OpenAI pauses ChatGPT Pro sign-ups amid Astra demand

OpenAI has stopped taking new $200-a-month ChatGPT Pro customers because Astra is eating the servers. Existing Pro accounts stay up. The cheaper plans and the API stay open.

TechCrunch reported the move from posts on X by product leader Thibault (Tibo) Sottiaux, who leads Codex and ChatGPT. OpenAI is describing a capacity crunch on new Pro sign-ups, not a model recall and not a price change.

Sottiaux said the Pro plan puts the most strain on OpenAI's systems, which is why that tier is the one closed to newcomers. "We wanted to take the smallest step that allows us to continue giving the broadest access possible," he wrote. API access, the lower-cost Go plan, and Plus remain available.

Earlier in the week he warned that Astra demand was "really unprecedented" and that pausing new Pro subscriptions might be needed to keep service for existing users. OpenAI raised Codex usage limits as recently as last month, which points to a recent squeeze rather than a long-running cap.

Astra launched on 3 September 2026 and has been rolling out across Pro, Plus, Enterprise, and Business. OpenAI framed it as a major leap and the start of an "AGI era," which helped stoke the rush. The same launch week produced the ARC-AGI harness scores that made Astra look historic.

OpenAI has not said how long the pause will last, or how many people are signing up each day. The strain is the company's own description, not a third-party measurement of cluster load. There is no reopen date on the calendar.

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