Is ChatGPT Plus worth your $20? How it compares to Free and Pro plans

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ZDNET’s key takeaways

• Plus is worth it if you often hit Free limits and want priority.
• Pro is for heavy users who need GPT-5.2 Pro and max quotas.
• Free is powerful, but all tools come with tighter caps.

It’s been a few years since ChatGPT emerged, and over that time, the AI chatbot has undergone continuous updates with new models, features, experiences, and limitations. While there’s a lot you can do for free, some tools and perks are reserved for paid plans.

OpenAI introduced the Plus plan to manage demand and guarantee access during busy periods. Plus also unlocks early access to new features and models, making the $20 plan a no-brainer for power users. However, as ChatGPT has improved, the free tier has received many upgrades, including a much better image generator, new shopping abilities, and apps.

It’s therefore a good time to re-evaluate whether Plus is worth it now. Some of you may even be new to generative AI altogether, are wondering whether to try ChatGPT, and are confused about all the tier options. Let’s break it all down. I’ll help you finally decide whether ChatGPT Free, ChatGPT Plus, or even the $200-per-month ChatGPT Pro subscription is right for you.

Also: How to use ChatGPT: A beginner’s guide to the most popular AI chatbot

(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, ZDNET’s parent company, filed an April 2025 lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)

You should use ChatGPT Plus if…

Since Plus costs $20 per month, you’ve probably asked yourself: Why pay when you can use ChatGPT for free? I’ve pored over the details and used the AI chatbot, and from what I can tell, there are eight main advantages.

The TL;DR is that the free tier has heavier usage limits, while Plus gets you the newest features and models first, with priority access during peak times.

Also: Want better ChatGPT responses? Try this surprising trick, researchers say

If you only use ChatGPT occasionally for fun, it’s not worth subscribing. However, if you use it for work, writing, coding, or creating images, or if you find yourself opening the app every day, then subscribing is a good idea. With Plus, you can always access the chatbot, even during high demand, and it removes many of the limitations that free users face.

1. You want to use the legacy models still

When OpenAI launched GPT-5, it initially replaced all legacy models in ChatGPT with a single, unified system. The goal was to simplify the experience by automatically switching between a fast, “smart” model for everyday queries and a deeper reasoning model for more complex tasks. In practice, however, some paying subscribers preferred the older models or relied on them for workflows.

CEO Sam Altman later acknowledged that “suddenly deprecating old models that users depended on in their workflows was a mistake.” In response, OpenAI restored access to legacy models for paid subscribers. ChatGPT Plus users can enable older models in Settings, including GPT-4o, GPT-4.1, o3, and o4-mini, which then appear in the model picker.

If you have a preferred model or workflow from the GPT-4 era, the Plus tier lets you stick with what you know.

Also: Don’t like GPT-5? You can still use GPT-4 and other legacy models in ChatGPT – here’s how

In fact, access to any legacy model is limited to paid plans. For instance, from the picker, you can also select the recently phased-out GPT-5 and GPT-5.1 models, including GPT-5 Thinking, GPT-5 Thinking mini, GPT-5 Instant, GPT-5.1 Thinking, and GPT-5.1 Instant.

2. You want access to every new GPT-5.2 model

This is one of the biggest ways Plus continues to stand out and be of value.

Since late 2025, OpenAI has steadily iterated on GPT-5 inside ChatGPT. Plus and Pro subscribers receive early access to the latest models, including GPT-5.2 Instant, Thinking, and Auto, as well as expanded personalization controls in Settings. These include tone presets such as professional or cynical, adjustable warmth and enthusiasm, and even controls for emoji frequency.

GPT-5.2 is now the flagship model family and is designed to be more work-friendly, especially for tasks like spreadsheets, presentations, coding, and vision-based analysis. If you care about testing new models as soon as they launch, Plus remains the most affordable way to do that. Free access typically arrives later through phased rollouts.

