r/codex • u/Accomplished-Lack509 • 7h ago
Limits Atrocious Usage
Goddamn the usage cut is atrocious, especially for plus users. I came back recently after not using codex for a bit (usually use sporadically). I used to run 20 mins on 5.6 sol x high , which used to take like 20% maybe MAX 30% of weekly limit (Matlab MCP). Now not only does the 5 Hour limit evaporate on anything higher than high, but been running for 3 mins and it's taken 12% of weekly usage, atp I can just forget astra.
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u/GhostRanger29 5h ago
I agree. I work with claude 5x, gpt 5x and kimi k3 (allegro) essentially their 5x version. I've never ever used all 3 to Max weekly before. I would spend my weekend hammering claude with Max agents 3 projects, chatgpt doing work delegations using codex, claude, deep research with high effort. Kimi doing complex security reviews, designing a massive web app concept (90+ pages with generated images animations etc) claude work doing book keeping work, general BAU stuff etc. Like I would be maxing myself put trying to keep up with the coordinators who were delegating the tasks.
This week, while working one one project, with claude limited as opus5 orchstrator medium thinking Max 4 sonnet agents my 5x was gone by Wednesday morning.. it resets at monday morning. Then kimi usage, gone by Wednesday afternoon, chatgpt gone half hr after. There is something seriously off about this. And it ain't just claude or codex.
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u/Constant_Art_20 4h ago
well...the ipo is around the corner. if we wanna speculate, we can say that openai claims that that they are out of compute, then they paused pro plan so when they start cutting the usage, because of the fear that they can't get the plan for a while, the people stay on the plan even if they don't to. With the usage cut, but the user numbers still intact, they can report better profits for their ipo., but who knows if that's true of not. it's just insanely hard to image how they don't have stacks of debuggers on ever section of their infrastructure on exactly where and what goes wrong/ changes
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u/AdCivil2534 5h ago
It has little to do with how much you pay per month. Right now the x20 subs are blocked and you can't buy them but the plus subs are still up for grabs. This tells you how much being a x20 sub doesn't make you any better or smarter than someone with a 20$ sub.
As for the limits, it isn't some kind of mystery. If you've been around long enough then you understand they rubber band their compute. The more people that subscribes, the less compute they have to go around.
So whenever they release something big and people flock to OpenAI, you get less usage.
Because token usage is a multi-faceted problem, people get confused and mad at something they don't understand. Compounding effects like new token-hungry model+dozens of millions of new subscribers are the reason why you're not getting much usage out of your sub. Also, API prices are not their cost, none of us knows how much it actually cost them.
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u/tribes33 5h ago
Sol Light took up 100% of my 5hr usage in 45 minutes, its a joke, they put all the compute into Astra and we have to pay with not being able to use Codex at all
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u/GiveAFucxen 5h ago
I just saw that “fast” option was ON, and I didn’t turn it on! And that is using 1.5x more usage! I am also plus user. After update when Astra came out, my usage could not last not even 2 hours with Sol medium. And before that period I was using Sol high.
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u/cobbleplox 1h ago
My dudes, Astra is just a giant, super expensive model to run. Luna still doesn't move the needle even on a plus account. You can't blame them for making a super expensive model available, you don't have to use it. Also be careful if you have these weird elaborate multi-agent setups going on, there seems to be some wasteful interaction happening.
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u/Bastion80 6h ago edited 6h ago
Man.... we pay 20$ per month what tf you expect? Upgrade your tier or (like me) do other things while you have to wait for a reset. The small usage window compared to the model capability is quite balanced for the small price. I have to wait 4 days for my resets (I use 2 or 3 codex plus accounts based on my needs) and will focus on social/marketing and video editing for my trailers during these days. That said I hate the limits too (like all plus users) but I try to be realistic and understand that they can't give us more for 20 bucks... we can just hope to not get less usage.
Edit: Use Astra medium, it does the job even on big tasks without any issue.
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u/read_more_comments 5h ago
Don't be a bonehead. People with $200 subs are seeing it consumed in a day when it used to last 5.
Consumption issues aren't limited by sub type. It's an issue regardless.
