OpenAI has raised the Work and Codex usage included in its top ChatGPT plans, and it has dropped a planned cut to its $200 Pro plan. The change took effect on October 29, 2026, and existing subscribers get it automatically.
The update matters most to people who use ChatGPT for long agent tasks and coding, where usage limits decide how much work fits into a week. It also reverses a Pro 200 usage change that OpenAI announced a month earlier.
What changed
OpenAI's ChatGPT release notes for October 29 carry the headline "More Work and Codex usage on Pro and Business Premium Plans." The entry says:
- "Pro 100 and Pro 500 plans now include twice their previous Work and Codex allowance."
- OpenAI has "canceled the Pro 200 reduction announced in our September 29 email."
- "If you already had the higher Work and Codex allowance, you keep it."
- "Starting October 29, Pro 200 subscribers on the lower allowance get twice their previous Work and Codex allowance, bringing them up to the same limit."
The updated About ChatGPT Pro tiers help page adds several details:
- New subscriptions include the updated allowance, and existing subscribers receive it "automatically without waiting for renewal."
- "Plus usage is unchanged."
- On Pro 200, "only the lower allowance doubled." Subscribers who already had the higher allowance keep it, and the price stays at $200 a month.
- Pro 200 is available for new subscriptions again, and new Pro 200 subscriptions include the increased Work and Codex allowance.
- If you have an active subscription, you do not need to cancel and resubscribe to get the updated allowance.
OpenAI also adds a caveat: "The amount of work you can complete still depends on the model, task, and settings. A larger allowance does not guarantee twice as many completed tasks."
The three Pro plans
The help page lists three monthly Pro plans:
- Pro 100 at $100 a month, without Ultrafast.
- Pro 200 at $200 a month, without Ultrafast.
- Pro 500 at $500 a month, with Ultrafast.
OpenAI says "Pro 200 includes more usage than Pro 100. Pro 500 offers the highest included usage of the three plans." Pro is billed monthly only.
Pro 500 arrived on September 29. The release notes from that day describe it as "a new $500/month plan with the highest included usage of the Pro plans and access to Astra Ultrafast in ChatGPT Work and Codex." Ultrafast is available only on Pro 500. OpenAI says that at launch, buying credits on Pro 100 or Pro 200 does not unlock it.
Weekly GPT-6 Pro message limits
The help page also covers the separate weekly limit on GPT-6 Pro messages in Chat. Pro 100 and Pro 500 keep their current weekly limits. On Pro 200, "the lower weekly limit now matches the higher one," and subscribers who already had the higher limit see no change. OpenAI says these message limits "are separate from your Work and Codex allowance."
How the Pro 200 cut was announced, and reversed
The planned change to Pro 200 dates to late September. In a September 29 post on X, Tibo (@thsottiaux) at OpenAI wrote that the next day OpenAI was "re-opening the Pro $200 subscriptions to new subscribers," and was "also changing how we calculate the usage for it. In effect, if you do the math, it will net out at half the dollar in API spend compared to the old Pro $200 plan."
On October 29, the same account posted: "We are doubling all usage limits for all Pro 100/200/500 tiers and Business Premium, effective today. We heard your kind feedback and won't be reducing usage limits for Pro 200, so your Work and Codex usage will stay the same."
The help page is more specific than the post on one point. For Pro 200, OpenAI's own wording is that only the lower allowance doubled, which brings everyone on that plan to the same limit. Pro 200 subscribers who already had the higher allowance keep it rather than getting a further increase.
The Decoder reports that the change reversed the Pro 200 cut "after user pushback," and that the expanded limits for dots "also stay in place for now, though Dot usage is tracked separately." For more on dots, see our guide to texting your ChatGPT dot over iMessage or RCS.
Why your allowance can run out at different speeds
OpenAI's help page explains that similar tasks can use different amounts of the included allowance. Usage "depends on the model, the amount of context processed, reasoning, tool use, information retrieval, caching, and speed mode."
Speed mode has a direct effect. Compared with Standard mode for the same model, Fast mode uses the included allowance at 2.5 times the rate. Ultrafast for GPT-6 Astra and GPT-6.1 Sol uses it at 8 times the rate. OpenAI says "these are allowance consumption rates, not guarantees of faster performance." When you pay with purchased credits, Ultrafast is charged at 6 times the Standard credit rate for the selected model.
If you run out, you can buy credits for eligible features, which include Codex, ChatGPT Work, ChatGPT for Word, ChatGPT for Excel and ChatGPT for PowerPoint. Included usage is used first, then your credit balance. OpenAI says Support "cannot reset ChatGPT or Codex limits."
If you want a plain-English look at how AI usage is counted and billed, our explainer on what tokens are covers the basics. For tips on getting more out of each request, see how to prompt GPT-6.
Why it matters
For heavy users, the practical result is simple. Pro 100 and Pro 500 subscribers get twice their previous Work and Codex allowance, everyone on Pro 200 now has the same allowance, and the September plan to reduce Pro 200 usage will not go ahead. Plus subscribers see no change.
The reversal also shows how sensitive paying users are to usage limits on agent and coding work. OpenAI did not publish the allowance sizes in either help page, so the change is described only in relative terms.
