You Can Still Use ChatGPT’s Older Models—But It’ll Cost You $20

Earlier this week, we saw the rollout of GPT-5, the latest and supposedly greatest edition of OpenAI’s flagship tool, with CEO Sam Altman claiming it offers “legitimate PhD-level” expertise in every field.

But the launch of GPT-5 means the demise of older OpenAI models, including GPT-4o, o3, o4-mini, GPT-4.1, and GPT-4.5. Many users have taken to social media to complain about how that’s disrupted their workflows, and in one case, even their mental health.

The backlash has prompted OpenAI to revive the model picker. At first, it restricted access to $200/month Pro users, but it’s now open to $20/month Plus users, too. Some users on social media called for access to GPT-4o to be extended to all users, but Free users are still out of luck.

It’s unclear how long this access will last. “We will watch usage as we think about how long to offer legacy models for,” CEO Sam Altman tweeted.

(Credit: Reddit)

Losing access to older GPTs isn’t the only issue facing GPT-5. Some say the model is “sterile” and “doesn’t feel the same.”

PCMag highlighted several drawbacks of the new model compared with previous iterations, including failing to correctly identify the number of times “B” appears in the word blueberry. In a Reddit question-and-answer session, Altman even admitted that GPT-5 seems “way dumber” than expected, though he promised that the tool will soon “seem smarter.”

(Credit: PCMag)

Nostalgia for bygone chatbots is certainly something that has only emerged recently, but it could be becoming a trend. Roughly 200 AI enthusiasts held a funeral for Anthropic’s recently phased-out Claude 3 Sonnet earlier this week, according to Wired (though many attendees were associated with the company).

5 Ways to Get More Out of Your ChatGPT Conversations

Disclosure: Ziff Davis, PCMag’s parent company, filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in April 2025, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.

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About Will McCurdy

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I’m a reporter covering weekend news. Before joining PCMag in 2024, I picked up bylines in BBC News, The Guardian, The Times of London, The Daily Beast, Vice, Slate, Fast Company, The Evening Standard, The i, TechRadar, and Decrypt Media.

I’ve been a PC gamer since you had to install games from multiple CD-ROMs by hand. As a reporter, I’m passionate about the intersection of tech and human lives. I’ve covered everything from crypto scandals to the art world, as well as conspiracy theories, UK politics, and Russia and foreign affairs.

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