OpenAI has temporarily stopped accepting new subscriptions to its $200-per-month ChatGPT Pro plan. The company said strong demand for its Astra model is putting extra pressure on its systems.
OpenAI product leader Thibault Sottiaux announced the pause on X. He explained that the Pro plan creates the heaviest load on the company’s infrastructure. Pausing new sign-ups was the smallest step the company could take while still keeping access open for as many users as possible.
Existing Pro subscribers are not affected. They can continue using the service as usual. Other plans, including the lower-cost Go and Plus options, as well as the API, remain available for new customers.
Sottiaux had warned a day earlier that demand for Astra was “really unprecedented.” He said the team was working hard to keep up but had not seen this level of interest before, even during previous periods of rapid growth. The priority, he noted, is to maintain good service for current users.
OpenAI has not said how long the pause will last. The company stated it is adding more capacity as quickly as possible. Users who cancel or downgrade during this period will not be able to rejoin the $200 Pro tier until the restriction is lifted.
Astra is OpenAI’s newest and most powerful model. The surge in interest appears to have come shortly after its release, leading to the temporary limit on the highest-usage personal plan.
Reference links
- https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/10/openai-puts-pro-subscriptions-on-hold-due-to-astra-demand/
- https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/993759/due-to-gpt-6-astra-demand-openai-has-paused-new-subscriptions-to-its-200-chatgpt-pro-tier
- https://dataconomy.com/2026/09/11/openai-pauses-new-pro-subscriptions-after-astra-surge/
- https://help.openai.com/articles/9793128-what-is-chatgpt-pro
