According to The Decoder, citing OpenAI's help center article "Understanding card and device limits in ChatGPT," ChatGPT has introduced new bank card and device limits as a security measure: if too many subscriptions are associated with the same card or device, no new subscriptions can be opened. There is also a cap on the number of paid accounts available on each device; when this limit is reached, a "Device limit reached" message appears, and the affected accounts cannot be used on that device. Logging out does not automatically free up a slot. This applies to Go, Plus, Pro 100, Pro 200, and Pro 500. Free accounts and Business, Enterprise, and Edu plans are not counted.
Confidence: Medium (60) · Event time 2026-11-01
Reasoning
- This directly targets the practice of rotating multiple low-cost subscriptions on a single device to accumulate usage; OpenAI's suggested alternatives are purchasing additional credits or usage resets, which The Decoder notes are usually more expensive than opening another subscription.
- Viewed alongside the same-day news about merging Chat / Work quotas, OpenAI is tightening the space for "unlimited monthly use," steering heavy users toward pay-as-you-go.
- Situations where families or teams share a single computer, with multiple individuals having their own paid accounts, may also be inadvertently affected.
Usage
- Users who log into multiple personal paid accounts on the same device: first confirm whether you will hit the limit. For team sharing scenarios, consider switching to plans like Business that are not subject to these limits; see the help center article "Understanding card and device limits in ChatGPT" for the rules.
Risks
- OpenAI's help center returned 403 for this section, so the editors did not read the original text; the reports do not specify exactly how many accounts are allowed per card or per device.
- The claim that this "pushes users to pay more" is The Decoder's interpretation, while OpenAI describes it as a security measure.