What Codex is today
OpenAI's Codex docs list a lot of places it runs: the ChatGPT desktop app, a command-line tool, extensions for code editors, the web, the cloud and mobile. It connects to GitHub, Slack, Linear and GitLab (that one is still in beta). The same docs list browser control, computer use and working with your files as core features.
The bigger shift is who it is for. OpenAI's docs now open with general work, not just code: working with files, building simple sites and example workflows for whole teams. Codex is turning into the engine behind ChatGPT's do-the-work side.
What it costs
According to OpenAI's pricing page, Codex and ChatGPT Work are included in every ChatGPT plan, Free included. Prices in US dollars:
- Free: $0.
- Go: $8 per month.
- Plus: $20 per month.
- Pro: $100, $200 or $500 per month, with no five-hour usage limit at the moment.
- Business: $20 per user per month billed yearly (2 users minimum) or $25 month to month.
- Enterprise and Edu: talk to sales.
You can also run Codex on an API key and pay per use, but that skips cloud features like GitHub code review and the Slack connection. For most small teams, Plus or Business is the sensible starting point.
The October updates, in order
All dates below come from OpenAI's Codex changelog.
- October 7: GPT-6.1 Sol becomes the default model in the Codex command-line tool.
- October 8: GPT-6.1 Sol Ultrafast arrives for the $500 Pro plan and eligible Enterprise and Edu accounts.
- October 9: a beta feature in the desktop app suggests your next prompt. Press Tab to use it as a draft. It never sends on its own. Personal Pro plans only for now.
- October 14: the older GPT-5.5 model was retired in Codex for people signing in with ChatGPT. API-key users were not affected.
- October 22 to 23: a command-line update added saved prompt presets, quicker model and permission switching, and better sign-in for company tool connections. Details are in the GitHub release notes.
- October 26: GPT-6.1 Terra lands in Codex and ChatGPT Work on paid plans.
- October 27: the command-line tool adds Terra and support for running through Google Cloud.
Why GPT-6.1 Terra matters for Codex
Terra is OpenAI's new mid-priced model, built for speed and for operating apps. In OpenAI's own testing, as reported by BleepingComputer, it finishes tasks more than three times faster on average than the bigger GPT-6.1 Sol. Those are OpenAI's numbers, not independent ones. For everyday office jobs inside Codex, speed matters more than raw brainpower, so many teams will end up switching to Terra for routine work and keeping Sol for the hard stuff. Our full Terra breakdown has the details.
What this means for a small business
If your team pays for ChatGPT, you have a capable agent sitting unused in the desktop app. A few places we see it earn its keep:
- Offices: turn a folder of invoices or forms into a clean spreadsheet.
- Trades: build a simple internal page or checklist without hiring a web developer.
- Distributors: pull data out of a supplier portal with computer use, then tidy it into your own format.
- Law firms: organize and summarize document sets for a person to review.
Where we land: for most small businesses we still recommend Claude Code as the main AI work tool. But if your team lives in ChatGPT already, Codex is the better pick than adding a second subscription. We compare them head to head in Claude Code vs Codex.
What we'd do this week
- Download the ChatGPT desktop app and open the Codex tab.
- Check which models your plan shows (Sol, Terra or both).
- Give it one real task with files you are comfortable sharing, and watch how it asks for permission.
- Read our Codex guide or ask us to set it up with sensible guardrails.