Key contrast: Free tier gets a lighter model (Luna) plus unlimited text, while paid tier gets the flagship reasoning model (Sol) plus improved reliability and more customization controls.
On July 30, 2026, OpenAI made permanent cuts:
The cuts were driven by businesses scrutinizing AI spending and by competitive pricing pressure from Google and open-source models . Current official API pricing is confirmed on OpenAI's developer site .
Bottom line: OpenAI is playing offense on retention (free unlimited text, better default model) and price (API cuts) to blunt market share erosion to Google and Anthropic, while betting on scale-driven unit economics and improved infrastructure efficiency.