OpenAI CLI Pricing

open sourceopen sourcelast verified October 23, 2026official site ↗

Plan	Price	Notes
Open source CLIofficial source ↗	$0checked 2026-10-23	Apache-2.0; prebuilt binaries for macOS, Linux and Windows, Homebrew or go install
OpenAI API usage (pay as you go)official source ↗	Usage-basedchecked 2026-10-23	Requests made through the CLI are billed to your OpenAI API account at standard API rates

structured from cited official pricing sources: “The CLI is free and open source under the Apache License 2.0. It calls the OpenAI API with your own API key (OPENAI_API_KEY, plus OPENAI_ADMIN_KEY for admin endpoints), so every request is billed at standard OpenAI API rates; see the OpenAI API pricing page.”

Self-hosting cost

OpenAI CLI is open source. Self-hosting does not add a software license fee, but you still pay for infrastructure, operations, and any external model or API usage.

Free & cheaper Terminal & CLI Tools

same category, free plan or open-source license

Claude CodeClaude Code is included in Claude paid plans: Pro at $20/month ($17/month billed annually), Max 5x at $100/month and Max 20x at $200/month, and Team seats at $25/seat/month ($20 billed annually) for Standard or $125/seat/month ($100 billed annually) for Premium (5x Standard usage). Enterprise is $20/seat/month billed annually plus usage at API rates. A Free plan is available without Claude Code, and developers can also use API keys billed per token.Ghosttyopen sourceGhostty is 100% free and open-source software licensed under MIT. It operates with zero licensing fees, zero paywalled tiers, and no cloud dependencies.WarpWarp offers Free ($0) with Warp AI or bring-your-own, Build at $20/month ($18 billed annually) with $20 of agent usage, Max at $200/month ($180 billed annually) with $200 of agent usage, and Business at $50/user/month ($45 billed annually, up to 25 seats) with $20 of agent usage per seat.ClaudeFree tier with core Claude access. Paid subscription plans include Claude Pro at $20/month ($17/month billed annually), Claude Max 5x at $100/month for 5x Pro usage limits, Claude Max 20x at $200/month for heavy agentic coding and power workflows, and Claude Team at $30/user/month ($25/user/month billed annually, 5-seat minimum). Enterprise tier provides custom scalable pricing, SAML SSO, and SCIM provisioning. Since October 7, 2026, Max and Team plans also include monthly Claude Platform API credits: $100 on Max 5x, $200 on Max 20x, and on Team $20 per Standard seat and $100 per Premium seat, pooled and capped at $500. The credits cover the Claude API, Managed Agents and the Agent SDK, not interactive Claude Code, and expire each billing cycle.

OpenAI CLI overview →alternatives →

FAQ

How much does OpenAI CLI cost?

The CLI is free and open source under the Apache License 2.0. It calls the OpenAI API with your own API key (OPENAI_API_KEY, plus OPENAI_ADMIN_KEY for admin endpoints), so every request is billed at standard OpenAI API rates; see the OpenAI API pricing page.

Does OpenAI CLI have a free plan?

Yes — OpenAI CLI is open source and free to use.

Can you self-host OpenAI CLI for free?

OpenAI CLI is open source. Self-hosting does not add a software license fee, but you still pay for infrastructure, operations, and any external model or API usage.

What are free or cheaper OpenAI CLI alternatives?

Claude Code, Ghostty, Warp are in the same category with a free plan or open-source license.

pricing is editorial catalog data (last verified October 23, 2026) — vendors change plans; confirm on the official site before you buy. Reuse this data under CC-BY 4.0 via /data.