OpenAI Breaks the $20 Barrier with New ChatGPT Go Tier

Even though Apple plans to use Google’s Gemini to power the next-generation of Siri, today’s Apple Intelligence leans heavily on ChatGPT. If you’ve been on the fence about paying $20 per month for ChatGPT just to get more unfettered access to better answers from Siri, the good news is that a cheaper path has just opened up.

On Friday, OpenAI announced that ChatGPT Go, a more affordable plan that it began trialling in India last summer, is now available worldwide — including to users in the United States.

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ChatGPT Go joined the $20/month ChatGPT Plus and $200/month ChatGPT Pro as a considerably more accessible option. While OpenAI’s chatbot can still be used without paying a dime, it’s not hard to hit the limits on the free model, both in terms of the number of requests you can make against the more sophisticated AI models, and the ability for ChatGPT to remember the personal context of who you are across multiple chats.

Until now, the only way to get around those was to step up to the $20 monthly Plus plan. However, ChatGPT Go offers a reasonable compromise for those whose use of the chatbot goes beyond casual but doesn’t step into the realm semi-professional use. Here’s specifically what you get, according to OpenAI:

• 10x more messages, file uploads and image creation than the free tier, so you can keep chatting with no limits on GPT?5.2 Instant.
• Longer memory and context window, so ChatGPT can remember more helpful details about you over time.
  

The lower-tier plan should meet the needs of anyone who has been using the free offering but often finds themselves bumping up against its limits. Users will be able to manually select GPT-5.2 Instant and make unlimited requests, which could make it the sweet spot for Siri users, since most requests through Apple Intelligence only use the Instant model anyway.

However, power users who want the Thinking model, which takes extra time to reason through multi-step logic for complex coding or high-level strategic planning, or plan to make more than a handful of Deep Research requests should still consider paying for ChatGPT Plus. Beyond raw intelligence, there’s another reason you may want to opt for the more expensive plan.

The Catch: An Ad-Supported Experience

Several reports over the past few months have suggested that OpenAI was planning to bring advertising into the mix, and last week’s announcement confirmed that it’s ready to pull the trigger on those — and it won’t just be for ChatGPT Free. They’ll be coming to ChatGPT Go as well, albeit in a different form.

As potentially problematic as this sounds, OpenAI published an explainer to help put everyone’s mind at ease, making it clear how and where ads will be used, and what they will and won’t be doing with them.

Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, OpenAI is promising that your conversations with ChatGPT will not be shared with advertisers in any way. It’s also confirmed that ads will not influence the answers you get from ChatGPT. “Answers are optimized based on what’s most helpful to you. Ads are always separate and clearly labeled,” the company says.

The company says ads will be shown at the bottom of answers “when there’s a relevant sponsored product or service based on your current conversation.” It’s easy to see how that could feel a bit creepy, depending on how they appear, but OpenAI suggests they’ll be contextual. For instance, if you’re asking ChatGPT for an authentic Mexican recipe, you might see a “Sponsored” ad for a specific brand of hot sauce at the bottom of the message.

Further, in addition to its guarantees that this data won’t be shared with third parties, OpenAI says that — during the testing phase, at least — it won’t be showing ads near “near sensitive or regulated topics like health, mental health or politics.” They also won’t be shown to users under 18.

Still, this is just the preliminary testing for what could become a slippery slope. While we hope OpenAI will abide by its principles, once ads are inside the front door, it may be hard to get them back out.

The only way to guarantee that you’ll avoid the experience for now will still be to pay up for ChatGPT Plus (or ChatGPT Pro if you have particularly deep pockets or you’re willing to forego your next iPhone upgrade).

At a Glance: ChatGPT Free vs. Go vs. Plus

Which Is Right For You?

• ChatGPT Free: Stay here if you only use AI once or twice a week for basic questions.
• ChatGPT Go: Upgrade if you use ChatGPT daily for emails, summaries, or Siri tasks, but don’t need it to “think” through complex code. The sweet spot for serious Apple Intelligence users.
• ChatGPT Plus: For professionals, developers, and power users who need the high-reasoning GPT-5.2 Thinking model.