OpenAI has introduced ChatGPT Go, a new, more affordable subscription plan priced at approximately US$5.00 per month.
The rollout across Africa, including its most active user nation, Kenya, positions the plan as a critical bridge between the free tier and the premium US$20.00 ChatGPT Plus subscription.
This launch directly addresses the vast, digitally engaged population who rely on AI tools but previously found the Plus subscription financially prohibitive.
The decision to target the African continent is underscored by explosive user data. According to the July 2025 Global Digital Report by DataReportal & Meltwater, Kenya is the world’s leading nation for ChatGPT adoption.
A staggering 42.1% of Kenyan internet users aged 16 and above reported actively using the AI chatbot in the past month. This usage rate is higher than in major global economies, including the United States, Russia (10.8%), China (7.3%), and Japan (5.8%), validating Kenya’s reputation as a mobile-first, youthful, and English-literate AI hub. South Africa also ranks highly, at $8$th globally with $34.3\%$ usage.
The new plan is specifically designed to offer users a substantial upgrade from the limited free tier without requiring the full US$20.00 commitment of Plus. It aims to convert highly active free users into paying subscribers by dramatically increasing usage limits on popular, compute-intensive features.
| Feature | ChatGPT Go (Approx. US$5.00/month) | ChatGPT Plus (US$20.00/month) |
| Core Model | Extended access to GPT-5 (including reasoning mode) | Unlimited access to GPT-5 and access to legacy models (e.g., GPT-4o) |
| Usage Limits | Significantly higher message limits (e.g., $\mathbf{10\times}$ the free tier limit) | Essentially Unlimited usage. |
| Multimodal Tools | $\mathbf{10\times}$ more image generation and file uploads/analysis capacity. | Unlimited image generation and full file analysis capacity. |
| Customization | Access to projects, tasks, and custom GPTs. | Full access to all advanced tools (e.g., Deep Research, Agent Mode). |
The launch of ChatGPT Go is a classic example of tiered pricing strategy tailored for a dynamic global market. For OpenAI, this move is crucial for monetization, allowing the company to offset the enormous infrastructure and compute costs of running AI at a scale of 800M weekly active users (WAUs).