OpenAI and ChatGPT pricing changes: every tracked move, dated
OpenAI's tracked moves stay close to the rate card. A reasoning model was cut steeply on the day a premium variant launched above it, setting the pattern of a falling floor with a new rung over it. The flagship family then shipped as three named rungs in one announcement, and the rungs moved separately soon after, the smallest one far more than the top. Promotional pricing arrived with a published end date, so the reversion is an increase that needs no announcement. The one step away from tokens is on the enterprise plans, where the pricing page discloses credit-based billing beside token-based billing. Everywhere else on this ledger the unit is still the token.
tracked and read.
first move to latest.
last re-checked.
Last tracked move:
OpenAI pricing moves, newest first.
- Jun 10, 2025Pricing · Rate cut
- Aug 26, 2025Licensing + Pricing · Rate both ways
- Mar 05, 2026Pricing · Rate increase
- Apr 02, 2026Licensing + Packaging · Unit swap
- Apr 24, 2026Pricing · Rate card
- Jun 24, 2026Licensing · Access change
- Jun 26, 2026Packaging + Pricing · Rate card
- Jul 09, 2026Pricing · Price hold
- Jul 28, 2026Licensing + Pricing · Unit swap
- Jul 30, 2026Pricing · Repackage
- Aug 06, 2026Packaging + Pricing · Allowance up
- Aug 09, 2026Licensing + Packaging · Access change
- Aug 10, 2026Packaging + Pricing · Rate card
- Aug 13, 2026Licensing + Packaging · Repackage
- Aug 21, 2026Pricing · Rate cut
- Aug 24, 2026Licensing + Packaging + Pricing · Repackage
- Sep 03, 2026Pricing · Rate card
- Sep 10, 2026Licensing + Pricing · Unit swap
- Sep 29, 2026Pricing · Rate cut
- Sep 29, 2026Licensing + Pricing · Allowance cut
- Sep 29, 2026Packaging · Repackage
- Sep 29, 2026Packaging + Pricing · Repackage
- Sep 29, 2026Terms change
- Sep 29, 2026Terms change
- Sep 29, 2026Licensing + Packaging · Unit swap
- Oct 06, 2026Licensing + Packaging · Access change
- Oct 08, 2026Licensing + Pricing · Price hold
- Oct 11, 2026Licensing · Access change
- Oct 14, 2026Licensing · Access change
- Oct 26, 2026Pricing · Rate card
- Oct 29, 2026Pricing · Allowance up
The move
On October 29, 2026, OpenAI doubled the Work and Codex usage allowance included in its Pro 100 and Pro 500 plans, increased it in Business Premium, and canceled the Pro 200 allowance reduction it had announced on September 29: Pro 200 subscribers on the lower allowance had it doubled to match the higher one, with the plan price unchanged at $200 per month.
The SPP read
OpenAI raised the Work and Codex allowance included in its other Pro plans and in Business Premium with every list price held, and canceled the reduction it had announced for the mid Pro plan a month earlier: subscribers on the smaller allowance were lifted to the larger one, and those who already held it kept it. The smaller allowance that the September reopening introduced applied to new subscribers for one month.
The move
OpenAI ChatGPT plan usage added the GPT-6.1 Terra model to Work and Codex on Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Edu plans, with usage limits of 35-285 and credit rates of 25, 1.25, and 125 credits, left overall plan limits unchanged, and stated that GPT-6.1 Sol subscription usage carries no long-context surcharge in Codex or ChatGPT Work.
The SPP read
OpenAI added GPT-6.1 Terra to Work and Codex on every paid plan with its own credit rates for input, cached input and output and its own usage-limit band, while the overall plan limits stayed where they were. The same update states that GPT-6.1 Sol usage drawn from a subscription carries no long-context surcharge in Codex or Work, so included usage on that model draws at one rate whatever the prompt length.
The move
OpenAI ChatGPT plan usage removed the GPT-5.5 row (125 / 12.50 / 750 credits) from its credit rate table, narrowed the October 14, 2026 GPT-5.5 retirement to Codex with ChatGPT sign-in (API and API-key Codex sessions unaffected), and added a 'Composer predictions (beta)' feature marked 'Limited*' on one plan in the plan feature matrix.
