In a groundbreaking announcement that signals OpenAI’s aggressive expansion strategy in the world’s most populous nation, ChatGPT Go will be available completely free for one full year to all users in India starting November 4, 2025. This unprecedented move comes as the company celebrates its first DevDay Exchange event in Bengaluru and marks a significant milestone in OpenAI’s “India-first” commitment to democratizing artificial intelligence access in one of its fastest-growing markets.
ChatGPT Go: An overview
ChatGPT Go represents OpenAI’s strategic middle-tier subscription plan, originally launched in India in August 2025 at a monthly price of ₹399 (approximately $4.60-$5). The subscription was specifically designed as an affordable entry point between ChatGPT’s basic free tier and the more expensive ChatGPT Plus plan priced at ₹1,999 per month. Within just one month of its launch, the number of paid ChatGPT subscribers in India more than doubled, demonstrating the enormous pent-up demand for accessible AI tools in the country.
Subscribers gain access to significantly expanded usage limits—approximately 10 times more than the free tier—across multiple functions including message generation, image creation, and file uploads. The subscription also provides double the memory capacity of the free plan, enabling more personalized and context-aware conversations that maintain continuity across sessions.
Beyond basic conversational capabilities, ChatGPT Go includes advanced data analysis tools powered by Python, allowing users to execute code, generate charts, and solve complex problems. The plan also grants access to projects, tasks, and custom GPTs—features that enable users to organize workflows and build AI tools tailored to specific needs. For students, professionals, and freelancers in price-sensitive markets, ChatGPT Go delivers premium-like capabilities without the substantial financial commitment required by higher-tier subscriptions.
ChatGPT Go: Free for Indian users
Starting November 4, 2025, all Indian users who sign up during the limited promotional period will receive complete free access to ChatGPT Go for one full year. The offer extends beyond new users—existing ChatGPT Go subscribers in India will also be eligible for the free 12-month promotion, effectively granting them an additional year at no cost.
The free subscription includes the full suite of ChatGPT Go features: extended access to the GPT-5 model with higher message limits than the free tier, increased daily image generation capabilities, enhanced file upload and analysis functions, longer memory for more personalized responses, and access to advanced data analysis tools.
Nick Turley, Vice President and Head of ChatGPT at OpenAI, emphasized the company’s excitement about the initiative, stating: “Since initially launching ChatGPT Go in India a few months ago, the adoption and creativity we’ve seen from our users has been inspiring. Ahead of our first DevDay Exchange event in India, we’re making ChatGPT Go freely available for a year to help more people across India easily access and benefit from advanced AI”.
While OpenAI has not specified an exact end date for the promotional signup period, the company has indicated it will be time-limited, creating urgency for interested users to claim their free year of access. The promotional timing coincides strategically with OpenAI’s first DevDay Exchange event in Bengaluru on November 4, bringing together developers, researchers, and AI enthusiasts from across the country.
ChatGPT Go and India's connection
India has rapidly emerged as OpenAI’s second-largest market globally, trailing only the United States. The numbers tell a compelling story: ChatGPT experienced over 29 million downloads in India during the 90-day period leading up to August 2025, with the country accounting for approximately 16% of ChatGPT’s global visitor share as of October 2025. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has repeatedly expressed his admiration for India’s AI adoption trajectory, stating in August 2025: “AI adoption in India has been amazing to watch—ChatGPT users grew 4x in the past year—and we are excited to invest much more in India”.
The strategic importance of India extends far beyond its massive user base of over 700 million smartphone users and more than 886 million internet users. India represents one of the most dynamic and diverse testing grounds for AI technology globally, with its complex linguistic landscape spanning English, Hindi, and numerous regional languages. The country also boasts one of the world’s largest pools of software developers and engineers—over 100,000 AI professionals according to recent estimates—making it not just a consumer market but a crucial source of talent and innovation.
OpenAI’s commitment to India manifests through multiple strategic initiatives beyond the ChatGPT Go promotion. The company opened its first Indian office in New Delhi in August 2025 and is actively building a local team focused on strengthening relationships with partners, governments, businesses, developers, and academic institutions. In partnership with India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology under the IndiaAI Mission, OpenAI launched the OpenAI Academy India—the platform’s first international expansion—offering digital and in-person AI training in English, Hindi, and soon other regional languages.
The company is also reportedly scouting local partners to establish a data center in India with at least 1 gigawatt capacity as part of its Stargate infrastructure project, potentially marking a substantial advancement for OpenAI’s AI infrastructure efforts in Asia. These investments underscore OpenAI’s belief that India could become its largest market globally “at some point, in the not very distant future,” as CEO Sam Altman recently predicted.
ChatGPT Go and it's competition
OpenAI’s decision to offer ChatGPT Go free for one year follows similar aggressive user acquisition strategies by rival AI companies targeting the Indian market. Google recently made its AI Pro membership—normally priced at ₹19,500 annually—free for Indian college students for one year, providing access to Gemini 2.5 Pro, Veo 3 video generation tools, and 2TB of cloud storage. The offer, available to students aged 18 and above enrolled in accredited institutions, includes AI support integrated within Google apps like Gmail, Docs, and Sheets.
Similarly, Perplexity AI partnered with telecommunications giant Airtel to offer free access to Perplexity Pro—valued at ₹17,000 annually—to all Airtel subscribers across mobile, broadband, and DTH services for one year. The subscription provides users with unlimited AI searches (up to 300 daily queries), model switching capabilities between GPT-4.1 and Claude, file upload and analysis features, and image generation tools. Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas confirmed that India has overtaken all other markets in user base following the Airtel partnership, with the company experiencing 640% year-over-year growth in monthly active users during the second quarter of 2025—far outpacing ChatGPT’s 350% growth in the same period.
This intensifying competition reflects India’s emergence as the new epicenter of global AI innovation. The country’s combination of massive scale, digital infrastructure investments, price-sensitive but tech-savvy consumers, and government support through initiatives like the IndiaAI Mission creates a unique battleground where AI companies are deploying aggressive strategies to capture market share and mindshare among the next generation of AI users.
As the promotional period eventually concludes, users will face a decision: continue with the paid ChatGPT Go subscription at ₹399 per month, downgrade to the free tier with its usage limitations, or upgrade to ChatGPT Plus for ₹1,999 monthly to access additional premium features. The success of OpenAI’s strategy will ultimately be measured by conversion rates—how many free users choose to become paying subscribers when their promotional year ends.
ChatGPT Go: Final verdict
OpenAI’s decision to offer ChatGPT Go free for one year to Indian users represents a watershed moment in the democratization of advanced AI technology. By removing economic barriers for a full year in one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing markets, OpenAI is making a bold bet that widespread access will drive long-term adoption, ecosystem development, and ultimately sustainable business growth.
The initiative reflects broader trends in the global AI landscape: the recognition that emerging markets like India are not just consumer bases but innovation hubs with unique requirements and massive potential. As competition intensifies among AI companies for Indian users—with Google, Perplexity, Anthropic, and others also pursuing aggressive strategies—consumers stand to benefit from improved services, lower costs, and greater accessibility.
For Indian users, the message is clear: starting November 4, 2025, a year of advanced AI capabilities awaits at no cost. Whether you’re a student seeking study assistance, a developer building applications, a freelancer enhancing productivity, or simply someone curious about AI’s potential, ChatGPT Go’s free year offers an unprecedented opportunity to explore, experiment, and benefit from cutting-edge artificial intelligence technology. As OpenAI’s Nick Turley expressed: “We’re excited to see the amazing things our users will build, learn, and achieve with these tools”.