Need help setting up OpenAI/ChatGPT Account

Elements
1

This is my personal experience today with Open AI, I have been waiting for Elements AI update to see what I can work with. I have always used free Grok/ChatGBT and had no problem. Today I watched @dan video on setting up MCP server, so I upgraded to the lowest price plan. Started in Elements did all set up required and got my link address copied and ready.

Downloaded the ChatGBT Desktop app opened it went to plug ins - no add button, so asked botty where it was, went around the world and tried to add the connection.
Thats when it went pear shaped, started saying need codex app, codex account etc. I told it I didn’t and just wanted to connect as per video. So 1 hour later, going around world, getting no where and still not set up I got a message to say money ran out and need to upgrade!

Now I know why AI is taking over the world - it’s draining bank accounts as we speak! :rofl: So I am perplexed, not connected and poorer. I think I will go back to the free models!

So @Dan please bring back my friendly Elements Bot I need him now!

2

Yeah, they don’t make it easy… anyway, try this if you have any credits left…

Switch to “Work” mode in the top tab, and just ask it to set up a connection to the Elements MCP, and it should do it for you.

Can you set up a conection to the Elements MCP http://localhost:9712/mcp

CleanShot 2026-09-17 at 6.13.24 PM@2x
CleanShot 2026-09-17 at 6.13.24 PM@2x1746×1468 160 KB

3

Thats exactly where I was in work. There was no add button in PlugIns so thats were the rabbit hole started. I have no credits left and have raised a formal complaint support ticket but expect a laughing emoji form bot back!

4

@dan Is it possible to test the UI features with a free account? I have everything hooked up but anytime I try to do something, it always says something went wrong. I have been able to get Claude to make some changes from within their app, but it would be so much nicer to do everything inside Elements.

5

I think this needs a paid/credit-enabled API account. A free ChatGPT or Claude chat account generally won’t allow a usable API key/balance (I don’t think, but I’m not 100% sure).

If Elements is showing “something went wrong”, I’d check that billing or credits are enabled for that API account.

6

I just paid for some credits for the Claude API and gave it a test run in Elements. I had an announcement banner on the page and asked it to check the grammar and rewrite it. It cost $5.29 to make the changes, ouch. I think I will stick with Quillbot for this type of edit, as it costs me nothing.

The only problem is Quillbot doesn’t integrate directly well with the Elements editor itself.

7

Hey @handshaper, for a banner rewrite sounds unexpectedly high!!! Which Claude model did you have selected?

The model makes a significant difference to the cost:

  • Sonnet 5 is where I’d start for everyday edits, grammar checks, and rewriting text. It’s fast and the cheapest of these three.
  • Opus 5 is useful for more complex component work and troubleshooting. For the same amount of text processed, it costs around 2.5× more than Sonnet.
  • Fable 5.1 is aimed at demanding reasoning and larger tasks involving multiple steps. For the same usage, it costs around 5× more than Sonnet.

But for your best bang for buck, use Claude via the MCP!

8

I used Sonnet 5 with a LOW setting. I was rather surprised by the cost.