ChatGPT and Codex will share one usage limit from December, and ChatGPT Classic for Mac ends

What OpenAI is changing

OpenAI plans to combine the usage limits for ChatGPT and Codex, its coding agent, starting in December. As aitimes.com reported, the details came from an email that a user posted on Hacker News, the tech forum run by Y Combinator, on the 2nd (local time). The email describes how OpenAI plans to roll out its merged features and a new usage policy.

Until now, each service had its own separate allowance. Under the new setup, Plus, Pro and Business subscribers will draw from one pool that covers both. The same email says the older Mac app, ChatGPT Classic, will stop working on January 30, 2027.

We have not seen an OpenAI post confirming all of this, so treat the December details as reported rather than fully settled. The Mac shutdown date, by contrast, is stated specifically.

How one shared allowance works

The shared limit is counted in tokens, the small chunks of text an AI model reads and writes. Both services will subtract from the same total. How much each task costs depends on which model you use and how complex the job is.

That means work in one place can affect what is left in the other. Someone who runs long coding tasks in Codex could find less room for chat later in the same period, and the reverse is also true.

There are some exceptions and tools. Ordinary chats with the Instant model are not subtracted from the pool. You can see what is left, and when it resets, under Usage in the settings menu. If you run out, you can wait for the reset or buy credits for supported features.

OpenAI said it expects the change to be gentle. In its words, most users should not wait for resets more often than they do now. But the report is clear that OpenAI has not said how the total available usage compares with today's, so that claim is hard to check yet.

Chat and Work in one window

The interface is changing too. In the next few weeks, OpenAI plans to offer a combined environment for Chat, the general conversation feature, and Work, its task-automation feature, to some users first. It will collect feedback before widening access.

The idea is that you can explore an idea or ask a question and then ask for a website, a presentation or a web-based task without switching modes. OpenAI described the goal as going from brainstorming to a finished task in one place.

Codex stays separate in one respect. It remains its own workspace inside the ChatGPT desktop app, built for professional software development. Only the usage limit is shared, not the working environment.

The plan follows an announcement made on the 28th of the previous month by Thibault Sottiaux, who leads Codex at OpenAI. The newly reported email adds the usage rules and the shutdown schedule that were missing then.

What Mac users need to do

OpenAI renamed the older Mac app ChatGPT Classic after releasing a new app in July. Some people kept using the older one because they found the new interface too busy. That option ends on January 30, 2027.

OpenAI says existing chat history will move to the new app intact, so you can pick up where you left off. If you have stayed on Classic by choice, you have time, but it is worth trying the new app well before the deadline rather than on the last day.

The move also fits a wider pattern. As aitimes.com noted, Anthropic combined Claude's general chat with its work-automation tool, Cowork, into one screen in September. AI companies are increasingly merging conversation and task execution into a single product.

What is still unknown

The biggest gap is the size of the shared allowance. Without it, nobody can say whether a heavy user will be better or worse off. The report also gives no pricing changes and no list of who gets the combined interface first.

For now, the practical approach is simple: note the dates, check the Usage page in settings when the change arrives, and see how your own mix of chat and coding work affects the total.