OpenAI Codex — Not a product you buy — Codex is included in every ChatGPT plan from Free to Enterprise, and its real price is the plan tier that sets how much of it you get.
Short answer: OpenAI Codex, the company’s coding agent, has no price of its own: it is included in ChatGPT Free, Go, Plus, Pro, Business, Edu and Enterprise, and shares usage limits with ChatGPT Work. On the individual side that means limited Codex access on Free, lightweight tasks on Go at $8 a month, a few focused sessions a week on Plus at $20 — which also unlocks Codex on the web, in the CLI, in the IDE extension and on iOS — and expanded sessions on Pro from $100 with $100, $200 and $500 tiers. Business seats are $20 a month annually ($25 monthly) or $100 for a premium seat ($125 monthly) with five times the usage. OpenAI’s pricing page warns that API token prices are separate and should not be used to estimate what a subscription includes.
On this page
Verdict at a glance
Overall rating: 4.0/5 ★★★★☆
Standout: Codex ships on the web, in a CLI, as an IDE extension and on iOS, with cloud-based automatic code review, and is included in a $20 Plus plan that also covers everything else ChatGPT does — the cheapest way to get a frontier coding agent and a general assistant on one bill.
Watch out: The pricing page says usage on Free and Go is limited and that Plus covers ‘a few focused coding sessions each week’. Anyone coding all day will land on Pro at $100 to $500 a month or a $100 premium Business seat, and OpenAI explicitly says not to estimate included usage from API token prices.
Codex is OpenAI’s agentic coding product — an agent that reads a repository, plans, edits, runs tests and opens pull requests — and OpenAI has chosen to price it as a feature of ChatGPT rather than as a product. That decision shapes the whole evaluation. The official pricing page states that ChatGPT Work and Codex are included in every plan and share usage, then lays out what each tier buys: Free gives GPT-6 Luna at standard speed in the desktop app, subject to rollout; Go at $8 a month is positioned for lightweight coding tasks; Plus at $20 unlocks Codex on the web, in the CLI, in the IDE extension and on iOS, plus cloud-based integrations such as automatic code review, and is described as enough to power a few focused coding sessions each week; Pro starts at $100 with plans at $100, $200 and $500 and adds longer sessions and, on the $500 tier, Astra Ultrafast access. For teams, Business seats at $20 annually ($25 monthly) or $100 for premium ($125 monthly) include all ChatGPT, ChatGPT Work and Codex features. The comparison that matters is with the tools that are sold on their own: Cursor at $20 a month for Pro and $40 per user for Teams, GitHub Copilot at $10 for Pro, $39 for Pro+ and $100 for Max with a matching credit allowance, and Claude Code, which Anthropic bundles the same way into Claude Pro at $17 to $20 and Max from $100. On price alone Codex on Plus is the best value of the group because the $20 also buys a general assistant. On capacity the picture is fuzzier: ‘a few focused sessions a week’ is not a number, and OpenAI’s own warning that API token rates are the wrong yardstick means a heavy user cannot compute the cost of Codex in advance the way they can with Copilot’s credit ledger. Four stars for a very capable agent at an unbeatable bundled price, held back by usage limits described in adjectives.
Quick facts
| Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| Ideal team | Developers already on ChatGPT who want an agent in the CLI, IDE and cloud |
| Learning curve | Low — natural-language tasks against a repo |
| Setup time | Minutes with a ChatGPT login |
| Free trial | ChatGPT Free includes limited Codex |
| Free tier | ⭐ Limited, on GPT-6 Luna in the desktop app |
| Entry | $8/mo ChatGPT Go (lightweight tasks); $20 Plus for CLI, IDE, web and iOS |
| Heavy use | ⚠️ Pro $100–$500/mo or $100 premium Business seat |
| Usage | ⚠️ Shared with ChatGPT Work; described, not quantified |
Overview
Codex is the coding agent inside ChatGPT. It runs in four places — the ChatGPT web app, a command-line tool, an IDE extension and the iOS app — and can work locally on a machine or in OpenAI’s cloud, where it also performs automatic code review on pull requests. Because it is a feature of ChatGPT rather than a separate subscription, the official pricing page frames the question as which ChatGPT plan you are on, and notes that ChatGPT Work — OpenAI’s desktop agent for non-coding tasks — draws on the same usage allowance.
