GPT‑5 Is Here: What’s New (and When To Use GPT‑5 Thinking)

GPT‑5 Is Here: What’s New (and When To Use GPT‑5 Thinking)

Kwanmanat Digital Marketing Expert Aug 9, 2025

Quick Summary

  • GPT‑5 is OpenAI’s newest flagship model with built‑in thinking for better accuracy, coding, and tool use.
  • GPT‑5 Thinking is a selectable mode in ChatGPT that takes longer but reasons deeper—great for complex, high‑stakes tasks.
  • In the API, developers also get reasoning controls like reasoning_effort: minimal|low|medium|high and a new verbosity switch.

What exactly is GPT‑5 ?

GPT‑5 boosts reliability, speed, and reasoning versus previous models. It’s stronger at coding and long tool chains, and handles longer context (up to ~400K tokens in the API). In ChatGPT, it’s the new default for logged‑in users.

Key upgrades at a glance

  • Built‑in thinking so ChatGPT can go deeper when needed.
  • Coding & agents: better at multi‑step tool calling and end‑to‑end tasks.
  • Long context: handles very long inputs and keeps details straight.
  • Controls for devs: tune reasoning effort and verbosity; choose gpt‑5, gpt‑5‑mini, or gpt‑5‑nano in API.

GPT‑5 vs GPT‑5 Thinking — What’s the difference?

Same brain, different pace.

  • GPT‑5 (default): Fast, accurate, and balanced. Best for everyday work—content, summaries, code snippets, brainstorming, research with quick turnarounds.
  • GPT‑5 Thinking: Slower on purpose. It spends extra time thinking through steps and edge cases. Use it when the answer must be extra reliable—strategy, complex analysis, high‑impact emails/presentations, modeling, or safety‑critical plans.
  • GPT‑5 Thinking Pro (select tiers): A higher‑duty version of Thinking for power users and teams.

How to choose:

  • Need speed? GPT‑5.
  • Need deep, methodical reasoning and fewer mistakes? GPT‑5 Thinking.

Who gets it and how to access

  • ChatGPT: GPT‑5 is rolling out to Free, Plus, Pro, and Team; Enterprise/Edu next. In the model picker, choose GPT‑5 or GPT‑5 Thinking (some tiers also see Thinking Pro).
  • API: Use gpt‑5 family for maximum performance (with reasoning_effort & verbosity), or gpt‑5‑chat‑latest for the fast chat‑tuned model.

Real‑life examples

  • Quick: “Summarize this 20‑page PDF and draft 3 email subject lines.” → GPT‑5.
  • Deep: “Stress‑test a 90‑day go‑to‑market plan with risk trees and scenario analysis.” → GPT‑5 Thinking.
  • Dev/API: “Generate a React dashboard, call multiple APIs, and handle retries.” → GPT‑5 (API with high reasoning_effort).

Key facts

  • OpenAI released GPT‑5 on August 7, 2025.
  • GPT‑5 is now the default model in ChatGPT for logged‑in users.
  • Users on paid tiers can manually select GPT‑5 Thinking for deeper reasoning.
  • Developers can tune reasoning effort (including minimal) and verbosity in the API.
  • API context length reaches ~400K tokens across the GPT‑5 family.

FAQ

Q: Does GPT‑5 always “think” more?

A: It thinks more when needed. For the fastest results, keep the default; for tougher problems, pick GPT‑5 Thinking.

Q: Is GPT‑5 better for coding than earlier models?

A: Yes—benchmarks and early partner feedback show higher accuracy and better tool‑calling for end‑to‑end tasks.

Q: I’m not technical—what should I pick?

A: If speed matters most, use GPT‑5. If the outcome is high‑stakes or complex, switch to GPT‑5 Thinking.

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