ChatGPT and Codex will share one usage limit in December: what changes for Plus, Pro and Business
Quick answer
Starting in December, Plus, Pro and Business plans will draw ChatGPT and Codex usage from one shared allowance, measured in tokens, OpenAI says in an updated help article (OpenAI Help Center). Chats with Instant models won’t count against it. Bigger models and harder tasks use more. You’ll see your combined remaining usage and reset times in Settings > Usage.
What changes
- One pool: a long agent session in ChatGPT leaves less for coding in Codex, and the other way around (OpenAI Help Center).
- Instant chat is free of the meter: everyday quick chats don’t draw from the allowance.
- Out of allowance? Wait for the reset, upgrade your plan, or buy credits for eligible features.
- Plans covered: Plus, Pro and Business. OpenAI hasn’t announced the same change for Free, Go, Enterprise or Edu (TechRepublic).
What’s still unknown
- The exact start date in December, and allowance sizes per plan.
- How reset windows will work under the shared pool.
- OpenAI says it “expect[s] most users won’t need to wait for their usage to reset more often than they do now” (OpenAI Help Center). That’s a forecast, not a guarantee.
What to do
- Light ChatGPT user? Probably nothing changes. Instant chats don’t count.
- Heavy Codex or agent user? Open Settings > Usage in early December and watch how fast your pool drains.
- Teams on Business: a code-review run in Codex and a long analysis in ChatGPT now come from the same bucket. Plan for it.
FAQ
- Does this raise the price? No price change was announced. The change is how usage is counted.
- Do Instant chats count? No, per OpenAI.
- When exactly in December? OpenAI hasn’t said yet.