ChatGPT users report having access to chatbot's $42/mo "Professional" tier

ChatGPT Pro: $42/month
byu/adt inOpenAI

Different ChatGPT users say they can now access the “Professional” tier of the chatbot for $42 a month. This is already attracting mixed opinions from users, with some saying the subscription price might be too much.

The tier is not a secret for everyone, as OpenAI’s intention to monetize the tech is clear. The company said that this will “ensure its long-term viability.” It even opened a waitlist earlier this month for the “experimental” paid ChatGPT version, which OpenAI co-founder and president Greg Brockman said would “offer higher limits and faster performance.” And now that it has seemingly arrived to some, fans awaiting the ChatGPT Professional can finally get insights into whether Brockman’s promises are true.

Here's how ChatGPT Pro works! A lot of users were asking me for proof, so I decided to make a video. pic.twitter.com/QYNn3pRnxI

— Zahid Khawaja (@chillzaza_) January 21, 2023

Zahid Khawaja, one of the users with access to the paid tier, shared a video of the ChatGPT with a task to write an essay about ways to solve climate change. Khawaja described the performance as “pretty fast.” Aside from this speed, the tier description says the chatbot will be “available even when demand is high” and offers “priority access to new features.”

Khawaja, meanwhile, said that there were no notifications when it started becoming available.

“No email or official announcement from OpenAI,” Khawaja’s tweet reads. “If it’s available for your account, you should see an option to upgrade in the sidebar.”

Currently, reactions about the ChatGPT Professional version are mixed. While others say they would be willing to pay for the service due to the improvements, some expressed that the pricing rate might be a lot.

“I will pay for this yesterday if it makes response time faster and more reliable.” one Reddit user said. “I’m getting so much more than $42/mo of value out of this.”

“I’m a big fan of ChatGPT but feel like $42/month is slightly high for a slight difference?” One Twitter user commented on Khawaja’s thread. “Unless they’re deprioritizing free users and the experience will get worse?”

“Unpopular opinion, ChatGPT flavors are going to get much better with time and we will eventually pay $420/month for the time/value created,” another Twitter user said. “$42 is a steal.”

OpenAI, which recently extended its partnership with Microsoft, still has no confirmation about the availability of the tier or when it will roll it out to more users.