OpenAI has officially removed the GPT-4.5 model from both the ChatGPT website and API as of August 2025. This change coincides with the release of GPT-5, launched on August 7, 2025, marking a significant update to the company’s AI offerings. As part of these changes, several older models—namely GPT-4.5, GPT-4o, GPT-4.1, among others—have been retired from all user-facing ChatGPT products and API endpoints.
What Does the Removal Mean for Users?
- Model Unavailability: GPT-4.5 is no longer selectable for any user tier on ChatGPT, including paid subscriptions like Plus, Pro, Team, Enterprise, or EDU.
- API Deprecation: Developers accessing OpenAI’s API can no longer utilize GPT-4.5 endpoints; requests are redirected to GPT-5 wherever possible.
- Automatic Transition: If users open previous conversations that used GPT-4.5, ChatGPT will automatically migrate them to the nearest GPT-5 equivalent for continuity.
- Legacy Model Access: While some higher-tier subscribers may retain temporary access to legacy models for a limited time, most users are required to migrate to GPT-5.
Why Is OpenAI Making This Change?
OpenAI’s decision to discontinue GPT-4.5 and other older models is driven by a desire to simplify product offerings and encourage the adoption of GPT-5, which features improved performance, efficiency, and functionality. By streamlining the available models, OpenAI aims to reduce complexity for users and developers and focus support and resources on its latest advancements.
“With the release of GPT-5…OpenAI retired several older models from both user-facing ChatGPT and the API. These retired models include GPT-4.5, GPT-4o, GPT-4.1, and several others. If you open an older conversation that used GPT-4.5, ChatGPT will automatically switch it to the closest GPT-5 equivalent. This change applies not only to the API but also to all paid user tiers…OpenAI did this to simplify their offerings and encourage migration to GPT-5, their latest and most advanced model.”
Users and developers are encouraged to review OpenAI’s model documentation and ensure their applications and workflow are updated to utilize the new GPT-5 API and ChatGPT interfaces.
Others struggled when OpenAI deprecated GPT-4.5 — breaking their document automation pipelines. For example. Instafill.ai, quickly migrated to GPT-4.5 hosted on Azure to keep their AI form filler running smoothly — still detecting layouts, adding fields to pd forms, and processing flat PDFs flawlessly.
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