ChatGPT Pro sales are off to a strong start in 2025

ChatGPT Pro sales are off to a strong start

In the month since ChatGPT added its newest paid tier, the service has taken off with users according to Earnest Vela Gamma transaction data. ChatGPT Pro sales already accounted for nearly 5.8% of OpenAI’s B2C sales as of January 1.

ChatGPT’s parent company, OpenAI, first launched a paid tier in February 2023 promising faster response times and more access. ChatGPT Pro unlocks advanced voice features, higher video limits, and more access to Sora video generation. 

Despite ChatGPT Pro’s outsized contribution to overall OpenAI sales, only 0.7% of paying OpenAI customers subscribe to Pro (see data in Dash). The $200 paid tier could become the service’s future cash cow, despite currently losing money on these power users.

Still, many ChatGPT users pay for multiple AI Tools, according to Earnest Orion transaction data. They are also more likely to subscribe to other digital services like GitHub, Zapier, and Twilio.

OpenAI displaced Midjourney, Jasper to claim AI throne

OpenAI is currently winning the race to acquire retail AI customers. ChatGPT Plus and Pro customers accounted for 62.5% of all paid AI B2C sales at the end of 2024. ChatGPT Plus has effectively dominated the paid AI Tools market in the US since launching in 2023. Its rise displaced early movers like Jasper AI.

Midjourney (6.0%), Anthropic (4.5%), and Topaz Labs (3.7%) round out the top four paid AI tools by market share. Google Gemini (GOOG) accounted for 3.1% of consumer AI Tools sales in the US by the end of 2024. Microsoft Copilot (MSFT) accounted for 0.7%.

ChatGPT, Anthropic, and Google Gemini retaining over half of users

ChatGPT has historically had the highest long-term retention among the AI Tools. This high retention, a proxy for customer satisfaction, could point to a similar ChatGPT Pro sales trend. AI rival Anthropic and Google Gemini have also demonstrated relatively high retention rates over the past year. Both services routinely see more than half of their paying customers return.

AI incumbent Midjourney’s retention has declined steadily during that same time. Early mover Topaz Labs has some of the least retained customers of the large AI companies.