ChatGPT's $20 price came from a 2023 Discord survey, and everyone copied it
aakashgupta · x · 2026-11-06
ChatGPT Plus, Claude Pro and Gemini Advanced all cost about $20 a month — a number that traces back to a quick Google Form OpenAI posted in its Discord in 2023. ChatGPT lead Nick Turley recounted on a podcast that the team, needing a price fast before launching ChatGPT Plus, borrowed four standard pricing questions from a blog post and asked Discord users what they'd pay; the answers landed on $20.
Everyone else copied it because it was safe. But when every company charges the same price, nobody can raise it: if Claude jumped to $30 tomorrow, users would simply switch to the $20 option next door — which is why ChatGPT Plus still costs $20 nearly four years later despite GPT-4 and beyond. The observation comes from a tier list ranking 80 subscriptions, where the priciest plans are all AI, topping out at $500 a month.
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