Also: What is OpenAI’s GPT-5? Here’s everything you need to know about the company’s latest model

While GPT-5.2 Auto is now available to all ChatGPT users and is the default model for anyone who’s logged in, manual selection of GPT-5.2 Instant or GPT-5.2 Thinking requires a paid plan, and GPT-5.2 Pro is limited to Pro.

Free users can send up to 10 GPT-5.2 messages every 5 hours. Plus users get up to 160 messages every 3 hours, along with a weekly limit when selecting GPT-5.2 Thinking. Pro users have unlimited GPT-5.2 usage.

3. You want to try Sora video generation

OpenAI’s Sora lets you create realistic videos from text prompts or images. ChatGPT Plus gives you access to Sora, while ChatGPT Pro builds on that with faster generations, higher resolutions, and longer video outputs.

Also: I tried the new Sora 2 to generate AI videos – and the results were pure sorcery

Sora is still positioned as a paid feature. Plus users can generate unlimited images and videos but are limited to videos up to 5 seconds at 720p or 10 seconds at 480p, with up to two concurrent generations at a time. Pro users receive videos up to 20 seconds in length at 1080p, support for up to five concurrent generations, and the ability to download videos without a watermark.

4. You need to generate a lot of images

This section is very different from what it was in late 2025. ChatGPT now has a newer image system (often referred to as “New ChatGPT Images” or GPT Image 1.5) that is a major upgrade for both generation and editing. The significant quality improvements include better text rendering and more capable editing, such as recontextualizing an existing image without it falling apart.

And yes, it is available across tiers, including Free. The difference is still limits. Free users can create and edit images, but the caps show up faster. Plus and Pro subscribers get much higher quotas, so you can generate more images per day without hitting a wall.

Also: ChatGPT’s new image generator shattered my expectations – and now it’s free to try

If you regularly do image work, Plus is still the sweet spot, and Pro is the “stop worrying about limits” tier.

5. You want to code with Codex’s help

OpenAI has integrated its powerful Codex AI coding agent into ChatGPT Plus, allowing anyone with the $20-a-month plan to access AI-powered coding assistance without needing to upgrade to the $200 plan. Since late 2025, Codex has continued to mature, offering larger and longer-running options for agentic coding work, such as Codex Max (GPT-5.1-Codex-Max), which is available to Plus and Pro users.

Codex is an AI agent that helps write and review code. You can point it at your GitHub repository, and it’ll generate code changes, run checks to ensure everything is working correctly, and even handle installing dependencies if you allow it. Keep in mind that the agent doesn’t “remember” anything between sessions, so you must provide clear instructions every time.

Also: 10 ChatGPT Codex secrets I only learned after 60 hours of pair programming with it

One reason ZDNET’s David Gewirtz keeps coming back to Plus is that it is now genuinely enough for real-world debugging. Codex 5.2 workflows have been used on Plus to fix serious bugs, draft support emails, and ship changes without needing the $200 plan.

6. You want Agent to handle tasks for you

The Agent feature in ChatGPT is still one of those “this feels like the future” tools. Instead of just answering questions, it can browse the web, fill out forms, and handle multistep tasks. For instance, you can tell it to do your grocery shopping. I tried it recently and had it add everything to my Walmart cart, but I still needed to check out myself.

Also: My 8 ChatGPT Agent tests produced only 1 near-perfect result – and a lot of alternative facts

From my experience, you may hit walls with tasks that require logins or payments, since the agent pauses and hands things off to you for security reasons. It’s not flawless. Sometimes it gets stuck or confused by website layouts. Still, it’s a huge step toward an AI that can think, plan, and act on your behalf.

Agent is still a paid feature, so if you’re on the Free plan, you can’t use it yet. Plus users reportedly get around 40 agent runs per month, while Pro and Team users can use up to about 400 and get faster execution.

7. You do a lot of deep research

You’re probably noticing a theme here: Many of ChatGPT’s most advanced features are initially launched for paying subscribers, and while they eventually become available to free users, they come with usage limits.

