OpenAI to pool ChatGPT and Codex usage into one token-based allowance from December

OpenAI is changing how usage limits work on its paid ChatGPT plans. According to an updated OpenAI Help Center page, "Understanding ChatGPT and Codex usage limits," starting in December the usage allowance on Plus, Pro and Business plans will be shared across ChatGPT and Codex, its coding agent, rather than tracked separately. OpenAI ties the change to bringing "the agentic capabilities of Work into the main ChatGPT experience."

Usage will be measured in tokens, the units of information a model processes and generates, rather than in messages. How much of the allowance a request consumes will depend on the model chosen and the task, with more advanced models and complex tasks generally using more. Instant chat will not draw from the allowance. Subscribers will see their combined remaining usage and reset times under Settings → Usage, and if they hit the limit they can wait for a reset, upgrade, or buy credits. "We expect most users won't need to wait for their usage to reset more often than they do now," OpenAI says.

In an email seen by BleepingComputer, OpenAI said it will test a combined experience for the Chat and Work tabs with a small group of users in the coming weeks, letting people move from ordinary conversations to tasks such as building a website, creating a presentation or acting on the web without switching modes. Codex will remain a separate experience in the ChatGPT desktop app. OpenAI had already doubled Work and Codex allowances for its Pro tiers effective October 29.

The Decoder described the change as a signal of the end of "all-you-can-prompt" pricing: because Instant chats are excluded, ChatGPT remains a flat-rate service on paper, but heavy users on cheaper plans are likely to get lower-quality results. It also noted that the merger appears to respond to criticism of ChatGPT's growing complexity, with users currently choosing between two operating modes and 11 model settings. Rival Anthropic has already combined Chat and Cowork in Claude. OpenAI has not published exact token amounts or a specific December date.

Sources: OpenAI Help Center, The Decoder, BleepingComputer. Image: The Decoder