ChatGPT

What ChatGPT actually meters

ChatGPT meters credits, and spends them two ways.

Fixed rates cover chat. A GPT-5.6 Sol message costs 10 credits, a GPT-6 Pro message 50, agent mode 30, a deep research task 50, an image 5, and voice 1.25 credits per minute. Instant chat costs nothing, raising reasoning effort doesn't change the 10-credit rate, and a message auto-routed to a mini model is free.

Token rates cover agentic work. ChatGPT Work, Codex, Workspace Agents and the Excel add-in bill input, cached input and output at 100, 10 and 500 credits per million on Sol, and 250, 25 and 1,250 on GPT-6 Astra. Fast mode on Astra charges 2.5x standard.

What OpenAI never states is what a credit costs. Two of its own figures pin it down anyway. An August 2026 promotion called 2,500 workspace credits "$100 worth", putting a credit at $0.04, and the docs price desktop voice at both 1.25 credits per minute and $0.05 per minute, giving the same $0.04. At that rate the credit table converts exactly to OpenAI's API rate card: 100 credits per million Sol input tokens is $4.00, the published API price. The credit is neither discount nor markup. It's the API rate in another unit, with the conversion left to the buyer.

How credits work

Credits are pay-as-you-go top-ups, not an allowance. Included plan usage is consumed first, and only then does the balance draw down.

Expiry is 12 months from purchase on personal plans and Business, with unused credits lost and no rollover. Enterprise and Edu terms sit in the Order Form instead, and promotional credits can expire sooner.

Pooling depends on the plan. Business and Enterprise credits sit in one shared workspace balance every seat type draws from after its included usage runs out. Personal credits are per account, and one balance covers Codex, ChatGPT Work and Excel alike. That balance is separate from the ChatGPT wallet, so redeeming a gift card adds no usage credits.

Automatic reload fires when the balance drops below a minimum you set and buys only enough to reach your target, capped by an optional monthly recharge limit. Leave that field blank on Business and reload purchases are uncapped. Balances can go negative when a task outlives the credits that started it. Credits are non-refundable, non-transferable and carry no cash value.

What happens when you hit the limit

ChatGPT blocks rather than bills, on every plan, unless somebody has opted into more spend.

On Plus and Pro, hitting a limit mid-turn lets that turn finish, then offers credits rather than an upgrade. On Business, users see a banner and the feature stops until the pool has credits. On Enterprise and Edu, advanced features pause once the pool empties unless an owner has enabled overages.

Overage controls are unusually explicit. Enterprise owners set a hard overage limit, and zero genuinely prevents spend beyond the commitment. The docs also warn that "No limit" is not a zero-spend cap, the kind of sentence most vendors leave out. Alerts notify at thresholds and never stop spending on their own.