The trick: Scope Swap
Free users got the unlimited model.
Paying users kept the one that is right more often.
free ChatGPT users now get unlimited text chats on GPT-5.6 Luna, the new Free and Go default, with factual errors 62% less common than GPT-5.5-Instant, per OpenAI's August 6 announcement, fully rolled out since the week of August 10.
Before you read on. Your call?
TRUE, BUT
62%
the giveaway is genuine and the word unlimited arrives pre-qualified. OpenAI's own sentence caps it: unlimited text chats come 'subject to abuse guardrails', which are not enumerated anywhere, and 'Limits will still apply for file uploads, images and other tools.' The 62% is a relative figure from OpenAI's internal testing, not an independent evaluation, with no published sample or task mix. And the tier split does the quiet work: Luna is the fast, cheap variant; the model OpenAI describes as more reliable with facts, GPT-5.6 Sol, is the one Plus and Pro subscribers pay for. Free users got more quantity. The accuracy upgrade is the product being sold.
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The trick has a name
We call it Scope Swap: applies to far less than it sounds like. You'll see it again. Learn to spot it →
Receipts
- Supports web.archive.org:
unlimited text chats and access to a new Think button for harder questions (subject to abuse guardrails). Limits will still apply for file uploads, images and other tools.
- Context web.archive.org:
to be more reliable with facts and provide more focused answers
- Supports techcrunch.com:
removing limits on text-based chats for all users on ChatGPT
- Context techcrunch.com:
62% less common for GPT-5.6 Luna and 68% less common for GPT-5.6 Sol
- Refutes unite.ai:
It applies to text chats; limits remain for file uploads, images, and other tools, and OpenAI notes the offering is subject to abuse guardrails.
- Refutes unite.ai:
The figure comes from OpenAI’s own testing, not an independent evaluation.
- Context macrumors.com:
Limits will still apply for file uploads, images, and other ChatGPT tools
Open the Receipts Pack → What each source proves, every figure traced, and what would change our verdict.