The SPP read
OpenAI removed GPT-5.5 from the credit rate table on its plan pricing page and narrowed the retirement notice from ChatGPT, Work and Codex on all plans to Codex sessions signed in with ChatGPT, with the API and API-key Codex sessions marked unaffected. Subscribers who selected the model on a plan now choose a replacement from the current card, while API-key users keep paying the API rate for it. The retirement had been announced in mid September with the wider scope.
The move
OpenAI ChatGPT extended the option to use included ChatGPT plan usage for AI requests in participating commercial apps and sites from Plus and Pro to Go, Plus, and Pro, while supported open-source tools remain available to all ChatGPT users.
The SPP read
OpenAI widened the plans whose included ChatGPT usage can be spent on AI requests inside participating commercial apps and sites from Plus and Pro to Go, Plus and Pro. Eligible requests keep counting toward the plan's Work and Codex usage, open-source tools stay available to every ChatGPT user, and the partner's own subscription and charges remain separate from the ChatGPT plan. The lowest paid plan now has the same portability of its allowance as the plans above it.
The move
OpenAI ChatGPT plan usage added GPT-6.1 Sol Ultrafast to the usage multiplier table at 8x/6x, matching GPT-6 Astra Ultrafast, and renamed 'Astra Ultrafast' to a general 'Ultrafast mode' (still Pro $500 and eligible Enterprise/Edu, 6x Standard credit rate), alongside navigation-only doc changes.
The SPP read
OpenAI made Ultrafast available for GPT-6.1 Sol in Work and Codex at the same usage multipliers it set for GPT-6 Astra: included usage is drawn at one multiplier of the Standard rate and purchased credits at another, on the top Pro plan and eligible Enterprise and Edu workspaces. The plan and feature labels dropped the Astra name and now read Ultrafast mode. The speed tier that had been tied to one model is a mode across the top models at a held multiplier.
The move
On October 6, 2026 OpenAI replaced its five numbered API usage tiers with three named tiers, Build, Launch and Grow. Build is reached at $5 in cumulative credit purchases with a $500 monthly spend cap, Launch at $100 with $5,000, and Grow at $500 with $200,000; before the change the ladder ran from Tier 1 ($5 paid, $100 a month) through Tier 5 ($1,000 paid, $200,000 a month), so the top cap now opens at half the prior spend and the lower caps rose. Concurrent GPT-Live voice sessions follow the new tiers at 50, 300 and 500.
The SPP read
OpenAI replaced the numbered usage tiers with a shorter ladder of named tiers. These tiers set how much an API account may spend on the token meter each month. The top monthly spend cap now opens at half the cumulative credit purchase it previously required, and the caps on the lower rungs rose. No per-token rate moved: what changed is how much metered spend an account may run at each level of prior purchase, and GPT-Live voice concurrency now follows the same ladder.
The move
OpenAI's 'Sign in with ChatGPT' lets Plus and Pro subscribers use their ChatGPT plan for AI requests in participating third-party apps and sites, with eligible requests counting toward the ChatGPT Work and Codex usage included in their plan, without needing to create or share an OpenAI API key.
The SPP read
Participating apps and sites can now run eligible AI requests against a subscriber's ChatGPT Plus or Pro plan. Those requests draw down the Work and Codex usage already included in the subscription, at rates the vendor says may differ between an app and ChatGPT, under a weekly cap per app set as a share of the plan's usage. The plan fee, rather than a separate API meter, covers inference done inside another vendor's product, and the partner's own subscription and charges stay separate.
The move
OpenAI launched OpenAI Marketplace, a program that lets eligible enterprise customers apply part of their OpenAI spending commitment toward qualifying partner products built on OpenAI models, rolling out alongside DevDay announcements.
The SPP read
The move is in the terms around OpenAI's enterprise spending commitment, not in any published rate: part of a commitment can now be applied to qualifying third-party products built on OpenAI models. This follows the cloud-marketplace drawdown pattern and widens what prepaid OpenAI spend can buy, with no rate movement stated. Only eligible enterprise customers and qualifying partner products are in scope.
The move
OpenAI said usage of its new always-on 'dots' agents will not count toward eligible Pro, Business, and Enterprise plan allowances for the first month after the September 29, 2026 launch, with usage terms for each plan to be shared afterward.
