ChatGPT Plus will be free to access for select users over the next few weeks, OpenAI announced on Friday. The AI firm’s ChatGPT Plus subscription tier typically costs $20 (roughly Rs. 1,700) per month, but eligible users won’t have to pay for access to OpenAI’s deep research and multiple reasoning models and limited access to Sora video generation. The lowest paid subscription plan lifts limits on messaging or file uploads, and image generation, while also offering limited access to Sora video generation.
ChatGPT Plus Free Access for Students to Remain Available Through May
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), CEO Sam Altman announced that the company will offer students in the US and Canada free access to ChatGPT Plus. This is part of a limited promotion that offers access to the paid subscription for free, until the end of May, and details of the promotion are available on the company’s support website.
chatgpt plus is free for college students in the US and canada through may!
— Sam Altman (@sama) April 3, 2025
In order to avail of the student promotion, students must be enrolled at a degree-granting school in the US or Canada. OpenAI requires users to verify their student status via SheerID’s secure verification system before claiming access to the complimentary ChatGPT Plus subscription. Students who are already paying for the service will get two months of access at no additional cost.
ChatGPT Plus Subscription Plan Benefits, Features
The free version of ChatGPT already offers access to ChatGPT-4o mini, along with limited access to GPT-4o and o3-mini models, while the Plus subscription offers access to deep research and multiple reasoning models. These include o1, o3-mini, and o3-mini-high. The paid subscription also offers access to a research preview of the GPT-4.5 model that was announced in February.
ChatGPT Plus also lets users upload more files, send more messages, and generate more images than users on the free tier. Subscribers also have access to the advanced voice mde with support for video and screensharing.
OpenAI also allows ChatGPT Plus subscribers to create custom GPTs and enables users to try out upcoming features on the platform. A subscription to ChatGPT Plus also grants limited access to Sora video generation, which isn’t available on the free tier.