How to Cancel OpenAI Platform

A 7-step walkthrough with real screenshots from the live cancel flow.

~2 minutes Time
1 day ago Updated
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Open OpenAI Platform Cancel Page Read the 7 steps See OpenAI Platform pricing & tiers

Quick answer

This is the OpenAI developer Platform (platform.openai.com), not ChatGPT Plus. Open Settings › Billing › Overview, click Cancel plan, and confirm. No further charges are made, but you're still billed for usage you've already run, and any prepaid credits are non-refundable (and expire a year after purchase). Turn auto-recharge off too, or your balance keeps topping up. Your API keys keep working until the credit balance hits $0.

Wondering if you're paying more than you used to? the full subscription pricing table.

See OpenAI Platform's pricing, tiers, and difficulty score in one page. OpenAI Platform ranks #82 of 117 by cancellation difficulty.

Step-by-step instructions

1

Make sure you're on the developer Platform, not ChatGPT

This guide is for the OpenAI API / developer Platform at platform.openai.com — the place with API keys, projects, and a pay-as-you-go credit balance. If you're trying to cancel the $20/month ChatGPT Plus subscription instead, that's a separate product managed inside ChatGPT under Settings, not here.

2

Turn off auto-recharge first

Before you cancel, go to Settings > Billing and make sure auto-recharge is off. Auto-recharge automatically buys more credits when your balance drops below a threshold — it's the single biggest cause of "why am I still being charged?" complaints. If it's on, disable it so your balance stops topping itself up.

3

Open Settings then Billing

Click the gear (Settings) icon in the top-right, then Billing in the left sidebar. Make sure you're on the Overview tab. You'll see your plan labelled "Pay as you go", your current Credit balance, and two buttons: "Add to credit balance" and "Cancel plan".

OpenAI developer Platform Billing page on the Overview tab, showing the Pay as you go plan, a $4.48 credit balance, Add to credit balance and Cancel plan buttons, and an auto-recharge-is-off notice
4

Click Cancel plan

Click the "Cancel plan" button next to your credit balance. A confirmation dialog opens explaining what happens: "You'll be able to consume any remaining credits in your account, after which we will begin rejecting your API requests and no further charges will be made."

Cancel plan confirmation modal asking "Are you sure you want to cancel your billing plan?" with Nevermind and a red Cancel plan button
5

Confirm the cancellation

Click the red "Cancel plan" in the dialog to confirm. A green banner appears at the top: "Your subscription was canceled." Your Overview page still shows any remaining credit balance, which your API keys can keep consuming until it reaches $0.

OpenAI Platform Billing Overview with a green "Your subscription was canceled" confirmation toast and the credit balance now showing $4.34
6
If this applies to you

Remove your payment method (optional)

If you want to be certain nothing is ever charged again, open the Payment methods tab and delete your saved card. Canceling the plan already stops new charges, but removing the card is belt-and-braces. You can always re-add it later if you come back.

7
If this applies to you

Export anything you need, then delete API keys

Cancelling billing doesn't touch your API keys or projects. If you're fully done, rotate or delete your API keys under the API keys tab so no leftover key can run up usage, and download any billing invoices you need from Billing history first.

Frequently Asked Questions

No. The OpenAI developer Platform (platform.openai.com) is the pay-as-you-go API service billed by usage from a prepaid credit balance — that's what this guide cancels. ChatGPT Plus is the separate $20/month consumer subscription you manage inside ChatGPT under Settings. Canceling one does not cancel the other.

No. OpenAI's prepaid API credits are non-refundable and not redeemable for cash. They also expire one year after purchase if unused. Canceling your billing plan lets you keep spending the remaining balance until it reaches $0, but OpenAI will not pay it back to you.

You won't be charged for anything new, but you are still billed for API usage you already ran during the current period — OpenAI issues a final invoice for that, then stops charging your saved payment method. If you had prepaid credits, no card charge happens at all; usage just draws down the balance until it hits $0.

The usual culprit is auto-recharge. It automatically buys more credits (minimum $5) whenever your balance drops below a threshold you set, so the spend never really stops. Turn auto-recharge off in Settings > Billing before or right after canceling your plan, and optionally remove your payment method to be sure.

Not immediately. After you cancel, your API keys keep working while you still have a positive credit balance — you can consume any remaining credits. Once the balance reaches $0, OpenAI begins rejecting your API requests and no further charges are made. To cut off access sooner, delete your API keys.

Your account stays — you keep a free platform login, your projects, and your billing history. Only paid API access is paused: once credits run out, requests are rejected until you re-add a billing plan or payment method. Nothing is deleted, so you can restart later by adding funds again.
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