How you can still access GPT-4o, o3, and other older models in ChatGPT

• OpenAI's new GPT-5 model initially replaced prior models at launch last week.
• Due to popular demand, OpenAI is giving users access to legacy models.
• GPT-4o is available to ChatGPT Plus and Pro users (with more models for the latter). 

The appeal of OpenAI's highly anticipated GPT-5 model lies in its combination of a smart model for most queries and a deeper reasoning model for harder problems, and that it automatically chooses either based on the user's prompt. Since it technically combined the best of OpenAI's models, the company had it replace all of its legacy models in ChatGPT -- and users were not happy. 

(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, ZDNET's parent company, filed an April 2025 lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)

Also: I tested GPT-5's coding skills, and it was so bad ...