AI Coding
Codex Review
OpenAI's coding agent: writes, edits and reviews code from the terminal, your IDE, a desktop app or the cloud.
OpenAI's answer to the agentic coding race, and a serious one: hand it a ticket, go get coffee, come back to a pull request. If you already pay for ChatGPT you already own it. The Pro plans now come in three sizes, so the meter tells you how much you trust it.
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| Best for | ChatGPT subscribers who code, Delegating tickets to cloud agents that open pull requests, Automated code review on GitHub |
|---|---|
| Pricing model | freemium |
| Starting price | $8/mo |
| Free plan | Yes |
| Last verified | October 11, 2026 |
Codex pricing (2026)
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | Quick coding tasks in the Codex desktop app; Smaller GPT-6 Luna model, subject to rollout |
| Go | $8/mo | Lightweight coding tasks in the desktop app; GPT-6 Luna model, subject to rollout |
| Plus | $20/mo | Codex on web, CLI, IDE extension and iOS; GPT-6.1 Sol and cloud tasks; buy credits for more |
| Business | $25/user/mo $20/user/mo billed annually (2+ users) | Larger cloud VMs and add-on credits; SAML SSO and MFA |
| Pro | From $100/mo $100, $200 or $500/mo | Much higher limits; no five-hour cap currently; Ultrafast mode on the $500 plan |
| Enterprise & Edu | Custom | Priority processing, SCIM, EKM and RBAC; Compliance API, retention and residency controls |
| API key | Pay per token e.g. gpt-6.1-sol $2 in / $10 out per 1M tokens | CLI, SDK and IDE use billed at API rates; No cloud features |
Plus includes roughly 15-160 GPT-6.1 Sol local messages per five hours (OpenAI's estimate); cloud tasks use more, and weekly caps can apply. Extra usage is bought as credits. After DevDay (Sept 29, 2026), OpenAI added a $500/mo Pro tier and cut the $200 Pro plan's Codex and Work allowance from 20x to 10x Plus; existing $200 subscribers keep the old limits for a transition period. UNCONFIRMED: the reported 25x-Plus allowance for Pro $500 and 5x for Pro $100 are from secondary sources; OpenAI's Codex pricing page lists the tiers without multipliers.
Is Codex free?
Partly. OpenAI lists Codex on the free ChatGPT plan for quick coding tasks with a smaller model in the desktop app, subject to rollout. Full Codex in the CLI, IDE and cloud starts with ChatGPT Plus at $20/mo, or you can pay per token with an API key.
Prices in USD, last checked October 11, 2026. Vendors change plans often, so confirm on the official Codex pricing page.
What Codex does
- Open-source Codex CLI for the terminal
- IDE extension for VS Code and forks
- Cloud tasks that run in parallel sandboxes
- GitHub code review
- GPT-6.1 Sol model, with Ultrafast mode on Pro $500
Why the Overlord approves
- Included in every paid ChatGPT plan
- Strong at multi-file tasks and code review
- CLI is open source and works with an API key
Where it disappoints
- Usage limits are estimates and shift with each plan change
- The $200 Pro plan's Codex allowance was halved for new subscribers
- Free and Go access is limited to a smaller model in the desktop app
Codex alternatives
Not convinced? These rival weapons compete for the same throne:
Claude Code
AI CodingAnthropic's agentic coding tool that reads your codebase, edits files and runs commands from terminal, IDE, desktop or web.
Cursor
AI CodingAI-first code editor (a VS Code fork) with agents, codebase-aware chat and fast autocomplete.
GitHub Copilot
AI CodingGitHub's AI pair programmer: completions, chat and coding agents across editors and GitHub itself.
Lovable
AI CodingAI app builder that turns plain-English descriptions into polished full-stack web apps.
See all 8 Codex alternatives →
Codex head-to-heads
Questions the Humans Keep Asking
Is Codex free?
Partly. OpenAI lists Codex on the free ChatGPT plan for quick coding tasks with a smaller model in the desktop app, subject to rollout. Full Codex in the CLI, IDE and cloud starts with ChatGPT Plus at $20/mo, or you can pay per token with an API key.
How much does Codex cost?
Codex plans: Go $8/mo; Plus $20/mo; Business $25/user/mo; Pro From $100/mo; Enterprise & Edu Custom; API key Pay per token. Plus includes roughly 15-160 GPT-6.1 Sol local messages per five hours (OpenAI's estimate); cloud tasks use more, and weekly caps can apply. Extra usage is bought as credits. After DevDay (Sept 29, 2026), OpenAI added a $500/mo Pro tier and cut the $200 Pro plan's Codex and Work allowance from 20x to 10x Plus; existing $200 subscribers keep the old limits for a transition period. UNCONFIRMED: the reported 25x-Plus allowance for Pro $500 and 5x for Pro $100 are from secondary sources; OpenAI's Codex pricing page lists the tiers without multipliers.