pricing-and-quotas
Purpose
Addresses the question: does OpenAI Codex have a quota system similar to Claude Code’s subscription model?
Short answer: Yes. Both use a subscription-based quota model with rolling 5-hour usage windows, weekly caps, and a credit/extra-usage system for when you exceed limits. The mechanics are very similar.
Codex Background
The original Codex API was discontinued in March 2023. OpenAI relaunched “Codex” in 2025-2026 as a cloud-based autonomous coding agent powered by a specialized o3 variant. It is NOT a separate product — it’s bundled into ChatGPT plans.
There are two distinct Codex products:
- Codex (web/cloud) — autonomous cloud agent; runs tasks in isolated containers
- Codex CLI — open-source command-line tool (like Claude Code); runs locally, calls OpenAI models
Codex Subscription Plans & Quotas
Codex is included with ChatGPT plans — no separate subscription needed.
Usage Limits (5-Hour Rolling Window)
| Plan | Price | Local Messages / 5hr | Cloud Tasks / 5hr |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT Plus | $20/mo | ~30–150 | ~10–60 |
| ChatGPT Pro | $200/mo | ~300–1,500 | ~50–400 |
| ChatGPT Business | ~$30/user/mo | ~45–225 | ~10–60 |
| Enterprise/Edu | Custom | Shared credit pool | — |
Note: Local messages and cloud tasks share the same 5-hour bucket.
Weekly Limits (added Feb 2026)
OpenAI added weekly caps on top of the 5-hour windows:
- Plus: ~10–25 code reviews/week; ~3,000 requests/week
- Pro: ~100–250 code reviews/week
- Business: ~10–25 code reviews/week
Credit System
When you hit your plan limit, you can continue with credits:
- Local task: ~5 credits per message
- Cloud task: ~25 credits per message
- Code review: ~25 credits per message
- Using GPT-5-Codex-Mini (cheaper model): ~1 credit per local message
Claude Code Quota System (for comparison)
| Plan | Price | Tokens / 5hr Window | Weekly Cap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pro | $20/mo | ~44,000 tokens | ~40–80 hrs/week |
| Max 5x | $100/mo | ~88,000 tokens | ~5x Pro |
| Max 20x | $200/mo | ~220,000 tokens | ~20x Pro |
Claude Code also uses a rolling 5-hour window, added weekly limits in Aug 2025, and has an “extra usage” add-on for when limits are exhausted (similar to Codex credits).
Key Similarities
- Both use rolling 5-hour windows as the primary rate limiting unit
- Both added weekly caps (OpenAI Feb 2026, Anthropic Aug 2025)
- Both offer overage purchase when limits are hit (Codex credits, Claude extra usage)
- Both have tiered pricing where higher plans unlock proportionally more quota
- Both are bundled into their respective subscriptions (no standalone pricing)
Key Differences
| Aspect | Codex | Claude Code |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing unit | Messages/tasks | Tokens |
| Entry plan | $20/mo (Plus) | $20/mo (Pro) |
| Top tier | $200/mo (Pro) | $200/mo (Max 20x) |
| Model | o3-based coding model | Claude Sonnet/Opus |
| Cloud agent | Yes (runs tasks in cloud) | No (local only) |
| CLI | Open-source (codex-cli) | Closed, bundled |
| API access | Separate API pricing | Separate API pricing |
API Pricing (for direct API use, not subscription)
| Model | Input (per 1M tokens) | Output (per 1M tokens) |
|---|---|---|
| codex-mini-latest | $1.50 | $6.00 |
| GPT-5 (Codex backend) | $1.25 | $10.00 |
Codex App (macOS, Feb 2026)
A dedicated macOS app launched February 2, 2026, available to ChatGPT Plus (