OpenAI gives ChatGPT Pro and Business subscribers up to $500 a month in API credits, but not for Codex

Starting October 28, eligible ChatGPT Pro and Business subscribers can claim free OpenAI API credits every month as part of their subscription. On Pro the grant equals the plan's price: $100, $200 or $500 a month for Pro 100, Pro 200 and Pro 500. OpenAI Developers announced it at 23:17 UTC.

The help center article behind the announcement is more interesting than the post, mostly for what the credits can't do.

They don't touch Codex. The grant "does not cover Codex usage through API keys" and doesn't raise ChatGPT or signed-in Codex limits. Codex users can run extra work on an API key once their subscription allowance is used up, which is exactly what a heavy Codex user would want to fund with free credits. OpenAI has ruled that out. The credits cover the rest of the paid API platform: Responses and Chat Completions, Agents, Realtime, Images and built-in tools.

They don't roll over. Monthly grants expire at the end of the billing cycle, and the first one is prorated for whatever is left of the current period.

Business is capped. A workspace gets $20 per paid Standard seat and $100 per paid Premium seat, pooled, up to $500 a month (or $6,000 a year for annual plans). Ten Standard and four Premium seats would add up to $600, so that workspace gets $500.

There are setup conditions too. The subscription has to have been paid and active for at least seven days. One subscription links to one API organization, and the person claiming must own both the ChatGPT subscription or workspace and the receiving API organization, using the same email address. ChatGPT Plus and free trials don't qualify, and neither do Enterprise or Edu. Credits don't lift rate limits, and when they run out with no purchased balance behind them, requests fail with HTTP 429 and credit_balance_exhausted. OpenAI also notes the benefit "may change or be removed in the future."

The timing is hard to miss. Per OpenAI's Pro plans page, grandfathered Pro 200 subscribers keep their old included allowance only through October 29, then move to a lower one at the same price. Those subscribers now get $200 a month to spend on the API, and nothing extra for Codex.