The SPP read
OpenAI launched its always-on dots agents with a month in which their usage does not count against Pro, Business and Enterprise plan allowances, and said the usage terms for each plan would follow. The allowances themselves did not move. A new kind of use was kept off the meter for a launch window, with the metering decision deferred to the end of it.
The move
OpenAI made its Ultrafast service tier generally available for GPT-6 Astra in the Responses API, selectable per request by setting service_tier to 'ultrafast' and priced as its own tier on the API pricing page, following the August limited preview on GPT-5.6 Sol that carried no rate.
The SPP read
OpenAI's Ultrafast lane moved from a limited preview with no rate attached to general availability on GPT-6 Astra with its own published price, selected per request through the service_tier parameter. The unit stays tokens; what moved is the packaging, with latency now sold as a priced option on the same model. The register's August row holds the preview; this row is the rate arriving.
Read revised Oct 20, 2026Reason: Chris 10-20 review: the row is the rate arriving after the preview (596); duplication check
OpenAI added a faster service tier for GPT-6 Astra in the Responses API. Developers select it on each request through the service_tier parameter instead of calling a different model. The unit stays tokens; what moved is the packaging, with latency now sold as its own priced option on the same model.
Claim revised Oct 20, 2026Reason: Chris 10-20 review: state the act (GA with a price) and its relation to the August preview row 596 instead of describing the docs
OpenAI's API documentation says developers enable the Ultrafast tier per request by setting service_tier to 'ultrafast', making speed a selectable priced tier rather than a separate model.
The move
OpenAI launched ChatGPT Pro 500, a new $500/month plan that includes Astra Ultrafast and the highest included usage of its Pro plans.
The SPP read
OpenAI added a plan above its existing Pro subscription, with the highest included usage in the Pro lineup and the only access to the Ultrafast mode in ChatGPT Work and Codex. The unit is still a flat subscription with an included allowance; what moved is the top of the ladder, where speed and allowance now sell as an edition of their own, and buying credits on a lower plan does not reach them.
Read revised Oct 21, 2026Reason: Chris 10-21 'flatten them': the contrast clause removed, facts unchanged
OpenAI added a plan above its existing Pro subscription, with the highest included usage in the Pro lineup and the only access to the Ultrafast mode in ChatGPT Work and Codex. The unit is still a flat subscription with an included allowance; what moved is the top of the ladder, where speed and allowance now sell as an edition of their own instead of as extra credits bought on a lower plan.
The move
OpenAI reopened new ChatGPT Pro 200 subscriptions at an unchanged $200/month price but with a lower usage allowance than previously offered, which it attributed to its increasingly efficient models.
The SPP read
OpenAI reopened its mid Pro plan to new subscriptions at the unchanged monthly price with a smaller included Work and Codex allowance than earlier subscribers held; subscribers eligible for grandfathering kept the earlier allowance. The plan had been closed to new subscriptions before this date, and a new top Pro plan arrived above it the same day. With the price held and the allowance down, the cost of a unit of work rose for a new subscriber with no rate moving.
Read revised Nov 04, 2026Reason: Now names the plan's prior state and drops the vendor's stated reason. OpenAI canceled this reduction on October 29, 2026, recorded as its own entry.
New ChatGPT Pro buyers receive less included usage on the flat monthly subscription, while the list price stays the same, so the effective cost per unit of work rises with no rate moving. Subscribers eligible for grandfathering keep the earlier allowance. OpenAI describes the reduction as a consequence of model efficiency.
The move
OpenAI says GPT-6.1 Sol nearly matches GPT-6 Astra's intelligence on agentic coding, computer use, and professional work at one-fifth of Astra's standard input and output token prices.
The SPP read
OpenAI released GPT-6.1 Sol onto its Sol tier at a token rate below the GPT-5.6 Sol list rate and below the promotional rate that had applied to that model since August, and well under the rate of the new flagship, GPT-6 Astra. OpenAI pitched the model as close to Astra on agentic coding, computer use and professional work. The Sol name moved down the card: the tier that took the flagship rate at the GPT-5.6 launch now sits at a mid-ladder price under a new flagship, and the price of Sol-tier capability fell for the second time in a quarter.
