OpenAI unlocks unlimited text conversations for free ChatGPT accounts
OpenAI has announced a significant change for ChatGPT free and Go account users, the company said on Aug. 6. Starting next week, the platform will no longer apply usage limits to interactions that exclusively involve text, allowing users to chat with the chatbot in an unrestricted manner. This measure represents a step towards democratizing access to artificial intelligence tools and expands the ability of millions of people to explore ideas and obtain assistance without text volume restrictions.
Despite the release for textual conversations, the company will maintain usage limits for other ChatGPT features. Users in the free and Go categories will still encounter restrictions when adding files and images to prompts, as well as when using image generation or the tool’s recently updated voice mode.
On the same topic: Google changes Gemini usage limits and introduces pay-as-you-go AI credits due to complaints
For free and Go accounts, OpenAI is also implementing GPT-5.6 Luna as the new default model, replacing GPT-5.5 Instant, which has been in use since May. This change will be made later this week and includes a new “Think” button, which directs GPT-5.6 Luna to take extra time to formulate responses. Use of this feature for text chats is unlimited for free and Go users unless combined with other features, which will count towards a separate limit.
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Plus and Pro plan subscribers will also receive enhancements to their ChatGPT experience. OpenAI has updated GPT-5.6 Sol, its current flagship model, with optimizations for everyday dialogs. According to the company, the improved version offers “more focused answers, adapts its level of detail to the question, avoids unnecessary formatting and offers a useful correction when a simple agreement would not be useful”. Additionally, Plus and Pro users will have access to a new slider, similar to Claude’s effort menu, that allows you to adjust the depth of “thought” ChatGPT puts into each response.
The elimination of usage limits for text chats is seen as an important milestone for OpenAI. The company did not detail the methods that enabled this feat, but the removal of such restrictions generally reflects advances in reducing inference costs—the amount AI providers pay to process data with their trained models. A recent report from The Information suggested that OpenAI was close to a breakthrough in this field. OpenAI said: “This is a concrete step toward more abundant intelligence: making our latest models widely available, improving the usefulness and reliability of the answers people get, and enabling free users to have text conversations without rate limits. Access shapes opportunity, and this update gives more people the ability to keep asking, develop an idea, and get help when they need it.”
