Is ChatGPT Plus still worth $20 when the free version packs so many premium features?

When ChatGPT first launched two years ago, the AI chatbot was met with such high demand that OpenAI introduced a premium plan called ChatGPT Plus. This plan guaranteed access to the chatbot even during blackout periods. The perks also included access to OpenAI’s most advanced models, which at the time included GPT-4, making the $20 plan almost a no-brainer for superusers. However, as OpenAI’s offerings have continued to grow over the past couple of years, so have its plans.

Also: How ChatGPT could replace the internet as we know it

If you consider yourself an AI power user, you’re likely wondering which ChatGPT tier you should try. In this guide, we’ll help you decide whether a free plan, ChatGPT Plus, or a $200-per-month ChatGPT Pro subscription is the best fit for you.

(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…

ChatGPT Plus costs $20 per month. You’re probably asking yourself: Why pay when you can use it for free? There are four main advantages, but the TL;DR is that the free tier has heavy usage limits, and the Plus tier gets you the latest features and models first. If you only use ChatGPT now and then for fun, it’s not worth subscribing. But if you use it for work, writing, creating images, using it as a search engine, or you find yourself opening the app all day, every day, then you need to subscribe.

1. You want to use Deep Research a lot

OpenAI recently launched Deep Research, and it’s one of ChatGPT’s most powerful tools. Deep Research lets the AI conduct multi-step web research and synthesize sources into a comprehensive report. Its agentic capabilities let it work independently, like a research analyst, generating a detailed report in five to 30 minutes, depending on complexity.

Also: OpenAI’s Deep Research can save you hours of work – and now it’s a lot cheaper to access

Reports include embedded images with citations, and it can understand uploaded files. Everything has clear citations and includes a summary of the agent’s reasoning so you can verify the information — work that would otherwise take hours.

While Deep Research is available to all ChatGPT users, free users only get five so-called “lightweight” tasks per month. Plus, Team, Enterprise, and Edu users all get 10 tasks per month in addition to 15 lightweight ones. Pro users get a whopping 125 tasks per month and 125 more on the lightweight version. So, for most users, the Plus plan is more than sufficient.

2. You want to use Advanced Voice Mode all the time

All paid ChatGPT subscribers — including Plus users — now have access to Advanced Voice Mode in their accounts. This powerful feature takes voice assistance to the next level. It can be interrupted mid-sentence by you and adjust its responses based on perceived emotions in your tone, and it supports video and screen sharing for visual assistance.

Also: How to use ChatGPT’s Voice Mode (and why you’ll want to)

OpenAI said a “daily preview” of Advanced Voice Mode is available to free users through 4o-mini, but if you really prefer to interact with ChatGPT using your voice, you should upgrade to Plus for full access. Once you hit the daily allotment, which OpenAI hasn’t specified, you’ll be prompted to switch to Standard Voice Mode. This is ChatGPT’s basic voice interface that converts your speech to text and reads responses back — without the emotion-driven, real-time adjustments of Advanced Voice.

3. You want to generate several images with GPT-4o

ChatGPT now uses the new GPT-4o image generator by default. This is OpenAI’s most capable image generator to date.

With it, you can simply ask “create an image of…”, describe a scene, and receive an AI-generated image that can include realistic human generations and even text. You can also upload an existing image and describe edits for GPT-4o to apply — like adding text, refining details, or changing backgrounds. Just be aware that complex requests may take a couple of minutes.

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

Usage is capped for free users, but Plus and Pro subscribers can enjoy much higher daily quotas.

OpenAI said free tier users can use GPT-4o only a limited number of times within a five-hour window. It will notify you once you’ve reached the limit and invite you to upgrade to ChatGPT Plus. If you’re on the Free tier and rely heavily on image creation, you might see a message like: “You’ve reached your image creation limit. Upgrade to ChatGPT Plus or try again tomorrow…”

So, if you need frequent or large-scale image outputs, ChatGPT Plus is an easy choice.

4. You want to use the Codex AI coding agent

OpenAI recently integrated its powerful Codex AI coding agent into ChatGPT Plus for just $20 a month, so now anyone with Plus can get AI-powered coding suggestions without shelling out $200. You can point it at your GitHub repo, and it’ll whip up code changes, run checks to make sure nothing’s broken, and even handle installing dependencies online if you let it. Just keep in mind it doesn’t “remember” anything between sessions, so you have to give it clear instructions every time.

Also: You can use OpenAI’s super powerful AI coding agent Codex for just $20 now

Also, since the coding agent is new to ChatGPT, you might encounter some speed bumps if many people are using it at once.

