Okou vs ChatGPT Work

Workspace agents let a team turn a described workflow into a shared agent, powered by Codex, usable in ChatGPT and Slack. It is a serious product with one structural constraint: everything in it runs on OpenAI's models.

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Pick ChatGPT Work if

Your company already runs on ChatGPT Business or Enterprise, the work is deep coding or long-running analysis, and OpenAI's models are the ones you want. Codex is the strongest coding agent in this comparison and it is not close.

Pick Okou if

Nobody on the team writes code, and you do not want one vendor deciding which model does your work. Codex is built for engineers and it shows in how an agent is set up; Okou is described in plain language. Okou also runs on a free plan, where workspace agents need ChatGPT Business, Enterprise or Edu and an admin to enable them by role.

Where the two actually differ

Both build shared agents a team reuses, both run in the cloud, both schedule recurring work, both work in Slack, and both ask for approval on sensitive steps. Model choice and how you get in are the real splits.

Dimension	Okou	ChatGPT Work
Model	A per-thread picker across the Claude, GPT and DeepSeek families^3,9	OpenAI models only, through Codex¹⁰
Who can start	Anyone, on the free plan¹	ChatGPT Business, Enterprise or Edu; on Enterprise an admin enables it by role¹⁰
How it is billed	Workspace credits, no per-member charge¹	Per seat, with agent runs metered on top¹⁰
Surfaces	Web and Slack⁷	ChatGPT on web, desktop and mobile, plus Slack¹⁰
Agents per team	Seven org-shared agents plus unlimited private ones, each with its own description, tone, avatar and connector grants²	Shared workspace agents built from a described workflow, with a team directory and templates¹⁰
Getting set up	A member connects their own account and grants the agent what it needs, in plain language⁴	An admin enables each app in the console and sets role permissions; members then connect their own accounts¹⁰
Coding depth	Lightweight: read a repo, locate a bug, ship a small change, open a PR	Deepest here — Codex with parallel worktrees and cloud environments¹⁰
Permission granularity	Per agent, per connector, per named action, with a 1h, 24h, 7d or standing grant⁴	Agents operate within the permissions and controls the organization sets, and ask for approval when needed¹⁰
Naming	Not white-labelled: the app is Okou. What you name is each agent — seven shared ones, each with its own name and avatar²	You name each workspace agent; the surface is ChatGPT¹⁰

What you are actually choosing between

Model neutrality is the whole difference

Workspace agents are powered by Codex and run OpenAI's models. That is a strong default and it is also the only option. In Okou the model sits on the chat thread across the Claude, GPT and DeepSeek families, with a workspace default an admin sets — so which model does the work stays a decision you keep making.

A way in that is not a seat

Workspace agents require ChatGPT Business, Enterprise or Edu, and on Enterprise an admin turns them on by role. Okou's Free plan is 3,000 credits with no card, so the person who wants to prove the idea can prove it before anyone signs anything.

A grant that expires

OpenAI's model is an organization setting the permissions an agent operates within, with approval prompts on sensitive steps. Okou adds a time dimension: a grant is per agent and per named action, and can be set to lapse after an hour, a day or a week, so a one-off job does not leave standing access behind it.

Where ChatGPT Work is the better tool

Codex is the better coding agent: Parallel worktrees, cloud environments, PR review, migrations. For real software engineering this is a different weight class from Okou's lightweight coding, and we would say so on a call.
It is already deployed: If the company runs on ChatGPT, workspace agents arrive inside a tool everyone already opens, with no new vendor, no new login and no new invoice.
Building an agent is guided: Describe the job or drop in a file and ChatGPT walks you through defining steps, connecting tools, adding skills and testing it, with templates for finance, sales and marketing to start from.
Enterprise compliance is further along: OpenAI's enterprise controls, certifications and admin tooling clear more of a security review today than ours do. Our SOC 2 Type II is still in progress.

What each one bills for

ChatGPT Work is a seat plus consumption on top. Okou is consumption against a workspace pool with no per-member charge.

Okou

Workspace credits, published rate, no per-member charge

Free: $0 · 3,000 credits to start
Pro: $20/mo · 20,000 credits
Team: $200/mo · 120,000 credits
Enterprise: Custom
Credit top-up: $1 per 1,000

Concurrency scales with the plan: 1, 2 and 10 simultaneous runs. Every plan, Free included, allows 7 org-shared agents and unlimited private ones. Auto-recharge buys credits when the balance falls below a threshold, so a scheduled job does not stall overnight.

ChatGPT Work

Seats, plus metered agent runs

Free: Not available for workspace agents
Business: Per seat
Enterprise: Custom
Edu: Custom
Agent runs: Metered on top of seats

Workspace agents are available on ChatGPT Business, Enterprise and Edu plans, with agent runs billed on top of the seat. Enterprise admins enable them with role-based controls.

Okou vs ChatGPT Work FAQ

What is the difference between ChatGPT Work, workspace agents and Codex?

Codex is the coding agent and the engine underneath. Workspace agents are shared agents a team builds from a described workflow, powered by Codex, usable in ChatGPT and Slack. ChatGPT Work is the agent inside ChatGPT that takes on long multi-step projects using the same technology.

What is the best ChatGPT Work alternative if I do not want to be locked to OpenAI models?

That is the main reason to look elsewhere. Okou puts a model picker on the chat thread across the Claude, GPT and DeepSeek families, and on a paid plan a member can route through their own Claude or Codex subscription, so an existing subscription keeps working while the choice stays yours.

Is Okou a Codex alternative for coding?

Only for light work — reading a repo, locating a bug, shipping a small change, opening a PR. Codex goes considerably deeper. If your main use is software engineering, use Codex.

Do I need an enterprise plan to start?

For workspace agents, yes: ChatGPT Business, Enterprise or Edu, and on Enterprise an admin has to enable them. Okou starts free with no card.

Do both keep working when I am offline?

Yes. Agents run in the cloud on both, and both can be scheduled or deployed into Slack to pick up requests. This is not a difference between them.

Also compare Okou with Viktor, Lindy, Claude Tag and Claude Cowork.

Run the same job on two different models

Give one workflow to Okou, switch the model behind it, and see which answer you would ship.

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Compiled from OpenAI's own workspace agents announcement and Codex documentation, read 21 August 2026. ChatGPT, ChatGPT Work and Codex are products of OpenAI and are not affiliated with Okou.