OpenAI has rolled out a significant update to ChatGPT, adding new features for both paid and free users. The company says these changes aim to boost the quality of everyday conversations, deliver more reliable responses, and open up access to its latest AI models. Paid subscribers get GPT-5.6 Sol, while free users now have GPT-5.6 Luna as their go to model along with some new tools that give people more control over how ChatGPT replies.
OpenAI says this update makes ChatGPT more useful for a wide range of tasks such as answering quick questions, planning, research, writing, coding, or handling complex tasks. The company says responses should be more direct, with fewer factual errors and steadier performance on complex reasoning.
What Changes for Free and Paid ChatGPT Users
Here is a look at the main changes for paid and free users:
- GPT-5.6 Sol now powers Plus and Pro accounts, offering more focused answers and stronger factual accuracy.
- Plus and Pro users get a new reasoning slider to decide how much “thinking” ChatGPT does while answering, whether they are on web, mobile, or desktop.
- GPT-5.6 Luna is now the default for Free and Go users.
- Free users can now chat as much as they want through text, though limits remain for file uploads, images, and other advanced tools.
- A new “Think” button for free accounts lets GPT-5.6 Luna take more time to answer questions that require deeper reasoning.
For Plus and Pro users, GPT-5.6 Sol handles everything from instant replies to deeper reasoning so there is no need to switch between different chat modes. According to OpenAI, now reaches 1 billion people weekly. GPT-5.6 Sol aims to stay clear and concise, avoiding extra details while still making sensible recommendations on bigger tasks like research and planning. The company says this update should reduce mistakes involving dates, rules, numbers, and sources.
OpenAI’s internal tests covered financial, medical, and legal questions requiring factual precision. It reports replies containing at least one error were about 68% less common with Sol and 62% less common with Luna than with GPT-5.5 Instant. Those figures are OpenAI’s own and have not been independently verified.
Why Unlimited Luna Drew the Most Attention
The update also sparked plenty of debates online, especially around users getting unlimited text chats with GPT-5.6 Luna for free. Several users argued it matters more than the Sol upgrade, since it puts a current model in front of far more people. Users also asked why Terra is no longer selectable, and whether Sol at medium reasoning outperforms Terra at high reasoning. OpenAI has not addressed either question as of yet.
Why is terra not a model option? Is sol medium effort generally smarter than terra high effort?
— Parth (@parthmig) August 6, 2026
OpenAI’s claim that GPT-5.6 models are more factual led to a bit of debate too. Users asked what that really means, and OpenAI pointed to internal tests showing fewer mistakes in medical, legal, and financial answers compared with GPT-5.5 Instant. Another topic of discussion was: with unlimited GPT-5.6 Luna for free, some wondered if there will still be a need for open models. OpenAI has not addressed that directly, but it is clear the expanded access is getting lots of attention.
Wow unlimited 5.6 Luna for the free users! why people would need open models then? 😅
— Max 🦘🇦🇺🇹🇷🇸🇾 (@mustafa_ramax) August 7, 2026
What OpenAI Changed for Under-18 Users
On top of the new features, OpenAI announced tighter safeguards for users under 18. The company says it trained ChatGPT to avoid things like romantic roleplay, age restricted challenges, or acting as a substitute for real life relationships. There is also stricter oversight on sexual content, body image or eating disorder risks, age limited goods, dangerous activities, and violence. OpenAI says ChatGPT will direct teenagers seeking support toward someone they trust.
