Thread

1. firasd · 1786044353 · focus · HN ↗

   I think it’s a misread to think the default ChatGPT model switching to GPT 5.6 Luna is some sort of desperation move. Keep in mind that Claude .ai never had this extreme stratification between the frontier models and the free tier (Sonnet is available to free users with rate limits).

   So 5.6 Luna is just their next version of what they used to call 5.5 instant tier

   And 5.x instant models were never much to write home about anyway so the default ChatGPT free model hasn’t been particularly distinctive since 4o

   1. freakynit · 1786074735 · focus · HN ↗

      Claude's rate limits are absolutely shit for free users. 3 chats and its gone for 24 hours.

      1. claudiug · 1786092337 · focus · HN ↗

         I dont see that, and I have a lot of chats, long messages, and is not 3 chats.

         1. vezycash · 1786094094 · focus · HN ↗

            It has limits when there's an attachment in that chat session. Switch to a new chat and you're good to go
      2. drnick1 · 1786115375 · focus · HN ↗

         Yes, but you can create multiple accounts. It has to be inconvenient enough or no one would pay for the higher tiers.
   2. samsolomon · 1786106060 · focus · HN ↗

      Honestly, given the price 5.6 Luna is pretty fantastic. I replaced GPT 4.1 mini in several projects.

      It's also 50% cheaper if you only need it to run sometime in the next 24 hours.

   3. throwaway473825 · 1786110976 · focus · HN ↗

      I think the main competitor to OpenAI's free tier is Google Search's AI Overviews powered by Gemini 3.5 Flash-Lite. OpenAI's free tier needs to be notably better than that for people to bother. There's also Gemini 3.6 Flash with a generous free tier.

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