ChatGPT Pro Free 6 Months: Codex for Open Source

Yes, you can get ChatGPT Pro free 6 months if you actively maintain a public open source project and OpenAI selects your application through Codex for Open Source.

That last part matters most.

OpenAI built this program for people who review pull requests and triage issues and ship releases for widely used projects, and the company says selected maintainers receive 6 months of ChatGPT Pro with Codex and conditional access to Codex Security and API credits for core open source work. Filling in the form starts the process. It never promises the outcome, because OpenAI reads every application and picks the projects itself.

Watch the full ChatGPT Pro free 6 months video on YouTube

ChatGPT Pro free 6 months: who OpenAI wants

Start with the role. OpenAI asks for a primary maintainer or a core maintainer, and that wording points at real responsibility rather than a casual contribution. If you review pull requests and fix issues and ship new releases, you fit the picture the program describes. If you forked a repo last week and changed one line, you do not.

The project itself matters just as much as the title. OpenAI describes the target as a widely used public project, and it also gives smaller projects a door in. The program page says that if your project does not fit the criteria but plays an important role in the ecosystem, you should apply anyway and explain why. That sentence helps a niche library with real users, and it hurts a vague application, because a vague application gives OpenAI nothing to judge.

Codex Security follows a stricter line. OpenAI offers that access conditionally to core maintainers with write access, and the team reviews those cases one by one.

API credits follow a different test. The credits come through the Codex Open Source Fund, which OpenAI puts at $1 million, and they fit projects that use Codex in pull request review and maintainer automation and release workflows and other core open source work. So the three benefits share one form, but they do not share one test.

After you submit, OpenAI reviews applications on a rolling basis and contacts selected maintainers by email. The program page publishes no fixed deadline, so waiting for a closing date wastes the point.

For the maintainer reading this, the benefit lands in the daily work itself. Codex can take the first pass on a pull request and surface the obvious issues, so your limited review time goes to the judgment calls only a maintainer can make.

How to apply in one form, without guessing

Open the official program page and use the Apply today button to reach the form at openai.com/form/codex-for-oss. The form asks for your name and email and GitHub username and repository URL, so keep the repo page open while you work.

Pick the role you actually hold: primary maintainer or core maintainer. Then write the answer that carries the most weight, the reason your repository qualifies, in 500 characters or fewer. Name what the project does and who uses it and how you maintain it.

Write about the project. A line about wanting a free subscription tells OpenAI nothing about the work.

Tick the Codex Security box and the API credits box in the same form if your project needs those two benefits. Find your OpenAI Organization ID on the Platform settings page, where it appears as an org code, and paste it where the form asks for it.

For the API credits box, name a concrete project use, such as testing new builds and checking code for errors inside your own tools. Leave the optional last box blank unless you hold a fact that changes the decision. Submit once, then watch your email.

The number other roundups get wrong

Read the official program page before you trust a roundup. The page gives no fixed API credit amount per applicant and no fixed star count, and it never says that every selected maintainer receives every benefit. OpenAI decides which benefits each selected maintainer receives, and API credits and Codex Security can need separate review.

That detail changes how you should plan. Do not budget a project around a credit figure you saw in a roundup, and do not skip an application because a roundup invented a star threshold. Put the real evidence in the 500 character box instead: the users, the maintenance load, and the job Codex would do inside the project. A strong application reads like a maintenance log, not a prize entry.

Questions readers ask next

Do I need a card to apply?

The walkthrough asks for no card, and the form itself asks for project details rather than payment details.

Can I apply if my project is small?

You can apply if the project plays an important role in the ecosystem, even when it does not fit every criterion, but you still need to explain that role in concrete terms.

Does selection guarantee Pro plus API credits plus Codex Security?

Selection opens the door to one or more benefits, and OpenAI decides the exact mix for each maintainer.

What to do before you submit

Open your repo page and count the last 10 pull requests you reviewed yourself. If that list looks thin, build the maintenance record first, because that record is the application.

Sources

OpenAI describes the program, its benefits, and who should apply on the Codex for Open Source program page. The official application form lists the benefits for selected maintainers. The step walkthrough and the 500 character guidance come from the Smart Picks Daily video.