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ChatGPT has had a "Deep Research" tool since February, but it's been limited to subscribers. Now, the company is rolling out a lightweight version to all users, including those on the free service.
OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, says the lightweight version of its Deep Research tool will give shorter responses, but still include the same "depth and quality" in its reports.
"A version of OpenAI o4-mini powers the lightweight version of deep research and is nearly as intelligent as the deep research people already know and love, while being significantly cheaper to serve," OpenAI says.
OpenAI is increasing the number of queries you get; ChatGPT Plus, Team, Enterprise, and Edu users now get 25 queries per month, Pro users get 250, and Free users get five (on the lightweight version). "Once limits for the original version of deep research are reached, queries automatically default to the lightweight version," it says.
This move helps keep ChatGPT competitive with its rivals, such as Perplexity, which has offered its version of the tool to all users for a couple of months. Perplexity Pro subscribers get unlimited access to the tool, while those on free accounts get five queries per day.
OpenAI is now rolling out this tool to free users and Plus, Pro, and Team accounts. Enterprise and Edu users will begin to get the tool from next week.
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.