ChatGPT's Projects feature is now free! Organize your work and split your chats with confidence!
Hi everyone! This is Jon. In the world of AI technology, new updates are released every day, making our daily lives and work lives more convenient. Today, I'd like to share with you the news that the "Projects" feature of ChatGPT, a popular AI chat tool from OpenAI, has been made available to free users. This feature allows you to organize chats by topic and easily divide conversations, greatly improving the efficiency of your work and studies. It's easy to use even for beginners, so be sure to check it out.
Recommended for those who want to start automating with no coding!
With Make.com (formerly Integromat)...
📌 Integrate major tools like email, Slack, Google Sheets, and Notion all at once
📌 Automate complex tasks with just drag and drop
📌 A free plan is also available, so you can try it out for yourself.
If you're interested, here's the details:
What is Make.com (formerly Integromat)? How to Use It, Pricing, Reviews, and Latest Information [2025 Edition]
What is the Projects feature? A simple explanation for beginners
First, let's start with a basic explanation of ChatGPT's Projects feature. ChatGPT is a tool that allows you to have AI answer your questions and organize your ideas, but as the number of conversations increases, it can become difficult to manage. That's where "Projects" comes in. This feature allows you to group and organize chats like folders, allowing you to create dedicated spaces for each theme, such as "work task management" or "hobby ideas."
Specifically, each Project is called a "smart workspace" and has the following characteristics:
- Chat Grouping: Group related conversations into one Project to keep information organized and uncluttered.
- File upload: Save documents and images in Project and the AI will use them to answer questions (free users can upload up to five files).
- Custom instructions: Set AI behavior for each project. For example, specify "answer in a businesslike manner in this project."
This feature was originally introduced for Plus users in December 2024, and expanded to Enterprise and Edu users in January 2025. It was then announced that it would be rolled out to free users in early September 2025. According to OpenAI's official announcement, it will be available to logged-in users of the web version, and many people have been eagerly awaiting this update.
Background and benefits of making it free: Perfect for improving work efficiency
Why is Projects now free? This is the result of OpenAI reflecting user feedback. Even on X (formerly Twitter), many free users expressed their desire to try Projects. For example, in a post on September 4, 2025, OpenAI's official account announced the addition of a conversation branching feature, along with the free availability of Projects. This means that anyone can now build AI-powered workflows with greater flexibility.
Here are some benefits of the free version, especially for intermediate users who use ChatGPT for work or study:
- Advanced organization at no cost: Previously, Projects were only available to paid users, which meant chats were often cluttered for free users, but now anyone can create a Project.
- Branching Ideas: Use the new "Split Chat" toggle to create a new branch from an existing conversation and explore different directions without losing the original. For example, if you're discussing "Marketing Strategy Ideas" and suddenly want to shift focus to "Social Media Campaigns," this is a great way to branch off.
- Increased productivity: File references and custom instructions make AI responses more accurate. If you're a beginner, we recommend starting by creating a simple Project to organize your chats.
By the way, if you want to make even more use of these AI tools, we also recommend a tool called "Gamma," which can instantly create documents and slides. Gamma uses AI to quickly generate materials, and when combined with ChatGPT's Projects, it makes preparing work presentations much easier. Check out this article for more details:What is Gamma? A new standard for instantly creating documents, slides, and websites using AI [Updated in 2025].
New Split Chats feature: Splitting conversations just got easier
Along with the free release of Projects, the "Split Chats" feature has also been gaining attention. This update, reported by media outlets such as Engadget around September 3, 2025, added a toggle to split chats. Previously, conversations tended to lose context as they grew longer, but this feature allows new conversations to branch out while preserving the original thread.
Here's a chronological example of how to use it:
- Select a specific message during an existing chat conversation.
- When you turn the toggle on, a new conversation window will open and branch out from there.
- The original chat remains unchanged, and multiple patterns can be run in parallel.
A ZDNET article (published September 4, 2025) praised this as "an upgrade that further strengthens chat organization," emphasizing that free users can use Project to manage their work smartly. A Bleeping Computer report (September 7, 2025) also cited the combination of Projects and Split Chats as a reason to "work with confidence."
How to actually use it? Practical Tips
Here are some practical examples of using Projects. If you're a beginner, first log in to the web version of ChatGPT and look for the "Projects" menu (as of September 2025, it is being rolled out globally).
- Work task management: Create a project, let AI generate to-do lists, upload files and track progress.
- Organize your learning: Divide projects into study themes and review them using past questions as a reference.
- Creative Work: Expand your ideas in Split Chats and choose the best ones.
According to OpenAI's Help Center (updated August 21, 2025), Project's appeal is that it lets you "organize and keep everything in one place." A Lifehacker article (September 5, 2025) praised it as "one of the most useful features free users have access to."
Points to note and future prospects
Although it's now free, free users are limited to five file uploads, so if you plan to use it on a large scale, consider the Plus plan. Also, Split Chats is limited to the web version, with support for mobile apps planned for the future. OpenAI plans to release further updates within 2025, and given the trend in X, user expectations are high.
If you want to use AI tools to streamline your document creation, why not give Gamma a try? For more information, click here:What is Gamma? A new standard for instantly creating documents, slides, and websites using AI [Updated in 2025].
Summary: Jon's comments
Making ChatGPT's Projects free is a big step for people who use AI on a daily basis. It will make it easier to organize your chats, which should improve the efficiency of your work and hobbies. Even beginners can start with a small project and explore the possibilities of AI. Your feedback will shape future updates, so be sure to give it a try!
Reference sources
- OpenAI official X account (posted on September 4, 2025): Announcement of conversation branching feature
- OpenAI Help Center (Updated August 21, 2025): Projects Usage Guide
- Bleeping Computer (September 7, 2025): Free Projects and Split Chat details
- Lifehacker (September 5, 2025): Features accessible to free users
- ZDNET (September 4, 2025): Project's Smart Workspace Explained
- Engadget (September 3, 2025): Rollout to free users
- SlashGear (posted 4 days ago): How Projects became free