In September 2026, AI billing came up with one more way to wreck your wallet and your brain at the same time.
GPT-6 Astra and Claude Opus 5 are available in GitHub Copilot. And Copilot Pro+ is only $39 a month.
Read just that and you think: "Wait, is it free?" "Is $39 all-you-can-eat Astra?" "Then what are ChatGPT Pro's $100 and $200 plans even for?" Throw Codex into the mix and the price list starts looking like a Japanese phone-carrier bundle: family discount, plus fiber internet, plus a device-return program.
Let me give you the conclusion first.
- To explicitly pick GPT-6 Astra in GitHub Copilot, the cheapest plan is Copilot Pro+ at $39 a month. It is not free.
- Claude Opus 5 is also Pro+ and up, according to GitHub's July 24, 2026 launch announcement.
- Copilot Pro+ includes the equivalent of $70 a month in GitHub AI Credits, and Max includes the equivalent of $200 a month.
- But the "$70" of AI Credits and the "5x" of ChatGPT Pro are measured in different units. You can't just say "4.67x, so it's the same as 5x."
- If you want to use Codex heavily, OpenAI's current Pro plans are $100 for 5x and $200 for 20x. The 20x plan costs twice as much but gives four times the usage, so the more of your allowance you actually use, the cheaper it gets per unit.
- GPT-6 Astra also launched on OpenAI's side on September 3, 2026, but as of September 5 it was still rolling out in stages. Not having it yet is perfectly normal.
Now let's turn the confusing price tables back into human language.
2. Copilot's volume is counted in AI Credits, not tokens
As of September 5, 2026, the individual Copilot plans look like this.
| Plan | Monthly price | Monthly AI Credits equivalent | Ratio to Pro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Limited allowance | - |
| Pro | $10 | $15 | 1.00x |
| Pro+ | $39 | $70 | about 4.67x |
| Max | $100 | $200 | about 13.33x |
On GitHub, 1 AI Credit = $0.01. So Pro is 1,500 credits, Pro+ is 7,000, and Max is 20,000.
But saying "Pro+ is 4.67 times Pro, so it's about the same as ChatGPT Pro 5x" is sloppy.
GitHub AI Credits get used up at different rates depending on the model you pick, the length of the conversation, how much reasoning is involved, tool use, and so on. ChatGPT's 5x and 20x, on the other hand, are multipliers on OpenAI's own plan usage allowance. It's like comparing meters and kilograms just because both are numbers.
The most dangerous thing when comparing prices isn't the dollars. It's the units.
3. "I used 2 to 3 million tokens last month" tells you nothing about whether it was free
When you see someone on social media say "I used about 2 to 3 million tokens last month," you still can't tell what it cost.
The standard OpenAI API price for GPT-6 Astra is $10 per million input tokens and $50 per million output tokens. GitHub also explains that Astra is billed pay-as-you-go at the provider's list price.
In the extreme cases:
- 2 million tokens, all input → $20
- 3 million tokens, all input → $30
- 2 million tokens, all output → $100
- 3 million tokens, all output → $150
In reality, cached input, long context, reasoning, and tool use all come into play. So "I used 3 million tokens" does not mean "$39 gets you 3 million tokens, all you can eat."
A bare token count is like a receipt that just says "3 kg of ingredients." Whether it's 3 kg of rice or 3 kg of Matsusaka beef (a famously expensive Japanese wagyu) makes a very different bill.
4. If Codex is what you really want, look at the Codex allowance, not Astra's chat limits
You might think you "want Astra," but if what you actually want is to have Codex write loads of code, the table to look at isn't ChatGPT's regular message counts. It's the Codex usage allowance.
OpenAI's Codex pricing page gives these estimates for local GPT-6 Astra messages.
| Plan | GPT-6 Astra estimate (per 5-hour window) |
|---|---|
| Plus | 5-45 |
| Pro 5x | 25-225 |
| Pro 20x | 100-900 |
Local messages and cloud chats share the same usage allowance, and a weekly cap may apply on top. Also, the longer the job, the more each run uses up.
Even so, the ratio is clear.
Pro 20x gets about four times the estimated usage of Pro 5x. The monthly price only doubles, from $100 to $200.
So for someone who maxes out their limit, the monthly cost per unit of allowance is roughly half on 20x.
