ChatGPT will receive unlimited text chats in the free account starting the week of August 10, 2026 – until now, there was a limit after a certain number of messages per day. Additionally, a new thinking button helps to respond more thoroughly to tricky questions. Paying Plus and Pro customers already have a slider that controls the AI’s thinking time.
Free users will chat without a daily limit in the future
Until now, the free account of ChatGPT blocked after a certain number of text messages per day – those who wanted to write more had to wait or switch to a paid subscription. As OpenAI states in its own blog, this limit for text will be completely removed starting the week of August 10, 2026. The basis is a new, faster language model with the internal name Luna, which will automatically become the standard for free and Go accounts starting this week. Those who already use ChatGPT to convert PDF invoices into Excel spreadsheets can do so in the future without interruption from a daily limit. However, separate, tighter limits for images, file uploads, voice messages, and image generation will remain – only pure text chats will be unlimited. For small offices and freelancers who have only sporadically used ChatGPT for short tasks, this removes a bottleneck that could lead to forced breaks in the middle of the workday. An additional registration, a new subscription, or an app update is not necessary for the transition, as OpenAI will centrally replace the new model in the background.
A button gives the AI more time to think
In addition to the removal of the limit, the update brings a new thinking button for questions that require more than a quick answer. When activated, ChatGPT takes noticeably more time before responding and examines its own reasoning more thoroughly, as reported by TechCrunch, among others. Paying Plus and Pro customers receive a slider instead of a simple button, allowing them to adjust the depth of thought continuously – from short everyday answers to detailed research or planning. This slider has been available to Plus and Pro accounts since August 6, 2026, while the thinking button for free and Go accounts will only come with the removal of the message limit. A caseworker who wants to formulate a complicated cancellation text precisely activates the button specifically for that one message, instead of waiting for more thinking time for every response. For simple tasks like a short appointment confirmation, the button remains simply turned off, so ChatGPT responds immediately as usual. Users do not need to know which model is working in the background – ChatGPT automatically selects the appropriate one as soon as the button or slider is activated.
How office teams can find the new features
The transition runs automatically in the background, but a few steps help to use it purposefully:
- Open ChatGPT as usual in the browser, in the app, or for example in PowerPoint and log in.
- For a tricky question, tap the thinking button above the input field as soon as it appears in your account.
- For Plus or Pro accounts, instead open the slider and choose the desired depth of thought according to the task.
- Starting the week of August 10, continue writing without regard to a daily limit.
It will be crucial whether the improvement mentioned by OpenAI regarding factual errors holds reliably in everyday work – this has not yet been independently verified. Those processing customer or company data via ChatGPT should continue to observe internal guidelines for handling confidential information, as the update does not change anything about the handling of sensitive data. Whether the unlimited text chats will actually arrive on time for all free accounts starting the week of August 10 will be revealed in the coming days.
