Claude Code vs OpenAI Codex: Which Plan Includes What

Short answer. On October 19, 2026, Claude Code came with Claude Pro at $20 a month billed monthly, and OpenAI Codex with ChatGPT Go at $8 a month, both in US dollars. Codex is also in ChatGPT’s free plan, while Claude’s pricing page marks Claude Code “No” on its free plan. Each tool counts usage in its own way.

In plain words. Claude Code and Codex are AI helpers that write and fix code. You do not buy them alone. You get them with a Claude plan or a ChatGPT plan. The cheapest paid plan with Codex costs less. Each tool limits how much you can use it, in its own way.

Claude Code is Anthropic’s coding agent and Codex is OpenAI’s. Neither has a price list of its own for people who sign in with a subscription: each comes inside the plans of its maker’s chat product, Claude or ChatGPT. So the real question is which of those plans includes the tool, and what each plan adds. The pages that answer it were read by a script and showed US dollars, so the prices can sit side by side. How each tool counts usage cannot be lined up as easily, and this post quotes each page on that instead.

Which plan includes each tool

Each row pairs plans that cost the same per month, in US dollars. The same price does not mean the same usage: each page counts usage its own way, as quoted below.

The Max 20x price comes from the Claude Code page: Claude’s own pricing page prints “From $100 Per month” for Max and no separate figure for the 20x option. OpenAI’s Pro card prints “From $100 /month” and lists its three levels in the one line quoted in the table.

What each page says about the tool in each plan

Anthropic’s Claude Code page has one card per plan. Pro says: “Claude Code is included in your Pro plan. Perfect for short coding sprints in small codebases.” Max 5x says: “Claude Code is included in your Max plan. Great value for everyday use in larger codebases. Includes $100 per month in API credits.” Max 20x says: “Even more Claude Code included in your Max plan. Great value for power users with the most access to Claude models. Includes $200 per month in API credits.” Its FAQ adds the other ways in: “You can access Claude Code with a Claude Pro or Max plan, a Team or Enterprise plan, or a Claude Console account.”

Update, October 26, 2026: Anthropic’s Claude Code page, read again on October 26, 2026 in a browser (the plan cards now sit in an “Individual” tab), shows one Max card instead of two: “Claude Code is included in your Max plan. Choose 5x or 20x usage for everyday work in larger codebases. Includes $100 or $200 per month in API credits.”, priced “From $100” and “Per month for Max 5x. $200 per month for Max 20x.” The Pro card is unchanged. The prices did not change: $100 a month for Max 5x and $200 for Max 20x.

Claude’s pricing page settles the free plan in its comparison table, headed “Features | Free | Pro | Max 5x | Max 20x |”, with the row “Claude Code | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |”. For teams, the table headed “Features | Team | Enterprise (self-serve) | Enterprise (sales-assisted) |” has “Claude Code | Yes | Yes | Yes |”.

OpenAI’s Codex pricing page opens with “ChatGPT Work and Codex are included in your ChatGPT Free, Go, Plus, Pro, Business, Edu, or Enterprise plan”. Then each card describes the plan in one line: Free, “Explore Codex capabilities on quick coding tasks.”; Go, “Use Codex for lightweight coding tasks.”; Plus, “Power a few focused coding sessions each week.”; Pro, “Choose the Pro plan that fits your usage.”; Business, “Bring Codex into your startup or growing business.” Outside the plans, an API key lets you “Pay for Codex usage based on API pricing”.

How each tool counts usage

The two pages describe usage in their own terms, and nothing here converts one into the other. Each is quoted on its own.

Claude’s pricing page says: “Every plan has usage limits that reset on a rolling five-hour session window, and paid plans add weekly limits on top. Your activity across Claude on web, desktop, mobile, and Claude Code all draws from the same pool.” It gives no fixed number: “How much you can do depends on the length and complexity of your conversations, the model you choose, and the features you use, so there’s no fixed message count.” The plans are described as multiples of each other: “Pro gives you at least 5x more usage per 5-hour session than Free. Max gives you 5x or 20x more usage per 5-hour session than Pro.”

