ChatGPT begins rolling out unlimited text chats to free users

OpenAI is removing rate limits on text-based conversations for all free ChatGPT users, a move that eliminates one of the clearest dividing lines between its free and paid tiers. The rollout, which began the week of August 6 with a model swap and continues through the week of August 10 with the cap removal, comes as the company faces mounting competitive pressure from Google Alphabet Inc. ↘ 3.61% and Anthropic.

What's Changing

GPT-5.6 Luna, the lightweight and fastest model in OpenAI's current GPT-5.6 family, is now the default for Free and Go tier accounts, replacing GPT-5.5 Instant. Starting the week of August 10, those users will also gain unlimited text-only chats and access to a new "Think" button that lets Luna spend more reasoning effort on complex questions.notebookcheck+2

The unlimited access applies strictly to text conversations. Limits remain in place for file uploads, image generation, voice mode, and other tools. Plus and Pro subscribers received the updated GPT-5.6 Sol model on August 6, along with a new thinking slider that lets them control how much reasoning effort the model applies per response.techcrunch+3

Pricing and Competition

On the developer side, OpenAI cut Luna's API pricing by 80 percent on July 30, dropping it from $1.00 to $0.20 per million input tokens and from $6.00 to $1.20 per million output tokens. The flagship Sol tier held steady at $5.00/$30.00, while Terra fell 20 percent to $2.00/$12.00.tech-insider

The aggressive free-tier expansion arrives as ChatGPT's market dominance narrows. According to Asia Business Daily, citing market research firm First Page Sage, ChatGPT held 51.3 percent of the global AI chatbot market as of last month, followed by Gemini at 27.7 percent and Claude at 10.3 percent. OpenAI's own milestone of one billion weekly active users, announced in recent weeks, underscores that the platform is still growing in absolute terms even as competitors gain share.asiae+2

The Strategic Calculus

OpenAI has attributed the price cuts to infrastructure efficiency gains rather than a promotional subsidy, suggesting the lower costs are intended to hold. The company's framing emphasizes access: "Access shapes opportunity, and this update gives more people the ability to keep asking, develop an idea, and get help when they need it," OpenAI said in its announcement.gizchina+1

The timing also aligns with OpenAI's nascent advertising program, which launched in the United States earlier this year. More free users spending more time in ChatGPT translates directly into more ad impressions, a revenue stream that could offset the cost of subsidizing unlimited inference.asiae