What does OpenAI do?
- Sells GPT models per million tokens with separate input, cached input and output rates; in October 2026 these range from gpt-5-nano at $0.05 input and $0.40 output to gpt-6-astra at $10 input and $50 output.
- Halves the price for non-urgent work: Batch and Flex processing cost about 50% of standard rates for most models, while Fast mode (renamed from Priority on 30 July 2026) costs about 2x.
- Adds a hosted web search tool at $10 per 1,000 calls plus search content tokens at the model's rates, so a model can research a company before it answers.
- Runs inside Clay as four native actions: ChatGPT generate text, a legacy generate text action, analyse image with GPT vision models, and DALL-E image generation, on Clay credits or your own OpenAI account.
- Applies usage tiers that rise with total credit purchases: Build at $5 (a $500 monthly usage limit), Launch at $100 ($5,000) and Grow at $500 ($200,000).
- Offers ChatGPT plans separately from the API, from Free to Business at $25 per user a month billed monthly, with no training on business data by default.
Where does OpenAI fit in a GTM engineering stack?
OpenAI is the reasoning and writing layer in a GTM engineering stack: its models run as per-row columns in Clay or steps in n8n that score fit, normalise messy data and draft personalised copy.
- 1Clay pulls accounts and contacts, plus website text from a scrape or Perplexity research column
- 2A ChatGPT column on a small model classifies each account against your ICP and returns a structured score
- 3A second column on a stronger model writes a first line from the research, only for rows that pass
- 4Qualified rows push to Smartlead, Instantly or lemlist, with the score written to HubSpot or Attio
See how every layer connects in Clay integrations: how the GTM engineering stack fits together.
How do you use OpenAI?
OpenAI's official walkthrough, from the OpenAI YouTube channel.
How much does OpenAI cost?
Prices as shown on OpenAI's pricing page on 17 October 2026 (USD). Free plan: ChatGPT has a Free plan at $0. On the API, OpenAI's rate-limit docs list a Free usage tier for users in allowed geographies with a $100 monthly usage limit; they do not say how much usage, if any, is free.
gpt-6-astra (API)
$10.00 input / $1.00 cached input / $50.00 output per 1M tokens
Pay-as-you-go
Standard tier, up to 272K input tokens; higher long-context rates above that. Batch and Flex: $5.00 / $0.50 / $25.00.
gpt-6.1-sol (API)
$2.00 input / $0.10 cached input / $10.00 output per 1M tokens
Pay-as-you-go
Batch and Flex: $1.00 / $0.05 / $5.00. Fast: $4.00 / $0.20 / $20.00.
gpt-6-luna (API)
$0.10 input / $0.01 cached input / $0.50 output per 1M tokens
Pay-as-you-go
Batch and Flex: $0.05 / $0.005 / $0.25.
gpt-5.6-terra (API)
$2.00 input / $0.20 cached input / $12.00 output per 1M tokens
Pay-as-you-go
Batch and Flex: $1.00 / $0.10 / $6.00.
gpt-5.6-luna (API)
$0.20 input / $0.02 cached input / $1.20 output per 1M tokens
Pay-as-you-go
Batch and Flex: $0.10 / $0.01 / $0.60.
gpt-5.4-mini (API)
$0.75 input / $0.075 cached input / $4.50 output per 1M tokens
Pay-as-you-go
Batch and Flex: $0.375 / $0.0375 / $2.25.
gpt-5-nano (API)
$0.05 input / $0.005 cached input / $0.40 output per 1M tokens
Pay-as-you-go
Batch and Flex: $0.025 / $0.0025 / $0.20.
gpt-4.1-mini (API)
$0.40 input / $0.10 cached input / $1.60 output per 1M tokens
Pay-as-you-go
Web search tool (API)
$10.00 per 1,000 calls, plus search content tokens at model rates
Pay-as-you-go
Web search preview on non-reasoning models: $25.00 per 1,000 calls, with search content tokens free.
ChatGPT Plus
$20/month
Monthly
ChatGPT Business
$20 per user/month billed annually, or $25 per user/month billed monthly
Monthly or annual
2+ users. No training on business data by default. API usage is billed separately.
ChatGPT Enterprise
Contact sales
Custom
OpenAI's pricing page lists many more models, including gpt-5.5 ($5.00 input / $30.00 output), gpt-5.6-sol ($4.00 / $20.00) and gpt-4o-mini ($0.15 / $0.60). Fast mode (formerly Priority processing, renamed 30 July 2026) costs about 2x standard for most models. Regional processing (data residency) adds a 10% uplift on eligible models. ChatGPT Go ($8/month) and Pro (from $100/month) were also listed on the ChatGPT pricing page. Prices exclude tax and may vary by country.
