OpenAI is reportedly preparing to launch a new subscription tier called ChatGPT Pro Lite, priced at $100 per month. Developer Tibor Blaho discovered references to the plan in the frontend code of the ChatGPT web app. OpenAI has not confirmed the plan or shared details about its release date, but the discovery suggests the company is working to address a pricing gap in its lineup.
OpenAI currently offers several subscription plans, including Free, Go ($8/month), Plus ($20/month), Pro ($200/month), Team, Business, and Enterprise options. Many users have criticized the large jump from Plus to Pro, leaving power users without a middle-ground option. The Pro Lite plan could fill this gap by targeting freelancers, researchers, and developers who require higher usage quotas but cannot justify Pro’s $200 price tag.
The new plan is expected to provide more advanced features than Plus but fewer capabilities than Pro. Code references suggest Pro Lite could offer three to five times the deep reasoning model usage quota of the Plus plan. Additionally, it may be designed to accommodate Codex usage.
This potential move comes as OpenAI navigates a challenging 2026. Despite $20 billion in revenue, the company faces a projected $14 billion annual loss due to ballooning compute costs, prompting a desperate search for a $100 billion funding lifeline.
Meanwhile, competition is heating up. The Gemini 3 now commands over 20% of the market thanks to Android integration, and Claude 4 has overtaken OpenAI in enterprise spending. User backlash over the abrupt retirement of the GPT-4o model has only added to the turbulence.
Pro Lite could be a game-changer, offering a more affordable option for power users while positioning OpenAI competitively against rivals like Google, which lacks a comparable mid-tier offering. Whether this will be enough to stabilize OpenAI remains to be seen.
In related news, OpenAI may also launch a ChatGPT-powered smart speaker equipped with a camera.
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