OpenAI expects its paid ChatGPT user base to grow from around 47 million in 2025 to about 122 million by 2026, reports The Information. The increase is likely to be driven by a new $8 per month plan, which could bring in over 100 million users. But in contrast, the $20 ChatGPT Plus tier may witness a sharp decline. The change suggests OpenAI is prioritizing affordability and wider adoption. The strategy aims to expand globally, especially in cost-sensitive markets.
The projected jump in subscribers shows a broader transformation in how the Sam Altman-led firm is positioning ChatGPT. Instead of relying heavily on premium users paying higher monthly fees, the company is shifting toward a high-volume, lower-cost model. According to the report, internal estimates suggest that the bulk of future subscribers will come from the new mid-tier plan, potentially accounting for more than 90% of the total paid user base. Meanwhile, the number of users on ChatGPT Plus could fall sharply, as many existing subscribers downgrade to the cheaper option while new users opt for affordability over advanced features.
OpenAI appears to be betting that a significantly larger user base will compensate for lower per-user revenue. The introduction of a lower-priced plan reduces the entry barrier for millions of users who may have been hesitant to pay $20 per month, particularly in regions with lower purchasing power. As a result, the company is positioning ChatGPT not just as a premium productivity tool, but as a mainstream digital service.
A key part of this strategy is geographic expansion. Markets like India, Southeast Asia, Latin America, and parts of Africa are expected to drive much of the growth. These regions have large populations of digitally connected users but tend to be highly price-sensitive. Therefore, by offering a more affordable subscription, OpenAI can tap into these markets at scale. Early experiments with pricing and promotional access in countries like India have already indicated strong demand when costs are reduced.
All this comes at a time when OpenAI is aggressively diversifying its revenue model, with a growing reliance on advertising and new monetization streams to offset declining subscription economics. As the company shifts toward lower-cost plans, internal projections show that average revenue per user is expected to decline sharply – from about $23 per month to under $12. To compensate for this drop, OpenAI is rapidly building an advertising business around ChatGPT. Early data suggests strong traction as its ad pilot generated over $100 million in annualized revenue within just weeks of launch, with hundreds of advertisers already participating. The company is projecting around $2.4-$2.5 billion in ad revenue in 2026, with expectations that this could grow exponentially to almost $100 billion annually by 2030.
This expansion comes despite OpenAI already generating significant revenue from subscriptions and enterprise services. The company’s annualized revenue reached around $12 billion in 2025. However, this growth is accompanied by equally massive costs. OpenAI is projected to incur losses as high as $14 billion in 2026, largely due to heavy spending on data centers, AI chips, and long-term compute infrastructure. Meanwhile, the AI giant’s growth trajectory has not been entirely smooth. Recent reports indicate the company has missed key internal targets related to both revenue and user growth, including falling short of its goal of reaching 1 billion weekly active users.