# Error message - Billing hard limit has been reached

**URL:** <https://community.openai.com/t/error-message-billing-hard-limit-has-been-reached/188298>\
**Category:** API\
**Created:** [May 2, 2023, 5:49am UTC](https://community.openai.com/t/error-message-billing-hard-limit-has-been-reached/188298 "2023-05-02T05:49:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![erikhveni](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/openai1/user_avatar/community.openai.com/erikhveni/32/34520_2.png) [@erikhveni](https://community.openai.com/u/erikhveni)\
**Post date:** [May 2, 2023, 5:49am UTC](https://community.openai.com/t/error-message-billing-hard-limit-has-been-reached/188298/1 "2023-05-02T05:49:05Z")

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Got this error message:  
{  
“error”: {  
“code”: “billing\_hard\_limit\_reached”,  
“message”: “Billing hard limit has been reached”,  
“param”: null,  
“type”: “invalid\_request\_error”  
}

I’m completely new to this, but do i need to have a paid subscription to OpenAI? Or what even is the limit?

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**Author:** ![frederic.simons](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/openai1/user_avatar/community.openai.com/frederic.simons/32/121736_2.png) [@frederic.simons](https://community.openai.com/u/frederic.simons)\
**Post date:** [May 2, 2023, 7:10am UTC](https://community.openai.com/t/error-message-billing-hard-limit-has-been-reached/188298/2 "2023-05-02T07:10:30Z")

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To utilize the API, payment is required for each request you make.

To view your API usage, please visit the following link: [OpenAI API](https://platform.openai.com/account/usage)

To review the rate limits for your account, you can access this link: [OpenAI API](https://platform.openai.com/account/rate-limits)

If you wish to increase the hard limit for your account, you can do so by visiting this link: [OpenAI API](https://platform.openai.com/account/billing/limits)

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**Author:** ![pudepiedj](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/openai1/user_avatar/community.openai.com/pudepiedj/32/33394_2.png) [@pudepiedj](https://community.openai.com/u/pudepiedj)\
**Post date:** [May 2, 2023, 11:25am UTC](https://community.openai.com/t/error-message-billing-hard-limit-has-been-reached/188298/3 "2023-05-02T11:25:19Z")

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Hi Erik, and welcome to the OpenAI Community Forum.

I have been a paying user for some time now, but on an old non-paying account I get messages like this if I try to access a paid service. When I started I had an $18 allowance for free usage of the models, which I see from the pricing page has been reduced now to $5 of free credit for the first 3 months; and once that was exhausted I had to subscribe, which I’ve done on another account.

You can find the different costs for the models [here.](https://openai.com/pricing)

When you set up a paid subscription you are invited to set a monthly limit, and you’ll be able to use any part of the system until you hit that limit. If you haven’t set up a paid subscription yet, I guess you’ll get the error you’ve experienced until you do!

Best,

John

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**Author:** ![schustrs](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/openai1/user_avatar/community.openai.com/schustrs/32/152262_2.png) [@schustrs](https://community.openai.com/u/schustrs)\
**Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 4:26am UTC](https://community.openai.com/t/error-message-billing-hard-limit-has-been-reached/188298/4 "2023-06-11T04:26:48Z")

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I added a credit card here to make myself pay as you go. [OpenAI API](https://platform.openai.com/account/billing/overview)

And the error cleared. No idea why.

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**Author:** ![curt.kennedy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/openai1/user_avatar/community.openai.com/curt.kennedy/32/709249_2.png) [@curt.kennedy](https://community.openai.com/u/curt.kennedy)\
**Post date:** [December 17, 2023, 6:15pm UTC](https://community.openai.com/t/error-message-billing-hard-limit-has-been-reached/188298/5 "2023-12-17T18:15:52Z")

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