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OpenAI surprises users: GPT-5 now default - what changes?

Reviewed:
Andrii Daniv
1
min read
Aug 8, 2025
Minimalist illustration of GPT five overtaking GPT fouro with user reacting and new icons for multimodal perks and usage caps

OpenAI has begun rolling out GPT-5 as the default model in ChatGPT, promising higher factual accuracy and clearer reasoning for users on every plan. The company released the upgrade earlier today.

Rollout schedule

GPT-5 replaces GPT-4o effective immediately for Free, Plus, Pro, and Team customers. Enterprise and Education tenants follow next week. Free users receive full GPT-5 responses until they hit a daily usage limit, after which requests route to a lighter “GPT-5 mini” model.

Access tiers and limits

  • Free: Full GPT-5 output until caps are reached; then GPT-5 mini.
  • Plus: Higher caps than Free.
  • Pro: Highest caps and “GPT-5 Pro” for compute-heavy tasks.
  • Team: Same model availability as Pro, shared across workspaces.
  • Enterprise & Education: Rollout begins next week.

Performance improvements

  • 45% fewer factual errors than GPT-4o, rising to 80% with deeper reasoning enabled.
  • Automatic adjustment of response speed or depth based on prompt complexity.
  • Step-by-step reasoning available when users ask the model to “think hard.”
  • Multimodal input now supports images and charts for analysis.
  • Faster front-end code generation and automated debugging.
  • Revised safety layer prefers partial answers over blanket refusals and reduces flattery.

Detailed evaluation results are published in OpenAI’s Evaluations post.

Background and timeline

Since GPT-3.5 launched in November 2022, OpenAI has iterated quickly: GPT-4 arrived in March 2023 and GPT-4o in May 2024, each adding speed, multimodal capability, and coding assistance. GPT-5 shifts the emphasis toward accuracy and broader availability. OpenAI calls the release a trust-building step ahead of more significant system changes expected later this year.

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Author
Andrew Daniv, Andrii Daniv
Andrii Daniv
Andrii Daniv is the founder and owner of Etavrian, a performance-driven agency specializing in PPC and SEO services for B2B and e‑commerce businesses.
Reviewed
Andrew Daniv, Andrii Daniv
Andrii Daniv
Andrii Daniv is the founder and owner of Etavrian, a performance-driven agency specializing in PPC and SEO services for B2B and e‑commerce businesses.
Quickly summarize and get insighs with: 
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