OpenAI's Deep Research Tool No Longer Requires ChatGPT Pro Subscription—But There's a Catch

Deep Research, the latest from OpenAI's suite of generative AI tools was introduced earlier this month, and as promised, the company is now expanding its availability to users right before February ends.

Previously, the company only made it available for ChatGPT Pro subscribers to access, but that will no longer be the case as the company is now rolling out its availability to more users.

However, it should be noted that it will still require a subscription, and its availability is not unlimited for those who pay for the service despite the hefty fees.

OpenAI's Deep Research Tool No Longer Requires ChatGPT Pro

After introducing the Deep Research feature earlier this month, OpenAI is now moving towards making it available to more paid subscription tiers as promised. The company said that it will be available to other tiers in a month, with the company speeding up its timeline as it is rolling out the Deep Research tool to other tiers such as the ChatGPT Plus.

Users who are subscribed to the ChatGPT Plus, Team, Edu, and Enterprise tiers may now access the Deep Research tool on its platform, and this will offer more detailed and profound information as opposed to previous answers.

Previously, only ChatGPT Pro subscribers who pay $200 per month were eligible to access the Deep Research tool. Additionally, OpenAI revealed that the company also included improvements to Deep Research under this rollout as it will include embedded images with citations with its answers, as well as better "understanding and referencing" to uploaded files.

What's the Catch on Deep Research Tool Access for ChatGPT?

There is good news and bad news when it comes to this release. First, OpenAI shared that it will now be available to other paying subscribers to the service, with those remaining with ChatGPT Pro getting 120 deep research queries per month.

However, the bad news is that there will only be 10 deep research queries available per month for ChatGPT Plus, Team, Edu, and Enterprise subscribers.

OpenAI and Its Massive ChatGPT Features Available Now

December 2024 was a busy month for OpenAI and its generative AI development, particularly as the company showcased its "12 Days of OpenAI" that delivered the latest features. First, the company introduced its latest model called the "o1" as part of the o-series releases that centered on a reasoning model that was first introduced in the $ 200-per-month ChatGPT Pro subscription.

However, it is not only the paid experiences that OpenAI shared to look forward to this year, as the company also announced the arrival of ChatGPT's Search feature for all users, including free accounts. It was also during this time that the company announced a special hotline for its AI chatbot, "1-800-CHATGPT," featuring its Advanced Voice Mode.

Moreover, OpenAI has massive plans for later this year as it is now gearing up to release the o3 reasoning model under the GPT-5 LLM release that will be accessible for free for all ChatGPT users.