OpenAI API: Insufficient Quota Error on Paid Account with Available Balance

If you're using the OpenAI API and encounter the following error:

“message”: “You exceeded your current quota, please check your plan and billing details.”,
“type”: “insufficient_quota”,

Don't worry—you're not alone. Here's a straightforward guide on how I fixed this issue, which was more of a confusing error message than an actual bug.

I got an "insufficient quota" error despite having a valid credit card and a $100 limit on my account. This was frustrating, as everything seemed in order on the surface.

Solution

Here's how I resolved it:

Add Credit to Your Account:

• I added $20 to my OpenAI account. This was necessary to ensure the API had enough funds to draw from.

Adjust Your Account Limits: I then went to the account settings and updated my spending limits:

• Set the notification threshold to $20.
• Adjusted the monthly budget to $20 as well.

After making these changes, the error went away, and the API started working correctly.

So the issue was not an actual bug but a misleading error message. By adding credit and adjusting the spending limits, the API recognized the available funds and resumed normal operation.

I hope this solution helps you if you encounter the same problem.