OpenAI simplifies API usage tiers from five to three
Starting October 5, OpenAI is introducing three API usage tiers instead of the previous five: Build, Launch, and Grow. Organizations are moved to a higher tier automatically based on the total volume of credits purchased.
OpenAI is updating the structure of usage tiers for the OpenAI API. According to the company's changelog, the number of tiers is being reduced from five to three, newly named Build, Launch, and Grow. Organizations are automatically moved to each tier based on the total volume of credits purchased, once they reach the minimum for that tier.
Each tier has its own monthly usage limit and affects the rate limits for individual models available via the API. The source does not provide specific numeric values for the limits and thresholds for each tier, and refers to separate documentation on usage tiers. See the source article for details.
Why it matters
The change affects companies and developers using the OpenAI API at larger scale – the new structure affects how quickly they reach higher rate limits and how many requests they can send per month. Automatic tier assignment based on purchased credits simplifies the previous manual process, but it also changes the existing division into five tiers, to which internal capacity planning processes may have been tied.
Two audiences, two different impacts
What this means
For individuals
Developers building applications directly on the OpenAI API should check which new tier (Build, Launch, Grow) their account falls into and what impact this has on rate limits for the models they use.
For a business
Companies using the OpenAI API need to check which tier they were automatically moved to based on the volume of credits purchased, and adjust capacity planning and rate limits for production deployments accordingly.
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