Custom GPTs

Custom GPTs, launched Nov 6, 2023 with the GPT Store following on Jan 10, 2024, retire across ChatGPT on Dec 11, 2026 (Feb 11, 2027 for FedRAMP and approved Enterprise deferrals). Owners can move each GPT into a plugin with Migrate to plugin; old conversations stay readable.

Custom GPTs retire across ChatGPT on Dec 11, 2026: on that date custom GPTs and their GPT pages become inaccessible, and OpenAI's replacement is plugins, which a GPT's owner can create with My GPTs > Migrate to plugin (Custom GPT retirement and migration FAQ). FedRAMP workspaces and Enterprise workspaces with an approved deferral have until Feb 11, 2027. Conversations you already had with a GPT remain readable after it retires. GPTs, versions of ChatGPT with their own instructions, knowledge files and actions, arrived on Nov 6, 2023, and the GPT Store followed on Jan 10, 2024.

Quick facts

Introduced	Nov 6, 2023
GPT Store	Jan 10, 2024
Retirement announced	Sep 11, 2026
Retires	Dec 11, 2026
FedRAMP and approved deferrals	Feb 11, 2027
Replacement	Plugins, via Migrate to plugin
New GPTs on personal plans	Not available on Free, Go, Plus or Pro, as of Nov 6, 2026
Old conversations	Stay accessible after retirement

What were custom GPTs?

10:07 A custom GPT was a version of ChatGPT set up for one purpose: a name, instructions, up to 20 knowledge files, connected apps, and custom actions that called outside APIs. Creators could publish them in the GPT Store, which OpenAI opened on Jan 10, 2024 together with the ChatGPT Team plan. Later changes let GPTs use canvas (Dec 10, 2024) and voice (Aug 7, 2025), and from Jun 12, 2025 creators could choose any model, though GPTs with custom actions were limited to GPT-4o and GPT-4.1.

OpenAI's own DALL-E GPT, which kept the older image model available after ChatGPT moved to newer image generation, retired earlier, on Aug 30, 2026.

Why are custom GPTs being retired?

OpenAI announced on Sep 11, 2026 that it would retire custom GPTs on every plan and give a migration path to plugins. A plugin covers what a GPT did and more: it bundles skills (reusable instructions with files and code), connected apps and extensions, and ChatGPT can use it in any chat instead of in a separate GPT conversation (Plugins in ChatGPT). OpenAI's pages read on Nov 6, 2026 give no further reason.

Retirement dates

Date	What happens
Sep 11, 2026	Retirement announced; Enterprise admins notified
Sep 22, 2026	Migration target for Enterprise
Oct 1, 2026	In-product banner target
Oct 26, 2026	New GPT creation ended in affected Enterprise workspaces (not FedRAMP)
Dec 11, 2026	Custom GPTs and GPT pages become inaccessible
Feb 11, 2027	Retirement for FedRAMP workspaces and approved Enterprise deferrals

Source: Custom GPT retirement and migration FAQ, OpenAI Help Center, read Nov 6, 2026.

On personal accounts, the Free Tier FAQ says new GPT creation and publishing are no longer available on Free, Go, Plus or Pro; Business, Enterprise and Edu workspaces may still allow it (ChatGPT Free Tier FAQ). The pricing page still lists "custom GPTs" among Plus and Pro features as of Nov 6, 2026 (chatgpt.com/pricing); neither page explains the difference, so on a personal plan expect to use existing GPTs, not to build new ones.

What carries over to a plugin

When an owner selects Migrate to plugin, ChatGPT builds the plugin from the GPT's latest published version (Custom GPT retirement and migration FAQ):

Part of the GPT	Becomes
Instructions	A skill
Connected apps	Apps in the plugin
Knowledge files	Reference files
Selected model	Does not carry over
Custom actions	Do not transfer

The original GPT becomes read-only. Custom actions are the one real loss: a GPT that called an outside API needs that API rebuilt as an app with the Apps SDK (an MCP server) inside the plugin. Enterprise admins can migrate in bulk with the ChatGPT Admin plugin.

What to do now

If you made a GPT:

Open My GPTs and choose the GPT.
Select Migrate to plugin before Dec 11, 2026.
Open the new plugin with @plugin-creator and check its skill, reference files and apps.
Rebuild any custom actions as an app, then share the plugin with the people who used the GPT.

The full walk-through is on How to Move Custom GPTs to Plugins.

If you use someone else's GPT: ask its maker whether a plugin version is coming, and look for it in the Plugin Directory at chatgpt.com/plugins. Copy anything you need from your conversations before relying on the GPT page, since the page itself becomes inaccessible on Dec 11, 2026, even though the conversations remain.

If you only wanted saved instructions and files: a project holds instructions and up to 40 files per project on Pro, Business, Enterprise and Edu (Projects in ChatGPT), and needs no migration.

Limits GPTs had

A few rules set GPT chats apart, and they explain some of the move to plugins: GPT chats cannot be moved into projects, scheduled tasks do not run in GPTs, and study mode does not work in them (Projects in ChatGPT, Scheduled tasks in ChatGPT, Using study mode). Temporary chats did work with GPTs (Temporary chat in ChatGPT).

Frequently asked questions

When do custom GPTs retire? Custom GPTs retire across ChatGPT on Dec 11, 2026. FedRAMP workspaces and Enterprise workspaces with an approved deferral have until Feb 11, 2027.

What replaces custom GPTs? Plugins. ChatGPT's Migrate to plugin turns a GPT's instructions into a skill, its knowledge files into reference files and its connected apps into apps.

Will I lose my chats with a GPT? No. OpenAI says existing conversations with custom GPTs remain accessible after retirement, though the GPT pages do not.

Can I still create a custom GPT? Not on personal ChatGPT plans: as of Nov 6, 2026, new GPT creation and publishing are unavailable on Free, Go, Plus and Pro. Some business workspaces may still allow it until the retirement.

Do GPT custom actions move to the plugin? No. Custom actions do not transfer; rebuild them as an app with the Apps SDK inside the plugin.

Is the GPT Store closing? Yes, in effect: at retirement every custom GPT and its GPT page becomes inaccessible, and OpenAI's FAQ does not describe the Store continuing.