The individual tiers map to how much coding you do. Free ($0) includes GPT-6 Luna at standard speed in the desktop app, subject to rollout, with Codex access described as limited. Go ($8 a month) is ‘for lightweight coding tasks’. Plus ($20 a month) is the first tier that unlocks Codex everywhere — web, CLI, IDE extension and iOS — together with the cloud integrations, and OpenAI describes it as powering ‘a few focused coding sessions each week’. Pro starts at $100 a month with plans at $100, $200 and $500, adds longer Codex and ChatGPT Work sessions and, on the $500 plan, Astra Ultrafast access. The page notes that GPT-5.5 is retiring from ChatGPT, ChatGPT Work and Codex, and that model guidance for GPT-6.1 Sol applies.
For organisations, Codex comes with ChatGPT Business and Enterprise. A Business standard seat is $20 a month billed annually or $25 monthly; a premium seat is $100 annually or $125 monthly with five times the usage and no five-hour limit, and a workspace can mix both. Enterprise is quoted and can be bought on credits or tokens. The page is explicit on one point that trips people up: API token prices are separate from subscription usage and should not be used to estimate how many tasks a plan includes. That leaves the comparison with tools that do publish a ledger — GitHub Copilot’s $10, $39 and $100 plans each carry a stated monthly credit allowance ($15, $70 and $200 of total credits including flex), and Cursor sells Pro at $20 and Teams at $40 per user with Pro+ and Ultra tiers above — as the honest way to judge whether Codex’s bundled price is also the cheaper one for your volume.
Key features
- Included in every ChatGPT plan — ⭐ Free to Enterprise, no separate subscription
- Four surfaces on Plus and above — web, CLI, IDE extension, iOS
- Cloud tasks and automatic code review — on Plus and above
- Shared usage — ⚠️ Codex and ChatGPT Work draw on one allowance
- Free tier — GPT-6 Luna at standard speed in the desktop app, subject to rollout
- Pro tiers — $100, $200, $500; Astra Ultrafast on the top plan
- Business seats — $20/$25 standard, $100/$125 premium with 5x usage
- Enterprise — credit- or token-based purchasing
- Model line-up — GPT-6 family; GPT-5.5 retiring
- No API-based estimate — ⚠️ OpenAI says token prices do not predict included tasks
Pricing (as of 2026-09-29)
Model: bundled into ChatGPT subscription tiers; no standalone price · Free tier: ⭐ Limited Codex on ChatGPT Free · Entry paid: ChatGPT Go $8/mo
| Plan | Price | Includes |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Limited Codex · GPT-6 Luna at standard speed in the desktop app, subject to rollout |
| Go | $8/mo | Lightweight coding tasks · same model access as Free |
| Plus | $20/mo | ⭐ Codex on web, CLI, IDE extension and iOS · cloud integrations and automatic code review · ‘a few focused sessions each week’ |
| Pro | From $100/mo | Plans at $100, $200 and $500 · longer Codex and ChatGPT Work sessions · Astra Ultrafast on $500 |
| Business | $20/seat/mo annual · $25 monthly | Premium seat $100 annual · $125 monthly with 5x usage · all ChatGPT, Work and Codex features |
⚠️ Usage is described qualitatively — ‘limited’, ‘lightweight’, ‘a few focused coding sessions each week’, ‘longer sessions’ — and OpenAI states that API token prices must not be used to estimate what a plan includes. Budget by trying a tier, not by arithmetic.
⚠️ Codex and ChatGPT Work share one usage pool, so heavy use of the desktop agent for non-coding tasks reduces what is left for coding.
⭐ Plus at $20 is the first tier with the CLI, IDE extension and cloud tasks, and it also includes the full ChatGPT assistant — cheaper than Cursor Pro ($20) plus a separate chat subscription.
