Pro 100, 20x for Pro 200, and 50x for Pro 500, and said none has a five-hour Work and Codex limit (Tibo Sottiaux on X). OpenAI's usage guide independently confirms the no-five-hour-limit point and says allowance use varies by model, task, and settings rather than corresponding to a fixed number of messages or tasks (Managing usage with GPT-6 Astra).
| Plan | Monthly price | Codex and ChatGPT Work usage | Ultrafast |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plus | $20 | Baseline | Not included |
| Pro 100 | $100 | 10x Plus, per Sottiaux; prior allowance doubled | Not included |
| Pro 200 | $200 | 20x Plus, per Sottiaux; planned reduction for higher-allowance subscribers was canceled | Not included |
| Pro 500 | $500 | 50x Plus, per Sottiaux; launched at 25x and doubled its prior allowance | Included |
The current multiples above are Sottiaux's published clarification; the historical Help Center figures and later allowance changes provide a durable cross-check, while OpenAI says usage varies with the model, task, and settings and is not a guaranteed count of messages or completed tasks (archived Pro tiers FAQ; About ChatGPT Pro tiers; Managing usage with GPT-6 Astra).
At the current ratios and listed prices, each Pro tier works out to $10 per 1x-Plus allowance: $100/10 for Pro 100, $200/20 for Pro 200, and $500/50 for Pro 500. This is price-per-allowance arithmetic, not a guarantee of messages or completed tasks (Codex pricing; Tibo Sottiaux on X).
Codex's pricing page says Pro plans currently have no five-hour limit, though weekly limits may also apply, so check the usage dashboard for the allowance available to your plan (Codex pricing). Pro 500 also brings the Agents API with computer use to Codex and ChatGPT Work, which OpenAI lists for Pro 500 and Enterprise (OpenAI DevDay recap). For dots, OpenAI's new always-on agents, see our dots explainer.
What Ultrafast Is
Ultrafast is a faster service tier, not a separate model. Introducing it for GPT-6 Astra, OpenAI called it "our premium speed tier for workloads where speed matters most" and said it "offers up to 8× faster token generation (300 tokens per second) in Codex and up to 6x in the API" (OpenAI DevDay recap). Those are token generation speeds, so a task that spends most of its time running tests or tools will not finish 8x sooner.
At launch, GPT-6 Astra was the only model with Ultrafast in ChatGPT Work and Codex. The Codex docs now say "Ultrafast supports GPT-6 Astra and GPT-6.1 Sol" (Codex speed docs); see our GPT-6.1 Sol coverage for that model.
In the API, Ultrafast is broadly available for GPT-6 Astra and GPT-6.1 Sol, for all API users (API Ultrafast guide). Default GPT-6 Astra Ultrafast limits are 500,000 tokens per minute on Build, 1,000,000 on Launch and 5,000,000 on Grow; GPT-6.1 Sol's run from 1,000,000 on Build to 40,000,000 on Grow. GPT-6 Astra Ultrafast supports US data residency and global processing only, while GPT-6.1 Sol Ultrafast also supports EU data residency.
API prices per million tokens at up to 272K input tokens (API pricing):
| Model and service tier | Input | Cached input | Output |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPT-6 Astra Standard | $10.00 | $1.00 | $50.00 |
| GPT-6 Astra Ultrafast | $60.00 | $6.00 | $300.00 |
| GPT-6.1 Sol Standard | $2.00 | $0.10 | $10.00 |
| GPT-6.1 Sol Ultrafast | $12.00 | $0.60 | $60.00 |
How Ultrafast Bills Against Your Allowance and Credits
On Pro 500, Ultrafast draws on your plan in order: "Ultrafast uses your included usage first, then your available credits after that allowance runs out" (Codex speed docs). It costs more of each than Standard mode.
| Speed mode | Included subscription usage | Purchased credits and Enterprise pay-as-you-go |
|---|---|---|
| Fast | 2.5x Standard | 2x Standard |
| GPT-6 Astra Ultrafast | 8x Standard | 6x Standard |
| GPT-6.1 Sol Ultrafast | 8x Standard | 6x Standard |
These multipliers set how fast each mode spends your allowance and credits, not how fast it runs (Codex pricing). The practical effect: if you ran GPT-6 Astra on Ultrafast all week, Pro 500's launch allowance of 25x Plus would have stretched about as far as roughly 3x Plus of Standard Astra usage, and the same one-eighth ratio applies to the doubled allowance. At Codex's Standard rates of 250 credits per million input tokens and 1,250 per million output tokens for GPT-6 Astra, the 6x credit multiplier means 1,500 and 7,500 credits once your included usage is gone.
