OpenAI has reopened its $200-per-month Pro subscription for new sign-ups, but it is cutting API credits in half. This change reflects the company's strategy to move away from heavily subsidized subscriptions toward pay-per-use pricing.
Employees at OpenAI believe users will still get more done than before, citing GPT-6 Sol and GPT-6 Luna, which were released this week at half the API price of their predecessors.
The 5-hour usage cap has been permanently removed, allowing users to distribute their weekly allotment as they see fit. This adjustment is part of OpenAI's broader effort to align revenue more closely with the actual value companies derive from AI. Microsoft has already adopted a similar approach with Copilot in certain areas, according to employee Thibault Sottiaux.
"Over time, API prices should fall far enough that it makes sense for most to buy usage as needed without there being a significant gap between what you get in a subscription and what you get in the API for a dollar spent," said Thibault Sottiaux, an employee at OpenAI. This model allows AI labs to tie revenue more tightly to the value companies pull from AI.
The announcement follows a broader industry trend toward pay-per-use models, with companies seeking to balance accessibility with profitability. OpenAI did not specify when the pay-per-use model will fully replace subscriptions, and it remains unclear how this shift will affect existing Pro plan users.
Source: thedecoder
