OpenAI restores Codex's 5-hour cap for Plus users

OpenAI is pulling the plug on the unlimited era for its coding agent — and the backlash started within minutes.

OpenAI is bringing back the five-hour usage limit for Codex and ChatGPT Work on Plus accounts, ending weeks of effectively uncapped access that had made the $20 plan the standout deal in agentic coding.

Thibault "Tibo" Sottiaux, OpenAI's engineering lead for Codex and ChatGPT, announced the change on X, with the cap taking effect from today (August 25). The five-hour window had been suspended for weeks, leaving only the weekly cap in place, while OpenAI marked milestones — including crossing another million active users across the two now-unified platforms — by resetting weekly usage early. Under the restored rules, Plus users who hit either the rolling five-hour or the weekly limit wait for the next cycle or buy extra credits.

Tibo framed the reversal as load management and experience design rather than cost-cutting. The five-hour window lets OpenAI "smoothen the load on our compute" while keeping the weekly allowance generous, he said, and it stops newer, more casual Plus users from accidentally incinerating a whole week's quota in one sitting and then feeling confused about it. Pro subscribers on the $100 and $200 tiers keep the exemption for the coming months, and Enterprise and Edu accounts, which run on a separate credit system, are untouched.

The reaction was immediate and loud. Weekend-only users argue the cap wastes their weekly quota and have asked for a toggle to switch the limit on or off. Developers outside the US point out that $20 a month buys far less once a five-hour ceiling is attached, making Codex's Plus tier a harder sell against cheaper bundles from rivals like Qwen. Tibo's credibility took a hit too: users resurfaced his earlier assurance that OpenAI did not lack compute, and noted the cap quietly kills the reset-farming loop where Plus users burned a week's allowance in a day and waited for free resets — the "genius rebirth" trick — while undercutting the cheap disposable-account arbitrage that thrived while the limit was lifted.

The subtext is that OpenAI is managing demand for its most popular agentic product while nudging heavy users toward pricier tiers. It is also a reminder that "unlimited" in AI was always provisional — GPT-5.6 Luna goes free with unlimited chats shipped barely a week ago, and the pendulum is already swinging back.

What to watch: whether OpenAI rebalances Codex's weekly quota and Pro pricing to absorb the users this cap pushes up-market.

Do you think a five-hour ceiling is a fair trade for a generous weekly cap, or should OpenAI just price Codex honestly? Tell us in the comments.

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