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GPT-5 Codex Pricing in 2026: Direct vs Cheap API Alternatives

GPT-5 family pricing, including the code-specialized GPT-5.3 Codex. How OpenAI direct compares to running through claudeapi.cheap, with real cost math for daily use.

What GPT-5 Codex actually costs in 2026

OpenAI's GPT-5 family launched in 2025 and the Codex variant — the code-specialized SKU — followed shortly after. Here's the official rate sheet for 2026:

| Model | Context | Input / 1M | Output / 1M |

|---|---|---|---|

| GPT-5.5 (flagship) | 256k | $4.00 | $32.00 |

| GPT-5.4 (standard) | 200k | $2.00 | $12.00 |

| GPT-5.4 Mini (budget) | 128k | $0.60 | $3.60 |

| GPT-5.3 Codex (code) | 200k | $1.40 | $11.20 |

| GPT-5.2 (legacy) | 128k | $1.40 | $11.20 |

GPT-5.3 Codex sits at the same price as GPT-5.2 but is fine-tuned for software engineering tasks — better at SWE-bench-style problems, more reliable diff edits, fewer hallucinated APIs.

For a developer using GPT-5 Codex through Codex CLI or Cursor for ~2 hours/day, expect to spend $200-400/month on OpenAI direct. The Codex CLI alone is autonomous — long sessions can hit 1-2M tokens per task.

What it costs through claudeapi.cheap

We pass GPT-5 family at 70-80% off:

| Model | OpenAI direct | claudeapi.cheap Basic (70% off) | claudeapi.cheap Pro (80% off) |

|---|---|---|---|

| GPT-5.5 | $4.00 / $32.00 | $1.20 / $9.60 | $0.80 / $6.40 |

| GPT-5.4 | $2.00 / $12.00 | $0.60 / $3.60 | $0.40 / $2.40 |

| GPT-5.4 Mini | $0.60 / $3.60 | $0.18 / $1.08 | $0.12 / $0.72 |

| GPT-5.3 Codex | $1.40 / $11.20 | $0.42 / $3.36 | $0.28 / $2.24 |

| GPT-5.2 | $1.40 / $11.20 | $0.42 / $3.36 | $0.28 / $2.24 |

Same model. Same context window. Same tool-call format. We forward the OpenAI-compatible request as-is to the upstream and stream the response back. Drop-in for the OpenAI Python/Node SDK — set OPENAI_BASE_URL=https://claudeapi.cheap/api/proxy/v1.

Real-world cost: a Codex CLI session

A typical Codex CLI task — fix a bug spanning three files, write a test, commit:

  • ~250k input tokens (planning + file context replay)
  • ~15k output tokens (diffs + test + commit message)
  • Model: GPT-5.3 Codex

    • OpenAI direct: $0.35 input + $0.17 output = $0.52 per task

    claudeapi.cheap Pro: $0.07 input + $0.034 output = $0.10 per task

    Multiply by 30 tasks/day for a heavy user — direct $15.60/day vs $3/day through us. Over a month: $470 vs $90.

    How to switch

    Codex CLI uses the standard OpenAI SDK. Two env vars:

    export OPENAI_API_KEY="sk-cc-your-key-here"
export OPENAI_BASE_URL="https://claudeapi.cheap/api/proxy/v1"

codex

    For Python:

    from openai import OpenAI
client = OpenAI(
    base_url="https://claudeapi.cheap/api/proxy/v1",
    api_key="sk-cc-your-key-here",
)
resp = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="gpt-5.3-codex",
    messages=[{"role":"user","content":"Fix this bug..."}]
)

    That's it. Streaming, tool calling, structured outputs, JSON mode — all forwarded through.

    Best GPT-5 model for the task

  • gpt-5.3-codex — coding agents (Codex CLI, Aider architect mode, Cursor). Sweet spot of cost and code quality.
  • gpt-5.5 — hardest reasoning tasks, multimodal inputs, broadest world knowledge. Most expensive.
  • gpt-5.4 — general chat, content generation, agent planning. Standard tier.
  • gpt-5.4-mini — high-volume tasks, classification, simple completions. Pennies per call.
  • gpt-5.2 — pinned-version workloads only. Same price as 5.3-codex but older.

    • Three-vendor convenience

    The same sk-cc-... key works for Claude (Anthropic-compat) and Gemini 3 Pro/Flash (OpenAI-compat). One key, three vendors, drop-in compatible. See models for the full catalog.

    Get started

    Free Basic is enough to test GPT-5 Codex through us with $5 of crypto credit. Pro at $19 lifetime locks in 80% off forever. For Codex CLI users, Pro pays back in the first day.