What time is Codex 6 PM PST? Includes half-price usage method & global time schedule

•AI Expert

If you recently saw Codex 6 PM PST, the most important question is usually: what time is that in your own region?

Converted according to PST (Pacific Standard Time, UTC-8), common local times are as follows:

RegionLocal time
Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, USA18:00
Denver, Salt Lake City, USA19:00
Chicago, Houston, USA20:00
New York, Washington, USA21:00
Toronto, Canada21:00
São Paulo, Brazil23:00
UK, Ireland, mainland Portugal02:00 next day
Germany, France, Italy, mainland Spain03:00 next day
Finland, Greece, Romania04:00 next day
UAE, Dubai06:00 next day
India07:30 next day
Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan10:00 next day
Singapore, Malaysia10:00 next day
Japan, Korea11:00 next day
Sydney, Australia12:00 next day

Easy to remember: 6 PM PST, when calculated using standard time, is 10 AM the next day in Beijing, 11 AM the next day in Japan and Korea, and 2 AM the next day in the UK.

Note: During daylight saving time in the US Pacific region, the actual time in use may be PDT (UTC-7) rather than PST (UTC-8). If the original notice says PDT, the times above need to be moved forward by 1 hour overall. Social media sometimes uses PST as a generic term for Pacific Time, so it’s best to first confirm whether the original message uses PST, PDT, or PT.

What’s behind Codex 6 PM PST?

The time “6 PM PST” is related to the quota reset for Codex and ChatGPT Work. Once the quota reaches its limit, Codex may temporarily stop being able to continue tasks, and users need to wait for the quota to recover or switch to another API to continue working.

The related notice uses US Pacific Time. For Asian regions such as China, Japan, and Korea, the reset time is usually already the next day; in Europe, it is often late at night or early morning. So when you see this notice, the first step is to convert 6 PM PST into your own local time.

It should be noted that 6 PM PST is not a fixed daily reset time for Codex. It refers to an estimated time mentioned in a specific notice, and the actual recovery time may vary depending on account type, quota type, and server-side synchronization. Whether it has actually recovered should be determined by the status shown on your account’s Usage page.

What’s the difference between PST, PDT, and PT?

Understanding these three abbreviations can help you avoid being off by one hour:

  • PST: Pacific Standard Time, UTC-8.
  • PDT: Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-7.
  • PT: Pacific Time, a general term for US Pacific Time that may include both PST and PDT.

So when you see “6 PM PST,” don’t just look at 6 PM; you should also confirm the time zone abbreviation that follows. The safest approach is to first confirm the date and time zone in the original notice, then convert it to your target region’s time.

How can you confirm whether Codex has reset?

Time conversion can only tell you the theoretical local time; it cannot replace account status. It’s recommended to follow these steps to confirm:

  1. Open the ChatGPT or Codex client.
  2. Go to the Usage page in account settings.
  3. Check the current remaining quota and the next reset time.
  4. If you use the Codex CLI, you can run the following command to check the current status:
/status

If the converted time has already passed but the quota has still not been restored, you can try the following in order:

  • Refresh the Usage page;
  • Log out and log back into the client;
  • Confirm that you are viewing the correct account and workspace;
  • Check whether you are using a short-cycle quota, weekly quota, or another quota type;
  • Wait for server-side status synchronization to complete.

Community messages and social media discussions can serve as reminders, but the final source of truth should be the status shown on your own account’s Usage page. Different plans, accounts, and quota types may not update at exactly the same time.

How can you stay updated on the latest reset information?

At present, the most direct channels for information are mainly the following:

Among these, times posted on social media are usually announcements or estimated times for the overall user base, and do not necessarily mean every account will recover at the exact same second. To determine whether your own quota has reset, you should still rely on the Usage page in ChatGPT; when you see 6 PM PST, also confirm whether the message uses PST, PDT, or PT.

Don’t want to wait for a reset? You can continue developing with a half-price API

If you only use Codex occasionally, waiting for the quota to reset is usually enough. But in the following scenarios, simply waiting may affect work efficiency:

  • You are continuously debugging a project;
  • You need to run a code agent for a long time;
  • You need to call models from an IDE, script, or automation workflow;
  • You need to process tasks in bulk;
  • You want to reduce long-term API usage costs.