If you sign in to Codex with an API key instead of ChatGPT, "Codex uses API token pricing instead, and ChatGPT credit multipliers don't apply" (Codex speed docs).
Who Can Get Ultrafast
Pro 500 is the only self-serve plan with Ultrafast. OpenAI's Pro tiers page says: "Among Pro plans, Ultrafast is available only on Pro 500," and "At launch, buying credits on Pro 100 or Pro 200 does not unlock Ultrafast." The Codex docs extend that to every other self-serve plan: they "don't have access to Ultrafast at launch, even with purchased credits" (About ChatGPT Pro tiers; Codex speed docs).
| Account | Ultrafast in Codex and ChatGPT Work |
|---|---|
| Plus, Pro 100, Pro 200, Business | No, even with purchased credits |
| Pro 500 | Yes, included usage first, then credits |
| Enterprise and Edu | Eligible credit-based or usage-based workspaces; on Enterprise, off by default until an owner enables it |
| API key | Yes, at API Ultrafast prices and rate limits |
Enterprise has two more conditions. Legacy Enterprise plans that rely on rate limits instead of usage-based billing are not supported. GPT-6.1 Sol Ultrafast supports inference residency in the United States and Europe (EEA + Switzerland), while GPT-6 Astra Ultrafast supports inference residency in the United States only (Codex speed docs). To subscribe, OpenAI says to "Sign in to ChatGPT and open the pricing page to select a Pro plan" (About ChatGPT Pro tiers).
How to Turn On Ultrafast
- Codex and ChatGPT Work on Pro 500: select Ultrafast in the model picker to run GPT-6 Astra or GPT-6.1 Sol on the faster service tier (About ChatGPT Pro tiers; Codex speed docs). Check what you have left in your usage dashboard or with
/statusin the Codex CLI (Codex pricing). - Enterprise: workspace owners enable Ultrafast for selected users or the whole workspace through workspace permissions, and existing per-user spend controls apply (Codex speed docs).
- API: send
model: "gpt-6-astra"ormodel: "gpt-6.1-sol"withservice_tier: "ultrafast"on a Responses request. OpenAI recommends a persistent WebSocket connection for agentic apps with many tool calls, because per-request network overhead eats into the latency gain (API Ultrafast guide).
Ultrafast is separate from Fast mode, which you toggle with /fast in the Codex CLI (Codex speed docs). Both draw down the included allowance faster than Standard: OpenAI's Pro tiers page says Fast mode uses it at 2.5 times the Standard rate and GPT-6 Astra Ultrafast at 8 times, and that these are consumption rates, not guarantees of faster performance (About ChatGPT Pro tiers); the Codex pricing docs list GPT-6.1 Sol Ultrafast at the same 8x (Codex pricing).
What Changes for Pro 200 Subscribers
As of October 30, 2026, OpenAI's Pro tiers page says: "The reduction announced in our September 29 email is canceled." Subscribers who already had the higher Work and Codex allowance keep it, and for those who had the lower allowance "it has doubled to match," while "Your subscription price stays at $200/month" (About ChatGPT Pro tiers). New subscriptions are open: "New Pro 200 subscriptions are available from the pricing page and include the increased Work and Codex allowance," and "The monthly price remains $200." Active subscribers do nothing, since "you don't need to cancel and resubscribe to get the updated allowance." The reversal does not add speed: "Ultrafast is available only on Pro 500" (About ChatGPT Pro tiers).
| Who you are | What happens |
|---|---|
| New Pro 200 subscriber | The increased Work and Codex allowance from the start, at $200 a month |
| Subscriber who kept the higher allowance | Nothing changes; you keep it |
| Subscriber who had been moved to the lower allowance | It has doubled to match the higher one, automatically |
| Subscription ended, then renewed | The same Work and Codex allowance as other Pro 200 subscribers |
| Pro 200 user of GPT-6 Pro in Chat | The lower weekly message limit now matches the higher one; Pro 100 and Pro 500 keep their current limits |
Should You Pay $500 or Stay on Pro 200?
Pay for Pro 500 if either of these is true:
- You regularly exhaust Pro 200. OpenAI says Pro 500 "offers the highest included usage of the three plans" and, as of October 30, 2026, includes twice its previous Work and Codex allowance (About ChatGPT Pro tiers). It is the only self-serve tier above Pro 200.
