> I find the free models are much more psychophantic and have a higher tendency to hallucinate and just make shit up

I keep seeing this claim yet it my experience it doesnt hold water. I pay for the models, most people I know pay for the models, and we see all of the exact same issues.

I have Claude and ChatGPT both bullshit and lick my ass on the regular. The ass licking will occur regardless of instruction.