OpenAI has temporarily paused new sign-ups and upgrades to its $200-a-month ChatGPT Pro plan, citing unprecedented demand for GPT-6 Astra that is straining capacity. The Verge reported the freeze; TechCrunch and CIO independently covered the same move, citing OpenAI staffer Thibault Sottiaux’s X posts and the company’s help documentation dated September 10, 2026.
Sottiaux said the $200 Pro subscriptions put the most strain on systems and that pausing them was the smallest step that still protects existing users while broader access continues on other plans and the API. Help Center copy says Free, Go, Plus, and Pro $100 users cannot newly upgrade to Pro $200 during the pause; existing Pro $200 accounts are unaffected, and canceling or downgrading during the freeze blocks re-subscribe until it lifts. No end date was given. Astra launched about a week earlier on Plus, Business, Enterprise, and Pro tiers. This brief covers the September 10–11 capacity pause; it does not re-litigate Astra’s safety-threshold launch already on the wire.