OpenAI paused new Pro signups because Astra demand is so high — which AI plan is actually worth paying for right now?
OpenAI literally stopped selling Pro subscriptions because everyone wants Astra. Feels like FOMO marketing to me. I use AI for coding help and writing drafts, maybe 2-3 hours a day. The free tiers keep getting better every month. So who's actually getting their money's worth from a paid AI plan, and which one? $20/month? $200/month? Or is free fine for most people?
1 answer
- Free tiers plus ONE paid seat where you actually live
I craft and sell on Etsy, so my usage is writing listings and brainstorming designs. Here's what actually worked for me: run the free tiers of two or three services for a month and see which one you open first every morning. That's the one worth $20. Paying is about convenience, not magic: the paid plans mostly buy you no-queue access at peak hours and bigger context windows for long documents. If you never hit a free-tier limit, you're paying for nothing. And the $200 tier? That's for people running agents all day as their job. Test free for a month, then pay only for the one tool that's open in a tab all day.