OpenAI launches Premium seats for ChatGPT Business

OpenAI has introduced Premium seats for ChatGPT Business, giving business customers a higher-usage option within the same workspace.

Premium seats provide five times more usage than Standard seats and remove the five-hour usage limit on the lower tier. OpenAI said the change responds to customer demand for more capacity for heavier users within teams.

Premium seats cost USD $125 per user a month, or USD $100 per user a month on an annual billing plan. Standard seats remain at USD $25 per user a month, or USD $20 per user a month when billed annually.

Businesses will be able to use both seat types in the same ChatGPT Business workspace. Workspace owners and administrators can upgrade or reassign seats, monitor usage across the organisation, and manage billing and spend limits in one place.

The move targets companies that have expanded their use of generative AI tools in day-to-day operations. OpenAI said teams are using ChatGPT for inventory planning, marketing, business analysis, customer support and product development.

Usage model

Under the Premium model, usage resets weekly rather than being constrained by a five-hour cap. Companies that reach a usage limit can also add shared workspace credits managed by the workspace owner.

OpenAI is positioning the new structure as a way for teams with different usage levels to stay on one subscription rather than split work across separate accounts. The company said this should reduce administrative friction and keep company work in the same business environment.

OpenAI said business owners can use sales reports, customer feedback and inventory data to build operating plans, while marketers can assemble campaigns from customer insights and software developers can use Codex across larger codebases.

Customer offer

OpenAI is also offering credits to early eligible adopters of the new seats. The first 10,000 eligible ChatGPT Business customers can receive USD $100 in workspace credits, equal to 2,500 credits, for each Premium seat they add, up to five seats.

Some customers that sign up early may also receive access before wider availability. To qualify for the credits, the workspace owner must join a waitlist using the email address tied to the relevant ChatGPT Business account.

The launch adds a middle option to OpenAI's business pricing structure, giving administrators a way to assign heavier usage to selected employees without moving an entire team to a more expensive plan. That could appeal to companies where usage varies sharply between departments such as software, marketing and operations.

Rivals across the workplace software and AI sectors have increasingly used seat-based models that distinguish between lighter and heavier users. OpenAI's approach follows that pattern by separating routine access from more intensive use while keeping both under one managed workspace.

For customers, the practical effect will likely depend on how quickly teams hit limits under the Standard plan and whether the extra usage justifies the higher monthly cost. At USD $125 a month per user, the Premium tier costs five times as much as a Standard seat on a monthly contract, matching the increase in usage OpenAI said it provides.

OpenAI said Premium seats give "5x more usage than Standard seats and removes the five-hour usage limit, so they can take on larger projects and work with fewer interruptions-all within the same secure Business workspace."