# ChatGPT Work: usage and cost > For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://learn.chatgpt.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to the page URL. ChatGPT Work helps employees complete multi-step tasks, such as researching a topic, analyzing information, or creating a finished document or presentation. Completing these tasks can require additional reasoning, tools, and processing, which may consume credits. Whether that usage affects your invoice depends on your remaining credits, contracted rates, and workspace overage settings. Use this guide to understand how Work affects usage, plan employee adoption, and apply the spending controls available to your organization. ## Usage and cost at a glance - For eligible credit-based agreements, Work activity draws from a shared pool of workspace credits. - Consuming committed credits differs from incurring new invoiced charges. - Employees can use both Chat and Work; evaluate their combined eligible usage when estimating adoption. - Role-based estimates support planning but aren't fixed per-user prices or guaranteed billing amounts. - User usage limits and workspace overage limits are separate controls. Alerts provide notice but don't stop spending. - Assess a rollout using your organization's observed usage and measurable workflow outcomes. ## Why Work uses credits For organizations with credit-based agreements, eligible Work activity consumes credits from the shared workspace allocation. Other eligible ChatGPT features can draw from the same allocation, so Work doesn't necessarily have a separate balance. Consumption varies with: - The model, execution environment, and applicable reasoning or speed settings. - The task's complexity and any eligible tools or features used—for example, preparing a quarterly business review using CRM records, documents, or messages from approved apps and systems the employee is authorized to access. - How frequently employees run tasks. Employees don't need to stop using Chat when they start using Work. To understand the change in total consumption, compare the same employees' earlier Chat usage with their combined Chat and Work usage over a comparable period. Your agreement and applicable rate card determine the credits each eligible activity consumes. Existing subscription or seat fees are separate from an estimate of credits consumed. ### Understand tokens and credits **Tokens** measure the information the model reads and writes, including input, cached input, and output. On credit-based agreements, **credits** pay for eligible usage from the shared workspace allocation. See [token rates](https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/pricing#token-rates) for credit pricing. If your Enterprise agreement instead specifies usage-based billing in USD, use the [Enterprise USD rate card](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001415-chatgpt-rate-card-enterprise-token-based-pricing) and your agreement. Don't apply the credit calculation to a USD-billed workspace or treat consumed credits as an additional invoice charge. ## When usage affects your bill Whether eligible Work usage results in an additional charge depends on your agreement, remaining credits, and applicable billing settings. Using committed credits reduces your available balance but doesn't, by itself, create a new invoice charge: - **Committed credits remain:** Eligible activity draws down the available credit allocation. Using those credits doesn't, by itself, create a new charge beyond your existing agreement. - **No credits remain and your account permits overage:** Eligible usage can continue within the configured workspace overage limit and may incur charges at your contracted overage rate. - **No credits remain and your account doesn't permit overage:** Eligible features can pause until credits become available or the applicable limit changes. Overage behavior depends on both account eligibility and the configured workspace limit. If your agreement doesn't permit overages, eligible usage stops when no available credits remain. If your account permits overages, an unset limit can allow eligible usage beyond the credit balance. Where supported, an overage limit of zero prevents the workspace from continuing into overage, while **No limit** isn't a zero-spend cap. Usage reports and dollar estimates are planning or monitoring tools, not issued invoices. Some displayed estimates use the contracted overage rate, which can differ from the rate for committed credits. Confirm actual charges against the invoice, billing period, and terms in your organization's agreement. ## Estimate usage for a role or team A role-based estimate can help plan adoption for employees with similar responsibilities, such as Finance, Marketing, or Sales. Start with the employees and workflows your organization expects to support. To develop an estimate: 1. Identify the proposed user group and a comparable period of existing Chat activity. 2. Estimate combined Chat and Work consumption using observed pilot usage or an approved, relevant role-based benchmark. 3. Review the remaining committed credit balance. Apply the appropriate contracted rates for committed credits and, separately, any overage. 4. Determine whether projected usage stays within available credits or could reach your contracted overage terms. 