The page notes GPT-5.5 is retiring from ChatGPT, ChatGPT Work and Codex, with GPT-6.1 Sol the referenced model for coding guidance.
Ratings breakdown
| Criterion | Score | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Ease Of Use | 4.5/5 | Log in with ChatGPT and start in the CLI or IDE |
| Features | 4.5/5 | Local, cloud, code review and iOS from one agent |
| Value | 4.5/5 | ⭐ Bundled with ChatGPT; ⚠️ limits are unquantified |
| Support | 3.5/5 | Help centre; priority support only on Enterprise |
Pros
- Included in every ChatGPT plan, from Free upward
- Plus at $20 covers web, CLI, IDE extension, iOS and cloud tasks
- Automatic code review in the cloud on Plus and above
- One bill for a coding agent and a general assistant
- Business seats mix $20 standard and $100 premium
- Enterprise can buy on credits or tokens
- Runs on the current GPT-6 model family
Cons
- ⚠️ Usage limits are described in words, not numbers
- ⚠️ Shares its allowance with ChatGPT Work
- ⚠️ Heavy use means Pro at $100–$500 per person
- No standalone Codex subscription for developers who do not want ChatGPT
- OpenAI says API prices cannot be used to estimate included usage
- Free tier access is ‘subject to rollout’
Who it’s for
- Developers already paying for ChatGPT Plus who want a coding agent at no extra cost
- Teams on ChatGPT Business who can allocate premium seats to heavy coders
- Solo builders who value CLI, IDE and cloud review from one login
- Anyone comparing bundled value against Cursor or Copilot
Who it’s not for
- Developers who need a published usage ledger — GitHub Copilot’s credit allowances are explicit
- Teams that want a coding tool without a ChatGPT subscription
- All-day agent users unwilling to pay $100+ a month per person
- Shops standardised on a different editor-native tool such as Cursor
Best use cases
- Delegating a bug fix from the CLI while continuing to work
- Running Codex in the cloud to open a pull request with tests
- Automatic review comments on every PR in a connected repo
- Coding from the iOS app on a Plus plan
- Giving a five-person team Business seats with one premium seat for the lead engineer
Integrations
Codex works inside ChatGPT’s own surfaces — web, desktop, CLI, IDE extension and iOS — and connects to GitHub for cloud tasks and automatic code review. It sits alongside OpenAI‘s API, which is a separate product with its own billing, and competes with editor-native tools such as Cursor, GitHub Copilot and Claude Code. Projects it generates commonly deploy to Vercel with a Supabase backend.
How it compares
| OpenAI Codex | Cursor | GitHub Copilot | Claude Code | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entry paid | $8/mo (ChatGPT Go) | $20/mo (Pro) | $10/mo (Pro) | $17/mo annual · $20 monthly (Claude Pro) |
| Free tier | ⭐ Yes, limited | Hobby, limited agent requests | Yes, limited chat and agent | Yes (Claude Free) |
| Full-featured tier | $20/mo Plus (CLI, IDE, web, iOS) | $20/mo Pro; Pro+ and Ultra above | $39/mo Pro+; $100/mo Max | From $100/mo Max (5x or 20x) |
| Team seat | $20 annual · $25 monthly; premium $100/$125 | $40 per user (Teams) | Business and Enterprise plans | $20 annual · $25 monthly; premium $100/$125 |
| Usage transparency | ⚠️ Described, not quantified | Limits by tier | ⭐ Credits: $10 base on Pro, $39 Pro+, $100 Max | Multiples of Pro |
| Bundled with | ⭐ Full ChatGPT | Editor only | GitHub | Full Claude |
| Best fit | ChatGPT users wanting an agent everywhere | Editor-first workflow | Ledger-priced usage inside GitHub | Claude users; terminal-first |
Codex figures from OpenAI’s Codex pricing documentation and business pricing page, Cursor from cursor.com/pricing, GitHub Copilot from github.com/features/copilot/plans and Claude Code from claude.com/pricing, all read on 2026-09-29. Copilot’s plans carry stated monthly credit allowances; Cursor’s Pro+ and Ultra prices are on the vendor page behind a tier selector and are not quoted here.
