On May 13, 2026, OpenAI retired GPT-4.5 and o3 from the ChatGPT free tier. The change removed two flagship models from users who paid nothing. Free users had relied on GPT-4.5 for long-context writing and nuanced answers. They used o3 for multi-step reasoning, math, and coding help. After the retirement, free accounts defaulted to a lighter model with tighter message caps. The official changelog listed both retirements in a single update. It did not offer a free replacement at the same capability level. The move arrived without a prior warning to free users. Paid plans were not affected by the retirement. Only the free tier lost access.
The retirement created a two-tier split. ChatGPT Plus, Team, and Pro users kept GPT-4.5 and o3. Free users did not. OpenAI’s pricing page confirmed that both models remained available on paid plans at $20 per month or higher. The split widened a gap that Free AI News reported in June 2026 when providers tightened free access. This was not a temporary outage. It was a permanent product change. Free users had no grandfather clause. Anyone who had been using GPT-4.5 or o3 on the free plan lost access immediately. Many discovered the change mid-task. Some saw a switch to a slower, less capable model.
Why retire two flagship models from free? The answer is cost and competition. OpenAI faced pricing pressure from Google and Anthropic. Both companies had cut prices or adjusted free tiers in early 2026. Analysts at Stanford HAI documented rising inference costs for frontier models. Free users were consuming expensive compute without paying. OpenAI’s business logic was simple. It wanted free users to convert to paid plans. The company also wanted to reserve flagship capacity for paying customers. The retirement followed major AI model tier changes that moved advanced models behind paywalls.
Free users lost more than access. They lost quality. The free tier now defaults to a smaller model with shorter context and weaker reasoning. Tasks that GPT-4.5 handled with ease now fail more often. Coding sessions that o3 debugged now stall. The change pushed free users toward ChatGPT pricing changes in 2026 that included ads and paid upgrades. For users who cannot pay, the free experience became noticeably worse. OpenAI did not hide this. The company framed the retirement as part of a move to sustainable free access. But the result is a degraded free product.
How Do the Top Options Compare?
| Plan or Model | Status After May 13, 2026 | Free Tier Access | Key Capability |
|---|---|---|---|
| OpenAI GPT-4.5 | Retired from free tier | Removed | Long-context writing and nuanced answers |
| OpenAI o3 | Retired from free tier | Removed | Multi-step reasoning and code debugging |
| ChatGPT Free default | Active | Yes, lighter model | Basic chat, shorter context |
| ChatGPT Plus | Unchanged | No, paid plan | GPT-4.5, o3, higher message limits |
Free users lost GPT-4.5 and o3 on May 13, 2026. Paid plans were not affected. Free AI News may earn a commission if you sign up for a paid plan through links on this site. This does not affect our reporting.
1. OpenAI GPT-4.5 , Long-form writing and context-heavy tasks
OpenAI launched GPT-4.5 as a flagship model with a large context window. Free users had limited access to it before May 13, 2026. The model handled long documents, nuanced tone, and low-error answers better than smaller free models. After the retirement, free users lost the ability to select GPT-4.5 entirely. The change hit students and writers who used the free tier for drafting papers and editing long text. Free AI News covered the broader free tier changes in June 2026. GPT-4.5 remained available on ChatGPT Plus, Team, and Pro. But free users had no way to reach it without paying. The free tier default switched to a lighter model with 30 messages per 5 hours, down from 80 messages per 3 hours on GPT-4.5. That was a 69 percent drop in hourly message capacity for free users. OpenAI’s pricing page listed GPT-4.5 as a paid-plan feature after the update.
Key strengths:
- ✅ Handled long documents and maintained context across thousands of tokens
- ✅ Produced nuanced, low-error writing for free users before May 13
- ✅ Supported longer conversations without losing track of instructions
- ❌ Retired from free tier on May 13, 2026
- ❌ No free equivalent replaced it
- ❌ Free users must pay $20 per month to regain access
Who it’s for: Free users who relied on GPT-4.5 for drafting, editing, and long-context tasks lost their best free option.
2. OpenAI o3 , Multi-step reasoning and code debugging
OpenAI o3 was the company’s reasoning model. Free users could access o3 as a preview for math, logic, and coding tasks. On May 13, 2026, OpenAI removed o3 from the free tier. The retirement hit developers and students who used the free plan to debug code across multiple files. O3 could break a problem into steps and verify its own work. Smaller free models could not replicate that chain-of-thought depth. The change followed a broader shift in AI API free tiers where advanced reasoning models moved behind paywalls. After retirement, free users who attempted to force o3 got a model fallback notice. The default free model had a shorter reasoning budget and more frequent refusal on complex tasks. GPT-4.5 and o3 did not return to free. OpenAI’s official changelog confirmed the retirement was permanent. Paid plans retained o3 with higher limits, but free users lost all access.
