What is OpenAI Codex?

Codex is OpenAI's AI coding agent that plans and builds features, refactors code, reviews pull requests and runs tasks in parallel. It runs as a desktop app (macOS and Windows), a CLI, an IDE extension, on the web in ChatGPT, and on mobile.

Who it's for

OpenAI aims it at software engineers and development teams, and its page shows customer quotes from engineering teams. It is sold as part of ChatGPT plans, so you need a ChatGPT account (or an API key) to use it.

Pros & cons

Strengths

OpenAI lists several surfaces that share one ChatGPT sign-in: the Codex app, CLI, IDE extension, web and mobile, so work can be resumed from another device.
OpenAI says Codex runs many agents in parallel and uses reusable cloud environments per repo, so tasks keep running after you close your laptop.
The Codex page lists automatic pull request review that flags findings and answers questions about changes.
The Codex page shows plugins for GitHub, Slack, Google Calendar, Gmail, Google Drive, Figma, Notion and Supabase.
The Codex app description lists built-in worktrees, scheduled Automations with a review queue, and skills, and says agents are sandboxed by default and must ask permission for elevated actions such as network access.
OpenAI's help pages say that after you reach your plan's included Codex usage you can buy credits without changing plans, and that included usage is used first.

Limitations

Codex usage is metered: OpenAI's help page says limits vary by plan and the page itself gives no numbers, and weekly limits also apply, so the real allowance depends on task size and where the work runs. Confirm on the live pricing page.
Free and Go plans include Codex but not Codex cloud, and credit purchases are limited to a select group on those plans, per OpenAI's help pages. Enterprise cloud access is off by default unless the workspace enables it.
Credits expire 12 months after purchase, are generally non-refundable, and cannot be transferred, resold or gifted, per OpenAI's credits help article.
On personal Free, Plus and Pro plans, OpenAI says content is used to improve models by default (Codex tasks included) unless you opt out in Data controls or the Privacy Portal; a separate Codex 'Include environments' setting is independent of that choice.
Reported by a third-party source (Morph, Oct 2026): the Pro tier above $100 has changed allowances, and 5-hour windows have been suspended and restored for some plans, so limits have moved more than once in 2026. OpenAI's own pricing page could not be read.

Plans and pricing

Free: $0. Codex is included when signed in with ChatGPT, per OpenAI's help page; no Codex cloud and limits are not quantified. Reported: desktop app only.
Go: Reported: $8 a month. Codex included, no Codex cloud, limits not quantified, credit top-ups limited. Price comes from a third-party source, not an OpenAI page I could read.
Plus: $20 a month. Codex usage for focused weekly sessions, per the Codex page. Eligible for Codex cloud and credit purchases. Reported: a 5-hour usage window applies.
Pro: $100 a month. Higher limits for full workdays across multiple projects; OpenAI describes it as 5x Plus usage (April 2026 announcement). Reported: $200 and $500 Pro tiers also exist with larger allowances.
Business: $20 per user a month billed annually (2+ seats). Shared workspace and admin controls; the Codex page says usage is unlimited subject to abuse guardrails. Reported: $25 per user monthly billing and a $100 per user Premium tier.
Enterprise / Edu: Custom pricing. Admins set workspace budgets and per-user limits; some token-based agreements bill Codex in USD instead of credits. Codex cloud off by default unless enabled.

The $20 Plus, $100 Pro and $20 per user annual Business prices were read from OpenAI's Codex page; Go, the higher Pro tiers and monthly Business pricing are Reported from a third-party page (Morph, updated Oct 22, 2026) because OpenAI's pricing page redirected and could not be read. Prices are in US dollars. Confirm on the live pricing page.

Details checked October 2026 against the vendor's own pages. Prices and limits change, so confirm before you buy. Official pricing page ↗

Sources

This profile was compiled from these public pages. We have not run hands-on tests.

Summary

OpenAI Codex — at a glance

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OpenAI Codex

At a glance