- ChatGPT Deep Research is now free for all users, however, it's powered by the lightweight version that uses the o4-mini model.
- Free ChatGPT users can delegate 5 tasks per month with the lightweight Deep Research AI agent. It's rolling out, starting today.
- OpenAI has also expanded the usage limit for ChatGPT Plus, Pro, and Team users.
OpenAI’s impressive Deep Research AI agent is finally rolling out to free ChatGPT users. You don’t need a paid subscription to perform in-depth research and generate a comprehensive report on ChatGPT. However, there is a caveat. The free offering is a lightweight version of the Deep Research AI agent which is powered by the smaller o4-mini reasoning model.
The standard version of Deep Research, which is available to paid users, is powered by the larger o3 reasoning model. Having said that, OpenAI says the lightweight version is “nearly as intelligent as the deep research people already know and love, while being significantly cheaper to serve.“
In the BrowseComp benchmark that evaluates agentic browsing, the o3-powered Deep Research scored 51.5% while the o4-mini-powered Deep Research achieved 45.7% accuracy. It means that both the standard and lightweight versions of Deep Research are nearly on par.
OpenAI further says that responses on the lightweight version will be shorter, but it will maintain the depth and quality of the standard Deep Research agent. The lightweight version of Deep Research is rolling out to free ChatGPT users, starting today. However, you can only perform up to 5 tasks per month.
Apart from that, OpenAI has expanded the usage limit for paid users who are subscribed to ChatGPT Plus, Team, and Pro plans. ChatGPT Plus and Team users get 10 tasks per month with the o3-powered Deep Research, and an additional 15 tasks per month with the lightweight version.
ChatGPT Pro users will get 125 tasks per month on the standard version and an additional 125 tasks per month using the lightweight version. Enterprise and Edu users will get access next week and will have the same usage limit as Team users.
