OpenAI · ChatGPT, Codex & API
OpenAI runs two different clocks. ChatGPT subscriptions refill on rolling windows anchored to your own usage; the API bills on a monthly cycle anchored to UTC. This page pins down every reset — the window lengths, the exact times, the timezones. Latest change, October 29, 2026: the planned Pro 200 allowance cut has been cancelled, and Pro-tier limits were doubled instead.
Update · October 29, 2026
OpenAI has cancelled the planned ChatGPT Pro 200 usage cut. Effective October 29, 2026, usage limits are doubled for Pro 100, Pro 200, Pro 500 and Business Premium. Pro 200 keeps its 20× Plus allowance for ChatGPT Work and Codex and 200 GPT-6 Pro messages per week, with no five-hour cap — it does not drop to 10× on October 30.
The earlier plan — 20× through October 29, then 10× from October 30 — is superseded. OpenAI Codex lead Tibo Sottiaux announced the reversal on X on October 29, 2026, after user feedback; it was reported by BleepingComputer and The Decoder. OpenAI still does not publish exact numerical limits, so this page states ratios only.
The most common source of confusion: a ChatGPT subscription and an OpenAI API account look like one product, but their limits reset on completely different logic. Keep them separate.
Plus, Pro, Business — signed in with your ChatGPT account, including ChatGPT Work and Codex.
platform.openai.com — pay-as-you-go per token, billed to your organization, independent of any ChatGPT plan.
Dated OpenAI changes and the recurring monthly reset, tracked live in your browser. Account-specific windows (your weekly Codex reset, your rolling chat window) can't be counted down publicly — use the calculator below or your own Usage page for those.
20× through Oct 29 → 10× from Oct 30 — superseded. OpenAI cancelled the cut and doubled usage limits for Pro 100, Pro 200, Pro 500 and Business Premium instead, effective October 29, 2026. Pro 200 keeps its 20× Plus allowance for Work and Codex and 200 GPT-6 Pro messages per week, with no five-hour cap.
The monthly usage period rolls over at 00:00 UTC on the 1st. That is 08:00 in Beijing, 09:00 in Tokyo, and 19:00 or 20:00 the previous evening in US Eastern, depending on daylight saving time.
A rolling window starts with your first message after the previous window expired — so your reset time is personal. Enter when your current window started (roughly, when you began the session that hit the limit) and pick the window type.
Windows and caps as published by OpenAI in October 2026. Caps change often and vary by model — your Usage page always wins over any public table, including this one.
| Limit | Size | Reset rule | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT chat messages Plus, flagship model | 160 / 3 hThen fallback to a mini model until the window resets | Messages stop counting 3 hours after they were sentAnchored to your usage, not to the clock | Rolling |
| ChatGPT chat messages Free | Limited / 5 hSmall flagship allowance inside a 5-hour window | Window refills 5 hours after it opensLimit notice states when you can continue | Rolling |
| File uploads Plus | 80 / 3 hSeparate from the message cap; may be lowered at peak times | Uploads stop counting 3 hours after they were made | Rolling |
| ChatGPT Work & Codex Plus, Business | 5 h windowAllowance is a share of compute, not a fixed message count; Fast mode draws it down faster | Window starts at your first Work/Codex message after the previous window endsRestored Aug 25, 2026 after a temporary removal in July | Rolling |
| ChatGPT Work & Codex All paid plans | Weekly limitPro 200: 20× Plus kept — planned drop to 10× on Oct 30 cancelled Oct 29, 2026; limits doubled instead | Refills at your account's assigned weekly reset timeShown in Settings → Usage; banked or purchased resets can move it earlier | Per account |
| ChatGPT Work & Codex Pro 100 / 200 / 500 | Weekly onlyNo 5-hour limit applies on Pro tiers; limits doubled effective Oct 29, 2026. Pro 200 includes 200 GPT-6 Pro messages/week | The weekly reset is the only clock that gates Pro usage | Per account |
| API rate limits All usage tiers | RPM · TPMSet by usage tier and model; rise with cumulative spend | Measured over rolling 60-second windowsA 429 is a throttle that clears in seconds to minutes | Rolling |
| API billing & monthly usage Platform / Enterprise / Edu | Monthly cyclePay-as-you-go per token; monthly limits on Enterprise/Edu workspaces | Period resets on the 1st of the month at 00:00 UTC by defaultA workspace can instead align its usage period to its billing cycle | Fixed · UTC |
No public page — this one included — can read your account. These are the official places that show your real remaining allowance and your personal reset times.
