What Codex credits are: OpenAI's rules in seven lines
Credits are the pay-as-you-go unit OpenAI sells to personal plans such as Plus and Pro. Its Help Center article on flexible usage (updated September 2026) boils down to seven rules:
- Plan first, credits second. Your plan's included usage is used first; credits are drawn only after you hit a limit. Buying credits doesn't change your plan or enlarge its included allowance.
- One balance, several products. Codex (CLI, IDE extension, desktop app, cloud), ChatGPT Work, and ChatGPT for Word / Excel / PowerPoint share the same balance. Regular chat is not on the list.
- Valid for 12 months. Unused credits expire 12 months after purchase and don't roll over.
- Not API credits, not your ChatGPT wallet. The API is billed separately, and a dollar wallet balance (from a gift card, say) doesn't turn into credits.
- Non-transferable. Credits belong to the account they were bought on and have no cash value; they're non-refundable except for legal requirements, billing errors, unauthorized use or confirmed OpenAI failures.
- The balance can go negative. If concurrent tasks drain it mid-run, later purchases first cover the negative amount.
- Where to see it. Settings → Usage in ChatGPT, Usage & Billing in the Codex app, the dashboard at chatgpt.com/codex/settings/usage, or
/statusinside Codex CLI.
Rule 5 is why we work the way we do: the credits are bought on the account whose login credential you submit. Nothing is transferred to you, and we never hand you someone else's account for this product.
When credits beat upgrading
OpenAI's pricing page says it plainly: Plus and Pro users who reach their usage limit can buy additional credits to keep working without upgrading. Plus users have an extra reason — OpenAI's Codex pricing page notes that Plus includes only limited GPT-6 Astra usage (an estimated 5–45 local messages per 5 hours), with credits as the way to get more.
- Buy credits if you hit the wall a few times a month, need more during a crunch week, or only want Astra for the occasional hard problem.
- Upgrade if you're cut off three or more times a week. Pro 100, formerly Pro 5x (¥850 ≈ 126.68 USDT on your own account), has more allowance than Plus (OpenAI said about 5× in mid-September), no five-hour limit in Codex and GPT-6 Pro in chat; Pro 200 and Pro 500 sit above it.
- Break-even at today's prices: Plus on your own account (¥185) plus 4 packs (2,000 credits, ¥720) costs more than Pro 100 (¥850). If you'd buy that much every month, upgrade instead. The full comparison is in Hit your Codex limit: credits or upgrade?
How much work 500 credits buy
OpenAI's reference point: a typical Codex task on GPT-5.6 Sol uses 2–15 credits, so 500 credits is roughly 33–250 such tasks. Models differ a lot. The table prices one “medium task” (80,000 uncached input + 220,000 cached input + 20,000 output tokens — our illustrative assumption, not OpenAI data, and heavier than OpenAI's typical task) with OpenAI's rates:
| Model | Credits per task | Tasks per 500 credits | With Fast mode |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPT-6 Astra | 51 | 9 | 4 |
| GPT-6 Sol | 10 | 49 | 24 |
| GPT-6 Luna | 0.5 | 990 | 495 |
| GPT-5.6 Sol | 20 | 24 | — |
| GPT-5.6 Terra | 11 | 45 | — |
In one line: 500 credits run about 49 medium tasks on GPT-6 Sol, but only about 9 on GPT-6 Astra. Small and large tasks, and how to stretch the balance, are in How far do 500 Codex credits go? Your usage dashboard is the final word.
