OpenAI has introduced a new, more affordable paid subscription plan for ChatGPT in India called ChatGPT Go, priced at ₹399 per month ($4.60). This is significantly cheaper than the existing Plus Plan, which costs ₹1,999 (approximately $23) per month.
The company recently enabled local currency pricing for all its plans and has now added support for UPI (Unified Payment Interface), India’s widely used payment system. Nick Turley, VP at OpenAI and head of ChatGPT, stated that the Go plan offers 10 times higher message limits, 10 times more image generations, and 10 times more file uploads compared to the free tier. Additionally, it provides better memory retention for more personalized responses.
Turley emphasized that affordability has been a key request from users, and OpenAI is launching the Go plan in India first to gather feedback before expanding to other regions. Previously, the Plus Plan’s pricing in local currency was higher than $20 for Indian users, making the new Go plan a more budget-friendly option for those primarily interested in chat, image generation, and file processing.
The plan was previously hinted at by Tibor Blaho, a software engineer known for accurately leaking upcoming AI products. While currently restricted to India, OpenAI has indicated plans to expand the Go tier to more regions in the future.
OpenAI’s decision to introduce a lower-cost plan aligns with India’s growing importance as a market. According to AppFigures, India leads in ChatGPT app downloads, with over 29 million downloads in the last 90 days. However, revenue from Indian users remains relatively low at $3.6 million in the same period.
Other AI companies are also targeting India’s vast internet user base of over 850 million. Perplexity recently partnered with Airtel to offer free Pro subscriptions, while Google provided a free AI Pro plan for Indian students for one year. Although OpenAI isn’t offering free access, the competitive pricing of the Go plan could drive higher subscription rates in India.
Turley also noted that ChatGPT now has over 700 million weekly users globally, up from 500 million in March. India, OpenAI’s second-largest market, has seen increased usage since the launch of its updated image generator feature earlier this year. With the Go plan, the company aims to capitalize on this growing demand.