ChatGPT Pro 500 is OpenAI’s new $500-a-month plan, and it only pays off if you need Astra Ultrafast speed in Codex. You get 25 times the Plus allowance, but Ultrafast burns through it eight times faster than normal mode.
OpenAI announced the plan at DevDay on September 29. Here’s what you get, what happened to the older Pro 200 plan, and who should actually pay.
The quick version, if you only have ten seconds:
- Price: $500 a month, the highest self-serve ChatGPT tier.
- Allowance: 25x the ChatGPT Plus limits, per OpenAI’s DevDay recap.
- Exclusive perk: Astra Ultrafast, up to 8x faster token generation in Codex.
- Pro 200 drops from 20x to 10x Plus on October 30, according to AI Catchup.
- Rollout: web only at first, gradually.
Every item there affects what you pay per task, so the next sections break it down.
What ChatGPT Pro 500 actually gives you
The plan is built around one idea: more room and more speed for heavy coding work. OpenAI’s own recap describes it as 25 times the Plus allowance with Ultrafast access.
Ultrafast is the headline. OpenAI says GPT-6 Astra Ultrafast generates up to 8x faster in Codex, around 300 tokens per second, and up to 6x faster in the API. If you’ve ever watched an agent crawl through a big refactor, that’s the pain it targets.
It also arrives alongside other DevDay launches, including a refreshed Codex CLI with voice steering and Codex in the cloud for remote development. Those tools are where an agent can chew through your allowance fastest.
Pro 500 isn’t a flat “more of everything” plan, though. It’s the only self-serve tier that includes Ultrafast, so the speed is the real product.
Pro 200 just got smaller
The sneakier change is to the plan below it. According to eesel’s review, Pro 200 falls from 20x to 10x Plus on October 30, 2026, at the same $200 price.
AI Catchup reports that people already subscribed between September 22 and 29 keep the old allowance until October 29. New subscribers get the smaller one right away.
Here’s how the tiers compare once you do the math.
| Plan | Price per month | Usage vs. Plus | Cost per 1x of Plus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plus | $20 | 1x | $20 |
| Pro 100 | $100 | 5x | $20 |
| Pro 200 (from Oct 30) | $200 | 10x | $20 |
| Pro 200 (before Oct 30) | $200 | 20x | $10 |
| Pro 500 | $500 | 25x, plus Astra Ultrafast | $20 |
Every tier now costs $20 per 1x of Plus usage. That means Pro 500 isn’t a bargain. You pay more to get a bigger bucket and Ultrafast, not a lower rate.
Note that the ChatGPT pricing page only shows Pro as a “from” price with several tiers. The multiples above come from the reports linked here, so check the page before you subscribe.
The Ultrafast catch: speed that eats your limit
Ultrafast uses your allowance at 8x the normal rate. So the 25x allowance doesn’t stretch as far as it sounds.
The eesel reviewer worked it out this way: a week spent entirely on Ultrafast is about 3x Plus worth of Astra work. In their API tests, Ultrafast finished tasks about 4.5x sooner than Standard, at roughly 153 tokens per second versus 29.
That gap matters. You get a big speedup, but not the full 8x, while still paying the full 8x in usage.
If you mostly use cheaper models, you’ll never feel this. Our look at GPT-6.1 Sol’s price and benchmarks shows how much work a cheaper model can handle. Heavy users who hit limits have been getting squeezed across the industry, as we saw with the Claude Code weekly limits change.
Which ChatGPT plan makes sense for you
Most people don’t need any Pro tier. Plus covers everyday chat, and Pro 100 is the sensible step up if you keep hitting walls.
Pro 500 makes sense in a few specific cases:
- You regularly blow past Pro 200 and are juggling more than one account.
- Your time is expensive, so waiting on slow agent runs costs more than the plan.
- You need computer use in Codex through the new Agents API.
A simple test helps: look at how often you hit your current limit in a normal week. If it’s rare, a higher tier only adds cost. If it’s daily, price out Pro 100 or Pro 200 before jumping to $500.
If none of those sound like you, you’re paying for speed you won’t use. If you want an always-on agent instead, see our breakdown of OpenAI Dots and its price.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does ChatGPT Pro 500 cost?
It costs $500 a month, according to multiple reports. It gives you 25x the Plus allowance and Astra Ultrafast access.
Is Pro 200 going away?
No. It stays at $200, but reports say the allowance drops from 20x to 10x Plus on October 30, 2026.
What is Astra Ultrafast?
It’s a faster speed tier for GPT-6 Astra. OpenAI says it generates up to 8x faster in Codex, but it uses your limit at 8x the normal rate.
Is ChatGPT Pro 500 worth it?
Only for heavy Codex users who value speed over cost. Everyone else gets better value from Plus or Pro 100.
Our verdict
Pro 500 is a speed purchase, not a savings plan. Skip it unless slow agent runs are costing you real money, and take a hard look at your Pro 200 usage before October 30, because the plan you’re paying for is about to shrink.
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