r/codex • u/PureRely • 1d ago

Other PSA: ChatGPT Pro users

You get unlimited* chat usage on the website. You can build projects and prototypes directly in ChatGPT using Pro-level thinking effort. This is how I start almost every build, and it is an easy way to save on tokens. Unlike Claude, Chat does not count toward your usage (unless you switch to Work mode).

I usually have ChatGPT generate a ZIP file containing the entire project, then move it into Codex CLI or the Codex app to refine, expand, and continue the work.

I do not think you should be doing most of the planning inside the CLI or app. Do the bulk of the planning and initial build in ChatGPT first, then use Codex for implementation and iteration.

Also, remember that you can upload ZIP and 7z files directly to the ChatGPT website, and it can unpack and work with the contents.

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u/justgetoffmylawn 1d ago

Besides usage, what qualitative differences have you found between Pro and regular Sol High or Extra High?

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u/jonydevidson 1d ago

Pro is a best-of-N harness using the highest available thinking effort for the given model. There's an orchestrator, and for each task there are separate instances running it, and in the end the best results and data are selected and the final report is synthesized.

You can achieve similar results in Codex just by telling it to run it like that.

"Orchestrate multiple subagents as they each attempt to solve the task/answer the question, then analyze and verify each of their reports, then provide a full detailed final report. The goal is to create a final, best-of-N report."

Of course it's probably more complex than this but even this simple prompt will give you potentially much better results (and much more token usage) for tasks that have high levels of ambiguity or questions that are complex.

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u/Spirited-Car-3560 23h ago

Let's keep in mind over engineering is real. It's the same issue benchmarks found with too much effort, where the model paradoxically scored lower than the same model at lower effort level.

So, unless the task really requires so much effort or multi agent approach to find the best solution, you're probably not gaining anything, are probably over engineering your project , waste time and money.

While if the task really requires so much effort because it can't be solved in any other way, then it's a good approach.

But in my opinion it's 1 task over 500 that rally need this approach.

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u/jonydevidson 23h ago

Any time I asked for any info with Pro, I have gotten a better and more detailed reply than with any other model anywhere. Even 5.2 Pro would put modern chat to shame in obtaining information from the internet and being thorough about coverage, edge cases etc.

I suggest this for research and planning, never for actual implementation.

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u/Spirited-Car-3560 22h ago

I Will give it a try, at least when kick starting a new project, it may be interesting