In short. An account-level limit can exhaust across campaigns while each campaign retains its own budget.
Definition: An account-level spending limit is an account-wide allowance for billable ad spend during a configured window. OpenAI documents that the allowance is shared across campaigns, while each campaign keeps its own budget.
Key facts
- OpenAI describes a spend-limit window as a total account allowance over a date range. The start date is inclusive, the end date is exclusive, and dates use the ad account's timezone in the account management documentation.
- The Ads API reference describes date-range limits and daily limits, says campaign budgets still apply, and states that account limits do not allocate spend between campaigns or pace delivery. It also limits availability to ad accounts on postpaid invoice billing in the account spending limits reference.
- Campaign budgets are separate controls. OpenAI documents daily and lifetime campaign fields, with exactly one budget field allowed in the campaign budget documentation.
What does the account window control?
Yes. An active account window can stop delivery for campaigns that draw from the account after the shared allowance is exhausted. OpenAI's account management documentation says that deleting or increasing an exhausted active limit can allow delivery to resume when no other requirement blocks it.
The create operation uses the account's Ads API endpoint. The documentation shows this date-range request:
curl -X POST "https://api.ads.openai.com/v1/ad_account/spend_limit_windows" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer ${OPENAI_ADS_API_KEY}" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"start_date": "2026-10-01",
"end_date": "2026-11-01",
"amount_micros": 10000000000,
"name": "October account limit",
"io_id": "IO-123"
}'
The same documentation says that windows cannot overlap and that up to 60 future windows can be scheduled. A window's start_date is inclusive and its end_date is exclusive, interpreted in the ad account's timezone.
Which accounts can use it?
The Ad Account API reference identifies account spending limits as available only for ad accounts on postpaid invoice billing. Reading or changing this configuration requires permission to manage billing for the account. The account-management guide describes availability more generally as limited to some accounts.
The reference separates two window types. A date-range limit provides a total allowance over a fixed period. A daily limit provides an allowance that renews each day. Daily and date-range limits cannot overlap, and creating a daily limit leaves existing scheduled limits in place.
The amount uses the account currency and is expressed in micros. The API reference gives 100000000 micros as 100 currency units and says that limits apply to billable ad spend, excluding taxes and the total invoice.
How does it interact with a campaign budget?
Campaign budgets still govern spending within their campaigns. OpenAI's bidding and budgets documentation says that a campaign budget controls spending across its ad groups. A daily campaign budget uses daily_spend_limit_micros; a lifetime campaign budget uses lifetime_spend_limit_micros; a campaign must provide exactly one of those budget fields.
The account window is a separate account-wide ceiling. A campaign can have budget remaining while the account's active limit is exhausted. Removing the account limit leaves the campaigns' own budgets in place. The account API reference also says that account limits do not allocate spend between campaigns, so a remaining account allowance is shared rather than reserved per campaign.
How can an advertiser check the active window?
Use the account spending-limit list endpoint before creating or changing a window. The Ad Account API reference says the response exposes date-range limits in data and the active or upcoming daily limit in daily_limit.
curl "https://api.ads.openai.com/v1/ad_account/spend_limit_windows" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $OPENAI_ADS_API_KEY"
A date-range record includes its window_id, dates, allowance, and status. The reference lists upcoming, active, and completed as possible statuses. It also says that delivery can take time to stop after a limit is reached, so the account state and delivery state can briefly differ.
Related terms
- Ads in ChatGPT
- How do daily and lifetime budgets work for ChatGPT campaigns?
- Where are the advertiser name and logo configured for ChatGPT ads?
- Where can an advertiser inspect why a ChatGPT ad is not serving?
FAQ
Can a campaign keep serving after its own budget remains?
The account window is shared across campaigns. OpenAI's account documentation describes a campaign with budget remaining while the account's active limit is exhausted.
Does a daily account limit carry unused allowance into the next day?
No. The API reference says daily allowances do not carry over and that the next reset is the next midnight with a fresh allowance.
Does removing an account window remove campaign budgets?
No. The account documentation says removing an account limit does not remove the campaigns' own budgets.
Sources
- OpenAI Developers, "Account Management", undated
- OpenAI Developers, "Ad Account", undated
- OpenAI Developers, "Bidding & Budgets", undated
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