OpenAI’s Codex page says Codex shares its allowance with the rest of ChatGPT: “ChatGPT Work and Codex share usage. ChatGPT Work usage inside ChatGPT uses the same pricing, credits, and usage limits as Codex.” It also gives no fixed number: “The number of messages you can send depends on the model used, size and complexity of your tasks, and whether you run them locally or in the cloud.” It then estimates a range: “The estimates below show local messages per five-hour period for Plus and Standard Business. Pro plans currently have no five-hour limit.” In its table headed “Model | Plus | Standard Business |”, one row reads “GPT-6.1 Sol | 15-160 | 15-160 |”, and the page warns: “These estimates are not fixed message limits; check your usage dashboard for current limits and reset times.” It adds: “Local messages and cloud chats share your plan’s usage allowance. Weekly limits may also apply.”

So both pages mention a five-hour window and weekly limits. Claude’s page measures plans as multiples of one another, and OpenAI’s gives ranges of messages per model. Neither figure can be read in the other page’s terms.

What changes when you move up a plan

On Claude, Max lists “Choose 5x or 20x more usage than Pro*”, “Higher output limits for all tasks” and “Priority access at high traffic times”. Max also adds API credits, “$100 to $200/month in API credits to build on the Claude Platform †”, which the Claude Code page splits into $100 for Max 5x and $200 for Max 20x. For teams, a Standard seat gives “All Claude features, plus more usage than Pro*”, a Premium seat “5x more usage than standard seats*” and “Up to $500 per month in pooled API credits †”. Enterprise charges “Seat price + usage at API rates”.

On Codex, Free and Go list “GPT-6 Luna at Standard speed in the desktop app, subject to rollout”. Plus is the first card with “Codex on the web, in the CLI, in the IDE extension, and on iOS”, “Cloud-based integrations like automatic code review and Slack integration” and “GPT-6.1 Sol and GPT-6 Luna”. It also says “Flexibly extend usage with ChatGPT credits”, and the FAQ explains: “ChatGPT Plus and Pro users who reach their usage limit can purchase additional credits to continue working without needing to upgrade their existing plan.” Pro has no five-hour limit, as quoted above, and its top level adds “Ultrafast mode access on Pro $500”. Business adds “Larger virtual machines to run cloud chats faster” and “A secure, dedicated workspace with essential admin controls, SAML SSO, and MFA”.

Prices outside the United States

The figures above are the US dollar readings. Claude and ChatGPT were also read from Spain, in euros and with VAT, and those prices are on the Claude subscription page and the ChatGPT subscription page. No currency is converted here.

Every quote for each tool, with its date, is on the Claude Code page and the OpenAI Codex page. Eight more coding tools are priced the same way on AI coding tools.

How we checked

Anthropic’s Claude Code page and OpenAI’s Codex pricing page were read by a script on October 19, 2026, from a server in Finland, and read again on October 20, 2026, before this post was written: no price or quoted line had changed. Claude’s free, team and enterprise prices and its usage rules come from Anthropic’s Claude pricing page, read by a script on October 17, 2026, whose quotes were all found again on October 20. Every page showed US dollars. Each price and line quoted above comes from the saved text of those readings, and a test checks every quote against it. Claude’s usage multiples and OpenAI’s message estimates are quoted as each page states them and never turned into one another. Nothing here says which tool is better: the pages describe different plans.

Frequently asked questions

Is Claude Code included in Claude Pro?

Yes: Anthropic's Claude Code page says 'Claude Code is included in your Pro plan.' Pro cost $20 a month billed monthly, or $17 a month with the annual discount, in US dollars as read on October 19, 2026.

Is Codex included in ChatGPT Go?

Yes: OpenAI's Codex pricing page lists Go at $8 a month with the line 'Use Codex for lightweight coding tasks.' That was the US dollar price read on October 19, 2026.

Can you use Claude Code or Codex for free?

Codex, yes: ChatGPT's free plan, at $0 a month, says 'Explore Codex capabilities on quick coding tasks.' Claude's pricing page marks Claude Code 'No' on its free plan and 'Yes' from Pro up.

Do Claude Code and Codex prices include tax?

Claude's do not: the Claude Code page says 'Prices shown don't include applicable tax.' OpenAI's Codex pricing page does not say whether its prices include tax.