Deep Research is one of ChatGPT’s best features, but it’s locked away in its premium subscription tiers. That is, until now: OpenAI is making its powerful Deep Research tool free for everyone—but there are some caveats.
Free ChatGPT Users Now Have Access to Deep Research
An OpenAI post on X revealed that the company is rolling out a lightweight version of its Deep Research tool to free users. In the post, OpenAI noted that access to the feature was also expanding for Plus, Team, and Pro users.
In a separate follow-up post on X, OpenAI explained that the new version of Deep Research is powered by OpenAI’s o4-mini model. It added that the new version is “nearly as intelligent as the deep research people know and love, while being significantly cheaper to serve.”
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There are lots of uses for ChatGPT’s Deep Research tool, so having access to it for free is a big win. There’s a catch, though. If you’re on a free account, you’re limited to just five Deep Research queries a month. Once you hit that limit, you’ll have to wait till your rate limit resets the following month or upgrade to one of the paid plans to continue using Deep Research.
Users on the paid tiers are also subject to certain rate limits. According to OpenAI’s Deep Research FAQ, Plus and Team members can use the standard Deep Research tool for up to ten tasks per month. Once they hit that cap, the lightweight version kicks in; this can be used for an additional 15 tasks that month. Pro users have a much more generous allowance and can run up to 125 tasks per month on standard Deep Research and an additional 125 tasks using the lightweight version.
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I’ve used Deep Research a handful of times and appreciate the thoughtful responses it delivers. I also like that Deep Research is available within ChatGPT’s regular interface and that I don’t have to use a separate tool or app to access it. If you’re on one of the paid tiers or have a free account and want to test the Deep Research feature, all you need to do is select the Deep research button at the bottom when typing in your query.
Your Deep Research window will start the first time you use the feature and reset every 30 days thereafter. If yoyou’reurious about how many tasks you have left for the month, hover over the Deep research button, and yoyou’lle able to see your limit.
