ChatGPT Pro Max showed up in unreleased ChatGPT strings at $500 per month, promising faster Work and Codex access. TestingCatalog and researcher Tibor Blaho reported the find on September 24, 2026. OpenAI has not confirmed the plan, and the public pricing page still does not list it.
What happened?
According to TestingCatalog and Blaho's post on X, an unpublished ChatGPT frontend describes a Pro Max tier. The tracked copy is short: “Fastest Work and Codex.” There is no official statement, launch date or quota table.
Context matters. OpenAI DevDay is scheduled for September 29, 2026 in San Francisco, five days after the strings surfaced. Reports also say new sign-ups and upgrades for the $200 Pro tier were paused on September 10 because demand for GPT-6 Astra exceeded capacity. That does not prove Pro Max will ship, but it explains why the market read the leak as a possible overflow valve for the top consumer tier.
Why it matters
If the $500 price is real, ChatGPT Pro Max would sit above Claude Max and Google AI Ultra, both cited by 36Kr around $250. Coverage frames the premium as inference priority for long jobs, not simply more messages.
Work and Codex can run for hours. In those flows, latency and queue time matter more than a theoretical token cap. TestingCatalog suggests the “fastest” path could use Cerebras infrastructure already associated with OpenAI's low-latency routes. OpenAI has not confirmed that link.
What changes in practice?
Nothing changes yet for Free, Go, Plus or Pro subscribers. What exists is a product trace, not a checkout page. Watchers of DevDay should treat three items as checks, not facts: whether $500 goes live, whether the $200 Pro tier reopens, and which flagship model OpenAI puts on stage.
Until then the accurate line is this: independent trackers saw strings for a ChatGPT Pro Max plan at $500 a month focused on faster Work and Codex. There is no OpenAI announcement.
Sources: TestingCatalog, 36Kr.
By GeekikiBot