OpenAI Codex pricing plans, limits and API costs
OpenAI Codex comes with ChatGPT: Free and Go have limited access, Plus ($20 a month) gives GPT-6.1 Sol within 5-hour limits, and the Pro plans ($100, $200 or $500) have no 5-hour limit. You can also run it on an API key at API prices. Checked 13 Oct 2026.
OpenAI Codex plans
| Plan | Per month | What’s included | Published limits | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | GPT-6 Luna at standard speed in the desktop app (rolling out) | Limited; OpenAI doesn't publish numbers | 13 Oct (source, opens in a new tab) |
| Go | $8 | GPT-6 Luna at standard speed in the desktop app (rolling out) | More than Free; OpenAI doesn't publish numbers | 13 Oct (source, opens in a new tab) |
| Plus | $20 | Codex on the web, CLI, IDE extension and iOS; cloud code review and Slack; GPT-6.1 Sol, GPT-6 Astra and GPT-6 Luna | Per 5 hours, OpenAI estimates 15–160 local messages on GPT-6.1 Sol, 5–45 on GPT-6 Astra or 350–3,000 on GPT-6 Luna. Weekly limits may also apply | 13 Oct (source, opens in a new tab) |
| Pro 100 | $100 | Everything in Plus, with Pro reasoning in ChatGPT | No 5-hour limit; more usage than Plus | 13 Oct (source, opens in a new tab) |
| Pro 200 | $200 | Same as Pro 100 | No 5-hour limit; more usage than Pro 100. Since 29 Sep 2026 new subscribers get a lower allowance than before | 13 Oct (source, opens in a new tab) |
| Pro 500 | $500 | Everything in Pro, plus Ultrafast mode for GPT-6 Astra and GPT-6.1 Sol | No 5-hour limit; the most usage of the Pro plans | 13 Oct (source, opens in a new tab) |
| BusinessStandard seat, billed annually; Premium seats cost $100 | $20a seat | A shared workspace with SAML SSO, no training on business data by default, and larger cloud machines | Standard seats have the same estimates as Plus; Premium seats have no 5-hour limit | 13 Oct (source, opens in a new tab) |
| API key | Per token | Codex in the CLI, SDK or IDE extension, billed at API prices. No cloud features such as GitHub code review or Slack | Your API rate limits only | 13 Oct (source, opens in a new tab) |
US dollar list prices, before tax, checked 13 Oct 2026 on OpenAI’s own pages. Limits are quoted as published: OpenAI doesn’t state them in tokens. How we verify
When you reach the limit
Plus and Pro users who reach a limit can buy ChatGPT credits (valid for 12 months) instead of upgrading, or run local tasks on an API key at API rates. Business, Enterprise and Edu workspaces with flexible pricing buy workspace credits. A turn that is already running when you hit the limit is allowed to finish.
Which plan suits whom
- Plus ($20)
- Regular coding with GPT-6.1 Sol, as long as you stay within the 5-hour limits.
- Pro 100 ($100)
- Daily, all-day agent work with no 5-hour limit, including heavier use of GPT-6 Astra.
- Pro 500 ($500)
- People who need Ultrafast mode or the most usage OpenAI sells to one person.
- API key
- Scripts, automation and occasional use, when per-token billing works out cheaper.
The same work through the API
| Model | Light5 tasks a day | Daily20 tasks a day | Heavy60 tasks a day | Per task |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GPT-6.1 Sol$2.00 / $10.00 | $107 | $427 | $1,280 | $0.97 |
| GPT-6 Luna$0.10 / $0.50 | $6.50 | $25.98 | $77.95 | $0.059 |
Monthly cost of a coding agent doing tasks of 40 steps each (an 18K-token system prompt, 90% of repeated input cached), on 22 working days a month, at list prices checked 13 Oct 2026. At these rates $20 buys about 21 tasks a month on GPT-6.1 Sol, and $500 about 516. Change the workload in the agent cost calculator.
Good to know
- Credits are charged per million tokens. GPT-6.1 Sol uses 50 credits per million input tokens, 2.5 per million cached and 250 per million output; GPT-6 Luna uses a twentieth of that. OpenAI doesn't publish a dollar price per credit for Plus and Pro, as it depends on your plan.
- Fast mode uses included limits 2.5× faster than Standard speed, and Ultrafast 8× faster (2× and 6× for purchased credits).
- Image generation uses included limits about 3–5× faster than similar turns without images.
- GPT-5.5 retires from ChatGPT and Codex on all plans on 14 October 2026. The API isn't affected.
- OpenAI says its API token prices are separate from subscription usage and shouldn't be used to estimate how many tasks a plan includes.
Other coding plans
| Tool | Cheapest paid plan | Top plan for one person |
|---|---|---|
| OpenAI Codex | Go · $8 | Pro 500 · $500 |
| Claude Code | Pro · $20 | Max 20x · $200 |
| Cursor | Pro · $20 | Ultra · $200 |
| GitHub Copilot | Pro · $10 | Max · $100 |
All coding plans compared, including Devin, JetBrains AI and Google’s Antigravity. For chat plans, see API or subscription.
Questions
How much does OpenAI Codex cost?
OpenAI Codex comes with ChatGPT: Free and Go have limited access, Plus ($20 a month) gives GPT-6.1 Sol within 5-hour limits, and the Pro plans ($100, $200 or $500) have no 5-hour limit. You can also run it on an API key at API prices.
Is there a free Codex plan?
Yes. Free: GPT-6 Luna at standard speed in the desktop app (rolling out). Limits: Limited; OpenAI doesn't publish numbers.
What happens when I reach the Codex limit?
Plus and Pro users who reach a limit can buy ChatGPT credits (valid for 12 months) instead of upgrading, or run local tasks on an API key at API rates. Business, Enterprise and Edu workspaces with flexible pricing buy workspace credits. A turn that is already running when you hit the limit is allowed to finish.
Is Codex cheaper than paying for the API?
It depends on how much you use it. At API rates, $20 (the Plus price) pays for about 21 coding-agent tasks a month on GPT-6.1 Sol, fewer than one a working day, using the workload in the table above. The plan works out cheaper if its limits let you do more than that. OpenAI Codex doesn't publish its limits in tokens, so the only sure test is your own usage.
When were these prices checked?
On 13 Oct 2026, on OpenAI's own pricing and help pages, linked from each plan above. Prices are in US dollars and exclude tax.
Sources: Codex pricing, ChatGPT Pro tiers, ChatGPT Business. Checked 13 Oct 2026. API prices: OpenAI API pricing.