Codex
OpenAI's cloud coding agent that works through tasks in its own sandbox.
Best when the task is specified well enough that you do not need to watch. Async is the whole point.
Wrong forExploratory work where you need to steer every few minutes.
- Best for
- Handing off a well-scoped task and walking away
- Pricing
- Limited free access · Go from $8/mo · full Codex with Plus from $20/moIs Codex free? Full pricing →
Verified facts
- Free tier
- Limited access on the ChatGPT Free tier ($0), no cloud task delegation
- Entry paid plan
- Go, $8/mo (ChatGPT Go): limited Codex access, no cloud task delegation; Plus, $20/mo, is the practical entry point for full Codex with cloud task delegation
- Bills in
- Token-based credit system (input/cached-input/output tokens) as of April 2026, replacing the old per-task model
Verified (42d ago)secondary · source: openai.com
Direct fetch of openai.com/chatgpt/pricing returned HTTP 403; confirmed via 2+ third-party trackers instead. 'Included with ChatGPT Plus/Pro from $20/mo' is accurate but incomplete: Codex also has limited access on Free ($0) and Go ($8/mo), both missing cloud task delegation, so Plus ($20/mo) remains the real practical entry point as the site copy implies. Billing changed in April 2026 from per-task to a token-based credit system; Pro split into Pro 5x ($100/mo) and Pro 20x ($200/mo). A separate uncapped pay-as-you-go path exists via an OpenAI API key at standard per-token rates. Exact usage-cap numbers and a claimed Business-tier PAYG discontinuation date rest on single sources, not independently corroborated. 2026-09-24: the top-line price and entryPaid now start at Go ($8/mo), correcting a listing that named Plus ($20/mo) as the cheapest plan although Go includes limited Codex access.
Price and plan changes
- Price: Included with ChatGPT Plus/Pro from $20/mo to Limited free access · Go from $8/mo · full Codex with Plus from $20/mo, logged (our correction)
- Entry price: $20/mo (ChatGPT Plus), the practical entry... to Go, $8/mo (ChatGPT Go): limited Codex access, no cloud task delegation; Plus, $20/mo, is the practical entry..., logged (our correction)
Head to head
Picked for
What it's actually used for
- Runs asynchronously in a sandbox and opens a pull request when done
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