ChatGPT Plus was not literally “sold out” like a physical product on Black Friday 2023. OpenAI had temporarily paused new Plus subscriptions after demand surged around its DevDay announcements, including custom GPTs. The interruption made a discounted holiday promotion impractical—and there is no evidence in the available coverage that OpenAI announced a Black Friday or Cyber Monday Plus deal that year.
ChatGPT Plus is currently available through OpenAI’s normal upgrade process for $20 per month, billed monthly. OpenAI’s current terms do not support annual Plus billing or prepaying multiple months.
What happened to ChatGPT Plus on November 24, 2023?
The original article behind this headline was published by BGR on November 24, 2023, during a temporary suspension of new ChatGPT Plus sign-ups. BGR described the service as “sold out,” but that was informal shorthand: Plus was a digital subscription, not a product with a fixed number of retail units.
OpenAI had paused new subscriptions after a sharp increase in demand following its DevDay event. The timing coincided with major new capabilities, including custom GPTs. Contemporary coverage reported that people who tried to upgrade could join a notification waitlist and receive an alert when purchasing reopened.
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In practical terms, the problem was subscription capacity and demand management. A cloud service can restrict new customers when adding more users could affect reliability, usage limits, or access for existing customers. It does not mean an individual account was defective or that OpenAI had run out of licenses.
See the contemporary BGR report for the original account of the pause and waitlist.
Why a Black Friday discount would have made sense
The argument for a promotion was commercially reasonable. Black Friday and Cyber Monday create strong consumer interest in discounts, while a subscription can be sold without shipping, warehousing, or physical inventory.
A limited offer might have:
- Converted free users curious about Plus features.
- Encouraged customers to commit to a longer subscription.
- Promoted newly announced custom GPT capabilities.
- Generated additional publicity during a period of unusually high interest in OpenAI.
But this was analysis, not an announced OpenAI plan. The available reporting does not identify a confirmed Black Friday Plus promotion in 2023.
What deal might OpenAI have offered?
The most obvious hypothetical would have been a discounted annual plan. At the then-current price of $20 per month, 12 months would have cost $240 before any discount. OpenAI could theoretically have offered an annual price below that amount, such as a limited-time commitment promotion.
Other possible structures included:
- A reduced first month.
- A free trial or an extra promotional month.
- A limited number of discounted subscriptions after capacity expanded.
- A bundle involving another OpenAI product.
These were hypothetical mechanisms, not offers readers could actually purchase. In fact, OpenAI’s current Plus terms state that annual billing and paying for multiple months in advance are not supported, so readers should not assume an annual discount is available today.
Why discounting may have been counterproductive
A promotion normally helps solve a customer-acquisition problem. In November 2023, OpenAI appeared to have the opposite problem: demand was already high enough that new Plus sign-ups had been paused.
Discounting could have increased the number of people trying to subscribe just as OpenAI was managing capacity constraints. A sensible business response would have been to stabilize service and expand capacity before encouraging another wave of customers.
The product also had strong perceived differentiation at the time, including priority access during busy periods, faster responses, access to more capable models, browsing-related features, image generation, voice features, and custom GPTs. It is reasonable to infer that OpenAI had less immediate pressure to reduce the price, although motives such as protecting pricing power or avoiding a larger service disruption were not confirmed company policy.
What ChatGPT Plus included in the 2023 context
In late 2023, Plus was promoted around benefits such as priority access, faster responses, newer models, browsing or internet connectivity, DALL·E image generation, voice capabilities, and custom GPTs. Some voice access had previously been restricted to Plus users before being expanded more broadly.
Those details are historical. Model names, limits, and feature availability have changed since then, so the 2023 feature list should not be used as a current buying guide.
What ChatGPT Plus costs and includes now
According to OpenAI’s current Help Center information, ChatGPT Plus costs $20 per month and is billed monthly. The plan provides expanded access compared with the Free plan, including higher usage limits, faster responses, and priority access during periods of heavy traffic.
Current feature categories listed by OpenAI include:
- Voice conversations.
- Image generation.
- File uploads and analysis.
- Deep Research where available.
- Creation and use of custom GPTs.
- Access to advanced reasoning and current model options, subject to change.
Plus is not an unlimited-use guarantee. Usage caps can vary with system conditions, and OpenAI can change model availability, limits, and feature access. Check the official Plus documentation and current pricing page before purchasing.
Plus does not include API usage
ChatGPT Plus and OpenAI’s API are separate products. A Plus subscription does not provide API credits or cover API usage. Developers must review API pricing and pay for API consumption separately.
There is no standard annual Plus plan
OpenAI currently says that annual billing and prepaying multiple months for ChatGPT Plus are not supported. If your main goal is a fixed annual discount, Plus does not currently offer that purchase option.
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- Log in to ChatGPT.
- Open the profile menu.
- Select Upgrade Plan.
- Choose Get Plus.
- Review the final price, currency, taxes, and payment details before confirming.
Purchase flows can differ between the web and mobile apps, and the displayed price may vary by country, currency, taxes, or platform. If the expected plan or currency is missing, OpenAI advises checking the country selected at the bottom of its pricing page. For mobile-specific guidance, consult OpenAI’s subscription instructions.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Is Plus worth $20 per month?
Plus is more likely to justify its cost if you use ChatGPT frequently, regularly hit Free-plan limits, upload files, generate images, use voice, conduct research, or need access to advanced models and custom GPT tools. Priority access can also matter to people who use ChatGPT during high-traffic periods.
The Free plan may be sufficient for occasional users or people who mainly need basic text generation. Plus may also be a poor fit if you specifically want API credits, unlimited usage, or a discounted annual commitment.
For substantially heavier usage, OpenAI also lists ChatGPT Pro at $200 per month, billed monthly. That is a separate, higher-priced tier—not a normal Black Friday alternative to Plus. Review OpenAI’s Pro documentation before considering it.
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Do not buy a “sold-out” account from a reseller
The 2023 sign-up pause did not justify purchasing an account from eBay or an unofficial reseller. Account access can be revoked, transferred credentials can create security problems, and the subscription is tied to the account used for purchase.
If a paid subscription does not appear after signing up, first confirm that you are logged in with the same account and authentication method associated with the purchase. Use OpenAI’s official support and billing channels rather than buying someone else’s account.
The bottom line on the 2023 Black Friday story
The Black Friday deal idea was plausible in theory, particularly as a discounted annual commitment. But it was not a confirmed OpenAI promotion. In November 2023, new Plus sign-ups had been paused because demand and capacity were already putting pressure on access, making an immediate discount difficult to justify.
The “sold out” description was temporary and historical. Today, the practical buying question is whether expanded access and additional tools are worth $20 per month—not whether ChatGPT Plus can be purchased at all.
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