OpenAI restores 5-hour Codex and Work limits for ChatGPT Plus users

OpenAI announced that starting tomorrow, it will restore a five-hour usage limit for Codex and ChatGPT Work for ChatGPT Plus subscribers, after temporarily lifting the cap for several weeks. Thibault Sottiaux, OpenAI's engineering lead for Codex and ChatGPT, said the limit helps smooth compute load and prevents casual users from exhausting their weekly usage, while Pro $100 and Pro $200 subscriptions will not have the five-hour limit for the upcoming months.

Following several weeks during which ChatGPT users were subject only to a weekly usage cap, OpenAI announced today that it is restoring a five-hour limit on Codex and ChatGPT Work for Plus subscribers. Here are the details. Five-hour cap returns to ChatGPT Plus subscribers Thibault “Tibo” Sottiaux, OpenAI’s engineering lead for Codex and ChatGPT, announced tonight https://x.com/thsottiaux/status/2092058556707344708 that a five-hour usage limit is returning to Codex and ChatGPT Work for Plus subscribers starting tomorrow 25 . After users reach either the five-hour or weekly limit, they can either wait for their usage to reset for the next cycle or purchase additional credits. OpenAI also occasionally resets users’ limits for free, while banked resets can be earned through certain promotions and referral offers. Over the past few weeks, however, OpenAI temporarily lifted the five-hour usage limit for Codex and ChatGPT Work, leaving only the weekly cap in place. During this period, the company also reset users’ weekly usage early on several occasions to celebrate milestones, including adding another million active users across the two now unified https://9to5mac.com/2026/07/17/openai-fixes-chat-access-in-the-chatgpt-app-for-mac/ platforms. However, as Tibo explained tonight on X https://x.com/thsottiaux/status/2092058556707344708 : Tomorrow we will bring back the 5h limit for Plus accounts across ChatGPT Work and Codex. I had mentioned this a while ago, but then postponed it. This is necessary as a the 5h limit allows us to smoothen the load on our compute, allowing to keep the plan generous in terms of weekly usage and b users on the Plus plan are relatively casual and new users, but then also just accidentally eat through their whole weeks usage and then are confused, making it not a great experience. We are for the upcoming months keeping the 5h limit not enabled for Pro $100 and Pro $200 subscriptions. Tibo did not mention any changes for Enterprise or Edu accounts, which currently use a separate credit-based usage system https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001001-manage-usage-limits-and-overages-in-chatgpt-enterprise-and-edu :~:text=Manage%20requests%20to%20increase%20limits . Will you be affected by the reinstatement of the five-hour limit on ChatGPT Work and Codex? Let us know in the comments. Worth checking out on Amazon Geoffrey Cain – ‘Steve Jobs in Exile’ https://amzn.to/4v3CS5Q David Pogue – ’Apple: The First 50 Years’ https://amzn.to/46Y3nQj MacBook Neo https://amzn.to/47vJmkn Logitech MX Master 4 https://amzn.to/3KmIQN7 AirPods Pro 3 https://www.amazon.com/Apple-Cancellation-Translation-Headphones-High-Fidelity/dp/B0FQFB8FMG?tag=marcmendes-20 AirTag 2nd Generation – 4 Pack https://amzn.to/4sewc3a Apple Watch Series 11 https://amzn.to/46VomDB Wireless CarPlay adapter https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0F6T6N2B1?tag=marcmendes-20 FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More. https://9to5mac.com/about/ affiliate our homepage http://9to5mac.com/ for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on exclusive stories https://9to5mac.com/feature/exclusive/ , reviews https://9to5mac.com/guides/review/ , how-tos https://9to5mac.com/guides/how-to/ , and subscribe to our YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/9to5mac