guide

Sign in with ChatGPT: what apps can see and spend

Your ChatGPT plan can pay for AI in other apps, but the allowance stays shared. Here's what apps can see, which permissions you approve and how to cap their usage.

EiliyaSeptember 30, 20267 min read

Your ChatGPT subscription can now pay for eligible AI requests inside other apps without an OpenAI API key. Sign in with ChatGPT gives Plus and Pro users that option, but every connected app spends the same ChatGPT Work and Codex allowance you already have.

More apps, same capacity. If you already pay for ChatGPT and prefer another app's interface or workflow, that's still useful. OpenAI's plan usage overview explains how the permission works.

Read the consent screen before you connect. Signing in, sharing your plan and authorizing access to other data are separate decisions.

Sign in with ChatGPT has two separate permissions

Identity sign-in lets an app recognize your ChatGPT account and create, link or open its own account for you. Plan usage lets an approved app charge eligible OpenAI requests against your included allowance.

You can accept the first and decline the second, so a working login doesn't prove that an app is using your subscription. Look for an explicit request to use your ChatGPT plan, then check the confirmation inside the app. OpenAI's quickstart explains the two permissions.

The same button can lead to different results. OpenCode, Pi, Kilo Code and Devin appear among the supported plan integrations. Airtable, Canva, GitLab, HubSpot and Supabase are listed for sign-in only: they can identify you through ChatGPT, but the connection doesn't currently pay for their AI features.

Check the official partner directory before assuming an app supports both. You want a workflow you like that uses the plan you already pay for. A familiar login button only answers part of that question.

How to use your ChatGPT plan in another app

Start in the app you want to use. You don't need to move your work into a ChatGPT conversation first.

Open a participating app and select Continue with ChatGPT or Sign in with ChatGPT.
Choose the ChatGPT account you intend to use. Check the account and workspace if you have more than one.
Review the basic identity information the app requests.
If offered, approve the separate permission to use your ChatGPT plan.
Return to the app and check which account and payment route it shows.
Run a small task, then review the resulting usage before starting a longer job.

That small trial is my advice, not an OpenAI requirement. A short rewrite or question lets you check the connection before handing an agent a large assignment.

Already have an account with the app? Look in its account or billing settings for a ChatGPT connection option and follow the account-linking prompts. A second login won't necessarily join your existing account automatically; OpenAI's user guide covers both new sign-ins and linking.

Plus and Pro are the published plans eligible for sharing plan usage. OpenAI says all users can connect supported open source tools, but a connection doesn't promise a Free account the same inference allowance.

An app can also limit the option to particular plans of its own. Your OpenAI subscription and your subscription with the app are separate.

Your chats and memories don't come along

Identity sign-in gives the app your name, email address and profile picture, if you have one. It doesn't give the app your ChatGPT conversations, memories, files or billing information. OpenAI's identity help page spells out those boundaries.

Approving plan usage doesn't hand over your OpenAI API key or import your previous conversations either. You're authorizing eligible requests against your allowance.

What you approve	What it provides
Identity sign-in	Basic account information for creating, linking or accessing the app's account
ChatGPT plan usage	Permission for eligible AI requests to consume your plan allowance
Other requested permissions	Whatever separate data or actions that permission flow describes

What you send to the app still needs its own review: text you type, files you upload and connections you authorize there. Read the app's privacy information before sending it something sensitive. The sign-in boundary doesn't answer every privacy question about the app itself.

Don't expect the app to know your preferences just because ChatGPT remembers them. If the tool needs your writing style or project context, provide it through the tool's own controls. Your ChatGPT memory doesn't travel with your identity.

Set a weekly cap before a long task

You can set a weekly usage limit for each app in ChatGPT's Settings > Usage. Find it under App limits, open its limit controls, choose the percentage and save. OpenAI describes that percentage as the share of your overall weekly usage the app may consume.

The cap is a ceiling. It doesn't reserve a slice for the app or increase your total allowance, so other work can use the remaining capacity first. An app can also reach its own cap while you still have usage available elsewhere.

Decide which tasks deserve access to your week. Give a tool you're testing a smaller cap than the coding agent you use every day, if that fits how you work. Don't treat the percentage as a predictable number of prompts.

OpenAI says usage varies with the app and task; a long agent job isn't necessarily comparable to a short question in ChatGPT. The usage view reports app consumption, but doesn't give you a full account of the actions it took. Keep the task description if you need to investigate unexpected consumption.

A cap and an empty allowance need different fixes

An app can stop because it reached its weekly cap or because your overall plan ran out of included usage. Check which one applies before changing anything. Signing in again won't refill the allowance.

Credits require a separate opt-in, an available balance and, under OpenAI's current guidance, an app cap of 100%. Setting that cap alone doesn't enable credits. OpenAI's credit controls explain the conditions.

Review automatic credit purchases too: if enabled, continued usage can create charges. For occasional use, you might prefer to leave credits disabled and wait for the displayed reset. If you want uninterrupted work, check the credit preference before starting.

The app's own subscription, infrastructure or premium features may still cost money separately. Your ChatGPT plan covers eligible inference, not every charge the app might have.

Image input works differently from image generation

The preview covers eligible Responses API requests. OpenAI's preview limitations exclude image generation, file search, Code Interpreter, native computer use and hosted connectors. Those limits apply to this integration; they don't mean the features are missing from ChatGPT itself.

You can still supply a photo when the chosen model supports image input. Asking the model to describe a picture and asking it to draw one are different requests. Only the first can be supported here.

In his DevDay live blog, Simon Willison welcomed spending an existing subscription in other tools, saying he'd wanted it for years. It's easy to see the appeal. Just check the shared limits and supported features before your first big task.

If you need other models or media

Sign in with ChatGPT covers OpenAI models. If you want Claude, Gemini, image generation or video in a participating app, AI Pass lets you pay for exact usage from a portable wallet, with no subscription required. Its integration documentation explains the user-funded approach.

You spend your wallet balance across participating apps and providers instead of your ChatGPT allowance. AI Pass is independent and isn't affiliated with or endorsed by OpenAI.

FAQ

Can I use ChatGPT Plus in other apps?

Yes, in apps that support eligible plan usage and offer it to your account. You must approve that permission separately from signing in.

Can the app read my ChatGPT conversations or memories?

Neither identity sign-in nor plan usage grants that access. Review other permissions and the information you send to the app separately.

Does each app get its own weekly allowance?

No. Its weekly cap limits how much of your shared allowance it can consume. Connecting an app adds no capacity.

Will it charge credits automatically when my plan runs out?

Credit use requires a separate opt-in, available credits and the applicable account and app conditions. Check the saved preferences before relying on it.