ChatGPT Plus users enjoyed a brief taste of life without five-hour Work and Codex limits. OpenAI has decided that was a bit too much. Starting August 25, OpenAI is restoring the five-hour usage cap across ChatGPT Work and Codex for Plus subscribers. The restriction had been temporarily removed on July 12, leaving users to work against their overall weekly allowance instead.
Before you riot online, it’s worth noting that your normal ChatGPT conversations won’t stop working after five hours. The change specifically affects the more compute-heavy Work and Codex experiences, which offer tools to handle longer projects.
OpenAI is slowing you down a little
OpenAI engineering lead Thibault Sottiaux gave two reasons for bringing the limit back. First, spreading heavy usage across five-hour windows makes demand on OpenAI’s computing infrastructure more predictable while allowing it to maintain relatively generous weekly allowances.
Second, OpenAI says Plus includes many casual and newer users who can unknowingly burn through a large chunk of their weekly quota during one long session and then wonder why they’re locked out for days. The result is essentially two limits to watch. Burn through your five-hour allowance, and you wait for that window to reset. Exhaust the weekly allocation and the shorter reset won’t magically give it back. That’s not all; users can also purchase additional usage credits rather than simply waiting for the timer to reset.
Paying more gets you off the leash—for now
There is some good news if you have one of OpenAI’s pricier subscriptions. In his latest tweet, Sottiaux says the five-hour restriction will remain disabled for the $100 and $200 Pro subscriptions for the coming months. Those users will continue operating against their weekly allowances without this additional five-hour ceiling.
This is likely a conscious decision to make the distinction between the Plus and Pro tier subscribers even clearer, especially if someone uses ChatGPT as a serious work or coding tool. While the company had removed the restriction back in July, the five-hour freedom was just temporary, it seems.