The source of truth for ChatGPT Work and Codex: remaining allowance, the 5-hour and weekly meters, each window's reset time, credits, and any banked resets with their expiry dates.
Inside an active Codex CLI session, /status shows an immediate snapshot of your plan limits and reset countdowns — the fastest check while you are mid-task.
Token usage and cost for the current and past billing cycles, by project and model, with CSV export for monthly reporting and invoice reconciliation.
help.openai.comOpenAI's own help article on reading token usage, plus the companion guide for Enterprise and Edu admins on monthly usage limits and overages.
The questions people actually search for, answered with the rule — not a guess.
On a rolling window, not at midnight. OpenAI currently lists up to 160 messages every 3 hours on the flagship chat model for Plus, and capacity returns as your earlier messages age past 3 hours. Hit the cap and chats fall back to a smaller mini model until the window resets.
No. ChatGPT subscription limits are rolling windows tied to your activity, so there is no universal midnight reset. The monthly clock belongs to the API side: API usage bills on a monthly cycle, and ChatGPT Enterprise/Edu monthly usage limits reset on the 1st of the month at 00:00 UTC by default — which is the previous evening in the Americas.
The window starts with your first Work or Codex message after the previous window ends — it is not aligned to the clock, so two users' windows start at different times. It resets 5 hours after it started. This applies to Plus and Business; Pro tiers currently have no 5-hour limit in Work and Codex.
At a time assigned to your account — there is no shared weekly reset moment. Your exact time sits next to the Weekly limit meter in Settings → Usage, or run /status in the Codex CLI. A banked reset or a purchased instant reset can bring the date forward.
Nothing drops — the cut was cancelled. As of the October 29, 2026 update, eligible legacy Pro 200 users keep 20× Plus usage for ChatGPT Work and Codex; there is no drop to 10× on October 30. Pro 200 also keeps 200 GPT-6 Pro messages per week with no five-hour cap, and usage limits were doubled across Pro 100, Pro 200, Pro 500 and Business Premium effective October 29.
The reversal was announced on October 29, 2026 by OpenAI Codex lead Tibo Sottiaux on X, after user feedback against the planned reduction. Rather than cutting Pro 200 from 20× to 10×, OpenAI doubled usage limits for the Pro tiers and Business Premium instead. The change was reported by BleepingComputer and The Decoder. OpenAI does not publish exact numerical limits, so allowances here are stated as ratios to Plus.
No — two separate systems. Your subscription covers usage inside ChatGPT, Work, and Codex when you sign in with your account. API usage is pay-as-you-go per token, and Codex run with an API key bills at API rates: it never draws from your ChatGPT allowance, and ChatGPT credits cannot pay for it.
For Work and Codex, ChatGPT Settings → Usage shows both meters with their reset times; /status in the Codex CLI shows the same in-session. For API spend, the platform Usage dashboard reports the current monthly cycle. For plain chat caps, the reset time appears in the limit notice itself when you hit the cap.
No. Allowances never accumulate. A rolling window just stops counting messages once they are more than 3 hours (chat) or 5 hours (Work/Codex) old, and the weekly allowance refills at your account's reset. Unused capacity in one window adds nothing to the next.
Some accounts hold banked resets — saved full resets that restore the 5-hour and weekly allowance immediately; Settings → Usage shows how many you have and when they expire. Eligible Plus and Pro personal accounts may also see a paid instant weekly reset, which pulls next week's allowance forward instead of waiting.