Codex ChatGPT: One Coding Agent, Five Places to Run It
Codex ChatGPT stopped being one product in one window a while ago. Which surface suits which job, and what the February app launch changed about limits.
Start from a prompt → Official site
What Codex ChatGPT covers today
The Codex page on chatgpt.com describes it as the same coding agent, now available inside ChatGPT, and the product pages around it break into an overview, pricing, an enterprise tier, developer documentation and an import route from other tools. The practical shape is a single agent reachable from several places rather than several products sharing a name. Which surface you use changes the ergonomics, not the underlying thing: a browser window suits review and discussion, a terminal suits work in a checkout you already have open, an editor panel suits targeted edits with file context, and the cloud suits jobs long enough that you would rather not babysit them. Choosing badly is not expensive, but choosing once and sticking with it saves the low-grade friction of re-establishing context in a new window every afternoon.
From April 2025 to a desktop command centre
OpenAI dates the launch of Codex to April 2025 and introduced a dedicated macOS app on 2 February 2026, with a note added on 4 March 2026 confirming Windows availability. The framing in that announcement is worth quoting in substance: the company describes a shift from pairing with a single agent on targeted edits to supervising several agents working in parallel across the lifecycle of a project. The app is presented as the place to manage that, with work running in parallel and collaboration over long-running tasks. Whether you need a command centre depends entirely on whether you actually run more than one agent at once, which most individual developers do not.
The plan changes announced with the app
Two specifics came with that launch. For a limited time, Codex was included with ChatGPT Free and Go, which is the first time the agent reached unpaid accounts at all. Separately, rate limits were doubled on Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu, and the announcement is explicit that the higher limits apply everywhere you use Codex, in the app, from the CLI, in an IDE and in the cloud. That last clause is the one people miss: the allowance is an account property rather than a per-surface quota, so moving work from the terminal into the cloud does not give you a second budget. Limited-time means what it says; check the current pricing page.
Beyond code generation: skills and automations
Alongside parallel agents, the app announcement lists three further capabilities. Skills extend the agent past code generation into reusable packaged workflows. Automations cover repetitive work you would rather delegate on a schedule than trigger by hand. And there is a configurable personality, which sounds cosmetic until you have watched a team argue about how verbose an agent should be in a shared channel. Security is described in the same post under the heading secure by default, configurable by design, which signals sandboxed behaviour with explicit escape hatches rather than an open machine. Evaluate those claims against your own environment, because default-safe means different things on a laptop and on a build server.
In the editor, and what the listing admits
Published by OpenAI and free to install, the VS Code extension describes two modes: pairing in a panel that draws context from open files and selected code, and delegating larger jobs to the cloud while tracking progress without leaving the editor. Cloud tasks can be reopened locally for finishing touches. On macOS the same extension can connect the ChatGPT desktop app to VS Code. The marketplace listing reports roughly 14.6 million installs against 579 ratings averaging three stars out of five, and honest reading of that pair is that adoption is enormous and satisfaction is mixed. Install counts measure curiosity. Ratings measure what happened next. Neither number is a verdict on your own codebase, which is still the only test that settles anything.
Pick a surface
The browser
Codex inside ChatGPT itself, reached from the Codex section of chatgpt.com alongside the pricing, enterprise and import pages. Suits reviewing, planning and discussion more than sustained editing.
The desktop app
Introduced for macOS on 2 February 2026 and available on Windows from 4 March 2026. Built around running several agents in parallel and collaborating on long tasks rather than one-off edits.
Terminal and editor
The CLI covers work in a checkout you already have open. The free VS Code extension adds a panel with file and selection context, plus cloud delegation you can reopen locally.
One allowance, everywhere
The doubled rate limits announced with the app were stated to apply across the app, the CLI, IDE integrations and the cloud. Switching surface does not hand you a fresh budget.
Surface by surface
| Surface | Codex | Begin.sh |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT in the browser | Available under the Codex section, with its own pricing and enterprise pages | Runs in a browser tab, no account tier to match |
| Desktop app | macOS from 2 February 2026, Windows from 4 March 2026 | None; nothing to install |
| Terminal | The CLI, signed in with a plan or an API key | Not a terminal tool |
| Editor | Free VS Code extension from OpenAI, around 14.6 million installs | You open the downloaded zip in whatever editor you use |
| Cloud | Delegate long jobs, track them, reopen tasks locally | Generation runs on their infrastructure and returns files |
| Plan gate | Plus, Pro, Business, Edu and Enterprise, plus a limited-time inclusion with Free and Go | Check the site for current terms |
| Starting from nothing | Assumes an existing codebase to work against | Designed for the first version, from a prompt or a URL |
Getting oriented in four moves
- Check what your plan includes
Codex reaches Plus, Pro, Business, Edu and Enterprise accounts, with a limited-time inclusion announced for Free and Go. The current pricing page is the only reliable statement of today's terms. - Start where your work already is
If you live in a terminal, begin with the CLI; if you live in an editor, install the free extension. Adding a new window to your day is a cost, not a feature. - Move long jobs to the cloud
Delegating a lengthy task frees your machine and your attention, and cloud tasks can be reopened locally for the finishing edits that need your judgement rather than the agent's. - Watch the shared allowance
Because limits apply across every surface, treat the budget as one account-level pool. Check usage before a long run rather than discovering the ceiling in the middle of one.
Frequently asked
Is Codex ChatGPT included in a free account?
It was announced as included with ChatGPT Free and Go for a limited time, alongside the February 2026 desktop app launch. Limited-time offers expire, so confirm on the official pricing page before planning around it. Paid inclusion covers Plus, Pro, Business, Edu and Enterprise.
Do I get separate limits on each surface?
No. The announcement that doubled rate limits on Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu stated explicitly that the higher limits apply everywhere Codex is used, covering the app, the CLI, IDE integrations and the cloud. One account, one pool. Plan accordingly when you split a single job between a local run and a cloud task.
Which operating systems does the desktop app support?
It launched for macOS on 2 February 2026, and an update dated 4 March 2026 confirmed Windows availability. The CLI and the editor extension cover platforms the app does not, including Linux through the command line route. If Linux is your daily driver, the terminal client rather than the app is the path the documentation actually supports.
What does the VS Code extension add over the browser?
Context and proximity. The panel draws on your open files and selected code, so prompts get shorter and answers get more specific, and you can hand larger jobs to the cloud and track them without leaving the editor. The extension itself is free.
Should the three-star average worry me?
It deserves attention rather than dismissal. Roughly 14.6 million installs against 579 ratings averaging three stars describes mass adoption with mixed follow-through. Read recent reviews for your own stack before committing a team workflow to it. A handful from people using your framework is worth more than the aggregate of every rating ever left.
Why mention Begin.sh on a page about a coding agent?
Because the two cover different moments. Every Codex surface assumes a codebase exists. Begin.sh takes a prompt or a URL and returns a static site or Expo app as a zip, with no hosting, backend or authentication, which is the step before an agent has anything to work on.
When there is no repository yet
Describe the site, or paste a URL you want cloned, and Begin.sh returns a working static site or Expo app as a downloadable zip. It is the first version, ready for whichever agent you point at it next.
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