Teaser revised Nov 04, 2026Reason: The earlier teaser said the Sol tier kept its token pricing; it did not.
GPT-6.1 Sol lands near flagship quality while keeping the Sol tier's token pricing
Read revised Nov 04, 2026Reason: The earlier text said the Sol tier kept its pricing. Against the July launch and the August promotion, the new Sol model landed below both, so the move is a cut on the tier.
OpenAI released GPT-6.1 Sol, a point update to its lower-priced Sol tier, and pitched it as close to GPT-6 Astra on agentic coding, computer use and professional work. The one-fifth figure compares two tiers' standard token rates; no existing rate moved. The Sol tier kept its prior token pricing while the capability on it moved up, which makes this a hold on per-token rates.
The move
OpenAI bills GPT-Live 1 voice sessions at $0.05 per minute, metered per second without rounding up to a whole minute, with backend model and tool usage charged separately. Concurrent voice sessions are capped by the organization's usage tier, from 25 sessions on the lowest paid tier to 500 on the highest at launch, with tiers reached by cumulative credit purchases.
The SPP read
With GPT-Live 1 reaching general availability in the API, OpenAI has put a published rate on voice sessions charged by elapsed time and metered per second, with no rounding up to whole minutes. That session meter covers only the voice layer; backend model and tool usage is charged separately, so a session's total cost stacks a time-based meter on top of OpenAI's other usage charges. Capacity is packaged as well: the number of voice sessions an organization may run at once is set by its usage tier, and tiers are reached by cumulative credit purchases, so the session ceiling rises with what the customer has already spent.
Claim revised Oct 21, 2026Reason: verifier correction applied at the desk 10-21: at the 09-10 launch the caps ran by numbered usage tiers; the Build/Launch/Grow names arrived 10-06
OpenAI bills GPT-Live 1 voice sessions at $0.05 per minute, metered per second without rounding up to a whole minute, with backend model and tool usage charged separately. Concurrent voice sessions are capped by the organization's usage tier: 50 on Build, 300 on Launch, 500 on Grow, with tiers reached by cumulative credit purchases.
Read revised Oct 21, 2026Reason: Chris 10-21 round 3: capacity as a packaged capability by usage tier
With GPT-Live 1 reaching general availability in the API, OpenAI has put a published rate on voice sessions charged by elapsed time and metered per second, with no rounding up to whole minutes.
The move
On September 3, 2026, OpenAI released GPT-6 Astra as its new flagship model, live in the API and in ChatGPT Work and Codex for Pro, Enterprise and Business Premium plans, priced at $10.00 per million input tokens and $50.00 per million output tokens, above the GPT-5.6 Sol flagship rate of $5.00 and $30.00.
The SPP read
OpenAI released GPT-6 Astra as its new flagship, live in the API and in ChatGPT Work and Codex for Pro, Enterprise and Business Premium plans, at a token rate above the rate GPT-5.6 Sol had held as flagship since July. The Sol tier stayed on sale at its own rate, so the card gained a slot above it and the Sol name became a mid-ladder tier.
Read revised Nov 07, 2026Reason: The narration of the September 29 move removed; this entry describes September 3.
OpenAI released GPT-6 Astra as its new flagship, live in the API and in ChatGPT Work and Codex for Pro, Enterprise and Business Premium plans, at a token rate above the rate GPT-5.6 Sol had held as flagship since July.
The move
OpenAI restructured the ChatGPT Business plan by introducing two distinct seat tiers—a Standard seat at $20/month and a Premium seat at $100/month (with monthly billing at $25 and $125 respectively)—replacing the previous single $20/user/month pricing, while also updating included features and removing the 2+ user minimum in favor of a 2–200 employee range.
The SPP read
Between our captures of August 23 and August 30, OpenAI's ChatGPT Business page replaced its single per-seat rate with two kinds of seat, a Standard seat at the existing rate and a Premium seat at a higher one, and stated the plan as serving a band of company sizes with an upper bound where it had stated only a minimum. The seat stayed the unit; one workspace now buys two kinds of it, priced apart, and the plan gained a ceiling on company size. OpenAI's release notes date the seats going live to August 24; the August 10 announcement had opened a waitlist.