- Waiting on GPT-6 Astra or GPT-6.1 Sol is your bottleneck. Ultrafast pays off in interactive loops where you watch the model write: pair programming, debugging, iterating on a UI. It pays off least in long unattended runs where tool calls and tests dominate the clock. Ultrafast uses included subscription usage at 8x the Standard rate for the selected model, so it consumes more of that allowance than Standard mode for the same model (Codex speed docs).
Stay on Pro 200 if it covers your week and you do not need Ultrafast on either GPT-6 Astra or GPT-6.1 Sol, or if you work in the background and check results later. OpenAI canceled the planned reduction for subscribers who had the higher Work and Codex allowance; those on the lower allowance had it doubled to match, so check your usage dashboard before deciding whether Pro 500 is worth it (About ChatGPT Pro tiers). If you need occasional bursts beyond Pro 200, Plus and Pro users can buy credits without changing plans (Codex pricing).
Teams on ChatGPT Business should compare Business Premium seats instead; Ultrafast is not on Business at launch.
How Pro 500 Compares With Claude Max
As of October 30, 2026, Anthropic sells two plans above Pro. "The Max plan is available for $100 per month" and gives "five times the Pro plan's usage every five hours and every week" (Claude Help Center, Max plan). "The Ultra plan is available for $200 per month" and "includes 10 times the Pro plan's usage every week and has no five-hour limit, for verified accounts" (Claude Help Center, Ultra plan). Max plans have a five-hour limit and a weekly limit, while ChatGPT Pro plans have no five-hour limit.
| Plan | Monthly price | Usage multiple | Speed option on the subscription |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT Pro 200 | $200 | 20x ChatGPT Plus, per Sottiaux; planned reduction for higher-allowance subscribers was canceled | Fast mode from included usage at 2.5x |
| ChatGPT Pro 500 | $500 | 50x ChatGPT Plus, per Sottiaux; launched at 25x and its allowance doubled | Ultrafast (GPT-6 Astra or GPT-6.1 Sol) from included usage at 8x |
| Claude Max | $100 | 5x Claude Pro every five hours and every week | Fast mode from usage credits only |
| Claude Ultra | $200 | 10x Claude Pro every week; no five-hour limit for verified accounts | Fast mode from usage credits only |
The multiples use different baselines, ChatGPT Plus against Claude Pro, so they do not compare directly across vendors; measure your own work on each. What does compare is how speed is sold. Claude Code's fast mode makes Opus "up to 2.5x faster," and for Pro, Max and Ultra subscribers "fast mode is available via usage credits only and not included in the subscription rate limits" (Claude Code fast mode docs). Pro 500's Ultrafast, by contrast, draws on the included allowance before it touches credits.
At $200 a month, Anthropic sells Ultra and OpenAI sells Pro 200. OpenAI canceled the planned reduction for higher-allowance Pro 200 subscribers and doubled lower allowances to match; Pro 500 at $500 launched at 25x Plus and has since doubled its allowance (About ChatGPT Pro tiers; OpenAI DevDay recap). If raw generation speed on GPT-6 Astra or GPT-6.1 Sol matters more than allowance, Pro 500 is the only self-serve subscription with Ultrafast, and it spends included usage before credits. For how the two harnesses differ beyond price, see our Codex CLI vs Claude Code comparison.
Corrections and Updates
- Updated November 8, 2026: Tibo Sottiaux gave Pro 100/200/500 usage as 10x/20x/50x Plus, with no five-hour Work and Codex caps. This page attributes the ratios to his post and cites Help Center confirmation of allowance changes.
- Updated November 7, 2026: The Claude comparison was revised to reflect Anthropic's current Max and Ultra plans and their usage windows. The table and Key Takeaways were updated to match.
- Earlier coverage of the planned Pro 200 reduction was revised after OpenAI canceled it and updated the allowance details (About ChatGPT Pro tiers).
- October 9, 2026: This page said GPT-6 Astra was the only model with Ultrafast in ChatGPT Work and Codex and that GPT-6.1 Sol Ultrafast was coming later. Ultrafast now supports GPT-6.1 Sol too, in the API and on Pro 500, with the same 8x included-usage and 6x credit rates.