A great example of this is Deep Research, which is basically ChatGPT’s “research analyst mode.” You ask it a complex question, and it goes off to browse the web, dig through PDFs, images, and articles, then synthesizes everything into a structured report with citations and a summary of its steps. Free users can try Deep Research, but under very tight quotas.

Also: I tested ChatGPT’s Deep Research against Gemini, Perplexity, and Grok AI to see which is best

Currently, Free users get about five tasks per month using a lightweight version of the tool. Paid tiers (Plus and Pro) get higher limits. For example, Plus users receive approximately 25 tasks per month (a mix of full and lightweight tasks), while Pro users receive up to 250. The lightweight version kicks in once you hit the limit of the full research model.

8. You want the best features with higher limits

Subscribing to ChatGPT Plus provides you with early access to OpenAI’s latest experiences, tools, and features, often before they are available to free users. And even when the more advanced features do roll out to the Free tier, they’re typically limited or capped so severely that they’re not fun to use. On a paid plan like Plus, you can use those features more frequently and with far fewer restrictions.

With a Plus account, you get higher limits across:

• Messaging
• File uploads
• Data analysis
• Deep Research
• Image generation and editing
• Memory and context retention
• Advanced Voice Mode conversations

That last one, specifically, has improved a lot since late 2025. Voice is now more tightly integrated into the main chat screen, letting you switch seamlessly between typing and speaking, view a live transcript, and keep conversations running in the background. Free users can use voice, but Plus subscribers typically get longer sessions and fewer interruptions.

Also: This ChatGPT upgrade just fixed my biggest annoyance with voice mode – for free

OpenAI is gradually phasing out the older standard voice mode, though both versions are still available for now.

You should use ChatGPT Pro if…

OK, so now that we’ve discussed why Plus is worth it for many, let’s look at the more expensive Pro plan that costs $200 a month. Most people would never pay a car payment’s worth of money to use AI, but there are special instances where it could be worth it. Let’s be clear, though: Pro is for the most hard-core users who need the maximum ChatGPT experience.

1. You want ChatGPT Plus on an even greater scale

All the perks and features included in ChatGPT Plus are also available in ChatGPT Pro, but with significantly fewer limits. Pro also adds several exclusive capabilities, such as Pulse. Here’s a breakdown of the biggest benefits if you’re seriously considering the upgrade:

• Unlimited and faster image generation: Pro users get the highest image limits and priority in generation queues, so image creation feels far more instant compared to other tiers.
• Maximum Deep Research, Agent, Memory, and Context: Pro significantly expands ChatGPT’s capacity. You can run more Deep Research tasks and use Agent without the tighter restrictions found in the Free or Plus plans. The context window is larger, too, allowing ChatGPT to remember and process far more information in a single session.
• Higher access to Codex and long coding runs: Pro expands how far you can push Codex, including long, agentic coding tasks, with the least chance of hitting limits mid-project.
• Extended Sora video generation: Pro users get the smoothest Sora experience with the highest limits and the least friction.

In short, Pro offers higher limits, faster speeds, and access to everything OpenAI has to offer. If you want the most powerful, no-compromise version of ChatGPT, Pro is the plan for you. That’s assuming you’re fine with the higher price tag, of course.

2. You want GPT-5.2 Pro and the most powerful models

With Pro, you get the full lineup of models and modes, including GPT-5.2 Pro with its “research-grade” reasoning. Think of it as the high-performance version of OpenAI’s latest model for those who need serious reasoning power and extended context processing. It runs on the same base as GPT-5.2 but adds extra compute, deeper reasoning, and a larger context window.

Also: What is ChatGPT Pro? Here’s what $200 per month gets you

GPT-5.2 Pro can handle hundreds of thousands of tokens, producing longer and more detailed outputs. It’s best suited for ultra-heavy workloads, such as research, coding, and data analysis, tasks where depth and accuracy matter most.