Read revised Nov 05, 2026Reason: The earlier text said the plan's user range widened; the minimum stayed and a maximum was added. The go-live date comes from OpenAI's release notes.
On August 30, 2026, OpenAI's ChatGPT Business plan offered two kinds of seat where it had offered one: Standard seats at the existing per-seat rate and Premium seats at a higher one, with the plan's user range widened from a minimum to a stated band of company sizes.
Read revised Sep 15, 2026Reason: Read revised to describe the change without repeating the price points, which stay in the move record.
On August 30, 2026, OpenAI's ChatGPT Business plan carried two seat tiers where it had carried one: Standard seats at the existing per-seat rate and Premium seats at a higher one, with the plan's user range widened to two hundred seats.
The move
OpenAI cut the prices of its frontier GPT-5.6 Sol model for developers by more than 20% for the next three months, effective August 21, 2026.
The SPP read
What moved is the developer API rate on OpenAI's current frontier model; the token meter and how usage is counted stay the same. The cut is time-boxed, so it works as a promotional discount against the standing rate card. It keeps OpenAI's frontier tier on the tokens end of the arc and puts pressure on competing frontier rates while the window is open.
Read revised Oct 20, 2026Reason: desk pass 10-19: removed the X-not-Y and rather-than shapes and the meta line; facts unchanged
What moved is the developer API rate on OpenAI's current frontier model; the token meter and how usage is counted stay the same. The cut is time-boxed rather than a new list price, so it works as a promotional discount against the standing rate card. It keeps OpenAI's frontier tier on the tokens end of the arc and puts pressure on competing frontier rates while the window is open.
The move
On August 13, 2026, OpenAI opened a limited preview of Ultrafast, a new service tier that runs GPT-5.6 Sol up to 14 times faster than Standard processing, to a select group of API customers, with access to expand as capacity grows and no rate published.
The SPP read
On August 13, 2026, OpenAI opened a limited preview of Ultrafast, a separate service lane that runs GPT-5.6 Sol at a multiple of Standard processing speed, to a select group of API customers, with no rate published. The lane is defined by speed on the same model, so the pricebook now holds a slot with a service level and no price. The rate, when it prints, will show what a faster lane on an unchanged model is priced at.
Read revised Sep 15, 2026Reason: Read revised to describe the change without repeating the price points, which stay in the move record.
On August 13, 2026, OpenAI opened a limited preview of Ultrafast, a service tier that runs GPT-5.6 Sol up to 14 times faster than Standard processing, to a select group of API customers, with no rate published.
The move
On August 10, 2026, OpenAI announced Premium seats for ChatGPT Business at $125 per month or $100 per month billed annually, alongside the standard seats at $25 monthly or $20 annually, with $100 in workspace credits per qualifying Premium seat for the first 10,000 waitlist workspaces, up to five seats; the credit offer closed by late August.
The SPP read
On August 10, 2026, OpenAI announced Premium seats for ChatGPT Business at a higher per-seat rate than the standard seats, monthly or annual, and attached a workspace credit per Premium seat for an early cohort of waitlist workspaces, capped at a handful of seats each. The credit closed by late August; the seat class stayed. Read with the Business restructure that followed on August 30, the arc shows a seat unit splitting into two priced kinds inside one plan, the standard seat price unchanged.
Read revised Sep 15, 2026Reason: Read revised to describe the change without repeating the price points, which stay in the move record.
On August 10, 2026, OpenAI announced Premium seats for ChatGPT Business at a higher per-seat rate than the standard seats, monthly or annual, and attached a workspace credit per Premium seat for the first ten thousand waitlist workspaces, capped at five seats each.
The move
OpenAI added a footnote to Enterprise pricing clarifying that both credit-based and token-based pricing are available for Enterprise plans, and relabeled the 'Messages and interactions' feature row to 'Everyday text chats' while removing GPT-5.5 Instant as a listed model from Business and Enterprise plans.
The SPP read
OpenAI updated its Enterprise pricing page to formally disclose that both token-based and credit-based billing are available on Enterprise plans, marking a structural clarification of which units buyers may be metered on at that tier. Separately, a listed model was removed from the Business and Enterprise plan feature matrix, narrowing the visible access set for those tiers. A feature row was also relabeled, repositioning how the capability is surfaced to buyers without a stated change to underlying limits.
