Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
GPT-5 arrived a few weeks ago, though its rollout hasn’t been entirely smooth. While the model shows plenty of promise, its debut also meant the abrupt removal of every other GPT model from ChatGPT’s user-facing UI. Since then, some old models have returned, and there have been a few other changes to the way the system works. Furthermore, many of the initial GPT-5 usage limits have been temporarily enhanced since launch.
Let’s dive in and take a closer look at the GPT-5 limit structure and how it compares to what came before, as well as whether there’s any way to get back the older models.
New Limit Structure explained When first launched, GPT-5 only had three tiers: GPT-5, GPT-5 Thinking, and GPT-5 Pro. This has since changed a bit.
Those with a free subscription to ChatGPT are limited to just GPT-5, which automatically switches to other GPT-5-based models, depending on the context. You are limited to just 10 messages every 5 hours, which makes it very easy to hit the limit now. Unlike Plus and Pro users, you also don’t have access to legacy models anymore.
Plus subscriptions get more options, with access to GPT-5 Fast, GPT-5 Thinking, and GPT-5 Thinking Mini. The exact limits vary as follows: GPT-5 (Auto) : Virtually unlimited access, though it will often default to Fast for most basic inquiries. That said, if it automatically uses other models, these don’t count against your limits.
: Virtually unlimited access, though it will often default to Fast for most basic inquiries. That said, if it automatically uses other models, these don’t count against your limits. GPT-5 Fast (Mini) : Again, this model is virtually unlimited.
: Again, this model is virtually unlimited. GPT-5 Thinking : You can make 200 quests per day with GPT-5 Thinking, which is honestly much more generous than the old limits for the o3 Thinking model.
: You can make 200 quests per day with GPT-5 Thinking, which is honestly much more generous than the old limits for the o3 Thinking model. GPT-5 Thinking Mini: You can make 2,800 requests a week with this model. Only Pro users have access to the most powerful version of GPT-5, known as GPT-5 Pro. This tier also has virtually unlimited access to most tiers.
It’s worth mentioning that ChatGPT Plus actually launched with an 80 message per 3-hour limit, but OpenAI expanded the limit a few times since, though it is very likely some of these extensions are temporary. In other words, the limits are very much subject to change. Of course, that’s always kind of been the way with ChatGPT, as it’s older legacy models often saw limited revisions over time as well.
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