Sources
- OpenAI, "DevDay 2026 Recap" (Pro 500, Ultrafast speed, Agents API availability; read through the Internet Archive because openai.com refuses automated requests): https://openai.com/index/devday-2026-recap/
- OpenAI Help Center, "About ChatGPT Pro tiers" (Pro 500 and Pro 200 availability, the canceled Pro 200 reduction, doubled Pro 100 and Pro 500 allowances, Ultrafast by tier, how to subscribe; read directly on October 30, 2026): https://help.openai.com/en/articles/9793128-about-chatgpt-pro-tiers
- Internet Archive capture of OpenAI Help Center, "About ChatGPT Pro tiers" (September 20, 2026 snapshot listing the earlier Pro 100 and Pro 200 usage multipliers): https://web.archive.org/web/20260920id_/https://help.openai.com/en/articles/9793128-about-chatgpt-pro-tiers
- OpenAI Help Center, "Managing usage with GPT-6 Astra in Work and Codex" (Pro five-hour limits and how model, task, and settings affect allowance use): https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001516-managing-usage-with-gpt-6-astra-in-work-and-codex
- OpenAI Help Center, "ChatGPT release notes" (April Pro usage details and October 29 allowance changes): https://help.openai.com/en/articles/6825453-chatgpt-release-notes
- Internet Archive capture of the same article from October 26, 2026 (the grandfathering window and the October 29 end date this page previously quoted): https://web.archive.org/web/20261026042106/https://help.openai.com/en/articles/9793128-about-chatgpt-pro-tiers
- ChatGPT Learn, "Speed" (Ultrafast models, Fast and Ultrafast availability, billing multipliers, Enterprise rules, inference residency): https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/agent-configuration/speed
- ChatGPT Learn, "Pricing" (Pro plan prices, no five-hour limit on Pro, speed-mode multipliers, credit rates): https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/pricing
- ChatGPT Learn, "ChatGPT usage limits and spend controls" (Enterprise Ultrafast controls): https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/enterprise/usage-limits
- OpenAI API docs, "Ultrafast mode" (models, request configuration, rate limits, data residency): https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/guides/ultrafast-mode
- OpenAI API docs, "Pricing" (Standard and Ultrafast token prices): https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/pricing
- Tibo Sottiaux on X, current Pro 100/200/500 usage multiples and five-hour limits: https://x.com/thsottiaux/status/2119296267545419987
- Claude Help Center, "What is the Max plan?": https://support.claude.com/en/articles/11049741-what-is-the-max-plan
- Claude Help Center, "What is the Ultra plan?": https://support.claude.com/en/articles/17728952-what-is-the-ultra-plan
- Claude Code docs, "Speed up responses with fast mode": https://code.claude.com/docs/en/fast-mode
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Frequently Asked Questions
How much does ChatGPT Pro 500 cost and what does it include?
Pro 500 costs $500 a month. OpenAI launched it at 25 times the ChatGPT Plus allowance and now includes twice its previous Work and Codex allowance. Tibo Sottiaux says its current Work and Codex usage is 50x Plus. It includes GPT-6 Astra Ultrafast and GPT-6.1 Sol Ultrafast.
What is Astra Ultrafast?
Ultrafast is OpenAI's premium speed tier, and it now supports GPT-6 Astra and GPT-6.1 Sol. OpenAI says GPT-6 Astra Ultrafast generates tokens up to 8x faster than Standard mode in Codex, about 300 tokens per second, and up to 6x faster in the API. Among Pro plans, only Pro 500 includes it.
Can I get Ultrafast on Pro 100 or Pro 200 by buying credits?
No. OpenAI's Pro tiers page says that among Pro plans, Ultrafast is available only on Pro 500, and that buying credits on Pro 100 or Pro 200 does not unlock it. Eligible Enterprise and Edu workspaces can use it, and API users can call it with an API key.
How does Ultrafast count against my usage?
On Pro 500, Ultrafast uses your included usage first, then your credits. For GPT-6 Astra and GPT-6.1 Sol alike, it consumes included subscription limits at 8x the Standard rate, and purchased credits or Enterprise pay-as-you-go usage at 6x. Those multipliers describe billing, not speed.
What is changing on the ChatGPT Pro 200 plan?
OpenAI canceled the planned reduction for subscribers who had the higher Work and Codex allowance; it says subscribers on the lower allowance had it doubled to match. Tibo Sottiaux says Pro 200 currently provides 20x Plus usage, with no five-hour Work and Codex limit.
Should I upgrade from Pro 200 to Pro 500?
Upgrade if you want Ultrafast for interactive Codex work or you regularly exhaust Pro 200. OpenAI says Pro 500 offers the highest included usage of the three plans, and Tibo Sottiaux says it currently provides 50x Plus usage versus 20x on Pro 200. OpenAI canceled the planned reduction for higher-allowance Pro 200 subscribers and doubled lower allowances to match, so decide using your own usage dashboard.
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