The move
On August 6, 2026 OpenAI announced that GPT-5.6 Luna would replace GPT-5.5 Instant as the default model for ChatGPT Free and Go users that week, with unlimited everyday text chats (limits still apply to file uploads, images and other tools) and a new Think button for harder questions arriving the following week.
The SPP read
OpenAI's post of August 6 set a two-step change for the Free and Go tiers: a new default model that week, then unlimited everyday text chats and a Think button the week after, with limits kept on uploads, images and other tools. Once the second step landed, message volume on the bottom tiers no longer separated them from paid plans; model access and reasoning depth became the remaining differences. On OpenAI's arc this is an allowance change at a held price of zero.
Read revised Oct 21, 2026Reason: Chris 10-21 round-4 validation: the two-step rollout stated as OpenAI's post states it
The included chat allowance on ChatGPT's free and Go tiers changed from capped to unlimited for everyday text chats on GPT-5.6 Luna.
Claim revised Oct 21, 2026Reason: verifier FACT_OFF correction applied at the desk (Chris 10-21 round 4): the rollout was staged, default model that week, unlimited chats and Think the week after
On August 6, 2026 OpenAI gave ChatGPT Free and Go users unlimited everyday text chats on GPT-5.6 Luna, which became the default model for those tiers, and added a Think button for harder questions.
The move
On July 30, 2026, OpenAI cut GPT-5.6 Luna prices by 80%, to $0.20 per million input tokens and $1.20 per million output tokens, cut GPT-5.6 Terra prices by 20%, to $2 per million input tokens and $12 per million output tokens, and added a Fast mode for GPT-5.6 Sol, per OpenAI's official announcement.
The SPP read
One announcement, three prices. On July 30, 2026 OpenAI cut GPT-5.6 Luna steeply, trimmed GPT-5.6 Terra by a smaller step, and added a Fast mode for GPT-5.6 Sol; Sol's own token rate was not among the changes. The headline write-ups reported Luna's cut; the card listed all three changes, and the cheapest rung took the deepest cut.
Read revised Nov 07, 2026Reason: The earlier text said the flagship edged down on this date; the claim holds cuts on Luna and Terra and a Fast mode for Sol, and Sol's rate moved on the August 21 entry.
One announcement, three prices. On July 30, 2026 OpenAI cut GPT-5.6 Luna steeply, trimmed GPT-5.6 Terra by a smaller step, and added a Fast mode for Sol. The headline write-ups reported Luna's cut; the card listed all three. The cheap rung got radically cheaper while the flagship edged down, which is what a price-performance frontier looks like when a vendor moves the whole curve at once.
Read revised Sep 15, 2026Reason: Read revised to describe the change without repeating the price points, which stay in the move record.
One announcement, three prices.
The move
OpenAI prices transcription per minute: gpt-transcribe at an estimated $0.0045/minute, gpt-live-transcribe and gpt-realtime-whisper at $0.017/minute, and gpt-realtime-translate live translation at $0.034/minute.
The SPP read
OpenAI launched gpt-transcribe and gpt-live-transcribe with published rates that count minutes of audio processed. The prior batch model, gpt-4o-transcribe, billed audio tokens and gave its per-minute cost only as an estimate; the successor counts minutes again, the unit whisper-1 has been priced on since launch, and lists a flat rate below that estimate while the token-billed model stays on sale. The new live model is priced at the same per-minute rate as the existing gpt-realtime-whisper. No existing rate changed.
Read revised Nov 03, 2026Reason: Now names the unit change on the batch line: audio tokens on the prior model, minutes on the successor.
OpenAI launched gpt-transcribe and gpt-live-transcribe with published rates that count minutes of audio processed. The new live model is priced at the same per-minute rate as the existing gpt-realtime-whisper, and the gpt-realtime-translate rate listed alongside it was already on sale. The ledger move is a rate card for the two new models; no existing rate changed.
The move
GPT-5.6 (Sol, Terra, Luna) launched on July 9, 2026 and became OpenAI's new flagship family, with Sol matching GPT-5.5's $5/$30 pricing; GPT-5.5 remains available but is no longer the current flagship.
