Quick answer: Eligible ChatGPT Pro and Business subscribers can now claim free OpenAI API credits by linking their subscription to an API organization they own. Pro grants are $100, $200 or $500 per billing period, depending on the paid tier. Business grants are $20 per paid Standard seat or $100 per paid Premium seat, pooled and capped at $500 per monthly workspace billing period.[1][2]
Claim it now: Sign in with the email used for your eligible ChatGPT plan, open ChatGPT Settings → Billing or API Platform → Organization → Billing, select the API organization that should receive the benefit, confirm the link, and then verify the balance in API Platform billing.[1]
Credit amounts at a glance
| Eligible subscription | Full-period API credit |
|---|---|
| ChatGPT Pro $100 tier | $100 |
| ChatGPT Pro $200 tier | $200 |
| ChatGPT Pro $500 tier | $500 |
| ChatGPT Business Standard | $20 per paid seat |
| ChatGPT Business Premium | $100 per paid seat |
| Business monthly workspace maximum | $500 |
OpenAI added the benefit on October 28, 2026. The first grant is prorated for the time left in the current billing period, so a new claimant may initially see less than the full amount in the table.[1][2][3]
For a monthly Business workspace, use this calculation:
Monthly grant = min(
($20 × paid Standard seats) + ($100 × paid Premium seats),
$500
)
For example, five Standard seats and three Premium seats produce a $400 full-period grant. Ten Standard seats and four Premium seats would calculate to $600 before the cap, so the grant is $500.[2]
Who is eligible
You must meet all of these requirements:
- have an active, paid ChatGPT Pro or Business subscription that has been active for at least seven days;
- own the Pro subscription or Business workspace;
- own the API organization that will receive the credits; and
- use the same email address for the ChatGPT account and the API account used for the link.[1]
Free trials and complimentary subscriptions do not qualify. OpenAI also identifies Plus, Go and Free as ineligible plans. ChatGPT Enterprise is not eligible for this benefit.[1]
This is not an automatic entitlement merely because a plan name appears eligible. You must complete the activation flow and confirm that the grant appears in the receiving API organization.[1][2]
How to claim ChatGPT API credits
Option 1: Start in ChatGPT
- Sign in to ChatGPT with the account that owns the eligible subscription.
- For Pro, open Settings → Billing. For Business, open the workspace billing settings or Admin Console.
- Find the API credits benefit and start the claim flow.
- Review the receiving API organization. If more than one eligible organization appears, choose carefully because the grant is organization-specific.
- Confirm activation.
- Open the API Platform billing overview and verify that the credit balance appears.[1]
Option 2: Start in API Platform
- Sign in to API Platform with the same email address used for the eligible ChatGPT subscription.
- Select the API organization you own and want to fund.
- Open Organization → Billing and find the API credit benefit.
- Select the eligible Pro subscription or Business workspace.
- Confirm the link and verify the balance in the billing overview.[1]
Only one receiving organization gets the grant. If you need to change the linked organization later, OpenAI says to contact support.[1]
What the free credits cover
The grant pays for API Platform usage billed to the linked organization. OpenAI lists:
- Responses API usage for text, code and image understanding;[1]
- Agents API usage, including OpenAI-hosted sandbox charges;[1]
- Decisions API usage;[1]
- GPT-Live and Realtime API voice interactions;[1]
- Images API generation and editing; and[1]
- built-in tools and associated usage or storage charges, including web search, file search and Code Interpreter.[1]
The credits do not increase ChatGPT message limits or signed-in Codex limits. OpenAI also says Codex usage through API keys is not supported by this benefit.[1]
What happens when the credits run out
Free grant credits are used before purchased API credits. If purchased credits remain, API use continues against that paid balance. If no balance remains, requests fail with HTTP 429 and the error code credit_balance_exhausted until you add paid credits or the next eligible grant arrives.[1]
You do not need an API payment method while active free credits remain. If uninterrupted production use matters, add paid credits or configure Auto Recharge rather than assuming the free balance will always cover demand.[1]
Expiry and renewal rules
Unused monthly credits expire at the end of the billing cycle and do not roll over. After the one-time link is activated, future grants arrive automatically when the eligible subscription renews, while OpenAI continues offering the benefit and the subscription remains eligible.[1]
Business workspaces billed annually upfront receive the full year’s grant in one issuance, capped at $6,000 for the annual billing cycle. That grant expires when the annual cycle ends. A first annual grant can also be prorated for the remaining portion of the current cycle.[1][2]
Upgrading an eligible Pro tier or adding eligible Business seats during a billing period can create additional prorated credit, subject to the applicable cap. Seat reductions affect the next period, and simply reassigning a paid seat does not create another grant.[1]
A safe five-minute setup checklist
- [ ] Confirm the subscription has been paid and active for at least seven days.[1]
- [ ] Confirm you are an owner in both ChatGPT and the destination API organization.[1]
- [ ] Confirm both accounts use the same email address.[1]
- [ ] Choose the correct API organization before approving the link.[1]
- [ ] Record the amount and expiry date shown before confirmation.[1]
- [ ] Verify the grant in API Platform billing after activation.[1]
- [ ] Create or select a project inside that organization for the intended application.
