OpenAI launches $100 pro tier to meet surging codex demand
- Marijan Hassan - Tech Journalist
- 5 minutes ago
- 2 min read
OpenAI has officially expanded its subscription lineup with a new $100-per-month "Pro" plan, designed to bridge the gap between its $20 Plus tier and the $200 high-end Pro offering. The move comes as the company’s AI software engineering agent, Codex, surpasses 3 million weekly users.
The $100 Pro tier is specifically tailored for developers and power users who have outgrown the limits of the standard Plus plan but do not require the enterprise-scale capacity of the $200 tier.
Key features
5x usage increase: Subscribers receive five times the standard Codex usage allowance found in the Plus plan.
Core pro benefits:Â The plan includes unlimited access to Instant and Thinking models, as well as the exclusive GPT-5.4 Pro model.
Limited-time launch bonus: To celebrate the rollout, OpenAI is doubling the allowance for this tier through May 31, 2026, giving $100 subscribers 10x the usage of Plus members.
CEO Sam Altman noted on X that the tier was launched "by very popular demand" following 70% month-over-month growth in Codex activity.
"Rebalancing" the $20 plus plan
Coinciding with the new tier, OpenAI has ended its temporary Codex promotion for Plus ($20) subscribers. The company is now "rebalancing" usage for the entry-level paid plan to favor consistent daily use over long, high-intensity sessions.
While this change ensures the Plus plan remains the best value for steady, day-to-day coding, users attempting to complete massive codebase overhauls in a single day may hit limits sooner, effectively nudging heavy users toward the new $100 upgrade path.
Competitive landscape: The battle for the terminal
OpenAI’s new pricing structure mirrors the tiered approach recently adopted by Anthropic, which offers "Max" plans at similar $100 and $200 price points for its Claude Code agent. The strategy highlights a broader industry shift toward usage-based tiering, as AI labs move away from "one-size-fits-all" subscriptions to better manage the massive compute costs associated with agentic coding.
By introducing a $100 middle ground, OpenAI hopes to retain professional freelancers and small dev teams who found the $200 price point prohibitive.
"Codex is transforming how developers turn ideas into working software," OpenAI stated in its release. "This new tier provides a more accessible upgrade path for those building their most ambitious ideas."
