OpenAI has released GPT-5, and it’s now available for free to people worldwide. The company behind ChatGPT, which has approximately 700 million weekly users, claims that this new version is smarter, faster, and easier to use. Previously, only paid ChatGPT Plus members could try the latest models, while free users were limited to older versions like GPT-3.5. Here, we will explore the features, uses, and pricing of GPT-5.
What Is GPT-5?
OpenAI has just launched GPT-5, which they’re calling their most advanced AI system to date. Compared to earlier versions, GPT-5 delivers a major boost in intelligence, offering advanced performance in areas like coding, mathematics, writing, healthcare, visual understanding, and more. It’s designed as a single, unified model that can decide when to give a quick reply and when to take more time to deliver a detailed, expert-level answer. The model is available to everyone, though Plus subscribers get higher usage limits, and Pro subscribers gain access to GPT-5 Pro, a version with enhanced reasoning capabilities for even more thorough and accurate results.
A smarter, more widely useful model
GPT-5 not only scores higher than earlier models on benchmarks and responds faster, but—more importantly—it’s more practical for real-world questions. It offers major improvements in reducing hallucinations, following instructions accurately, and avoiding overly agreeable answers, while significantly enhancing performance in three of ChatGPT’s most common tasks: writing, coding, and health.
Coding:
GPT-5 is our most capable coding model yet, with notable advances in complex front-end development and debugging large codebases. It can often produce visually appealing, responsive websites, apps, and games from a single prompt, translating ideas into polished results with intuitive design. Early testers have recognized its improved sense of aesthetics, especially its handling of spacing, typography, and white space.
New Features in GPT-5
1. Chat-based features
- Customize the color of your chats: You can now customize your chat’s colour scheme. While it’s mainly for appearance, it can make the interface feel more personal. To change the colour, go to the General section in Settings.
- Change personalities: GPT-5 now offers preset personalities, letting you choose if the assistant responds in a supportive, concise, and professional, or even slightly sarcastic tone. Thanks to better steerability, these styles remain consistent throughout the conversation instead of fading after a few messages.
- Gmail and Google Calendar integration: For Plus, Pro, Team, and Enterprise users, GPT-5 can now link directly to Gmail and Google Calendar. It can check your schedule, suggest available time slots, and even draft replies to emails you’ve left unanswered, bringing it closer to acting as a true AI assistant for managing your day.
- Safer, more useful completions: GPT-5 moves away from the old refusal-based safety system and introduces “safe completions.” Rather than just rejecting a potentially unsafe request, it now provides as much useful and safe information as it can, while clearly explaining any restrictions. It also cuts down on sycophancy, those overly agreeable responses that sometimes made earlier models seem less genuine.
2. Developer-focused features
- Improved Context Window: One of the most significant upgrades in GPT-5 is its massive context window, allowing you to handle larger projects with ease. You can feed hundreds of pages of code or documentation into a single session without losing context, enabling the model to understand the entire architecture of your project rather than just isolated snippets. It also retains earlier conversation history, supporting hours of uninterrupted problem-solving.
- Smarter Code Generation & Refactoring: GPT-5 writes cleaner, more efficient code while adhering to design patterns, best practices, and your preferred coding style. Its key improvements include optimized algorithms with fewer unnecessary lines, built-in security measures, and the ability to migrate legacy code to modern frameworks. Also, it can generate complete multi-file project structures rather than just isolated scripts, making development more simplified and scalable.
- Advanced Reasoning for Complex Problems: GPT-5 offers human-like, multi-step reasoning that elevates problem-solving end-to-end. It can debug by simulating execution paths, thoughtfully weigh trade-offs between performance, scalability, and cost, and propose architecture optimization strategies that align with your goals and constraints.
- API Enhancements for Seamless Integration: The GPT-5 API is faster and more developer-friendly, offering instant streaming responses, persistent sessions for better context retention, and the ability to make external API and database calls mid-conversation for more dynamic and integrated workflows.
- Better Performance & Lower Latency: GPT-5 delivers faster responses for complex prompts while reducing compute costs per token. It can handle heavy workloads without timeouts, making it ideal for real-time AI applications that demand both speed and reliability.
How to access GPT-5?
- Go to the ChatGPT platform via web or mobile app.
- Log in or sign up using your credentials.
- No separate installation or upgrade is required as GPT 5 is now the default model.
- Enter a prompt, and GPT-5 automatically chooses the right mode for text or images, or both.
Is It Really Free?
Yes and No. OpenAI’s ChatGPT 5 is available in five pricing tiers: Free, Plus, Pro, Team, and Enterprise.
- Free Plan: Provides basic access to GPT-5, including web search, voice mode, and limited file uploads.
- Plus Plan: For $20/month, users get higher usage limits, expanded and faster image creation, and limited access to Sora video generation.
- Pro Plan: Priced at $200/month, this plan includes unlimited GPT-5 Pro access, unlimited messages and uploads, advanced voice and video tools, extended agent capabilities, and early access to new features. These options are designed to suit everyone from casual users to professionals and enterprises seeking advanced AI solutions.
- Team Plan: Costs $25 per user per month when billed annually, or $30 per user per month when billed monthly.
- Enterprise: Includes all the features of the Team plan, plus an expanded context window for processing longer inputs and handling larger files, ensuring advanced performance, robust security, and reliable support for large-scale operations.
New chat features like custom personalities, colour themes, and Gmail/Calendar integration make ChatGPT feel more customized and practical for everyday use. For web developers, it’s your go-to AI development partner. With enhanced reasoning, an expansive context window, multimodal input support, and personalized workflow memory, it has become an essential tool for software developers in 2025.
In testing, GPT-5 did a great job with simple reasoning and coding. For most users, GPT-5 will still be the easiest and most versatile AI tool to use. Just keep in mind—It’s more of an evolution than a revolution, which might be exactly what some people need.
