Compare OpenAI Codex and Windsurf free tiers side by side. Pricing, limits, change history, and risk assessment for developers.

OpenAI Codex vs Windsurf

Side-by-side free tier comparison. Catalogue dates here run to 2026-11-09.

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Verdict

OpenAI Codex offers a free tier ("Free"). We are not publishing a free-tier verdict for Windsurf. The page we cite for Windsurf does not name it when we last looked, on 2026-11-05. We are not comparing the two pricing histories.

A verdict here is not a fixed property of the vendor. A one-off pricing event demotes a vendor while its recorded date falls in the last 180 days and then lapses on its own, with nothing about the vendor having changed; a standing condition — a free tier withdrawn and not restored, a product retired — does not lapse with time. A badge carrying a date states the record it rests on; a badge with no date rests on no record in force.

OpenAI Codex

Riskstable
CategoryAI Coding
TierFree
Verified2026-11-09
Last read2026-11-09
Changes3 recorded
Coding agent by OpenAI. Available with a ChatGPT subscription, including the $0 Free plan, and separately with an API key billed on token use; both routes are current. OpenAI's Codex pricing page lists Free ($0/month, "Explore Codex capabilities on quick coding tasks") and Go ($8/month, "Use Codex for lightweight coding tasks"), both with GPT-6 Luna at Standard speed in the desktop app, subject to rollout. Plus ($20/month) adds Codex on the web, in the CLI, in the IDE extension and on iOS, cloud code review and Slack integrations, and GPT-6.1 Sol and GPT-6 Luna. Pro plans are Pro 100 ($100/month), Pro 200 ($200/month), and Pro 500 ($500/month). Ultrafast mode is only on Pro 500. Pro plans have no five-hour limit. On 2026-10-29 OpenAI canceled the Pro 200 allowance reduction it had announced on September 29, 2026. Every Pro 200 subscription, new or existing, now has the same Work and Codex allowance at $200 a month. Pro 100 and Pro 500 now include twice their previous Work and Codex allowance. Plus usage is unchanged. ChatGPT Business has two seat types, both carrying Codex: Standard at $20/user/mo billed annually ($25 monthly) and Premium at $100/user/mo billed annually ($125 monthly), where Premium buys 5x more usage than Standard and removes the five-hour usage limit. The Codex pricing page we cite lists only the Standard seat — the Premium seat is published on OpenAI's business pricing page. Codex-only pay-as-you-go seats closed to new Business workspaces on 2026-06-24; existing seats continue. With an API key, Codex runs in the CLI, SDK or IDE extension at API prices, without the cloud features.
  • Since 2026-10-28, ChatGPT Pro and Business subscriptions include monthly OpenAI API credits. These credits do not pay for Codex used with an API key. They do not raise ChatGPT or signed-in Codex usage limits. (From developers.openai.com/api/docs/guides/chatgpt-api-credits, read 2026-10-29.)
  • On Free, Plus, and Pro, OpenAI may use your content to train its models. This includes Codex tasks. By default, OpenAI does not use inputs or outputs from ChatGPT Business, ChatGPT Enterprise, ChatGPT Edu, or the API to improve its models. (From help.openai.com/en/articles/5722486-how-your-data-is-used-to-improve-model-performance, read 2026-10-30.)
  • To opt out, turn off Improve the model for everyone under Settings > Data controls in ChatGPT, or select Do not train on my content in the Privacy Portal. Either option applies to ChatGPT and Codex. Codex has a separate Include environments setting for training on full environments, which those settings do not change. (From help.openai.com/en/articles/5722486-how-your-data-is-used-to-improve-model-performance, read 2026-10-30.)
  • OpenAI's Terms of Use for its services for individuals state you retain ownership rights in Input and own the Output. You may not use Output to develop models that compete with OpenAI. No restriction on commercial use is listed. (From openai.com/policies/terms-of-use, read 2026-10-30.)

Windsurf

Risk
CategoryAI Coding
TierFree
Verified2026-06-25
Last read2026-11-05
Changes2 recorded
Windsurf is now Devin Desktop ("Devin Desktop is the new name for Windsurf."), Cognition's AI IDE. windsurf.com/pricing redirects to devin.ai/pricing, which prices it together with Devin. The Free plan ($0) includes a "Light quota to code with agents", "Limited model availability", "Unlimited inline edits" and "Unlimited Tab completions", with quotas that reset daily and weekly. Pro is $20/month, Max $200/month, and Teams "$80/month for team plan + $40/mo per full dev seat"; paid plans can buy extra usage at API list prices. Pro subscribers on the old $15/month price keep it indefinitely.The page we cite for this offer does not name it when we last looked, on 2026-11-05, so we cannot confirm these terms today.

Pricing Change History

OpenAI Codex

deprecated effective 2026-10-14 medium impact
ChatGPT and Codex keep running. Only the GPT-5.5 model retires from ChatGPT, ChatGPT Work and Codex on all plans on 2026-10-14. For Codex with ChatGPT sign-in, OpenAI names GPT-6.1 Sol as the replacement on Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu plans (its page named GPT-6 Sol when we read it on 2026-10-06) and GPT-6 Luna on Free and Go plans. The OpenAI API is not affected. Source ↗
deprecated effective 2026-06-24 low impact
ChatGPT Business and Codex keep running. From 2026-06-24, new self-serve ChatGPT Business workspaces cannot add Codex-only seats, which OpenAI now calls a legacy seat type. A workspace that added one before that date can keep adding them, and Standard and Premium ChatGPT seats include Codex. Source ↗
new tier effective 2026-04-02 medium impact
OpenAI added Codex-only seats for ChatGPT Business and Enterprise workspaces, with no fixed seat fee, no rate limits and usage billed on token consumption, and cut ChatGPT Business's annual price from $25 to $20 per seat. Standard Business seats, which include Codex with usage limits, continued. Source ↗

Windsurf

rebranded effective 2026-06-02 low impact
Cognition renamed Windsurf Devin Desktop. Existing Windsurf users kept their plans and prices. Source ↗
restructured effective 2026-03-19 medium impact
Windsurf replaced credits-based pricing with daily/weekly quotas (Mar 19, 2026). New tiers: Pro $20/mo (was $15), Teams $40/user/month, Max $200/month. Free tier changed from flexible credits to hard quotas. Existing Pro subscribers grandfathered at $15/mo Source ↗

Watch Both Vendors for Pricing Changes

We do not push notifications. Every change we record is readable the moment it lands, and the JSON answer carries an ETag — send it back as If-None-Match and an unchanged answer costs one 304.

curl https://agentdeals.dev/api/changes?vendor=OpenAI%20Codex curl https://agentdeals.dev/pricing-changes/feed.xml?vendor=OpenAI%20Codex curl https://agentdeals.dev/api/changes?vendor=Windsurf curl https://agentdeals.dev/pricing-changes/feed.xml?vendor=Windsurf

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