OpenAI puts Pro subscriptions on hold due to Astra demand

OpenAI has temporarily paused new subscriptions to its $200-per-month Pro plan, citing infrastructure strain from demand for its newest model, Astra, according to an announcement on X by product leader Thibault (Tibo) Sottiaux. Sottiaux said the Pro tier puts the most strain on OpenAI's systems and that the API plus the lower-cost Go and Plus plans remain available, adding, "We wanted to take the smallest step that allows us to continue giving the broadest access possible." OpenAI, which launched Astra on September 3 and has not said how long Pro sign-ups will be disabled or how many daily sign-ups it is seeing, had raised Codex usage limits as recently as last month.

Demand for OpenAI’s newest and most powerful model, Astra https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/03/openai-launches-astra-its-powerful-and-controversial-new-model/ , has led the company to temporarily pause subscriptions https://community.openai.com/t/codex-rate-limits-reset-for-all-paid-plans-on-august-9-and-again-on-monday/1389643 for its $200-per-month Pro plan, citing strain on its infrastructure. The move was announced on X https://x.com/thsottiaux/status/2098113585683808624 by OpenAI’s product leader, Thibault Tibo Sottiaux, who leads core products like Codex and ChatGPT at the AI lab. He said that the Pro plan puts the most strain on its systems, which is why sign-ups for this service tier are now being disabled. “We wanted to take the smallest step that allows us to continue giving the broadest access possible,” Sottiaux wrote. He added that the company’s other plans, including the API and lower-cost Go and Plus plans, remain available, he added. The company warned on Wednesday that such a change might come. At the time, Sottiaux wrote https://x.com/thsottiaux/status/2097559315150426222 , “Demand for Astra is really unprecedented. We’re pulling all the levers possible to sustain the demand, but I’ve not seen anything like it until now and we went through very steep growth before. Priority will always be to keep excellent service for existing users, but we might have to pause new Pro subscriptions for a bit if this continues.” OpenAI hasn’t said how long sign-ups to the Pro tier may be disabled for, or how many people are signing up daily, to give an idea of the scale of the demand. The company raised usage limits for Codex users as recently as last month https://community.openai.com/t/codex-rate-limits-reset-for-all-paid-plans-on-august-9-and-again-on-monday/1389643 , suggesting the strain is a recent phenomenon. Launched on September 3, Astra has been rolling out across OpenAI’s plans, including Pro, Plus, Enterprise, and Business accounts, in addition to its AI. The model promises a major leap forward in areas like AI reasoning, coding, and computer use — all areas of steep competition. OpenAI even heralded Astra as the beginning of the “ AGI era https://www.axios.com/2026/09/03/openai-astra-gpt-6-agi-brockman ,” and a generational leap, stoking demand even more.