5. Update the estimate using actual adoption, task mix, and observed consumption. An approved benchmark may reflect observed enterprise-customer usage and the actual mix of models used. Its usefulness depends on the comparison period, role classification, workflow, and account assumptions. A broad role-based estimate doesn't establish an industry-specific or task-specific benchmark. An **annualized consumed-credit estimate** projects observed usage value across a year. It isn't a separate Work license price, a standard per-user charge, OpenAI's infrastructure cost, or a prediction that your invoice will increase by the same amount. Actual incremental charges depend on remaining committed credits, contracted pricing, permitted overages, and the billing period. ### Illustrative Marketing planning example An observed analysis of first-time enterprise Work adopters in Marketing showed the following changes in annualized consumed-credit value: - **Median:** Approximately **$53 per employee per year**. - **90th percentile:** Approximately **$1,154 per employee per year**. - **Average:** Approximately **$309 per employee per year**. The median represents the midpoint of observed individual usage. The average is higher because a smaller number of employees consume more credits. The 90th percentile describes an observed higher-usage threshold, not a spending cap or maximum. For **100 employees** with a similar mix of usage, applying the **$309 per-employee average** represents approximately **$30,900 annually**, or **$2,575 per month as a planning equivalent**. These directional estimates reflect observed enterprise-customer usage and its actual model mix, annualized from one week of adoption-period usage. They aren't guaranteed savings, fixed per-user prices, automatic bills, or guaranteed increases to your invoice. Actual charges depend on remaining committed credits, contracted rates, and permitted overages. Your account team can help interpret approved estimates against your organization's agreement. ## Administrator controls and reporting Workspace owners and administrators can use supported settings to manage access and eligible credit-based usage: - **Work access:** Choose which people or groups can access Work through the permissions available to your workspace. - **Model and speed settings:** Where available, configure the starting Work & Codex model, reasoning level, speed, and Fast Mode availability in Workspace settings > Models. Fast Mode can consume more credits for supported models. - **User usage limits:** Set supported monthly workspace defaults, group limits, or individual overrides to manage each user's eligible usage. - **Workspace overage limit:** Control how much eligible usage can continue after the shared credit allocation runs out. - **Usage alerts:** In Billing, configure available usage thresholds and recipients where supported. Alerts notify; they don't stop spending. - **Credit balance and reporting:** In Billing, review remaining credits and download usage reports available to your role. Where your agreement includes committed credits, compare observed usage with your contracted allocation and billing period to assess pacing. - **Invoices:** Review issued invoices and the corresponding billing period when your workspace role includes invoice access. An individual user override takes precedence over group and workspace defaults. When a person belongs to more than one group, the highest applicable group limit applies. A group without a configured limit doesn't impose a zero-credit cap. Check the effective limit for each pilot participant. Usage limits don't add credits or determine who can access Work. A model default or employee guidance can influence consumption, but neither replaces an enforced usage limit or workspace overage setting. Control availability, reporting detail, invoice access, and billing behavior depend on your plan, workspace configuration, and agreement. Reports might not reflect activity immediately; compare the report timestamp and billing period before reconciling usage with an invoice. For cross-product applicability and current setup procedures, see [ChatGPT usage limits and spend controls](https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/enterprise/usage-limits). ## Measure usage alongside outcomes Choose a recurring workflow with a clear existing baseline, such as account research, meeting preparation, or finance reporting. Use the access, tools, and model capabilities appropriate to the work rather than assuming every task requires the most advanced option. During a pilot, compare the same workflow before and after you introduce Work. Depending on the task, your organization might measure: - Time required to complete the work. - Output quality, completeness, or consistency. - Rework, manual coordination, or error rates. - Whether the team completed the intended deliverable. Review these customer-measured outcomes alongside observed credit consumption and any actual billing impact. Usage alone doesn't establish savings, and projected time improvements aren't guaranteed financial returns. ## Start with a controlled rollout Before expanding access: 1. Confirm your agreement, remaining credits, applicable rates, and overage settings. 2. Select a limited group and a workflow your organization can evaluate. 3. Configure supported access permissions, user limits, alerts, and the workspace overage limit. 4. Compare combined Chat and Work consumption against the group's existing baseline. 5. Review observed outcomes and any actual billing impact before expanding the rollout. For broader access, data, governance, and rollout guidance, see the [ChatGPT Work admin FAQ](https://learn.chatgpt.com/docs/enterprise/work-admin-faq). For contract-specific pricing, credit availability, and invoicing questions, contact your account team.