- Pro 5x: $100 ÷ 5 = $20 per Plus-1x equivalent
- Pro 20x: $200 ÷ 20 = $10 per Plus-1x equivalent
If you only use it lightly, $200 can be a waste. But if you're hammering Codex up to the limit every week, going to 20x is mathematically more sensible than trying to stretch 5x with clever tricks.
5. What about 10x? The current personal Pro plans are 5x and 20x
As of September 5, 2026, the individual ChatGPT Pro plans OpenAI officially lists are just two tiers:
- Pro $100: 5x Plus
- Pro $200: 20x Plus
At least on the current official pricing and help pages, there is no permanent personal "Pro 10x" listed.
AI pricing tends to turn into a different creature within a few months. So rather than old screenshots or someone on social media saying "10x," treat that day's official price table as the source of truth.
6. When does Astra arrive in ChatGPT? It started September 3, and on September 5 it was still rolling out
OpenAI announced GPT-6 Astra on September 3, 2026. It started with a limited set of organizations and said it would expand over the next few days to ChatGPT Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and others.
How it shows up differs by product, though.
- In regular ChatGPT Chat, Astra appears gradually as GPT-6 Pro for plans like Pro $100 / $200.
- On Plus, GPT-6 Pro in regular Chat isn't included, but limited Astra access in ChatGPT Work and Codex is being added gradually.
- On Pro, Astra is available in Chat, Work, and Codex.
- To use Astra in the Codex CLI, you need version 0.153.0 or later.
In other words, just because it was announced on September 3 doesn't mean it appeared in every model list worldwide at midnight on September 3.
If Astra isn't in your model list as of September 5, that doesn't contradict the official explanation. You may simply be waiting your turn in the rollout. OpenAI has not officially given a fixed "everyone in Japan gets it at this date and time" schedule.
There's something a little funny about how waiting for the most advanced AI model ends up as "mashing the refresh button."
7. Astra in Chat and Astra in Codex have separate wallets, even with the same name
This is important too.
GPT-6 Pro in regular ChatGPT Chat and GPT-6 Astra in Work/Codex have separately managed usage allowances.
For GPT-6 Pro in regular Chat, the current limits are:
| Pro plan | GPT-6 Pro in Chat |
|---|---|
| $100 | 50 messages per week |
| $200 | 200 messages per week |
Codex, meanwhile, runs on the 5-hour-window estimates from earlier, plus a shared allowance and weekly limits.
So "I get 50 Astra messages in Chat, so I get 50 in Codex too" is wrong. Even under the same Astra brand, the Chat shop and the Codex shop have separate loyalty cards.
8. Copilot or ChatGPT Pro, which is the better deal depends on what you're buying
There's no simple winner.
Who GitHub Copilot Pro+ / Max is for
- You want to do all your coding work in VS Code, the CLI, and on GitHub
- You want to switch between models from several companies, like Astra and Opus
- You want it integrated with GitHub's agents, code review, and repository work
- You find it a hassle to "keep a separate dev environment for each model company"
For this use, the $39 price for Pro+ and $100 for Max are pretty aggressive.
Who ChatGPT Pro 5x / 20x is for
- You want to run long development sessions centered on Codex
- You want ChatGPT research, file handling, Work, Codex and more under one subscription
- Codex usage in particular is your bottleneck
Among those people, if you max out Codex, the per-unit price of 20x is the better one. Conversely, if even 5x is more than you use, 20x is just expensive empty space.
9. Does "AI can do that, right?" kill all outsourcing?
If I ended this section with just provocation, it would be sloppy.
The stronger AI agents get, the easier it becomes to handle part of the small-scale development, fixes, research, and prototyping that used to be outsourced in-house. For a job that used to stop at "should we pay a contractor 100,000 yen for this?", there's definitely growing pressure to shift to "let's try throwing it at Astra or Codex first."
The riskiest work is the kind where almost all of the value rested on nothing more than "doing the hands-on implementation."
On the other hand, plenty of work remains even as AI gets stronger.
- Deciding what should be built
- Turning vague demands from the people on the ground into a spec
- Understanding how it connects to existing systems
- Handling permissions, security, and personal data
- Testing, and taking responsibility when something goes wrong
- Running it, and fixing it when it breaks
In short, outsourcing's value isn't going to zero. The price tag is moving from "the time spent writing code" to "the responsibility for finishing the problem safely."
The more code AI writes, the more "so who's putting this into production and taking responsibility?" becomes the final boss.
10. The shortest conclusion, September 2026 edition
If you get lost, just remember this.
- Want to explicitly pick Astra in Copilot → Pro+ at $39 or above.