Price table
Prices are set in CNY and shown with a USDT equivalent at a fixed 6.71 CNY per USDT (rounded up to the cent); the table refreshes hourly from the order system and the exact amount is quoted on your order page. There's no volume discount: the total is unit price × quantity.
| Packs | Credits | Price | ≈ USDT | ≈ medium tasks (GPT-6 Sol / Astra) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 500 | ¥180 | 26.83 USDT | 49 / 9 |
| 2 | 1,000 | ¥360 | 53.66 USDT | 99 / 19 |
| 3 | 1,500 | ¥540 | 80.48 USDT | 148 / 29 |
| 5 | 2,500 | ¥900 | 134.13 USDT | 247 / 49 |
| 10 | 5,000 | ¥1,800 | 268.26 USDT | 495 / 99 |
| 20 | 10,000 | ¥3,600 | 536.52 USDT | 990 / 198 |
For reference, OpenAI launched credits on 2025-10-30 at $40 per 1,000 credits — $20 per 500, the same as a month of Plus; today's Help Center says amounts and prices vary by account, region and plan. Our price includes the service, exchange and manual handling of buying on your behalf — it's for people whose card OpenAI declines or whose country it doesn't serve.
Who can order
| Your account | Can order? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT Plus (personal) | Yes | The typical buyer: limited GPT-6 Astra, frequent 5-hour limits in Codex |
| ChatGPT Pro 100 / 200 / 500 (personal) | Yes | No five-hour limit in Codex, but big allowances still hit weekly limits; credits are the backstop |
| A ready-made Plus / Pro account bought here | Yes | It's a Plus / Pro account too — submit that account's login credential |
| ChatGPT Free | No | This product can't top up Free accounts. Get Plus on your own account (¥185, account must be on Free) first |
| ChatGPT Go | Ask first | OpenAI only offers credits to some Go users |
| Plus / Pro billed through the iOS App Store or Google Play | Ask first | App-store subscriptions can make the top-up fail |
| ChatGPT Business / Enterprise workspace | Not applicable | Workspace credits are bought by the workspace admin, not on a personal account |
How to order
- Check the account is on a paid plan. Sign in to chatgpt.com and confirm the account is on Plus or Pro, not Free. If you subscribed through the iOS App Store or Google Play, ask us first.
- Pick the quantity on the pricing page. On the “ChatGPT 500 Codex credit” card, use − / + to choose 1–20 packs; the price, USDT estimate and total credits update as you go. Click Order.
- Sign in. Sign in or create an account (Google works); you return to the same product and quantity, which you can still change on the order page.
- Paste your account's login credential. Follow the order page's instructions to export and paste your ChatGPT login credential. It is encrypted, used for this order only and deleted after delivery. No password needed.
- Pay the exact USDT amount. After the credential is verified, choose TRC20 or BEP20 and send exactly the amount shown (valid for 3 hours); the amount identifies your order and is confirmed automatically.
- Check the balance. Credits usually land within 5–30 minutes; you'll see them under Settings → Usage or in the Codex app's Usage & Billing.
Network choice, the exact-amount rule and what to do after a wrong-chain transfer are in Paying with USDT. Prefer a person? Telegram @ccnb1937.
After delivery: making credits last
- Your plan is still used first. Credits only move after a limit, so there's no need to ration the included allowance.
- Pick the model per task. Per token, GPT-6 Astra costs 5× GPT-6 Sol and 100× GPT-6 Luna. Use Sol or Luna for routine edits and switch to Astra when you're stuck.
- Leave Fast mode off. GPT-6 Astra / Sol / Luna in Fast mode bill purchased credits at 2× the Standard rate (2.5× against the plan's included allowance).
- Trim context. OpenAI's own advice: shrink AGENTS.md (nest it by directory in big repos), disable MCP servers you aren't using, point it at the relevant files only.
- Running low? OpenAI's automatic reload needs a working default payment method on the account; without one, just place another order.
- Check the usage page every week or two — that's OpenAI's suggested rhythm, and it tells you early whether an upgrade makes more sense.
Refunds and support
- Any problem: contact the bottom-right live chat promptly.
- Once credits land: OpenAI treats them as non-refundable and non-transferable, so confirm the account and quantity before you pay.
- Accounts banned for violating OpenAI's usage policies are not refunded.
- Telegram @ccnb1937 or support@claudemax.shop — a person follows up.
ClaudeMax is an independent reseller operating since November 2024. We are not OpenAI and don't claim to be an authorized reseller.
In one sentence
If you run out now and then, buy credits by the pack (¥180 per 500, up to 20 per order, valid 12 months); if you run out every day, move to Pro 100.