OpenAI Cuts Into Premium AI: New $100/Month ChatGPT Tier Is Half the Price of Full Pro

OpenAI introduced a new $100/month ChatGPT subscription tier in April, halving the entry point to premium access for power users. The plan sits between ChatGPT Plus ($20/month) and the legacy full Pro plan ($200/month), offering unlimited access to GPT-5.4, GPT-5.4 Pro, and up to 5x the Codex usage compared to Plus. Codex—OpenAI's coding agent that executes long multi-step programming tasks autonomously—is the feature driving enterprise demand for the new tier. Teams at Notion, Ramp, Braintrust, and Wasmer are already running Codex at scale to automate development workflows. India is emerging as a high-growth market: OpenAI reported 4x growth in Codex users in India in just two weeks after the February 2026 Codex app launch, reflecting strong developer adoption in one of the world's largest software engineering markets. The new $100 tier opens professional AI tooling to freelancers, solo founders, and small teams that couldn't justify $200/month. Competitive context: Claude Pro ($20-100/month) and Gemini Advanced ($22/month) are now more price-comparable with OpenAI's expanded lineup for the first time in 2026. The pricing change arrives as OpenAI projects $2.5 billion in ad revenue this year, giving the company room to subsidize lower subscription pricing.