After GPT-5.5 launched, Codex usage started burning down much faster. I am already at 39% now. Because OpenAI has been doing resets quite often recently, many users are also replying under Tibo’s X posts asking for another reset.
We all know that under normal OpenAI conditions, when there is no official promotional reset, the reset cycle is usually based on a 7-day window. In other words, it is a natural reset cycle.
So if OpenAI wants to control its own cost while still getting the promotional effect, the timing of a reset becomes very important.
1. At the very beginning of the week, meaning day one or day two
At this point, or shortly after the weekly quota has just reset, the cost of another reset is the lowest. Users do not know when OpenAI might do an extra reset, so at the beginning of a cycle, very few people will burn through all their usage in one go.
The same is true even if you have multiple accounts. For example, if you have three Plus accounts, that is three times the usage, but you still probably will not exhaust all of them on day one.
Most users plan their usage somewhat: maybe 10% or 15% today. Unless someone is really gambling on the idea that OpenAI will definitely reset again and burns everything upfront, but users like that are still a minority.
2. Near the end of the cycle, meaning day six or day seven
When the natural reset is already close, such as day six, or in the extreme case day seven, most users’ quota would reset by itself even if OpenAI did nothing.
I looked at the data, and this pattern became more obvious in April.
Based on the historical data:
After the March 27 reset, there was another reset on April 1, probably as an alignment reset. The gap was 5.2 days. Then Codex reset again on April 7, which was 6.6 days after the previous one, already very close to the natural 7-day cycle.
What is more interesting is that less than two days after April 7, another reset announcement appeared on April 9. Since there had just been a reset on April 7, most users probably had not had enough time to consume much usage during those one or two days. So these short-gap resets feel to users like “another free reset,” but the actual cost may not be as high as it looks.
After April 9, the system waited until April 17 before resetting again. That gap was about 7.3 days, almost right on the natural 7-day cycle as well.
If you calculate it this way, from April 9 to April 17, most existing users probably received only about 0.3 days of extra benefit.
So the timing is actually very precise. It may look like there have been many resets, but OpenAI may not be losing that much in practice.
For this GPT-5.5 launch, I do not know whether the next reset will actually happen. But if OpenAI does decide to do it, I think the most likely windows are April 28, April 29, or April 30.
April 28 is already getting close to the natural reset window. April 29 is even closer to the 7-day mark. April 30 could be a case where the natural reset happens first, followed by an extra promotional reset.
So personally, I think a reset on April 27 is relatively less likely.
Disclaimer
- This is speculation. The main point is to analyze Codex’s marketing strategy. If you use up your quota and there is no reset, do not come after me.
- The timestamps are based on Tibo’s public reset announcements on X, with the timing compiled by Grok. Tweet times are in GMT, and the actual effective reset time may differ slightly.