- [ ] Use a project API key; never paste a secret key into a public repository or client-side website.
- [ ] Set a monthly project budget or alert appropriate to the application.
- [ ] Check the Usage dashboard after a test request.[1]
The grant does not raise API rate limits. Organization and model limits continue to apply, so check the organization limits page before planning a high-volume launch.[1]
How much API use can the credit buy?
There is no universal request count because cost depends on the model, input tokens, cached input, output tokens and any paid tools or hosted compute used. At standard rates, OpenAI lists GPT-6.1 Terra at $1 per million input tokens, $0.05 per million cache-read tokens and $5 per million output tokens; GPT-6 Luna is listed at $0.10 input, $0.01 cached input and $0.50 output per million tokens.[4]
Use this estimate before a test:
Estimated text cost =
(input tokens ÷ 1,000,000 × input rate)
+ (cached input tokens ÷ 1,000,000 × cached-input rate)
+ (output tokens ÷ 1,000,000 × output rate)
+ tool, storage or hosted-compute charges
Do not treat a token-only estimate as the final cost for an agent that also uses web search, file storage, Code Interpreter, voice, images or hosted sandboxes. Track actual spend in the Usage dashboard.[1]
Troubleshooting: benefit not visible
Work through these checks in order:
- Wait until day seven. The paid subscription must be at least seven days old.[1]
- Check the plan. Plus, Go, Free, Enterprise, trials and complimentary subscriptions are not listed as eligible.[1]
- Check ownership. A regular workspace member cannot link the benefit; the claimant must own both sides.[1]
- Match the email. Use the same email for the eligible ChatGPT account and API account.[1]
- Select the right organization. The balance applies only to the linked organization and its project keys.[1]
- Expect proration. A smaller first grant may be correct if the billing period is already underway.[1][2]
- Verify rather than assume. Open the API Platform billing overview and check the actual grant and expiry.[1]
If the organization was linked incorrectly, contact OpenAI support rather than creating duplicate accounts or exposing an API key while troubleshooting.[1]
Frequently asked questions
Do ChatGPT Plus users get these free API credits?
No. OpenAI identifies eligible paid Pro and Business subscriptions for this benefit and lists Plus as ineligible.[1]
Is the grant really $500 for every Business workspace?
No. Business Standard contributes $20 per paid seat and Business Premium contributes $100 per paid seat. The monthly workspace total is capped at $500, but smaller workspaces can receive less.[1][2]
Do unused credits roll over?
No. Monthly grants expire at the end of the billing cycle. Annual Business grants expire at the end of the annual cycle.[1][2]
Can I use the credits for ChatGPT or Codex usage?
They pay for eligible API Platform usage in the linked organization. They do not raise ChatGPT or signed-in Codex limits, and Codex usage through API keys is excluded from the benefit.[1]
Do I need a card on the API account?
OpenAI says no API payment method is required while active free credits are available. Add paid credits or Auto Recharge if the application must continue after the grant is exhausted.[1]
What happens after I claim once?
Eligible grants arrive automatically on future subscription renewals while the benefit remains available and the subscription remains eligible. The first grant may be prorated.[1]
Can I transfer the grant to another API organization?
The grant is organization-specific. OpenAI says to contact support if the linked receiving organization needs to change.[1]
Bottom line
Existing ChatGPT Pro and Business subscribers should check Billing rather than assume the benefit is already active. Link the correct API organization, verify the prorated balance and expiry, run a small test, and monitor real usage. The credit can fund useful API experiments and production work, but it is temporary, non-transferable, subject to normal rate limits and separate from ChatGPT or signed-in Codex allowances.[1]