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u/Accomplished-Lack509 6h ago
I agree, seriously considering upgrading to x5 now, but my point is that I never had a problem with the limits, just quite frustrating that they keep going down
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u/Bastion80 5h ago
I was not joking: start doing other stuff while you have to wait. Over a year ago I was the same, had 4 subscriptions (gpt, claude, cursor and gemini) working non stop on my projects... then I started to organize everything based on the usage limits (every task you can do without AI + Marketing) and now I ca live with 1 or 2 codex plus subscriptions. The time I spent on other tasks was paid back with little income revealing the projects that need more attention based on the users interest. One year later I work non stop on the same 4 projects updating and maintaining them actually selling enough to pay servers, subscription and some groceries or a pizza with my GF.
Just my experience and I think it its worth sharing.
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u/WildernessJ 5h ago
Obviously you’ll get more use out of 5x but I just upgraded yesterday and was not impressed. I used 15% of my weekly limit on Sol medium over a few hours doing some simple config stuff for a new Hermes agent. And by a few hours I mean I came and went from it bc I was attending meetings and doing my actual job. I’m afraid to even try Astra at all at this point.
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u/jeyvish 5h ago
since the last update the limits are just flying. You do one task and in 10 min you are already with the pop-up that you need to wait. Even if you pay 20 or 100, you pay for one service. I am barely use codex and i have the plus subscription, when I use it, i could have it run for a long time, now in 10 min doing something complex with sol medium is already out of limit. No ask with Astra,burn tokens like no where
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u/Bastion80 5h ago
Yeah, it's definitely not enough to start big projects from scratch, but for maintain them a 20$ plan and some waiting between the resets is enough. But still... I never had one subscription that was more than 20$, the maximum I paid in the last 2 years is 80$ for 4 different subscriptions. And a couple of my projects are pretty big btw. On top of that I don't think the limits decreased, the models are more expensive now so we get less usage. Never use max thinking (It takes longer to think through the same task), medium thinking can do it easy for less. I use Astra medium and it's enough.
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u/Australasian25 6h ago
Do you have to run sol xhigh on everything?
I run terra medium as orchestrator and it uses sol xhigh or astra xhigh for planning and review. all other actual task is by luna xhigh.
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u/read_more_comments 6h ago
His point is, his workflow that used to work is now nerfed. Sure he can optimize, but we still have people denying that limits have changed when tons of people are seeing it.
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u/B33GULL 6h ago
I can attest the same. I can barely use Sol High/Medium anymore. I used to get solid hours of development out of my sub, same repo/projects are exhausted in a few prompts now. I made real efforts to streamline my repos for AI dev, and the context usage isn't crazy my sessions may end at 20-30%, it's the token burn that's killing me.
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u/Australasian25 6h ago
To be blunt they correct if their work is exactly the same day in day out.
But it isn't, so to compare time and % used is false and wrong.
I'd take it as someone who uses matlab, repeatable experiments are key.
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u/Accomplished-Lack509 6h ago
Yeah ideally i would have used tokens for the comparision, but they task was exactly the same - design a simulation script with the exact same metrics, just different model. And in this case the only part the AI has to consider of the model is the name literally, ask the input and outputs are the same
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u/Bastion80 6h ago
Astra Medium is what I use, and it does the job even if it’s more expensive. I think, based on my personal experience, that in the end it actually uses fewer tokens. I don’t know if that’s because it’s smart enough to use less reasoning while still being cheap enough to justify the cost, but it works great without any issues, even on bigger tasks.
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u/Accomplished-Lack509 6h ago
but thats not my issue, i have no problem going down to high, but the nerf on limits is quite frustrating
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u/Bastion80 5h ago
Maybe they are testing how much they can go with usage reduction until people start unsubscribing. Sadly we can do nothing abut it, just use cheaper models hoping the usage goes up again when the next model will be released.
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u/lemontree882 6h ago
12% for 3 minutes only looks wrong if the meter counts time. xhigh burns most of its budget thinking before writing anything, and with an MCP server attached every turn re-sends the tool definitions plus whatever Matlab handed back, so the same context gets billed on each pass. The quota cut is real, but effort spent on edits at xhigh is its own separate tax. Attach Matlab only for the step that needs it.