The SPP read
GPT-5.6 reached general availability as a three-rung family, with Sol taking the flagship slot at the list rate GPT-5.5 had held and GPT-5.5 staying on sale below it. The preview two weeks earlier had posted the three rates; the launch moved the family from a limited preview to the current lineup with those rates unchanged. The flagship slot changed model and kept its price.
Teaser revised Nov 04, 2026Reason: The earlier teaser named the promotional clock that belongs to the August entry.
OpenAI puts its new flagship on a promotional clock
Read revised Nov 04, 2026Reason: The earlier text described the August promotional cut, which has its own entry; this entry's event is the July general-sale launch with the flagship rate held.
GPT-5.6 launched July 9 with Sol as the flagship at the same list price as the GPT-5.5 it superseded.
The move
OpenAI stated that GPT-5.6 Luna is priced at $1 per 1M input tokens and $6 per 1M output tokens.
The SPP read
OpenAI's GPT-5.6 preview posted three named rungs at once: a small tier at a fraction of the mid, a mid at a fraction of the top, and the top holding the flagship rate. Earlier model families had shipped as one price with a mini beside it; this one shipped as a ladder of named tiers, each with its own rate, so a later price change can land on one rung without touching the others.
Read revised Nov 07, 2026Reason: Two intent clauses and the narration of the July 30 cuts removed; this entry describes June 26.
One announcement, three named rungs: a small tier at a fraction of the mid, a mid at half the top, and the top holding the flagship rate.
The move
On June 24, 2026, OpenAI stopped offering new Codex pay-as-you-go (Codex-only, usage-based) seats to ChatGPT Business plans; existing pay-as-you-go seats were not affected, and Business workspaces that never added a Codex seat before that date can no longer add one. The seats remain available on Enterprise.
The SPP read
OpenAI stopped selling Codex-only, usage-based seats to ChatGPT Business workspaces that had not added one before June 24, 2026. Workspaces holding a Codex seat or a pending invite before that date keep their seats and can keep adding them. The seat type stays on Enterprise under credit-based agreements. The move closed the usage-based Codex unit to new Business buyers in the same quarter it opened, with the meter and its rates unchanged.
The move
OpenAI charges $5 per million input tokens and $30 per million output tokens for API use of GPT-5.5.
The SPP read
A six-to-one output premium puts the price on generation, not context. For application vendors pricing on top of the API, the asymmetry matters more than the headline rate, because features that read long and write short have a different unit cost than features that write long. Blended per-request pricing built on an average mix breaks the day the mix shifts. Price the direction your workload actually spends.
The move
OpenAI's usage-based Codex-only seats in ChatGPT Business include Codex usage only and require workspace credits from first use, while standard Business seats use included plan limits before drawing on a shared credit pool.
The SPP read
OpenAI added a ChatGPT Business seat type that covers Codex alone and carries no included plan limits, so all Codex work on it draws on workspace credits. Standard Business seats still consume their included plan limits before they reach the shared credit pool. For buyers who only needed the coding agent, OpenAI metered Codex as credit consumption in place of a seat allowance.
Read revised Nov 03, 2026Reason: Put in the past tense: the usage-based seat closed to new Business workspaces on June 24, 2026, recorded as its own entry.
OpenAI added a ChatGPT Business seat type that covers Codex alone and carries no included plan limits, so all Codex work on it draws on workspace credits. Standard Business seats still consume their included plan limits before they reach the shared credit pool. For buyers who only need the coding agent, OpenAI now meters Codex as credit consumption rather than as a seat allowance.
The move
OpenAI charges a 10% price uplift for regional processing (data residency) endpoints on models released on or after March 5, 2026, and a 10% uplift for FedRAMP endpoints.
The SPP read
From the GPT-5.4 launch, OpenAI charges a surcharge over the standard token rate when a model released on or after that date and eligible for data residency is processed in a chosen region. The unit and the model rates are unchanged, and the premium attaches to where the tokens are processed. The pricing page states the rule beside the model cards.
The move
OpenAI charges $10.00 per 1,000 web search tool calls across all models, plus search content tokens billed at model rates.
