OpenAI Rolls Out Unlimited Text Chats for ChatGPT Free Users Amid GPT-5.6 Model Rollout

ChatGPT free users will soon enjoy unlimited text-based chats, OpenAI confirmed in an announcement issued on 6 August 2026. The move follows the platform’s recent milestone of surpassing 1 billion weekly active users.

GPT-5.6 Luna Becomes Default for Free and Go Tiers

The newly introduced GPT-5.6 Luna model will serve as the default for both Free and Go users, replacing GPT-5.5. A new “Think” button will accompany this rollout, enabling users to activate higher reasoning power when tackling complex queries. OpenAI clarified that usage restrictions remain in place for files, images, voice inputs, and image generation — these categories retain their existing limits.

Plus and Pro Users Gain GPT-5.6 Sol and Thinking Slider

Subscribers to ChatGPT Plus and Pro tiers are receiving immediate access to an enhanced version of GPT-5.6 Sol, optimized for rapid tasks including answering questions, conducting web research, offering advice, planning, writing, and decision-making. According to the company, this iteration delivers more compact and robust responses. It is distinct from the GPT-5.6 Sol variant used in Codex and Work, which remains unchanged.

In addition, Plus and Pro users now have a thinking slider that allows them to calibrate the model’s reasoning intensity based on the complexity and number of steps required to resolve a given query.

Factual Accuracy Improvements Confirmed Internally

Internal evaluations conducted by OpenAI found that factual errors dropped by 62% in GPT-5.6 Luna compared with GPT-5.5-Instant, and by 68% in GPT-5.6 Sol relative to the same baseline.

The upgraded GPT-5.6 Sol model is available to Plus and Pro users as of today. Other updates — including unlimited text chats and the “Think” button for Free and Go users — are scheduled to arrive this week. Next week, those features will go live for all eligible users.