OpenAI has officially reinstated the strict five-hour usage cap for standard ChatGPT Plus users following a six-week period without daily limits. This restriction now affects users operating within the Codex and ChatGPT Work environments. Thibault Sottiaux, OpenAI’s head of Codex and ChatGPT engineering, confirmed on X (formerly Twitter) that the rolling five-hour limit was fully restored on August 25.
Notably, in mid-July, OpenAI temporarily lifted this five-hour cap, coinciding with the launch of its more efficient GPT-5.6 Sol model. During this brief window of unrestricted access, user activity showed significant growth, with the company occasionally resetting weekly usage quotas early to celebrate milestones such as surpassing one million active users.
However, that leniency has now come to an end. Developers and heavy users returning to the platform must once again be cautious about their prompt usage, as hitting the quota will prevent further access until the next reset. According to Sottiaux, the decision to reintroduce the five-hour limit was driven by two main reasons: first, spreading out usage over a five-hour window helps balance server loads and prevent spikes in demand; second, it safeguards new and infrequent users from unexpectedly exhausting their weekly allotments during extended sessions — a problem evident during the unrestricted period, when some subscribers unintentionally drained their entire weekly quota in a single long session.
The reimplementation of the five-hour limit means users of the standard version must manage their prompt frequency carefully to avoid rapid quota depletion. Interestingly, OpenAI has chosen not to apply this limit to higher-tier subscribers, such as those paying for Pro plans priced at $100 and $200 — approximately 673.70 RMB and 1,347 RMB respectively at current exchange rates. These premium plans will continue to enjoy unrestricted usage for the foreseeable future.
Moreover, enterprise and educational accounts remain unaffected by these changes, as they operate on completely separate, quota-based systems. Going forward, once the five-hour limit or weekly cap is reached, standard users will need to wait for the automatic reset scheduled for September 1 or purchase additional usage credits if they want to continue working without interruption.
In conjunction with the reimposition of the five-hour limit, OpenAI has reset the weekly usage quotas for all affected accounts. The next scheduled weekly reset for subscribers is set for September 1, signaling a new cycle ahead.