ChatGPT: What's Free In 2026 And What Isn't?
As of August 2026, you can send unlimited texts to ChatGPT.
Igor Bonifacic for Engadget
On August 6, OpenAI announced it was making a major change to rate limits for free and Go accounts. Starting the week of August 10, users on those tiers will be able to have unlimited text chats with ChatGPT. The company said it would continue to enforce separate limits for other forms of usage, including image generation and file uploads. Given that change, you might be wondering what limits now apply to free accounts. This article details what's changing.
Model and feature access at the free tier
As of August 2026, OpenAI limits free accounts to using just one of its models: GPT-5.6 Luna. Luna is the smallest of the company's recently released GPT-5.6 family of large language models. Access to the company's other models, including GPT-5.6 Terra and Sol, requires a subscription or paying for API pricing.
Free accounts are also limited to just a single reasoning mode. Tapping the Think button will prompt ChatGPT to take additional time to generate a response; there's no slider like you'll find if you pay for a subscription.
At the free tier, users get access to a handful of other features to round out the ChatGPT experience, including web search and image generation. OpenAI handles file uploads differently than other AI labs. Any documents and images you upload are added to your Library, allowing you to reuse those files at a later date. For free accounts, the Library has a 500MB limit.
ChatGPT's recently updated voice mode is available to free accounts, but it defaults to the smaller Live-1 mini model. Lastly, free accounts can use OpenAI's Codex and Work tools, but usage is limited and in the case of the latter, the only way to access it is through the ChatGPT desktop app.
What are ChatGPT's free tier rate limits?
OpenAI
As mentioned, OpenAI will allow free tier users to send as many text messages to ChatGPT as they want starting the week of August 10. Using the chatbot's thinking mode does not count against a separate limit, provided you're not asking it to process files and use other tools at the same time.
Unfortunately, like Anthropic, OpenAI doesn't share exact limits publicly. The company used to structure its limits around a rolling five-hour window, but it appears to have stopped doing that sometime in July. Now, users just have a single weekly limit. You can check what's left of your limit from the Settings menu, under the Usage section.
Here are the features that have limits when using ChatGPT for free:
- File and image uploads
- Image generation
- Deep Research
- Voice mode
- Codex
- Work
Separately, ChatGPT's context window and memory features are more limited when using it for free.
Ads and model training
Igor Bonifacic for Engadget
As a free user, you may see ads when using ChatGPT. They will appear in a "sponsored" section below the chatbot's main response, and often take the form of products or services that are related to your prompt. For example, ChatGPT may recommend a salad dressing if you ask it how to make a Caesar salad. OpenAI says that ChatGPT won't generate ads when you're talking to the chatbot about sensitive topics, such as your personal health or mental wellbeing. Ads are also present at the $8 per month Go tier, but not the $20 per month Pro plan and above.
By default, OpenAI enrolls all free accounts in model training. To opt out of the company using your data to train future models, visit the ChatGPT website on your computer and and follow the steps below:
- Click your profile icon.
- Select Settings.
- Click Data Controls.
- Turn off Improve the model for everyone.
Reporting from Engadget contributed to this story.