The SPP read
OpenAI moved its web search tool onto one per-call rate for every model and switched content-token billing on for every model. Before the change the gpt-4o and gpt-4.1 family paid a higher per-call rate with the returned search content free, while the reasoning models paid the lower rate plus content tokens. For the family that had free content, part of the charge moved off the call and onto the content the search returns, a quantity the buyer does not see until the call completes. Whether the bill falls or rises for that family depends on how much content each search pulls back, and the mini models pay a fixed block of content tokens per call, a flat surcharge in token form. The reasoning models received the rate cut alone.
Teaser revised Nov 02, 2026Reason: Chris 2026-11-02: the staged teaser named only the cut; the move also switched content-token billing on for the models that had it free (direction mixed).
OpenAI unifies web search pricing across models and cuts the per-call rate
The move
OpenAI cut the price of o3 by 80%, with new pricing of $2 per 1M input tokens and $8 per 1M output tokens, effective June 10, 2025.
The SPP read
OpenAI cut the price of o3 by a large step on June 10, 2025 and launched a pro variant the same day at a multiple of the new rate. The base reasoning model moved down the card while a new rung opened above it, so what changed on this date is the gap between the two rungs and the position of the new one.
Read revised Nov 07, 2026Reason: An instruction to the reader, a contrast clause and a motive clause removed.
A deep cut on the reasoning model, announced the same day a pro variant arrived at a multiple of the new rate, is one decision expressed as two prices.
Read revised Sep 15, 2026Reason: Read revised to describe the change without repeating the price points, which stay in the move record.
An 80% cut on the reasoning model, announced the same day a pro variant arrived at ten times the new rate, is one decision expressed as two prices.
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What we have written about OpenAI.
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OpenAI Marketplace lets enterprise commitments fund partner products, and plan sharing spends ChatGPT usage in partner apps. What both change for AI pricing.
AI Price Cuts: Who Captures the Model Layer’s Deflation
Model prices are falling on printed schedules. Whether that deflation reaches your price is an architecture decision. Decide it before your customers ask.
Bring Your Own Model Is a Licensing Decision, Not a Discount
When a customer supplies the model, a metric with inference blended into it keeps counting and stops meaning anything. Bring your own model is a licensing…
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Primary sources behind the OpenAI arc, dated.
| Date | Source | Record |
|---|---|---|
| help.openai.com | primary ↗ | |
| learn.chatgpt.com | primary ↗ | |
| learn.chatgpt.com | primary ↗ | |
| help.openai.com | primary ↗ | |
| help.openai.com | primary ↗ | |
| developers.openai.com | primary ↗ | |
| help.openai.com | primary ↗ | |
| help.openai.com | primary ↗ | |
| help.openai.com | primary ↗ | |
| developers.openai.com | primary ↗ | |
| openai.com | primary ↗ | |
| help.openai.com | primary ↗ | |
| openai.com | primary ↗ | |
| developers.openai.com | primary ↗ | |
| developers.openai.com | primary ↗ | |
| openai.com | primary ↗ | |
| community.openai.com | primary ↗ | |
| openai.com | primary ↗ | |
| openai.com | primary ↗ | |
| openai.com | primary ↗ · archived | |
| openai.com | primary ↗ | |
| openai.com | primary ↗ · archived | |
| developers.openai.com | primary ↗ | |
| openai.com | primary ↗ · archived | |
| openai.com | primary ↗ · archived | |
| openai.com | primary ↗ | |
| openai.com | primary ↗ · archived | |
| help.openai.com | primary ↗ | |
| developers.openai.com | primary ↗ | |
| 2025 | ||
| developers.openai.com | primary ↗ | |
| community.openai.com | primary ↗ · archived | |
Chris Mele
Ranked #1 on OpenView’s list of B2B SaaS pricing experts. Every read on this page is written by a pricing architect, never drafted by a model, backed by a team that has held CFO, CPO, and CIO seats inside software companies.
The claims ledger and citability gate do the heavy lifting on sourcing. The expert makes the calls only humans can: what a move actually changes under its label, and what it signals for the vendors around it.
Read more about Chris →Want this arc read against your own pricing architecture?
Watching how OpenAI moves is one input. Deciding how your own licensing, packaging, and pricing should respond is a different discipline, and it is not something a dashboard can do for you.
