Aiming to monetize what’s grow to be a viral phenomenon, OpenAI today launched a latest pilot subscription plan for ChatGPT, its text-generating AI that may write convincingly human-like essays, poems, emails, lyrics and more. Called ChatGPT Plus and starting at $20 per thirty days, the service delivers numerous advantages over the base-level ChatGPT, OpenAI says, including general access to ChatGPT even during peak times, faster response times and priority access to latest features and enhancements.

The free ChatGPT tier is here to remain — it’s not going away. As for ChatGPT Plus, it’s only available to customers within the U.S. in the mean time. OpenAI says it’ll begin the means of inviting people from its waitlist in the approaching months and look to expand Plus to additional countries and regions “soon.”

“We launched ChatGPT as a research preview so we could learn more in regards to the system’s strengths and weaknesses and gather user feedback to assist us improve upon its limitations,” OpenAI wrote in a blog post. “Since then, thousands and thousands of individuals have given us feedback, we’ve made several necessary updates and we’ve seen users find value across a variety of skilled use cases including drafting and editing content, brainstorming ideas, programming help and learning latest topics.”

ChatGPT Plus is likely to be the primary of several plans to come back, OpenAI hints. Within the blog post, the corporate says that it’s “actively exploring” options for lower-cost plans, business plans and data packs along with an API.

“We love our free users and can proceed to supply free access to ChatGPT. By offering this subscription pricing, we are going to have the option to assist support free access availability to as many individuals as possible,” the corporate continued. “We plan to refine and expand this offering based in your feedback and desires.”

OpenAI previewed the launch of ChatGPT Plus in early January, announcing that it was “beginning to take into consideration monetize ChatGPT” and publishing a survey that outlined the potential pricing for — and features of — a “ChatGPT Skilled” plan. Then, just a few weeks ago, several ChatGPT users reported being granted access to a professional tier that cost $42 a month, which on reflection appears to have been in error.

Despite controversy and several bans, ChatGPT has proven to be a publicity win for OpenAI, attracting major media attention and spawning countless memes on social media. ChatGPT had over one million users as of early December — an enviable user base by any measure. However it’s a dear service to run. In keeping with OpenAI co-founder and CEO Sam Altman, ChatGPT’s operating expenses are “eye-watering,” amounting to just a few cents per chat in total compute costs.