OpenAI temporarily pauses new ChatGPT Pro subscriptions

OpenAI has temporarily stopped selling new ChatGPT Pro subscriptions after a surge in demand put additional pressure on its infrastructure, according to product lead Thibault Sottiaux.

Sottiaux said interest in OpenAI’s latest flagship model has reached levels the company has not seen before. With server capacity under strain, OpenAI is prioritizing service stability for existing users and has chosen to limit new sign-ups for its most compute-intensive plan rather than impose broader restrictions across ChatGPT.

The pause applies only to new Pro subscriptions and upgrades to Pro from lower-tier plans. Existing $200-a-month Pro subscribers are unaffected, while other ChatGPT plans and API access remain available. OpenAI has not said when new Pro sign-ups will resume, but Sottiaux said the company is working to add more compute capacity.

The restriction also appears to be limited to the top Pro tier, which comes with 20 times higher usage limits. The lower Pro option remains available to new subscribers.

OpenAI launched GPT-6 Astra on September 3, 2026. The company has positioned the model as a major step forward in coding, complex reasoning and autonomous computer use, with internal evaluations showing stronger performance than several competing models.

OpenAI launches GPT-6 Astra with new benchmarks and expanded context capabilities

OpenAI has unveiled GPT-6 Astra, its new flagship language model and the product of the largest training run in the company’s history.

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