How to Access the ChatGPT API

ChatGPT is the most popular AI on the market. With access to the API you can build your own powerful local programs.

Anyone with five dollars can get full and unfettered access to the latest ChatGPT and Dall-E models from OpenAI.? And it takes less than five minutes to get started.

The ChatGPT API is Affordable

Before dabbling with the OpenAI API myself, I always assumed that doing something like this would be extremely expensive. I’ve never built my own software before, so this task was quite daunting…until I tried.

What API Usage Costs

For a small app with about twenty users, this is my actual usage in my busiest month so far.

The biggest problem is not API usage, but actually lack of usage. As you cross certain spending levels you get access to better tools, faster models and more resources.

OpenAI Usage Tiers for API

When you first sign up for the API, you are on the “free tier.”? You can think of this as tier zero as each tier after this one is numbered from one through five.? The most important number right now is the usage limits.? You cannot spend more than $100 a month when you start out with ChatGPT.

If you’re planning on a huge launch, you need a least one month of testing to get to a higher tier.

Going Up the OpenAI API Tiers

When I first started building apps using this API, I had no idea what API stood for, I just knew I wanted to build some apps for my own personal use on separate websites.? Here is my current tier.

The odds of moving up to Tier 4 are pretty slim as I haven’t spend even $10 in the eight months I’ve been using the API key.

The most important thing is the different between tiers zero and one.

OpenAI API Tier Zero

This is the tier that you want to escape as quickly as possible.? It tool me several months as my users just weren’t doing enough API calls to trigger the upgrade.

Let’s look at what you get at the first tier.

With your very first API call you get access to the latest generation of OpenAI’s image generator, Dall-E 3. You also get access to ChatGPT 3.5.?

But if you look closely, something very important is missing.

There is no access to ChatGPT 4.

All of my apps were built on ChatGPT 3.5 because of this limitation.

OpenAI API Tier One

At Tier One, things change dramatically. You get access to the latest ChatGPT models and there are no more restrictions.

At Tier One, you get access to three different GPT-4 models as well as a major upgrade from DALL-E 3.? Instead of one image per minute, at this tier I can generate 5.

If you have several users all trying to generate images at the same time, they can wait quite a while to get their image on Tier Zero.

How to Upgrade Your ChatGPT API Tier

Let’s look at this API Tier chart again.? This time, instead of looking at the Usage Limits, let’s look at the Qualification rules.

As soon as you spend $5 in API usage, you get bumped to the next level.? There is no delay with this tier. Moments after the $5 payment is processed your access jumps and you can flip your apps to ChatGPT-4.

I found this quite difficult as the API is just so affordable, especially for ChatGPT 3.5 models.? With a small user base, it took me months to hit this level.

If you want access to ChatGPT 4 via API, you need to spend $5 first.

How to Access the OpenAI API

In order to access the API, you’ll need a regular ChatGPT account. You don’t need to be on any paid plans yet.

1. Create an OpenAI account

If you don't already have an OpenAI account, navigate to the OpenAI website.

Here, you will see a "Log In" button at the top right corner of the website. Click on it and to go to the login page.

On the Log In page, there is a button that says "Sign Up." Click that button.

Now you can create an account using an existing Google, Microsoft or Facebook account. Or you can create an account using your email and password.

After signing up, you'll receive an email from OpenAI to confirm your account. Open this email and click on the verification link. This sill activate your account.

2. Create Your First API Key

Now that your account is verified, return to the OpenAI website and click on the "Log In" button. Enter the username and password you used to sign up.

After logging in, you will see a page with two options. Select API.

This will take you to the API documentation. Bring your mouse to the left side of the screen to open a menu that appears just as icons at first.

Select the "API Keys" from this menu.

This will bring you to the API keys page of OpenAI's website.

You can see the names and part of any past API Keys you have created.

Click on the box that says "Create new secret key". Click on that button to generate a new API key.

A box will pop up, asking you to name your secret API key. It's good idea to have different keys for different apps and sites so make sure you name it something that will you will remember what it's for when you look at it one day in the future.

After you enter a name for your key, click the "Create secret key" button.

You can create a key with all access, restricted access and read only, depending on what you need for your application.

Once you have made your selections, name your key and click the button that says "Create secret key."

The next screen will show your key. Make sure to save it as OpenAI will never display it again. Paste it into whatever application you are going to use it for immediately.

If you lose the key, you'll have to make a new one.

Control Your API Costs

The last thing you want is to get a surprise bill for a thousand dollars, so set up your usage limits before deploying your app.

On the left hand menu, click on Settings and then Billing. If you haven't, now is the time to set up your payment method to use the OpenAI API.

Before spending any money, click on Usage limits.

This will show you which tier you are on and if you scroll down you will see this section.

As my account is Tier 3, I have a monthly spend limit of $1,000. I don't want to spend nearly that much. My monthly limit is $5 and OpenAI needs to notify me as soon as I cross $3 in API spend.

You can set these numbers however you want, but make sure you set these up now. Otherwise, you might be a big surprise if your API key gets stolen.

Conclusion

You now have complete OpenAI API access and I hope you found setting it up as easy as I did. This is the first time I have ever done this. If you have questions, please share them in the comments.

And share a link to your app, so that I can check it out!

• Jonathan

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