# Hey everyone I am a new user of chatGPT, is there a 5 USD limit to using the API key

**URL:** <https://community.openai.com/t/hey-everyone-i-am-a-new-user-of-chatgpt-is-there-a-5-usd-limit-to-using-the-api-key/797932>\
**Category:** API\
**Tags:** gpt-4, chatgpt, plugin-development\
**Created:** [June 4, 2024, 11:33am UTC](https://community.openai.com/t/hey-everyone-i-am-a-new-user-of-chatgpt-is-there-a-5-usd-limit-to-using-the-api-key/797932 "2024-06-04T11:33:13Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Chunk\_spadunk](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/openai1/user_avatar/community.openai.com/chunk_spadunk/32/390567_2.png) [@Chunk\_spadunk](https://community.openai.com/u/Chunk_spadunk)\
**Post date:** [June 4, 2024, 11:33am UTC](https://community.openai.com/t/hey-everyone-i-am-a-new-user-of-chatgpt-is-there-a-5-usd-limit-to-using-the-api-key/797932/1 "2024-06-04T11:33:13Z")

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Like in the title in this section of platform of OpenAI website in the link below  
[https://platform.openai.com/usage](https://platform.openai.com/usage)

It shows that the limit of using the API is 5 USD, and to increase it is showing that I need to be on the paid tier. What does this paid tier mean? Do I need to pay for chatgpt plus and also pay for the api usage to get access to modify my api usage which is as per the token count. I am a little confused because there are so many factors as how the pricing is occurring. I need to know if there is way to simplify and understand everything in one go. That will also be helpful because I need a reference for pricing that I understood properly so I don’t get surprised when I see my billing.

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**Author:** ![jr.2509](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/76d3ee/32.png) [@jr.2509](https://community.openai.com/u/jr.2509)\
**Post date:** [June 4, 2024, 2:34pm UTC](https://community.openai.com/t/hey-everyone-i-am-a-new-user-of-chatgpt-is-there-a-5-usd-limit-to-using-the-api-key/797932/2 "2024-06-04T14:34:49Z")

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Welcome to the Forum!

ChatGPT and the API are two different products, which are treated differently from a billing perspective.

Even if you have a ChatGPT Plus subscription, you still need to fund your API account separately. For most users, API billing is in the form of pre-paid billing. A minimum of USD 5 in credits must be added to the account in order to start using the API.

You can find the pricing for each model here:  
[https://openai.com/api/pricing/](https://openai.com/api/pricing/)

I hope this helps to get started and let us know if you have any more specific questions.

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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:** [January 20, 2026, 4:43am UTC](https://community.openai.com/t/hey-everyone-i-am-a-new-user-of-chatgpt-is-there-a-5-usd-limit-to-using-the-api-key/797932/3 "2026-01-20T04:43:41Z")

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