OpenAI drops ChatGPT text chat limits for free users
Get the Tech newsletter
Daily tech — startups, AI labs, chips, the launches that shape the next decade. Free.
- OpenAI is removing rate limits on text chats for ChatGPT free and Go tier users starting next week, while messages that include file uploads and images will continue to have limits.
- Free and Go users are getting a new "Think" button next week that lets them "access higher reasoning for harder questions."
- OpenAI is upgrading the default ChatGPT model for free and Go users this week to GPT-5.6 Luna.
- Plus and Pro subscribers will receive GPT-5.6 Sol updated to be "more reliable with facts," designed to make fewer mistakes on dates, numbers, sources, rules, and assumptions.
- GPT-5.6 Sol will additionally deliver "more direct responses" with "tighter formatting" and avoid extra detail when it does not help.
- Plus and Pro users are also getting a new slider to decide "how much thought ChatGPT puts into an answer," available starting Thursday.
Why it matters: Free and Go users lose the text-chat rate cap that previously pushed heavy users toward paid plans, while OpenAI now leans on reasoning depth (the new "Think" button) and the "more reliable" GPT-5.6 Sol to differentiate paying tiers. Paid subscribers retain exclusive control features like the reasoning slider, but the practical gap between free and $20/month just narrowed on volume.
Ask SkimNews