5. You want the latest and greatest ChatGPT features first

You’re probably noticing a theme here: Most of ChatGPT’s most advanced features are eventually made available to free users, but with heavy usage limitations. Therefore, the main benefit of upgrading is getting to use features like Deep Research, Advanced Voice Mode, and GPT-4o image generation a lot more than you would on the free tier. Subscribing to ChatGPT Plus also gives you priority access to OpenAI’s latest models and newest tools well before they reach the free tier:

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• Higher limits on advanced features: With a Plus account, you can access extended limits on messaging, file uploads, data analysis, Advanced Voice Mode, GPT-4o image generation, the Codex AI coding agent, and more.
• Latest reasoning models: OpenAI’s latest reasoning models can provide higher-quality answers, and they’re usually made available to paid users or rolled out with minimal usage limits to subscribers. As a Plus subscriber, you can choose from GPT-4o, GPT-4, GPT-4.1, GPT-4.1 mini, and the o-series reasoning models (o3, o4-mini, o1, and o1-mini) via the ChatGPT model selector.
• Sora video generation: Plus, Pro, and Team subscribers have limited access to Sora, OpenAI’s state-of-the-art text-to-video generator. Free, Enterprise, and Edu accounts aren’t eligible for Sora access at this time. As a Plus subscriber, you get unlimited video generations up to 720p resolution and 10 seconds in duration, but you can run only up to two concurrent generations.

If you don’t want to miss out on the latest ChatGPT features and models, you should subscribe to the Plus tier.

You should use ChatGPT Pro if…

OK, so now that we’ve discussed why Plus is worth it, let’s look at the more expensive Pro plan that costs $200 a month. Most people would never pay a car note’s worth of money to use AI, but there are special instances in which it could be worth it.

1. You want what ChatGPT Plus has on a greater scale

All ChatGPT Plus perks and features are included in ChatGPT Pro, but with far fewer usage constraints. Pro also adds several exclusive capabilities. Here’s a rundown of the biggest benefits, should you be seriously considering the upgrade:

• Unlimited access to all reasoning models: This includes GPT-4o, GPT-4.1 (and its mini variant), OpenAI o3, OpenAI o4-mini-high, OpenAI o4-mini, and more.
• Unlimited advanced voice and image generation: using GPT-4o.
• Extended Deep Research tasks: 125 full-capacity queries per month, plus an additional 125 lightweight tasks.
• Priority access to Sora video generation: You get up to 1080p video generation, 20-second videos, five concurrent generations, and watermark-free downloads.
• Operator research preview (US only): This is an AI agent that can interact with web browsers and perform tasks on the internet, like filling out forms or booking reservations.
• OpenAI o1 Pro mode: A beefed-up version of o1 for the toughest problems and most complex reasoning.
• GPT-4.5 research preview: OpenAI’s largest, most knowledgeable model yet, designed for general-purpose use and more natural, fluid conversations.

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

As you can see, Pro offers higher limits than the free tier. Pro users reportedly rarely encounter any constraints and can truly leverage the full power of ChatGPT and its newest tools.

2. You want access to o1 pro mode

One of the biggest selling points of ChatGPT Pro is o1 pro mode. Introduced in December 2024, o1 pro mode uses more computing resources to tackle especially hard math, science, or coding problems. Here’s why it stands out:

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

• Increased reliability and accuracy: It ranks well on advanced ML benchmarks across math, science, and coding, even under a stricter evaluation (must be correct four out of four times).
• Substantially outperforms o1-preview and standard o1: It’s a good choice for users who need the most powerful reasoning engine possible.

If you routinely solve intricate computational tasks, design complex algorithms, or conduct research that pushes AI to its limits, o1 pro mode will give you the best answers possible.

You should use free ChatGPT if…

Finally, let’s look at the free version of ChatGPT. I discussed most of its features above, so in this section, I’ll break down what advantages it can offer over the paid plans. It essentially comes down to how often you use ChatGPT and whether having access to the latest and greatest features matters to you. If you don’t use it much and don’t care, the free version is 100% the way to go.

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

The free subscription includes many competitive features, making a Plus subscription less necessary for many features that were once paywalled. Free ChatGPT users have access to:

• GPT-4o mini and limited access to GPT-4o and o3-mini
• ChatGPT search — aka web browsing capabilities — for timely info and sources
• Image generation via GPT-4o (with a daily limit)
• Advanced data analysis tools (limited usage)
• File and photo uploads for in-chat discussions (limited usage)
• Use custom GPTs in the GPT Store
• Lightweight Memory feature for referencing recent conversations

If you only need occasional AI assistance — and do not mind daily usage caps — the free tier should serve you well. It’s still surprisingly robust and now includes many advanced features that were once behind a paywall. For instance, OpenAI announced in June it’s rolling out a lightweight Memory feature to free ChatGPT users, allowing the model to reference your recent conversations for more personalized responses. You can easily toggle this on or off — or use Temporary Chat — to control how much it remembers.

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.

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The free version offers enough headroom for light interactions — asking a few questions per day, generating a handful of images, or briefly exploring advanced data analysis. However, if you often see messages about hitting your limits (for text, voice, or images), it might be time to consider paying for a subscription. For superusers who need top-tier capacity and extended access to advanced features, there’s ChatGPT Pro, but Plus is a more affordable middle ground.

Ultimately, if your needs are minimal and limitations don’t bother you, sticking with the free tier is perfectly fine.