AI Creators
Nate Herk
I Tested Codex's $500/mo Ultrafast. What You Need to Know.
Oct 1, 20269 min watch
Quick Overview
In this video, AI workflow creator Nate Herk reviews OpenAI's Ultrafast mode for Codex following its release on the 500 dollar per month Pro tier. He runs head-to-head performance benchmarks comparing Ultrafast against Standard execution modes on both complex media editing and document generation tasks. The video assesses whether the speed gains justify the increased cost and weekly quota consumption.
Key Points
- 1.Codex Ultrafast mode is an accelerated execution setting for GPT-6 Astra available exclusively on OpenAI's 500 dollar per month Pro tier, Enterprise plans, and the API.
- 2.The mode delivers token generation speeds up to 300 tokens per second, which OpenAI rates as up to eight times faster than Standard mode and four times faster than Fast mode.
- 3.In a complex video compilation test, Ultrafast finished in 19 minutes and 13 seconds versus 49 minutes and 53 seconds in Standard mode, but it consumed 17 percent of the weekly usage limit compared to 4 percent.
- 4.In a text-based resource guide task, Ultrafast finished in 1 minute and 43 seconds compared to 13 minutes and 3 seconds for Standard mode, using 3 percent of weekly quota versus 1 percent.
- 5.While Ultrafast provides significant time savings, the substantial consumption of weekly quota makes it best suited for urgent deadlines rather than routine development.
Summary
Nate Herk opens the video by demonstrating Codex's new Ultrafast mode running GPT-6 Astra. He asks Codex to search a 54-minute community Q&A recording and summarize the key topics, which the tool finishes in 19 seconds. He explains that Ultrafast mode is only available on OpenAI's top-tier 500 dollar per month Pro plan, as well as Enterprise plans and the API, and is not accessible on the 100 dollar or 200 dollar tiers. OpenAI advertises Ultrafast as generating up to 300 tokens per second, running up to eight times faster than Astra Standard and four times faster than Astra Fast, with planned support for GPT-6.1 Sol.
To test Ultrafast on a demanding creative task, Herk prompts Codex to edit a 60-second vertical showreel from a visit to Google's San Jose campus. The prompt feeds Codex two voiceover files totaling 11 minutes and a folder containing over 145 gigabytes of raw assets. Running on Extra High reasoning effort, Ultrafast completes the edit in 19 minutes and 13 seconds, consuming 17 percent of the weekly subscription quota. Standard mode with the same Extra High reasoning takes 49 minutes and 53 seconds while consuming 4 percent of weekly quota. Reviewing the resulting videos, Herk notes that the Ultrafast edit produced better storytelling, visual cuts, and branding, whereas the Standard output felt rougher and cut off sentences awkwardly.
Herk then runs a more common knowledge-worker task: converting a YouTube video comparing OpenAI Dots and Meta Muse into a structured resource guide. On High reasoning effort, Standard mode takes 13 minutes and 3 seconds and burns 1 percent of weekly usage. Ultrafast mode delivers the finished guide in 1 minute and 43 seconds, consuming 3 percent of the weekly allowance. Reviewing the two outputs side by side, Herk finds that both produce similar seven-page documents with matching section hierarchies, key takeaways, and reference links, showing no meaningful difference in output quality.
In his final analysis, Herk explains that while Ultrafast mode delivers real speed improvements ranging from 2.5 times faster on video jobs to over seven times faster on text jobs, it drains weekly usage allowances at a rapid rate. He states that for routine development workflows in Codex or Claude Code, speed is secondary to iteration, and 1.5x Fast mode or Standard mode remains preferable. He concludes that Ultrafast is a valuable tool to keep in reserve for time-sensitive emergencies, though users should focus on building robust automated systems rather than relying on expensive execution speed as a fix for tight schedules.
Ultrafast Mode Features and Pricing
OpenAI introduced the Ultrafast mode for GPT-6 Astra within Codex and ChatGPT Work. Ultrafast delivers generation speeds reaching up to 300 tokens per second, marketed as up to eight times faster than Astra Standard and four times faster than Astra Fast. This mode is restricted to the 500 dollar per month Pro plan, Enterprise accounts, and the API, with planned expansion to GPT-6.1 Sol.
Video Showreel Compilation Benchmark
To evaluate heavy asset processing, Codex was tasked with creating a 60-second video showreel from 11 minutes of voiceover audio and over 145 gigabytes of raw footage from a Google campus visit. Ultrafast completed the assignment with Extra High reasoning in 19 minutes and 13 seconds, using 17 percent of weekly usage, while Standard mode took 49 minutes and 53 seconds and consumed 4 percent of usage. The Ultrafast video also demonstrated superior pacing and narrative structure.
Resource Guide Generation Test
A lighter document creation benchmark required Codex to convert a YouTube video into a comprehensive resource guide. In this trial, Ultrafast finished in 1 minute and 43 seconds and used 3 percent of weekly usage, whereas Standard mode took 13 minutes and 3 seconds and consumed 1 percent. Both modes generated comparable seven-page documents with similar structure and quality.
Cost Versus Speed Assessment
Although Ultrafast delivers speeds between 2.5 times and over seven times faster than Standard mode, it uses between three and over four times more weekly quota. For regular day-to-day coding and document drafting, Standard mode or 1.5x Fast mode remains more practical, leaving Ultrafast as an emergency option when facing tight deadlines.
The Bottom Line
The benchmarks establish that Codex Ultrafast provides substantial real-world latency reductions, ranging from roughly 2.5 times faster on video rendering workflows to more than seven times faster on text generation tasks. However, this performance comes with high resource consumption, draining between three and four times more weekly subscription allowance than Standard mode. The video lands on the conclusion that while Ultrafast is an impressive tool for urgent deadlines, ordinary development and agent workflows are more cost-effectively handled using Standard or standard Fast modes.
FAQ
What is OpenAI Codex Ultrafast mode and how is it accessed?
Ultrafast is a premium speed mode for GPT-6 Astra within Codex and ChatGPT Work that generates up to 300 tokens per second. It is accessible exclusively through OpenAI's 500 dollar per month Pro subscription plan, Enterprise accounts, and the API.
How does the speed of Ultrafast mode compare to Standard mode during video processing?
In a test compiling a 60-second video from 145 gigabytes of raw footage, Ultrafast completed the task in 19 minutes and 13 seconds compared to 49 minutes and 53 seconds for Standard mode, representing an approximate 2.5 times speed improvement.
How much weekly usage allowance does running Codex on Ultrafast mode consume?
Ultrafast mode consumed 17 percent of weekly usage on the heavy video compilation task compared to 4 percent on Standard, and 3 percent versus 1 percent on a lighter document creation task.
How quickly did Codex Ultrafast generate a resource guide compared to Standard mode?
Ultrafast generated the complete seven-page resource guide in 1 minute and 43 seconds, whereas Standard mode took 13 minutes and 3 seconds to complete the identical prompt.
Is there a noticeable quality difference between outputs produced in Ultrafast mode and Standard mode?
In the video showreel benchmark, Ultrafast produced a noticeably better edit with smoother pacing, but in the text document generation task, both modes produced nearly identical seven-page outputs of equal quality.
Worth watching for
Developers, AI automation builders, and power users evaluating OpenAI Codex tiers who want to know if the 500 dollar monthly subscription for Ultrafast mode justifies its speed and usage costs.
- openai
- codex
- ultrafast
- gpt-6-astra
- ai-agents
- automation