OpenAI is quietly testing a pay-to-reset quota feature. Here's what we know.

Aug 12, 2026 11:47 AM - 1 hour ago 4

The OpenAI - ChatGPT exertion is displayed connected a mobile phone. OpenAI announces GPT-5, its latest and astir precocious AI model, successful Brussels, Belgium, connected August 7, 2025. (Photo by Jonathan Raa/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

A mysterious new function has been appearing for immoderate users of ChatGPT's Plus plan.

A Reddit personification connected ChatGPT's $20 monthly scheme posted successful the ChatGPT forum connected Monday, saying they were presented pinch a achromatic "pay $8 to reset" fastener erstwhile they logged successful and recovered that their weekly usage quota had been maxed out.

The pay-to-reset characteristic wasn't formally announced earlier it was first spotted. The institution introduced banked Codex resets for eligible Plus and Pro users successful June, including a free reset astatine motorboat and resets earned done referrals.

According to OpenAI's Codex, a "full reset" is defined arsenic renewing the user's applicable play quota and eliminating the waiting period, typically 5 hours, earlier the user's quota automatically renews. The personification could take not to salary and simply hold it out. The $8 action could beryllium a important redeeming for master plans, which tin tally astatine astir $25 to $50 a week.

An OpenAI spokesperson told Business Insider that the institution is exploring ways for immoderate users who deed their quotas to bargain additional usage, portion of its push to make its products some much accessible and functional.

A Codex reset instantly restores a user's depleted AI usage backmost to 100%. If personification triggers a manual banked reset, it clears their existent play caps, allowing them to proceed coding without waiting for the normal rolling schedule. Their play reset day will move to astir 7 days aft they redeem it.

The caller usability is different lawsuit of OpenAI being unusually generous pinch freebies lately, from free usage-limit resets to free ChatGPT Plus for assemblage students. In the maturation shape of their business, companies spot freebies arsenic investments successful customer acquisition — they promote heavier usage, which whitethorn go a habit, making it much apt users move to premium tiers.

For OpenAI, freebies and unexpected promotions are besides ways to promote users to wantonness their loyalty to its chief rival, Anthropic. Anthropic is playing the aforesaid game, offering Claude users promotional credits and, successful immoderate cases, important free usage. For some labs, the thought is to get group to adopt aliases move their workflows and yet walk astir their ecosystem.

On Sunday, OpenAI's caput of Codex, Thibault Sottiaux, and Anthropic's caput of Claude Code, Boris Cherny, traded swipes astatine each different aft a personification mixed up the 2 labs and mistakenly tagged Sottiaux successful a title astir his Anthropic account.

When Sottiaux clarified that he did not activity astatine Anthropic, Cherny replied, saying Anthropic is hiring if he would for illustration to make the switch.

Sottiaux replied saying that GPT-5.6 Sol is "awesome."

"To observe this, together pinch the truth that I'm not going anywhere... I person reset usage limits for each paid users of ChatGPT Work and Codex. Have nosy retired there!" he said.

In a akin back-and-forth successful May, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Claude's developer account some said they were giving distant expanded access to their tools.

"Codex is the champion AI coding merchandise and we want to make it easy to try," Altman posted connected X. He added that OpenAI would springiness businesses 2 months of free Codex usage if they signed up wrong the adjacent 30 days.

Less than an hr later, Anthropic posted that it was expanding Claude Code's play limits by 50% until July 13.

"Live now for each Pro, Max, Team, and seat-based Enterprise users," Anthropic wrote. "We're excited to spot what everyone builds!"