Overwhelming interest in OpenAI’s latest and most capable model, Astra, has forced the organization to halt new sign-ups for its $200 monthly Pro tier, attributing the decision to heavy server loads.
This update was shared on X by Thibault (Tibo) Sottiaux, product head at OpenAI overseeing key offerings such as Codex and ChatGPT. He explained that because the Pro subscription imposes the heaviest burden on their infrastructure, new enrollments for this service tier have been suspended for now.
“Our goal was to make the minimal adjustment necessary while maintaining wide availability across our services,” noted Sottiaux. He confirmed that alternative tiers—such as the API alongside the lower-cost Go and Plus plans—remain accessible.
OpenAI had previously cautioned on Wednesday that a signup freeze could occur. In a prior post, Sottiaux stated, “Demand for Astra is really unprecedented. We’re pulling all the levers possible to sustain the demand, but I’ve not seen anything like it until now and we went through very steep growth before. Priority will always be to keep excellent service for existing users, but we might have to pause new Pro subscriptions for a bit if this continues.”
The AI firm has not disclosed when Pro tier registrations will reopen, nor has it released daily signup figures to illustrate the exact magnitude of the surge.
Notably, OpenAI expanded rate limits for Codex subscribers as recently as last month, indicating that server capacity issues have escalated quite rapidly.
Rolled out on September 3, Astra has been gradually introduced across multiple OpenAI offerings, such as Pro, Plus, Enterprise, and Business tiers. The model offers significant enhancements in complex reasoning, programming, and automated computer use—all fiercely competitive areas. By framing Astra as the dawn of the “AGI era” and a major technological leap forward, OpenAI further fueled the overwhelming public interest.