Who is OpenAI best for?
A good fit if you
- GTM engineers running per-row AI columns in Clay (ICP fit scoring, job title normalisation, summarising a website, drafting a first line) who want to pick the model and pay OpenAI directly with their own key.
- High-volume classification on small models: at 1,000 input and 200 output tokens per row, a 10,000-row table on gpt-6-luna comes to about $2 in tokens at October 2026 list prices.
- Teams that also run the same models in n8n, Make or Zapier, since each has a built-in OpenAI app or node and one API key works across them.
Look elsewhere if you
- Factual lookups on recent events without the web search tool: a model answers from training data unless you enable search or feed it scraped content.
- Teams expecting ChatGPT seats to cover API usage: OpenAI bills the API separately, and ChatGPT subscriptions do not include API tokens.
- EU teams that need EU data residency without extra approval: the Europe region requires approval for abuse monitoring controls such as Zero Data Retention.
Does OpenAI integrate with Clay and your CRM?
- Clay
- Native Clay integration. Clay lists four OpenAI actions included in all Clay plans: ChatGPT: Generate text, ChatGPT: Generate text (legacy), ChatGPT: Analyze image (GPT vision) and DALL-E: Generate image. Each runs on Clay credits or your own OpenAI account, so with your own key you choose the model and OpenAI bills you per token. (source)
- Integrations
- Built-in OpenAI steps in Clay (four actions), n8n (an OpenAI node on the Responses API covering text, image, audio, files and conversations), Make (a verified OpenAI app with batch and vision modules) and Zapier (a ChatGPT app with 27 actions). OpenAI models are also available through Perplexity's Agent API. Anything else calls the REST API with an API key. (source)
- GDPR
- OpenAI's DPA (v.010126) covers the API and business plans with OpenAI as processor; customers in the EEA or Switzerland contract with OpenAI Ireland Ltd. OpenAI's data controls docs say API data is not used to train models unless you opt in, abuse monitoring logs are kept for up to 30 days by default, and Zero Data Retention needs OpenAI's approval. A Europe data residency region (EEA and Switzerland, eu.api.openai.com) supports regional storage and processing but requires approved abuse monitoring controls. (source)
What are the best OpenAI alternatives?
Other automation and AI tools that do the same job in a GTM engineering stack, with their own trade-offs.
AI answer engine with cited web search, sold as Pro and Max plans and as a pay-as-you-go API (Sonar, Search and Agent API).
- Pricing
- Pay-as-you-go API; app Pro $17/mo
- Free trial
- None listed
Which GTM stacks use OpenAI?
- AI-agent GTM stack with Claude CodeRole: Cheap classification and copy drafting inside n8n or Clay on your own key, billed per token.
- Clay-centred enrichment stackRole: Classifies accounts and writes short personalisation lines from scraped or enriched fields, run with your own key so you pick the model.
OpenAI FAQs
Should I use my own OpenAI API key in Clay?
Clay lets each OpenAI action run on Clay credits or on your own OpenAI account. With your own key, OpenAI bills you per token at its published rates and you can pick any model your key can access; with Clay credits, usage comes out of your Clay plan. Compare the two on a sample table before a large run.
Which OpenAI model is cheapest for Clay enrichment?
On OpenAI's October 2026 pricing, gpt-5-nano is the cheapest listed GPT model at $0.05 per million input tokens and $0.40 per million output tokens, with gpt-6-luna at $0.10 and $0.50. Small models suit classification and normalisation; test output quality on 50 to 100 rows before you run a full table.
Does ChatGPT Business include API access?
ChatGPT Business does not include API usage. OpenAI bills API tokens separately from ChatGPT subscriptions, so a Clay or n8n workflow on your own key needs an API account with credits.
Does OpenAI use API data for training?
OpenAI says data sent to the API is not used to train or improve its models unless you explicitly opt in. Abuse monitoring logs are kept for up to 30 days by default, and Zero Data Retention is available only with OpenAI's prior approval.
How do I lower OpenAI costs on large tables?
OpenAI's Batch and Flex processing cost roughly half of standard rates for most models, and cached input on the GPT-6 models is billed at a tenth of the input rate or less. Shorter prompts, shared prompt prefixes and smaller models cut cost further, since you pay per token for every row.
Compare and learn
Want a GTM engineering system built for you?
Tentt builds signal-driven outbound, enrichment and CRM systems into B2B companies' stacks. Or start free with the resources from every video.
Sources
Checked on 17 October 2026.
Pricing, integrations and data policies are checked against OpenAI's own pages. How we research tools.