# Is ChatGPT free? Yes, and paid plans start at $8 a month

> ChatGPT Free costs $0 with limits and ads, Go is $8, Plus is $20 and Pro starts at $100, as of October 28, 2026.

URL: https://claudegpt.si/news/is-chatgpt-free  
Published: 2026-10-28T06:55:12.073Z  
Author: ClaudeGPT Si Newsroom  
Section: Apps  
Topics: ChatGPT, OpenAI, Pricing, AI pricing, AI assistants  
Publisher: ClaudeGPT Si

## Key takeaways

- ChatGPT has a Free plan at $0 a month, as of October 28, 2026.
- Paid plans listed by OpenAI are Go at $8, Plus at $20 and Pro from $100 a month.
- OpenAI's help center says ads can appear on Free and Go but not on Plus or above.

Is ChatGPT free? Yes. ChatGPT has a Free plan that costs $0 a month, and OpenAI's [pricing documentation](https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/pricing) lists it first, above Go at $8 a month and Plus at $20 a month. As of October 28, 2026, you only pay when you want higher limits, more models or the coding tools.

The catch is the limits. Free is meant for casual use, and the plans above it exist to raise those limits. Here is what each plan costs and what you get.

## How much ChatGPT costs in October 2026

These prices are from OpenAI's pricing documentation, read on October 28, 2026. OpenAI changes plans often, so check the [pricing page](https://chatgpt.com/pricing) before you pay.

| Plan | Price (as of October 28, 2026) | What it adds |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Free | $0 a month | GPT-6 Luna at standard speed, subject to rollout |
| Go | $8 a month | Same model listing as Free; OpenAI's pages give no numbers for the extra allowance |
| Plus | $20 a month | GPT-6.1 Sol and GPT-6 Luna, Codex on web, CLI, IDE extension and iOS, extra usage through ChatGPT credits |
| Pro | From $100 a month | Everything in Plus; the page lists $100, $200 and $500 a month plans, with Ultrafast mode on the $500 plan |
| Business | $20 per user a month billed annually, or $25 billed monthly (2 or more users) | Admin controls, SAML single sign-on, no training on business data by default |
| Enterprise | Custom, through sales | Everything in Business, plus priority processing, SCIM and data residency controls |

## What you get on the Free plan

The Free plan gives you the chat app at no cost. OpenAI's pricing documentation lists GPT-6 Luna at standard speed for Free, subject to rollout. Other pages OpenAI publishes name the Free model differently, so the exact model you see may depend on your account and country.

The pricing documentation does not publish message counts for Free or extra limits for Go, so we give none. We could not open OpenAI's help center, so check your own account for what limits apply to you.

## What Go, Plus and Pro change

Go is the cheapest paid step at $8 a month. Plus, at $20 a month, is where the published numbers start. OpenAI estimates Plus users get 15 to 160 local messages with GPT-6.1 Sol and 350 to 3,000 with GPT-6 Luna in each five-hour window, and weekly limits may also apply. Those are estimates and they vary by task.

If your question is about coding, our article on [whether Codex is included in ChatGPT Plus](https://claudegpt.si/news/is-codex-included-in-chatgpt-plus) covers what each plan gives you. For a head-to-head on prices and limits, see [ChatGPT vs Claude: plans, prices and benchmarks](https://claudegpt.si/news/chatgpt-vs-claude-plans-benchmarks).

## Is ChatGPT the only free option?

No. Google has a free tier of its own, which we cover in [is Gemini free](https://claudegpt.si/news/is-gemini-free). If you are weighing Free against paying, the question is how often you hit a limit. If you rarely do, Free is enough. If you hit it daily, Plus is the plan most people compare.

## What to check before you pay

Plans, prices and limits move. The Pro tiers and the Free model name are the least settled items above. Open the pricing page in your own account, and look at the usage dashboard to see how close you are to your limit before you upgrade.

## Frequently asked questions

### Is ChatGPT free to use?

Yes. The Free plan costs $0 a month, as of October 28, 2026. It has usage limits, and paid plans raise them.

### How much is ChatGPT Plus?

ChatGPT Plus costs $20 a month, according to OpenAI's pricing documentation read on October 28, 2026. It adds GPT-6.1 Sol and Codex access.

### How much is ChatGPT Go?

ChatGPT Go costs $8 a month as of October 28, 2026. OpenAI's pricing page does not publish message counts for it.

### Does ChatGPT Pro cost $200 a month?

Pro starts at $100 a month, and OpenAI's pricing documentation lists $100, $200 and $500 plans as of October 28, 2026.

## Sources

- [Pricing](https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/pricing), OpenAI