Not only is GPT-5.2 Pro exclusive to Pro subscribers, but they also get access to other GPT-5 variants and legacy models. Nothing is off-limits. You can switch between older and newer models without worrying about a quota.

3. You’d like early access to the newest features

Pro users are sometimes the first to test major upgrades and features.

For example, ChatGPT Pulse is a feature that lets ChatGPT work proactively on your behalf. Each night, it can research and summarize information from your chat history, interests, and instructions, then generate a personalized morning briefing with five to 10 “cards.” It’s like waking up to your own TL;DR feed. But, for now, Pulse is only available to Pro users.

Also: The best free AI for coding in 2025 – only 3 make the cut now

OpenAI does plan to bring Pulse to Plus users in the future, following the same rollout pattern it uses for most of its newest features.

You should use free ChatGPT if…

Finally, let’s talk about the free version of ChatGPT. I’ve already covered most of its features, so here’s the short version: It all depends on how often you use ChatGPT and whether early access to new tools matters to you. If you only use it occasionally and don’t care about testing the latest features first, the Free plan is absolutely the way to go.

1. You don’t want to pay a monthly fee

If you only need occasional AI help and don’t mind limitations, the Free tier should serve you well. It’s surprisingly capable and now includes features that were once paywalled, such as Deep Research. You get a lot for $0.

As of January 2026, Free ChatGPT users can access most core features, but all of them come with usage limits:

• GPT-5.2 (default model, about 10 messages every 5 hours on Free)
• Web search (built-in browsing with citations, rate-limited on Free)
• ChatGPT Images (new image generator, around three images per day on Free)
• Shopping research (guided buyer’s guides, throttled on Free)
• Deep Research (five lightweight tasks per month)
• Advanced Voice Mode (shorter sessions on Free)
• File and photo uploads (three files and two images per day)
• Memory (lightweight, limited recall)
• Third-party apps (like Canva, Instacart, StubHub, Adobe, usage-capped on Free)
• Group chat (up to 20 participants, Free-tier limits apply)

ChatGPT has recently begun to lean heavily into guided experiences that feel less like a chatbot and more like a tool. Shopping research is a good example. It acts like a personal shopper, asking clarifying questions, scanning the web, and producing buyer’s guides with comparisons and links. It’s available across Free, Plus, and Pro, though free users face stricter limits.

The app ecosystem has also matured significantly. Canva is built-in, allowing you to generate designs or presentations from prompts and then refine them directly within Canva. Instacart lets you build a grocery cart and check out inside ChatGPT, while StubHub supports ticket buying. Adobe apps, including Photoshop, Express, and Acrobat, handle image edits and PDF tasks.

These integrations are available to all users. Again, Free users may face tighter usage limits, while Plus users get fewer restrictions.

Also: Everyone can use ChatGPT Group Chat now for free – here’s how to try it

A few newer updates to know: ChatGPT Health is a new, waitlist-only health space with app connections. It’s free, but not something most users can rely on yet. ChatGPT for Teachers is also live for K-12 educators in the US, and it’s free through June 2027. Finally, OpenAI has an experimental group chat feature that lets up to 20 users collaborate in a shared conversation. It’s also free.

2. You’re a casual ChatGPT user

If you rarely hit the daily usage limits for text, voice, or image generation, upgrading to Plus or Pro might not be necessary.

The free version offers plenty of room for light use, asking a few questions per day, generating a handful of images, trying out basic data analysis, uploading files or photos, and more. However, if you often see messages about hitting your limits for text, voice, images, or research, it might be time to consider a paid plan such as Plus or even Pro.

Also: How to get ChatGPT Go free for a year in India (and what it unlocks)

For power users who need top-tier capacity and extended access to advanced features, there’s Pro, while Plus offers a more affordable middle ground. Ultimately, if your needs are minimal and the limitations don’t bother you, sticking with the free tier is perfectly fine. You won’t get new features right away, and you’ll need to pace yourself with usage, but you’ll save.