OpenAI is removing rate limits on text-only chats for ChatGPT’s free and Go tiers. The change, announced Aug. 6, takes effect the following week, TechCrunch reported, as ChatGPT passed 1 billion weekly users. Separate limits stay in place for files, images, voice and image generation.
GPT-5.6 Luna, the smallest model in the GPT-5.6 family, becomes the default for free and Go accounts, replacing GPT-5.5 Instant, which had been the default since May, according to Engadget. Those users also get a Think button that tells Luna to spend more time on a harder question. In text chats it carries no limit, but combining it with other features counts against a separate cap.
Changes for paid tiers
Plus and Pro subscribers get an updated GPT-5.6 Sol tuned for everyday conversation. OpenAI says it “delivers more focused answers, adapts its level of detail to the question, avoids unnecessary formatting, and offers a helpful correction when simply agreeing wouldn’t be useful.” TechCrunch noted that this is a separate version from the GPT-5.6 Sol used in Codex and Work, which is unchanged. Paid users also get a slider that sets how much thought the model puts into an answer.
OpenAI said an internal evaluation found factual errors were 62% less common with GPT-5.6 Luna and 68% less common with GPT-5.6 Sol than with GPT-5.5 Instant. The Verge quoted the company saying the new Sol “is designed to make fewer mistakes — especially when answers depend on dates, numbers, sources, rules, or assumptions.”
The rollout comes in stages. The updated Sol and the slider reach paid users first, Luna becomes the free default the same week, and unlimited text and the Think button follow the next week.
“This is a concrete step toward more abundant intelligence: making our latest models more widely available, improving the usefulness and reliability of the answers people get, and letting free users keep text chats going without a rate limit,” OpenAI said.
Why the limits could go
OpenAI didn’t say how it can afford the change. Rate limits reflect inference costs, and Engadget noted that The Information had recently reported the company was close to an efficiency breakthrough. Keeping caps on files, images and voice limits the most expensive kinds of use while leaving everyday text chat open, and heavier users still have a reason to upgrade.
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