ChatGPT API credits: how to claim up to $500 a month

ChatGPT Pro and Business subscribers can claim free API credits every month, up to $500 per account. This guide shows who qualifies, what each plan gets and how to claim, as described in OpenAI's API credits guide and its API changelog entry of October 28, 2026. Details are as of October 31, 2026.

The credits go to an API organization you own. They are separate from your ChatGPT usage and they do not raise any ChatGPT or Codex limits.

Who can claim ChatGPT API credits

You need all of these:

• An active, paid ChatGPT Pro or Business subscription that is at least seven days old. Free trials and complimentary subscriptions don't count.
• Ownership of both the subscription (or the Business workspace) and the API organization that will receive the credits.
• The same email address on your ChatGPT account and your API account.

ChatGPT Plus, Go, Free and Enterprise plans are not eligible.

How much you get each month

Business credits are pooled and capped at $500 per workspace per month, or $6,000 per annual cycle. A workspace that pays annually upfront gets the whole year's grant at once, and it expires at the end of the annual cycle. Your first grant is prorated for the rest of your current billing cycle.

How to claim your API credits

From ChatGPT

1. Sign in to ChatGPT with the account that owns the subscription.
2. For Pro, open Settings, then Billing. For Business, open the workspace billing settings or the Admin Console.
3. Find the API credits benefit and start the claim flow.
4. Check the receiving API organization. If you own several, pick one.
5. Confirm to activate.

From the API Platform

1. Sign in to the API Platform with the email tied to your subscription.
2. Select the API organization you own that should receive the credits.
3. Open Billing and find the API credit benefit.
4. Select the eligible subscription or Business workspace you own.
5. Confirm to activate.

New API users can link the subscription to their Personal API Organization. After you claim, check the balance in the API Platform billing settings.

What the credits cover and what they don't

The credits pay for the Responses API, the Agents API (including OpenAI-hosted sandbox charges), the Decisions API, GPT-Live and the Realtime API, the Images API, and built-in tools such as web search, file search and Code Interpreter.

Two limits matter. Codex usage through API keys is not supported with these credits. And the credits only work with a project API key from the linked organization.

Expiry, rollover and running out

Unused credits expire at the end of the billing cycle and do not roll over. They are issued automatically at renewal while the benefit stays available and your subscription stays eligible. Cancelling does not revoke credits already issued, so you can use them until they expire.

Free credits are spent before purchased ones. When nothing is left, requests fail with HTTP 429 and the error code credit_balance_exhausted. To keep going, add paid credits or turn on Auto Recharge in billing settings.

What happens if you change plans

• Downgrading to Plus, Go or Free removes the API link at the end of the billing cycle.
• Moving from Pro to Business ends the Pro link. After seven days on Business, a workspace owner can create a new one.
• Moving from Business to Enterprise removes the link at the end of the cycle.
• To change the receiving organization, contact support.

Upgrading a Pro plan can bring extra prorated credits, and later grants match the plan's allowance up to $500 per billing cycle. Reducing Business seats takes effect in the next cycle, and reassigning a seat creates no extra credits.

The guide does not say whether the benefit varies by country. Check your own billing page before you plan around it.