Hello,
I wanted to learn more about gpt and I am encountering an error that ‘You exceeded your current quota, please check your plan and billing details. For more information on this error, read the docs: https://platform.openai.com/docs/guides/error-codes/api-errors.’
It is just a new account following the quickstart guide. I haven’t paid anything yet. Do i really have to pay anything to start learning more about openAI?
The usage limit i see from my account is: 0.00/18$
You don’t need to pay to start learning how to use OpenAI but you are restricted on how to use the API and the playground which uses your API key.
Here are the limits: https://platform.openai.com/docs/guides/rate-limits/usage-tiers?context=tier-free
I suggest you pay $5 USD which will heavily increase your limits. These limits can, for example, be RPM (Request Per Minute) which in the Free Tier is limited to 3. There’s also a daily limit on token usage and also the amount of tokens used per minute.
Hello,
Thank you for your response.
Can you guide me through how do i use openAI for free without paying first? Because i haven’t done anything yet aside from attempting to use a pre-trained model and hoping to try my first prompt with it.
This is just my very first interaction with openAI where the error happened. I hope you can guide me on how to use my free credits for now.
Try building a chat bot using the API and give it custom prompts. Use stramlit for the frontend
Same problem. “You exceeded your current quota, please check your plan and billing details. For more information on this error, read the docs: https://platform.openai.com/docs/guides/error-codes/api-errors.”
I searched about this a bit and found that the usage limit: of 0.00/18$ says we have 18 dollar credits left. So I got to know that when we signup for using chat gpt at that moment they gave us our free API credits we didn’t know then so the free credit expires in a 1 or 2-month period. So that 18-dollar credit is most probably expired credit.
Hope this helps you.
Ah, understood. Thank you very much. I’ll give this a shot.
In my earlier reply I provided you with a way around for the expired API credits but that text was removed by “elmstedt” (don’t know who he is may be openai keeping a check) so that how it is.
by the way I am new to this openai community and want to check freedom of sp.eech here,so I and giving you the way around again let’s see what happens. but with a bit of spice, a w.a_y around i.s mke new I d at ope n ai with a nw p.num_ber and u will get, f_ree cre,dits the,re
Hello, it is against OpenAI’s Terms of Service to create a new account to obtain more free credits. Your account may be permanently banned.
@anon22939549 is a community moderator, like me, he is not an OpenAI staff member.
The suggestion to create a second account for the free credits is potentially a breach of the terms of service and may get your OpenAI account banned.
This advice is not helpful for anyone building real-world applications and we assume that our community members belong to this category.
From the terms of service:
What You Cannot Do. You may not use our Services for any illegal, harmful, or abusive activity. For example, you may not:
- Interfere with or disrupt our Services, including circumvent any rate limits or restrictions or bypass any protective measures or safety mitigations we put on our Services.
while potentially misguided, @anonymousambassador1 still raises an important point (implicitly) about access equity
The younger generation - apologies for assuming - has less access to disposable income to just throw at the api. IMO it’s incredibly important to allow these people to explore LLMs through the API, but there’s no real way for them to do it without breaking the rules. Even if they were frugal, they’d be punished because their credits simply expire.
I’m not sure if there’s a good solution for this, but I think it might be something to keep in mind.
Assuming 5$ of free credits and using GPT 3.5 with 1000 input and output tokens that’s about 1,650 API calls for free.
My position towards the suggestion to create more accounts for more free credits is based on this calculation.
Otherwise there are other providers who grant free access to OpenAI and other models.
What do you think?
I don’t know what the free credit budget is now (I thought it was $18)
But yes, maybe lowering the grant but making it expire slower might be a thought, but might not solve the issue. 
@anonymousambassador1 , what do you think?
It used to be $18 now it is $5.
Thank you, Mr. Diet, I express my sincere gratitude for your understanding and the kindness evident in your response. It is genuinely a pleasure to make your acquaintance.
Your observation regarding the curiosity of the younger generation, eager to explore futuristic technology, resonates deeply. However, our aspirations are often constrained by financial limitations.
For individuals living in different parts of the world even this seemingly small amount (which may be small for some, but not for others) becomes substantial when converted into their respective currencies. Our respected dictators, governing our democracies, impose only taxes, making it challenging to invest hard-earned money in a model which we don’t know how to work with. So that’s why we want to learn and test how it works and how to use APIs before putting it in API’s.
OpenAI, recognizing this necessity, has generously provided free credits. Regrettably, these credits often expire before users can fully exploit their educational potential. I personally encountered this setback when my credits expired shortly after my initial registration for ChatGPT. The subsequent confusion, exacerbated by my novice understanding, resulted in a demoralizing experience for a fledgling learner.
If OpenAI intends to empower users with insights into the model through free credits, mechanisms ensuring effective utilization should be implemented.
In essence, my contention revolves around two key points:
Moreover, in instances where credits expire unused, given their unfulfilled purpose, there may be scope to consider either obtaining new credits for a fresh account within legal bounds or introducing a request mechanism to render those credits reusable.
Thank you.
Respectfully, I didn’t intend to take advantage of the system by accumulating more free API credits. I was explaining that our initial credit of $18 expired without us realizing it. OpenAI provides these credits specifically for learning purposes. To make the most of them for educational use, I suggested using another ID since the first credit wasn’t utilized, and OpenAI didn’t incur any costs as the credits expired without being used.
OpenAI’s support is also pathetic. I have tried with a new email id and new phone number but I still dont get 5$ grant. Not sure if OpenAI has stopped $5 grant , without making any press release
If you had found the appropriate recent forum topic to bump, it would reveal that free credits are no longer being handed out.
Try to update your credits and create a new api key, and ignore the old api key. It works for me.