Buying ChatGPT Plus with Bitcoin, from wallet to working plan

OpenAI sells ChatGPT the way most software companies do: a card, Apple or Google billing, and a few local payment methods in some countries. There is no Bitcoin button and there isn't going to be one soon. If you keep your money in sats, that leaves you two choices. Sell some coins for fiat and hand OpenAI a card, or pay someone who takes Bitcoin and puts the plan on your account for you.

This guide covers the second route, step by step, using our store as the example. It also covers what each plan costs, how long a Bitcoin payment takes, and the handful of mistakes that slow people down.

First, pick the plan you actually need

ChatGPT has a free tier, a cheaper Go tier that can show ads, Plus, and Pro. Pro now comes in three sizes, named after their US monthly price: Pro 100, Pro 200 and Pro 500.

• Plus ($20 a month) is the plan most people should buy. It has the current models, voice, image creation, projects, custom GPTs, deep research and Codex, with limits that a normal working day rarely hits.
• Pro 100 and Pro 200 are for people who hit Plus limits every day, usually in Codex or long agent sessions. OpenAI's help centre notes that new Pro 200 subscriptions now come with a smaller allowance than before, at the same price, so check the current limits before you jump to it.
• Pro 500 is the only tier with Ultrafast mode on the top models. Few people need it.

If you have never seen a limit message on Plus, you don't need Pro. We sell Plus, Pro 100, Pro 200 and Pro 500. We don't sell Go.

What it costs when you pay in Bitcoin

OpenAI only bills its personal plans month by month. We sell longer terms in one payment, and the longer the term, the bigger the discount: 15% off OpenAI's price for 3 months, 20% for 6 and 30% for 12. Our fee is added after the discount, and the page shows all three numbers before you pay.

ChatGPT Plus for a US account:

A single month of Pro 100 is $110.00, Pro 200 is $216.00 and Pro 500 is $534.00. Pro plans also come in 2, 3, 6 and 12 months, with the same discounts.

The checkout converts the dollar total into BTC at the moment you pick Bitcoin, so the amount on your payment page is in bitcoin, down to the sat. Accounts in the UK, Canada, Australia and the EU pay OpenAI's local price for that country, converted to dollars at the European Central Bank's daily rate.

Step by step: settling ChatGPT in Bitcoin

1. Go to ChatGPT and select your account's country. We prepare plans for the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Germany, France, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands. The country has to match your account, so choosing a cheaper one won't work.
2. Choose the plan and the term. Plus comes in 3, 6 or 12 months. Add it to your cart, or press Buy now to go straight to checkout.
3. At checkout, choose Bitcoin. There's no account to create here. You can leave an email for your order link and activation steps, and a recovery passphrase in case you lose the link. Both are optional.
4. Copy the address and the exact amount. The address starts with bc1. The last digits of the amount are a small marker that tells us the payment is yours, so send the amount exactly as shown, not rounded.
5. Send from your wallet within 30 minutes. That window is how long the quoted price is held. What matters is that your transaction is broadcast inside it. The confirmation can come later.
6. Watch the order page. It shows "Payment seen" as soon as your transaction reaches the mempool, and "Paid" once it's in a block. With a normal fee, that's usually 10 to 30 minutes.
7. Switch the plan on. A person prepares your plan for the country you picked, usually within a few hours. The steps to switch it on show up on your order page, with a copy by email if you gave one. You follow them on your own ChatGPT login. We never sign in as you.

If the plan isn't ready within 24 hours of your payment confirming, the whole amount comes back to you in bitcoin. How it works has the full timeline.

ChatGPT

OpenAI

starts at $56.10 fees included

Plus $20 · Pro $100 / $200 / $500per month · 1, 3, 6, 12 months

Longer plans save up to 30%

Accounts based in the US, UK, Canada, Australia or EU

Pick a plan for ChatGPT

Which wallet, and which fee

Any wallet that sends on-chain Bitcoin will do: Sparrow, Electrum, BlueWallet, a hardware wallet, or an exchange account. A wallet you control is better for privacy, because an exchange knows who you are and logs where each withdrawal went.

For the fee, take whatever your wallet suggests for the next hour or so. On the day we wrote this, mempool.space showed 1 sat/vB clearing the next block, so a standard payment cost a couple of hundred sats. When the mempool is busy, that can jump. If you set the fee too low, the transaction can sit unconfirmed for hours. Our watcher stays on the address for a day, so it will still count when it lands, but your plan waits for it. Most modern wallets let you raise the fee afterwards with Replace-by-fee.

The Bitcoin payment guide shows each wallet's screens, and how to pay covers every other coin we take.

Mistakes that cost time

• Sending over Lightning. We take on-chain Bitcoin only. A Lightning payment can't reach a bc1 address, so your wallet will refuse it or you'll need a swap service.
• Withdrawing "BTC" on BEP20. Some exchanges offer wrapped BTC on BNB Smart Chain. It isn't bitcoin and it won't arrive. Choose the Bitcoin network.
• Forgetting the exchange fee. Exchanges subtract their withdrawal fee from what you send. Add it on top so the full amount arrives.
• Rounding the amount. The last digits identify your order. A rounded amount has to be matched by hand, which adds a delay.
• Leaving an old plan running. If you pay OpenAI already, cancel that subscription first. An in-app subscription has to be stopped through Apple or Google, not on chatgpt.com.
• Picking the wrong country. Activation is prepared for one country. It has to be the one your ChatGPT account is registered in.

Questions about paying for ChatGPT with Bitcoin

Does OpenAI know I paid in Bitcoin?

No. OpenAI sees a Plus or Pro plan on your account. It doesn't see your wallet, your coins or our checkout. We're an independent store, not affiliated with OpenAI.

What happens if the bitcoin price moves before my payment confirms?

Nothing, as long as you broadcast inside the 30-minute window. The BTC amount is fixed when you choose the coin. If the window runs out before you send, press "Get a new quote" for a fresh price.

Can I pay with Lightning?

Not here. This store takes on-chain Bitcoin, USDT and USDC on several networks, Monero and a dozen other coins. We explain the trade-offs in Lightning, on-chain or USDT.

Does the plan renew by itself?

No. You pay once for the term you choose. When it ends, the account falls back to the free tier until you buy more time. The activation steps show how to check that nothing is set to renew.

Do I need to show ID?

No. We don't ask for a name, an ID or a ChatGPT password. An email is optional and is erased 14 days after delivery.

Sources

• OpenAI: ChatGPT pricing
• OpenAI Help Center: About ChatGPT Pro tiers
• OpenAI Help Center: payment methods for ChatGPT
• mempool.space: recommended fees