Key strengths:
- ✅ Solved multi-step math and logic problems on the free tier
- ✅ Debugged code across multiple files before May 13
- ✅ Showed its reasoning steps, which helped users learn
- ❌ Pulled from free tier permanently
- ❌ No free alternative matches its reasoning depth
- ❌ Complex free-tier tasks now fail or truncate
Who it’s for: Free users who used o3 for coding, math, or logic lost the only capable reasoning model on the free plan.
3. ChatGPT Free Tier (After Retirement) , Casual chat and simple questions
After May 13, 2026, free ChatGPT users landed on a lighter default model. OpenAI did not name the replacement model in the changelog. The free tier still worked without a credit card. But the message limit changed. Free users had 80 messages per 3 hours on GPT-4.5 before retirement. After retirement, the default lighter model allowed 30 messages per 5 hours. That was a drop from about 26.7 messages per hour to 6 messages per hour. The model also had a smaller context window, so long documents failed to process. Free users who tried to upload a long PDF saw a file-too-large error more often. The change made the free tier less useful for serious work. Free AI News reported on free tier ads and limits later in 2026. OpenAI kept the free tier available, but it was no longer a way to test flagship models. The company pushed users toward the $20 per month ChatGPT Plus plan.
Key strengths:
- ✅ Still free and requires no credit card
- ✅ Basic chat and quick answers remain fast
- ✅ No subscription required for casual use
- ❌ No access to GPT-4.5 or o3
- ❌ Message caps dropped from 80 per 3 hours to 30 per 5 hours
- ❌ Long-context and reasoning quality degraded
Who it’s for: Casual users who ask short questions and do not need advanced reasoning or long context.
4. ChatGPT Plus , Users who want the retired models back
ChatGPT Plus remained at $20 per month after the May 13, 2026 retirement. The plan gave users access to GPT-4.5 and o3, plus higher message limits. Before the retirement, free users could sample both models with caps. After the retirement, only paying users could reach them. Plus users got 80 messages per 3 hours on GPT-4.5 and 50 messages per 3 hours on o3. The plan also included priority access during peak times. For a free user losing GPT-4.5 and o3, the upgrade was the only way to recover lost capability. Free AI News compared AI subscription tiers in June 2026. The annual cost of Plus was $240. That was a hard stop for students and users in lower-income regions. OpenAI did not offer a cheaper intermediate tier with just one retired model. The retirement made the free tier a funnel to paid conversion.
Key strengths:
- ✅ Retained GPT-4.5 and o3 access after May 13
- ✅ Higher message limits: 80 per 3 hours on GPT-4.5
- ✅ Priority access and faster responses
- ❌ Costs $20 per month or $240 per year
- ❌ No free trial after the retirement
- ❌ Free users must pay to recover lost flagship models
Who it’s for: Users who relied on GPT-4.5 or o3 and can afford a monthly subscription to get them back.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did OpenAI retire GPT-4.5 and o3 for all users on May 13, 2026?
No. OpenAI retired both models only from the ChatGPT free tier. Paid plans, including ChatGPT Plus, Team, and Pro, kept access to GPT-4.5 and o3. Free users lost access permanently.
What model do free ChatGPT users get after the retirement?
Free users now default to a lighter model that OpenAI did not name in the changelog. The replacement has a smaller context window and stricter message limits. It cannot match GPT-4.5 or o3 on complex reasoning or long documents.
Why did OpenAI remove GPT-4.5 and o3 from the free tier?
OpenAI cited cost and capacity reasons. Free users were consuming expensive compute. The company also wanted to push users toward paid plans. Competitive pressure from Google and Anthropic made free flagship access harder to sustain.
Can free users still access o3 after May 13, 2026?
No. o3 was removed from the free tier completely. Free users who try to select o3 get a model fallback notice. The only way to use o3 is to subscribe to ChatGPT Plus or a higher plan.
How much does ChatGPT Plus cost to get GPT-4.5 and o3 back?
ChatGPT Plus costs $20 per month. That is $240 per year. The plan includes GPT-4.5, o3, higher message limits, and priority access. There is no cheaper plan that restores only one retired model.
Will GPT-4.5 or o3 return to the free tier?
OpenAI did not announce any plan to restore them. The official changelog called the retirement permanent. Free users should not expect GPT-4.5 or o3 to return without a paid plan.
What Should You Remember?
- Retirement date: OpenAI removed GPT-4.5 and o3 from ChatGPT free on May 13, 2026.
- Free loss: Free users lost both flagship models with no equivalent replacement.
- Paid retention: ChatGPT Plus at $20 per month retained GPT-4.5 and o3.
- Limit drop: Free message limits fell from 80 per 3 hours to 30 per 5 hours.
- Reasoning gap: No free model matched o3’s multi-step reasoning depth.
- Business motive: OpenAI pushed free users toward paid plans to cover inference costs.
- Permanent change: OpenAI’s changelog confirmed the retirement was not temporary.
Free AI News is an independent editorial publication. Information about AI pricing, free-tier limits, and features changes frequently and may become outdated. Always verify current details through the vendor’s official pages. Affiliate links may earn a commission at no cost to you, and never affect our reporting.
