ChatGPT Pro and Business subscribers can now claim free API credits

If your paid Pro or Business plan is at least 7 days old and you own both it and an API organization, you can claim up to $500 a month in API credits.

If your paid ChatGPT Pro or Business plan is at least 7 days old and you own both it and an API organization, you can claim "up to $500 per month in free API credits", per OpenAI's changelog.

What changed#

@OpenAIDevs announced it at 7:17 PM ET Wednesday. Per OpenAI's docs, Pro tiers get $100, $200 or $500 a month; Business gets "$20 per paid Standard seat" or "$100 per paid Premium seat", "pooled and capped at $500 per workspace per month". They cover the Responses, Agents, Decisions, Realtime and Images APIs, with "No API payment method required".

Why it matters#

Quotes below are from OpenAI's help article unless noted.

Our read: Business seat mix sets the budget. "5 Standard seats and 3 Premium seats contribute $100 + $300 = $400." 10 Standard and 4 Premium "contribute $600 before the cap, so the workspace allowance is $500." Annual Business is "capped at $6,000 per annual billing cycle."

How to use it#

Pro: open Settings → Billing in ChatGPT. Business: open workspace billing settings in ChatGPT or the Admin Console.
"Find the API credits benefit and start the claim flow."
Pick the API organization to receive the credits, then confirm.

Try it with the OpenAI Developers plugin (ours, untested):

Create an API key in my linked organization for a project called inbox-triage, then write a minimal Responses API script that summarizes a pasted email. Where do I check my credit balance?

Good to know#

Own both the subscription or workspace and the API organization; "Workspace membership or an admin role alone is not enough." "Use the same email address" on both.
"Plus, free trials subscriptions do not qualify". "Enterprise, Edu and legacy Codex seats are not established eligible plans or seats".
"Your first grant is prorated". One subscription "can link to one API organization"; to change it, "Contact Support".
"Unused credits do not roll over". No "Codex usage through API keys". Out of credits, "requests fail with HTTP 429".
The changelog says "free"; the release notes say "promotional".

What to watch#

Our read: expect an uneven rollout. "Availability also depends on the enabled cohort and country", and the benefit "may change or be removed". Watch Settings → Billing (Pro) or "the workspace's billing page" (Business).

Last checked: Oct 29, 6:08 AM ET. What changed: first version.

Sources#

Steps

Sign in to the ChatGPT account that owns the eligible Pro subscription, or select the eligible Business workspace as an owner, per OpenAI's help article.
For Pro, open Settings → Billing in ChatGPT. For Business, open your workspace's billing settings in ChatGPT or the Admin Console.
Find the API credits benefit and start the claim flow.
Review the API organization that will receive the credits, then confirm to activate the benefit.
Open API Platform billing settings to see the credits in the linked organization.