# What OpenAI Dots cost, and what open source costs instead

> A dot has no price of its own. OpenAI bundles the first one into a ChatGPT plan and leaves the deeper work to an allowance it does not sell by the unit. Kortix is the open-source AI Operating System, and its paid plan is credits: from $50 a month for 5,000 credits at 100 credits per dollar.

URL: https://openaidotsalternative.com/openai-dots-cost

## What you pay for a dot

OpenAI does not sell dots one at a time. Each dot is an always-on agent with its own cloud computer, so what you buy is the plan it runs inside ([what OpenAI dots are](/what-are-openai-dots)). The first one is included in a Pro or Business Premium plan "at no extra cost", and the plan "also includes an allowance for deeper work, with extended limits for the first month after launch" ([Introducing dots](https://openai.com/index/introducing-dots/)).

So a dot's price is a plan's price. ChatGPT Pro is sold in three monthly tiers: Pro 100 at $100, Pro 200 at $200, and Pro 500 at $500 ([About ChatGPT Pro tiers](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/9793128-about-chatgpt-pro-tiers)). Which one you need depends on how much deeper work your dot does. No OpenAI page states a per-dot rate, so the second dot cannot be priced before you buy it.

Two details change the sum. Conversations with your dot do not count toward your ChatGPT usage limits, while tasks you start in Codex or ChatGPT Work count as usual ([Introducing dots](https://openai.com/index/introducing-dots/)). The allowance also moves: OpenAI plans to let you add more dots and scale each one's output, and a new Pro 200 subscription carries a lower allowance than an earlier one at the same $200 ([About ChatGPT Pro tiers](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/9793128-about-chatgpt-pro-tiers)).

Kortix puts the same monthly money on a published rate. The paid plan is credits, from $50 a month for 5,000 credits, at 100 credits per dollar, and the credits page states the rule behind it: every billing cycle grants 100 credits per dollar of the monthly amount ([plans and credits](https://kortix.com/docs/credits)). Members are unlimited and free, and the account shares one credit pool. At that rate:

```text
$50 a month    = 5,000 credits    (100 credits per dollar)
$200 a month   = 20,000 credits
```

Model calls sit on top. Kortix-managed models cost the provider's base price plus a 5.5% platform fee, and a key you supply is free for the first $1,000 of provider usage a month and then 5% ([Kortix pricing](https://kortix.com/pricing)). A ChatGPT subscription you already pay for draws no credits.

## What a month of credits buys

Type a monthly amount and the calculator applies Kortix's published rate of 100 credits per dollar.

Monthly amount, US dollars: 50 by default.

Credits granted each month: 5,000 (100 credits per dollar). The grant lands in one account-wide pool, and adding members does not change it. credits = dollars x 100. Source: kortix.com/docs/credits.

## What the money buys

Three ways to pay for an agent that works on its own computer, priced from each vendor's own page in October 2026.

| | Kortix (recommended) | OpenAI Dots | Claude Cowork |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Price basis | 100 credits per dollar; from $50 a month | Bundled in Pro or Business Premium; no unit price | Pro $20 a month; Team $25 a seat |
| What the price includes | 5,000 credits at entry, one shared pool | One dot, plus a plan allowance for deeper work | Plan usage limits, and usage credits on paid plans |
| Model choice | Any provider with your own keys | GPT-6 Astra only | Claude models only |
| Self-host | Yes; self-host is free | No | No |
| Open source | Yes | No | No |

Kortix figures from kortix.com/pricing and kortix.com/docs/credits; Pro tiers from the OpenAI help center; Claude prices from claude.com/pricing, billed monthly.

## The cost that is not on the invoice

A dot lives inside ChatGPT, and Reset deletes it with its conversations, saved memories, and scheduled tasks ([Getting started with your dot](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001530)). Cancel the plan and the agent, its memory, and the rules you taught it go with it. Nothing there is portable, and the terms can move while the work stays put: a new Pro 200 subscription carries a lower allowance at the same $200.

The model is fixed as well. Dots run on GPT-6 Astra, with no key to bring and no second provider to fall back on when a price changes or an allowance resets ([Introducing dots](https://openai.com/index/introducing-dots/)). A Kortix project leaves that choice open: Any model provider with your own keys. Or the ChatGPT plan you already pay for. The same project runs on Kortix Cloud, in your VPC, or on your own on-prem network.

Availability is the last line item. Pro subscribers in the European Economic Area, Switzerland, and the UK cannot get a dot at any price, and an Enterprise workspace starts with the beta off ([Getting started with your dot](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001530)). Workspace settings and data or inference residency requirements can narrow it further.

What an open-source stack changes is who holds the exit. Free is $0 with 500 credits per month, every feature and 1 project, on the user's own provider keys or ChatGPT subscription, and unused monthly credits roll over one month. The code is yours to keep: Open source. Read it, fork it, audit it.

## OpenAI Dots pricing questions

### Is OpenAI completely free?

No. ChatGPT has a free tier, but a dot is not part of it: the first dot is included in Pro or Business Premium, and Pro is sold at $100, $200, or $500 a month.

### Is ChatGPT Pro $200 worth it?

Only if the allowance gets used. Pro 200 sits between Pro 100 at $100 and Pro 500 at $500, adds usage rather than dots, and a new subscription carries a lower allowance than an earlier one.

## Price the work before you buy the plan

Kortix credits start at $50 a month for 5,000 at 100 credits per dollar, and self-host is free.

[Try Kortix](https://kortix.com) · [Kortix pricing](https://kortix.com/pricing)