- Copilot Pro+ gives you $70 equivalent in AI Credits. Max is $200 equivalent. It is not a fixed number of tokens.
- Want to use Codex heavily → compare OpenAI Pro 5x at $100 and 20x at $200.
- 20x is about four times the estimated usage of 5x for twice the price. If you use it all up, 20x wins on per-unit cost.
- Astra has been rolling out to ChatGPT/Codex in stages since September 3, 2026. Not having it on September 5 is not strange.
- The Astra allowance in Chat and the Astra allowance in Codex are separate.
- Price tables update fast. Trust that day's official table over a multiplier you saw on social media.
The skill you need most for AI billing in 2026 is neither prompting nor coding.
It's reading comprehension for price tables.
Models are getting closer to AGI, and humans are still tapping a calculator asking "wait, is this $70 worth 5x?" The future has arrived. So has the invoice.
Sources (information passports)
Source 1
- Title: GPT-6 Astra: A new generation of intelligence
- Publisher: OpenAI
- URL: https://openai.com/index/gpt-6-astra/
- Retrieved: 2026-09-05 21:03:16 JST
- Summary: Announced GPT-6 Astra on September 3, 2026. Starting with limited organizations, rolling out over several days to Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise and others. Standard API price is $10 per million input tokens and $50 per million output tokens.
- Role in the article: Primary source for Astra's launch date, staged rollout, and API pricing.
Source 2
- Title: Codex Pricing
- Publisher: OpenAI / ChatGPT
- URL: https://chatgpt.com/codex/pricing/
- Retrieved: 2026-09-05 21:03:16 JST
- Summary: Lists current Codex plans and per-model usage estimates. For Astra, local message estimates are Plus 5-45, Pro 5x 25-225, Pro 20x 100-900.
- Role in the article: Comparing real-world Codex usage between 5x and 20x.
Source 3
- Title: About ChatGPT Pro tiers
- Publisher: OpenAI Help Center
- URL: https://help.openai.com/en/articles/9793128-what-is-c
- Retrieved: 2026-09-05 21:03:16 JST
- Summary: Explains Pro $100 as 5x Plus and Pro $200 as 20x.
- Role in the article: Confirming the current Pro plan prices and multipliers.
Source 4
- Title: GPT-5.6 and GPT-6 Pro in ChatGPT
- Publisher: OpenAI Help Center
- URL: https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001354-gpt-56-and-gpt-6-pro-in-chatgpt
- Retrieved: 2026-09-05 21:03:16 JST
- Summary: Explains the rollout conditions for GPT-6 Pro in Chat, the limits of 50 per week for Pro $100 and 200 per week for Pro $200, and the separation of allowances from Work/Codex.
- Role in the article: Confirming Chat-side Astra availability and limits.
Source 5
- Title: GPT-6 Astra is generally available in GitHub Copilot
- Publisher: GitHub Changelog
- URL: https://github.blog/changelog/2026-09-04-gpt-6-astra-is-generally-available-in-github-copilot/
- Retrieved: 2026-09-05 21:03:16 JST
- Summary: Announced Astra for Copilot Pro+, Max, Business, and Enterprise.
- Role in the article: Primary source for which Copilot plans can select Astra.
Source 6
- Title: GitHub Copilot Plans & Pricing
- Publisher: GitHub
- URL: https://github.com/features/copilot/plans
- Retrieved: 2026-09-05 21:03:16 JST
- Summary: Lists individual Free / Pro / Pro+ / Max pricing, AI Credits, and model and agent features.
- Role in the article: Copilot monthly prices and usage comparison.
Source 7
- Title: Claude Opus 5 is now available in GitHub Copilot
- Publisher: GitHub Changelog
- URL: https://github.blog/changelog/2026-07-24-claude-opus-5-is-now-available-in-github-copilot/
- Retrieved: 2026-09-05 21:03:16 JST
- Summary: At launch in Copilot, Claude Opus 5 was announced for Pro+, Max, Business, and Enterprise.
- Role in the article: Confirming which plans get Opus 5.
Source 8
- Title: Models and pricing for GitHub Copilot
- Publisher: GitHub Docs
- URL: https://docs.github.com/en/copilot/reference/copilot-billing/models-and-pricing
- Retrieved: 2026-09-05 21:03:16 JST
- Summary: Lists pay-as-you-go rates and context conditions for each model, including Astra.
- Role in the article: Confirming that token volume alone can't tell you the cost.