In that case, you can consider using an independent API service and continuously call compatible models through an API Key, instead of relying on a specific ChatGPT or Codex subscription quota reset.

Defapi: low-cost AI API calls

Defapi provides model invocation services compatible with the OpenAI API format, and you can integrate it into your own scripts, IDEs, agents, and automation tools through an API Key.

Common advantages of using Defapi include:

  • Supports common OpenAI-compatible invocation methods;
  • Can be used in your own development tools and workflows;
  • Some models and plans can be as low as about 50% of official pricing;
  • No need to wait for a ChatGPT or Codex subscription quota reset;
  • Costs can be controlled based on actual usage.

Frontier models available on Defapi

If you want to keep using the latest generation of models, you can check the following model pages directly:

  • GPT-5.6 Sol (OpenAI): Suitable for complex reasoning, programming, agent workflows, and multimodal analysis.
  • GPT-5.6 Terra (OpenAI): Balances reasoning ability, response speed, and usage cost, suitable for everyday development and automation tasks.
  • Claude Opus 5 (Anthropic): Suitable for long-context analysis, complex coding, knowledge work, and multi-step agent tasks.
  • Gemini 3.7 Flash (Google DeepMind): Suitable for high-speed multimodal processing, code generation, long-context tasks, and high-throughput workflows.
  • Gemini 3.1 Pro Preview (Google): Suitable for complex reasoning, multimodal understanding, and agent scenarios with higher reliability requirements.

Specific models, availability, and pricing may change. Please refer to the information shown on the corresponding model pages before use.

The “half price” depends on the specific model, plan, and platform pricing changes; the actual price should be based on the current model price page. Defapi is an independent API service, does not represent OpenAI, and does not change the subscription quota rules of ChatGPT or Codex itself.

Steps to use the half-price API

  1. Visit the Defapi official website to register an account.
  2. Create and copy an API Key in the console.
  3. Select the model you need and confirm the current price.
  4. Configure the API Base URL and API Key in your tool.
  5. Check spending through the usage page.

Using an OpenAI-compatible client as an example, you can usually configure it like this:

export OPENAI_API_KEY="your Defapi API Key"
export OPENAI_BASE_URL="https://api.defapi.org/v1"

If your tool supports entering base_url in a configuration file, set it to:

https://api.defapi.org/v1

Do not submit your real API Key directly to a Git repository, public code snippet, or chat log. It is recommended to use environment variables or the key management features provided by your tool.

FAQ

What time is Codex 6 PM PST in China?

Calculated according to PST (UTC-8), mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan are 10:00 AM the next day.

Is 6 PM PST Beijing time?

No. PST is Pacific Standard Time in the US, while Beijing time is UTC+8. The two usually differ by 16 hours, so 6 PM PST corresponds to 10:00 AM the next day in Beijing.

Does Codex reset every day at 6 PM PST?

Not necessarily. This time should be understood as the time mentioned in a specific reset notice, and does not mean Codex resets uniformly at this time every day.

Why do different websites give different times?

The most common reason is different time zone standards: one is calculated using PST, while another uses PDT or PT. Daylight saving time can also make the results differ by 1 hour in some regions.

What should I do if Codex quota has not been restored when it reaches 6 PM PST?

First check the Usage page to confirm whether the account, workspace, and quota type are correct, then refresh the page or log in again. There may also be a delay in server-side synchronization.

What if I don’t want to wait for Codex to reset?

You can use Defapi’s API Key to continue calling compatible models. Some models and plans support roughly half-price usage, which is suitable for IDEs, scripts, agents, and automation workflows.

Summary

When Codex 6 PM PST is converted using standard time, it is 10:00 AM the next day in mainland China, 11:00 AM the next day in Japan and Korea, 2:00 AM the next day in the UK, and 3:00 AM the next day in Central European regions such as Germany and France.

If the original notice uses PDT, or uses PT as a generic term for Pacific Time, you need to reconfirm based on daylight saving time rules. The schedule can only provide a conversion reference; whether the account has truly finished resetting should still be based on the Usage page.

If you need to keep developing and don’t want to wait for the quota to recover, you can register with Defapi, integrate models through OpenAI-compatible APIs, and keep running your development tools and automation tasks at a lower cost.

View Defapi half-price API