Does OpenAI Playground cost money?

As someone who frequently uses OpenAI Playground, I’ve been asked, “Does the OpenAI Playground cost money?” quite a few times. To clarify this question, let’s discuss what OpenAI Playground is and whether it comes with a price tag.

OpenAI Playground is an interactive platform provided by OpenAI, designed to let users explore and experiment with different artificial intelligence (AI) models. This virtual space serves as a playground for users looking to test the capabilities of the AI.

Now, onto the question: does it cost money?

Yes, OpenAI Playground does cost money. But when you create a new OpenAI account, you get $5 worth of free credit to explore the tool (sometimes, you may get $18 worth of free credit as well).

But note that the GPT-4 Turbo and other newer models are not available with the free credits that you get.

The free access primarily focuses on showcasing the abilities of OpenAI’s AI models, but it’s not intended for commercial use. If you need more advanced AI capabilities or plan to use AI commercially, OpenAI offers separate pricing options in the form of API usage.