OpenAI gives ChatGPT Pro and Business subscribers up to $500 a month in API credits
IA en un minuto newsroom · Editor: Jon Elgezabal
In 30 seconds
OpenAI has opened a program that returns API credit every month to people who pay for ChatGPT Pro or Business, with a ceiling of $500. Pro hands out between $100 and $500 depending on its tier, and Business adds $20 or $100 per paid seat, up to that same cap. To receive it, the subscriber must link an API organization it owns using the same email, and whatever is left when the cycle closes is lost.
Starting October 28, OpenAI is giving away monthly API credits to some subscribers of ChatGPT Pro and ChatGPT Business. The amount reaches $500 a month and the company presents it as help for building apps and agents, according to the announcement by OpenAI Developers collected on its developer forum.
The amounts depend on the plan. Pro plans receive $100, $200 or $500 depending on the subscription tier. On Business, $20 is assigned for each paid Standard seat and $100 for each paid Premium seat; everything goes into a shared pool for the workspace, with a maximum of $500 a month. According to OpenAI's documentation, workspaces that pay a year upfront receive the annual grant in a single go.
To redeem it, the holder must own both the subscription (or the Business workspace) and the API organization that will receive the balance, and use the same email on ChatGPT and on the API account. The subscription has to be paid and at least seven days active: free trials and complimentary ones do not count. Redemption is done from ChatGPT's billing settings and does not require a payment method attached to the API.
The first grant is prorated according to what remains of the billing period, and whatever is not spent lapses when the cycle ends, without moving to the next one. The credits cover paid use of the API platform, such as the Responses API, the Agents API, real-time voice or image generation, but not Codex use with API keys, and they do not raise the limits of ChatGPT or of signed-in Codex. If a subscriber moves to a plan without the benefit (Plus, Go or free), the link is removed when the cycle ends, and Enterprise is left out.
On the forum, one user said on October 29 that they still could not find where to redeem the credits for their Pro plan.
Why it matters · analysis and opinion
Giving API credit to people who already pay for ChatGPT brings those customers closer to the developer platform, and OpenAI itself frames it as a push to build apps and agents. For a professional or a small business that already has Pro or Business, it is a testing ground at no extra cost for automating tasks or building an agent of its own, without adding a payment method to the API. Before counting on it, read the fine print: only the owner of the subscription and of the organization can redeem it, the balance expires every cycle and it does not cover Codex use with API keys. Also, the first grant is prorated, so anyone who wants to take advantage of it should activate it soon, and the forum note about users who still cannot see the button suggests waiting a little.
Official source: OpenAI · Written with the help of AI: how we make the news
What does it mean for your business? · analysis and opinion
This affects companies, freelancers and professionals in Spain and Latin America who already pay for ChatGPT Business or one of the Pro tiers, especially if someone on the team can code or build automations with the API. Anyone on ChatGPT Free, Plus or Go is left out, because those plans are not eligible. It also does not raise the usage limits of ChatGPT or signed-in Codex: the balance only counts on the API platform.
In practice, the owner of the subscription or workspace should check the billing settings, activate the benefit and link it to an API organization they also own, using the same email address. Our advice is to spend each month's balance on a small, measurable project, such as an internal assistant or sorting customer queries, because whatever is not used is lost when the cycle closes.
The risk lies in the spending that comes afterwards. If the organization has purchased credits or Auto Recharge turned on, usage continues once the free credits run out; with no balance left, requests simply fail. The prudent approach is not to add a payment method until the real usage is clear, to keep an eye on the Usage dashboard and to store API keys like any other company password, since whoever has them can spend the organization's balance.
