OpenAI’s affordable ChatGPT Go plan expands to 16 new countries in Asia

OpenAI is quickly expanding its affordable ChatGPT Go plan, which costs less than $5, to 16 new countries across Asia. The subscription tier is now available in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, East Timor and Vietnam.

In selected countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Pakistan, the company allows users to pay in local currencies. In the remaining countries, users must pay in US dollars at a rate of approximately $5, with the final cost varying based on local taxes.

ChatGPT Go provides users with higher daily limits for messaging, creating images, and uploading files or images per day. The plan also offers twice the memory of the free plan, allowing for more personalized responses.

According to OpenAI, the expansion comes as the company has seen its weekly active user base in Southeast Asia grow by as much as four times. The plan was first launched in India in Augustfollowed by Indonesia in September. OpenAI reports that paid subscribers in India have doubled since launch.

OpenAI is competing with Google to provide affordable chatbot AI subscription plans in more regions. Google launched its price similarly Google AI Plus plan in Indonesia in Septemberfollowed by Expanding to more than 40 countries. The Plus tier gives users access to Gemini 2.5 Pro, Google’s most advanced AI model, along with creative tools for photo and video creation — including Flow (for design), Whisk (for photo remixing), and Veo 3 Fast (for video creation) — plus 200GB of cloud storage.

The expansion comes at a pivotal moment for OpenAI. At the DevDay 2025 conference this week in San Francisco, CEO Sam Altman announced that ChatGPT has reached 800 million weekly active users globally, up from 700 million in August. The company also unveiled a major platform shift, introducing apps that run directly inside ChatGPT that turn the chatbot into an app store-like ecosystem, with partners like Spotify, Zillow, and Coursera. Among other things.

“The evolution we’re trying to make over the next few years is for ChatGPT itself to be more like an operating system where you can come in and use applications,” ChatGPT President Nick Turley said. TechCrunch said Of development on the verge of the event. “If you want to write, there’s an app for that. If you want to code, there’s an app for that. If you want to interact with goods and services, there are apps for you.”

Despite OpenAI’s rapid growth and recent $500 billion valuation, the company reported an operating loss of $7.8 billion in the first half of 2025 as it continues to spend heavily on AI infrastructure. The company’s affordable subscription tiers, such as ChatGPT Go, are seen as an important step toward profitability as it expands its global user base, particularly in high-growth markets across Asia where OpenAI and Google compete aggressively for market share.