Codex app

At a glance

Who it's for

People who want the lowest-friction way to run parallel agents and already pay for ChatGPT.

What is it built on?

The Codex mode of the ChatGPT desktop app, on macOS and Windows. Work is organised by project, with several threads running at once. Codex also runs in a CLI, an IDE extension and on the web.

Where do the agents run?

On your machine, in the project folder or an isolated worktree, or in Codex cloud. Cloud environments are for eligible Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Education accounts, not Free or Go.

Can you run several agents at once?

Yes. Start each independent task as its own Worktree chat to avoid file conflicts, and use Handoff to move a chat back to Local. Inside one chat Codex can delegate to subagents, which OpenAI recommends mostly for read-heavy work.

Which models and agents can it use?

OpenAI models only. The pricing page lists the GPT-6 and GPT-5.6 families. Third-party reviewers describe the app as locked to Codex models.

What do the plans cost?

Included in ChatGPT plans. Free and Go have limited access. Plus is $20 a month and includes the Codex app for macOS and Windows. Pro starts at $100 a month (also $200 and $500). Business is $20 per seat a month, billed annually for 2 or more seats.

How does billing work?

Plan allowance measured in tokens, shared between local messages and cloud chats, with weekly limits possible. Buy credits to go beyond it. An API key is billed on usage.

Team and enterprise controls

Business, Enterprise and Education plans, with admin and workspace settings. Enterprise agreements with flexible pricing scale with credits.

How many people use it?

OpenAI said Codex had more than 5 million weekly active users on June 2, 2026, up more than sixfold since the desktop app launched in February. On October 7 OpenAI's product lead cited 40 million weekly users for Codex and ChatGPT Work combined, which is not a Codex-only count.