Scoop: OpenAI starts rolling out giftable ChatGPT credits
The one-time claim links let users buy prepaid usage for someone else. OpenAI's Windows app already contains gated entry points for the purchase flow.
By Ryan Merket · Published · Updated
RUNTIMEWIRE INVESTIGATION — Scoop
Original reporting by RuntimeWire, based on reverse engineering, data analysis, public records.
Why it matters
Gift credits would give OpenAI a new way to seed paid use of Work and Codex while extending ChatGPT beyond flat subscriptions into metered agent spending.
Reporting record
Finding
OpenAI is gradually rolling out a way for personal ChatGPT users to buy credits for another person, with one-time claim links and gated gift-credit entry points already shipped in its Windows app.
How we verified
Methods: reverse engineering, data analysis, public records.
OpenAI published a live Help Center article describing the purchase, delivery, redemption, expiration and refund rules for gifted ChatGPT credits. RuntimeWire separately examined the Electron archive shipped with OpenAI's Windows app and found a dedicated gift-credit module, a direct purchase route at `https://chatgpt.com/gifts/credits`, remote controls named `purchase_flow_enabled` and `desktop_beacon_enabled`, and UI entry points for the home screen, profile and Usage settings. A cloned installation rendered the shipped "Gift credits" banner after two local display conditions were overridden. No purchase or redemption was completed because checkout eligibility remained controlled by OpenAI's rollout.
RuntimeWire captured OpenAI's public gifting documentation on August 12, 2026, then searched for independent coverage and found the original X post by product researcher Tibor Blaho but no article from a news publisher at the time of publication. The Windows application bundle was preserved and hashed before inspection. RuntimeWire extracted its Electron `app.asar`, reviewed the minified JavaScript assets and traced the gift-credit entry points to a shared availability module. That module opens `https://chatgpt.com/gifts/credits`, limits the UI to eligible personal-account structures and reads separate remote values for the purchase flow and desktop banner. For visual confirmation, the installed application was copied to a user-writable directory. Two target conditions were verified to occur exactly once before the copied archive was changed. The original Microsoft Store installation was left untouched. Launching the cloned build displayed OpenAI's shipped banner with the text "Gift credits" and "Send a friend credits they can use for work or Codex tasks." This reproduced the client UI only; it did not establish that the account could complete checkout.
Tested versions: Windows package: `OpenAI.Codex_26.803.10989.0_x64`, Bundled application version: `26.803.81509`, Codex build: `6415`, Product name: `Codex`, Build flavor: `prod`.
Reproduction
RuntimeWire independently reproduced the core finding.
REPRODUCED WITH LIMITATIONS 1. Inspect the Electron archive from the tested Windows package. 2. Locate `gift-credits-entry-point-availability-BkG0LT6m.js`, `codex-home-announcements-DNS1iexT.js`, `profile-eeZS6pzc.js` and `usage-settings-DttykFrk.js`. 3. Confirm the purchase route, remote controls and three UI entry points. 4. In a copied installation, override the client-side home-banner display conditions and launch the clone. 5. Confirm that the native banner appears. The live checkout and redemption flow cannot be reproduced without an account included in OpenAI's server-controlled rollout.
File hashes
sha256:39c855f6a0db1cad89dc629edf2f9473b78a25b64fcb1445ece1022af6527755 app.asar
Company response
The company was not contacted before publication.
OpenAI has begun gradually rolling out a way for ChatGPT users to buy credits for someone else, adding a new payment and sharing system around the company's usage-based AI features.
The company describes the feature in a new Help Center article that says eligible customers can make a separate prepaid purchase and receive a one-time claim link. The buyer can send the link by email or copy it into another private channel. Once redeemed, the credits are added to the recipient's personal ChatGPT balance.
Product researcher Tibor Blaho flagged the live page on X early Wednesday. A RuntimeWire search found social reposts and discussion, but no coverage from a news publisher at the time of publication.
The rollout covers eligible personal accounts on ChatGPT Free, Go, Plus and Pro in supported locations and billing currencies. Purchases are available through ChatGPT on the web. Business and Enterprise workspaces cannot buy or receive the gifts.
Gift credits are a new purchase rather than a transfer from the buyer's balance. Existing balances remain non-transferable. Buyers choose an amount, can add an email address and message, and pay at checkout.
The recipient's email address does not secure the gift. OpenAI says anyone holding the complete claim link may be able to redeem it, even when the buyer entered a specific recipient. The recipient must use an eligible personal account with the same billing currency as the original purchase.
Each link can be claimed once and expires after 30 days. OpenAI says an unclaimed purchase will then be refunded to the buyer's original payment method. Redeemed credits last 12 months.
Despite the familiar mechanics, OpenAI's terms say the links and credits are not gift cards, prepaid cards, stored-value products, money or currency. They have no cash value and cannot be exchanged for money.
The Windows app was already prepared for the rollout
RuntimeWire examined the application archive distributed with OpenAI's Windows package and found that the company had already shipped multiple gift-credit entry points behind remote controls.
The tested package identifies itself as OpenAI.Codex_26.803.10989.0_x64. Its bundled application reports version 26.803.81509 and Codex build 6415.
A dedicated module in the shipped code opens https://chatgpt.com/gifts/credits. It checks two remotely supplied values named purchase_flow_enabled and desktop_beacon_enabled, along with account and plan conditions.
The client contains at least three places to promote the feature: a home-screen banner, a button on the Codex profile page and a "Gift credits" control beside "Buy credits" in Usage and billing settings.
The home banner reads: "Gift credits" and "Send a friend credits they can use for work or Codex tasks."
RuntimeWire confirmed the UI by copying the installed app to a separate directory and overriding two client-side display conditions in the clone. The shipped banner then appeared in the Windows interface. The original Store-managed installation was left unchanged.
That test reproduced the native interface. OpenAI still controls purchase eligibility on its servers, and RuntimeWire did not complete a purchase or redemption.
Image caption: RuntimeWire surfaced OpenAI's shipped "Gift credits" banner by overriding two local display conditions in a copied Windows installation. Checkout remained controlled by OpenAI's account rollout.
What recipients can use the credits for
OpenAI says a recipient's included plan usage is consumed first. Supported activity can draw from the credit balance after the account reaches an included limit.
A separate OpenAI explanation of flexible credits currently identifies Codex for Plus and Pro users and ChatGPT for Excel as supported uses. The company says the supported feature set can change and may vary by plan.
That leaves redemption eligibility wider than the uses OpenAI currently documents. Free and Go accounts can receive a gift during the rollout, according to the gifting page, but can spend it only on credit-based features supported for those accounts.
The feature gives OpenAI a new way to distribute paid agent usage without requiring someone to buy a recurring subscription for the recipient. A user can pay for a friend's work or coding tasks, send a link and let the recipient consume the balance after reaching whatever usage their plan already includes.