OpenAI will bill the use of ChatGPT and Codex in the Plus, Pro, and Business subscriptions from December through a shared quota. Usage will then be counted in tokens, that is, in the text units that a model reads and generates. OpenAI announced the change on a help page on usage limits. At the same time, the agent features from ChatGPT Work are moving into the regular ChatGPT interface.
What changes compared to today?
Until now, OpenAI has measured usage separately in two places. Codex, ChatGPT Work, and ChatGPT for Excel already share a quota including credits, that is, prepaid additional balance; regular chats do not count there. Chat is subject to its own limits per thinking level, that is, depending on how thoroughly the model thinks before answering. If the limit for the Medium or High level is reached, ChatGPT may continue responding with a different model.
One quota instead of two
OpenAI is changing Plus, Pro, and Business from December 2026
Until now
- Chat with its own limits per thinking level
- Codex, Work, and ChatGPT for Excel in a shared quota
- Regular chats do not count there
From December
- Chat and Codex from one quota
- Usage in tokens, depending on model and task
- Instant level does not count
- Remaining amount and next refill under Settings → Usage
OpenAI has not yet stated the size of the quotas or the exact start date
Source: OpenAI Help Center
From December, the separation will be dropped. How much a chat or a Codex task deducts from the shared quota depends on the selected model and on the task: stronger models and demanding tasks consume more. Responses at the Instant level do not draw on the quota. ChatGPT shows the remaining amount and the time at which the quota refills together under Settings → Usage.
Who does the change apply to, and what happens at the limit?
Plus, the Pro tiers, and Business are affected. Free, Go, Enterprise, and Edu do not appear on the help page. OpenAI does not impose any restriction by country, and the three subscriptions can be booked normally in Germany. At the German address, the English text is still what appears for now.
If the shared quota is used up, you wait until the quota refills, switch to a larger subscription, or buy additional credits. OpenAI has not yet published how large the quota will be for each subscription or on which day in December the change begins. The provider expects that most users will not have to wait more often afterwards than they do today.
How should the move be viewed?
Anthropic already bills Claude according to this principle: in the Pro, Max, and Ultra subscriptions, all use of Claude and Claude Code counts toward the same limits. OpenAI is now adopting this model for ChatGPT.
Only on October 29, OpenAI had doubled the quota for Work and Codex in the Pro tiers. What share of that will go to chats after the merger cannot yet be said. For Plus, the change mainly means: a long Codex session and extensive chats at the High level draw on the same supply.
What this means for you
It's best to check under Settings → Usage in November how much of your quota for Work and Codex you use in a typical week. If you do a lot of programming with Codex, you'll then know how much room is likely to remain for chats at the Medium and High levels.
For quick questions, help with wording, and short research, the Instant level, which deducts nothing from the quota, is often enough. Save Medium and High for tasks where the extra consumption is worthwhile. How to formulate prompts so that ChatGPT delivers usable results on the first attempt is shown in the ChatGPT Masterclass on TutKit.
If you are considering switching from Plus to Pro because of Codex, it's best to wait until OpenAI states the size of the shared quotas.
OpenAI updated the help page on the change on October 31, 2026.
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