Alternatives
Cursor is the editor-native choice at $20 a month for Pro and $40 per user for Teams, with a free Hobby tier. GitHub Copilot is the most transparent on usage, with Free, Pro at $10, Pro+ at $39 and Max at $100 each carrying a published credit allowance. Claude Code is bundled into Claude Pro ($17 annual, $20 monthly) and Max (from $100) exactly as Codex is bundled into ChatGPT. Autonomous alternatives include Devin, and the open-source Cline and Aider run on your own API keys. For OpenAI’s full price list, see the OpenAI review.
Recent changes
As of 2026-09-29, OpenAI’s Codex pricing documentation states that ChatGPT Work and Codex are included in ChatGPT Free, Go, Plus, Pro, Business, Edu and Enterprise and share usage limits. Individual tiers are Free at $0 with GPT-6 Luna at standard speed in the desktop app subject to rollout, Go at $8 a month for lightweight coding tasks, Plus at $20 a month with Codex on the web, in the CLI, in the IDE extension and on iOS plus cloud integrations such as automatic code review, and Pro from $100 a month with plans at $100, $200 and $500 and Astra Ultrafast access on the $500 tier. Business seats are $20 a month billed annually or $25 monthly for standard and $100 annually or $125 monthly for premium. The page notes that GPT-5.5 is retiring from ChatGPT, ChatGPT Work and Codex and that API token prices are separate from subscription usage and should not be used to estimate included tasks.
Frequently asked questions
How much does OpenAI Codex cost?
Nothing on its own — Codex is included in every ChatGPT plan. Free has limited access, Go is $8 a month for lightweight tasks, Plus is $20 and unlocks the CLI, IDE extension, web and iOS, Pro runs $100 to $500, and Business seats are $20 or $100 a month billed annually ($25 or $125 monthly).
Which ChatGPT plan do I need for Codex in the terminal and IDE?
Plus at $20 a month. OpenAI’s pricing page lists Codex on the web, in the CLI, in the IDE extension and on iOS, plus cloud integrations like automatic code review, as Plus features; Free and Go are limited to lighter use in the desktop app.
How much Codex usage does ChatGPT Plus include?
OpenAI describes it as enough for ‘a few focused coding sessions each week’ and does not publish a task count. It also states that API token prices are separate and should not be used to estimate included usage. Codex shares its allowance with ChatGPT Work.
Is Codex cheaper than Cursor or GitHub Copilot?
On list price Codex on Plus ($20) matches Cursor Pro ($20) and costs more than Copilot Pro ($10), but the $20 also includes the full ChatGPT assistant. Copilot is the only one of the three that publishes a monthly credit allowance ($10 base on Pro, $39 on Pro+, $100 on Max), which makes its usage easier to budget.
Can a team buy Codex for developers only?
Not separately. Teams use ChatGPT Business — $20 per standard seat billed annually or $25 monthly, $100 per premium seat with five times the usage — and every seat includes ChatGPT, ChatGPT Work and Codex. Enterprise can purchase on credits or tokens.
Does Codex use the same models as the API?
It runs on the GPT-6 family inside ChatGPT, with GPT-5.5 retiring and GPT-6.1 Sol referenced for coding guidance. The API is a separate product with its own per-token pricing, covered in the OpenAI review.
Sources
- OpenAI – Codex pricing documentation (read 2026-09-29)
- OpenAI – business pricing for ChatGPT Business and Enterprise (read 2026-09-29)
- OpenAI – Codex product page (read 2026-09-29)
Compiled from public sources; last verified 2026-09-29. Pricing is subject to change — verify with the vendor. Ratings reflect editorial opinion based on documented capabilities, published pricing, and aggregated user reviews. DigiJaws does not accept payment for review placement or rating.
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OpenAI Codex Review (4/5): Pricing & Verdict (2026). DigiJaws, 2026. https://digijaws.com/reviews/codex-review/