OpenAI is preparing to undo one of ChatGPT’s newest splits. Only a few months after introducing ChatGPT Work as a separate space for heavier tasks, the company plans to fold it back into the main Chat experience. The result would be one conversation that can move from casual questions to multi-step tasks without the user switching modes.
The change was announced in an email to ChatGPT Pro subscribers. OpenAI says it will begin testing the combined experience with a small group of users in the coming weeks and widen access depending on how that feedback goes. No full rollout date has been given.
Right now the split is clear. Chat handles everyday conversation, quick answers and brainstorming. Work is meant for longer jobs that involve research, files and access to other applications. In the merged version, those lines disappear. A user could start by talking through an idea and then ask ChatGPT, in the same thread, to turn it into a website or a presentation. Plugins, uploaded files and tasks carried out on websites would all live in that one conversation, with the user able to watch and steer the work as it happens. Codex, OpenAI’s coding tool, stays separate inside the ChatGPT desktop app.
The reversal says something about how people actually use these tools. Separate modes make sense on a product roadmap, but most users don’t decide in advance whether a request is a chat or a job. A brainstorm often turns into a deliverable halfway through. Making people choose a tab first added friction, and OpenAI now seems to agree.
The bigger change may be to billing. From December, Plus, Pro and Business subscribers will draw from a single usage allowance shared between ChatGPT and Codex. Usage will be counted in tokens, with the cost of any request depending on the model used and how complex the task is. That is more flexible than fixed message caps, but it is also harder to predict. A long agentic task could use up far more of the allowance than a user expects, and OpenAI hasn’t said how clearly it will show consumption to subscribers. Instant chat will stay unlimited for Pro users and won’t count against the shared pool.
Some Pro tiers are also getting relief right away. OpenAI has doubled existing Work and Codex allowances for Pro 100 and Pro 500 subscribers. For Pro 200, it has dropped a previously announced cut to usage limits.
Merging the interface is the easy part. The real test is whether token-based limits feel fair once people start running heavier tasks inside an ordinary conversation.
