OpenAI is retiring custom GPTs. They're scheduled to stop on December 11, 2026, and creating new ones is planned to end on October 26, 2026. Each GPT can be migrated to a plugin, which keeps its instructions, knowledge files and connected apps, but not its custom actions, its chosen model or its sharing settings. If your business built a GPT that staff or customers use, there's work to do before December.
For a business, this is more than a settings change: a GPT that answers customer questions, drafts proposals or sits behind a link on your website is a small piece of software, and part of it won't survive the move on its own. This article goes through what moves, what doesn't and what to do first. If you're planning AI tools more broadly, our page on AI for business covers the options.
When do custom GPTs stop working?
OpenAI's standard retirement date is December 11, 2026, and it applies to all ChatGPT plans. Enterprise workspaces with an approved deferral get until February 11, 2027. Creating new custom GPTs is planned to end on October 26, 2026. OpenAI notes that dates may change, so watch the notices in your account.
The first date to act on is October 26. After it, you can't create a new GPT, and the migration only uses a GPT's latest published version. Drafts and unpublished edits don't transfer. If someone on your team has a half-finished GPT, or edits that were never published, they should publish them before then.
Migration itself won't reach everyone at once. OpenAI says "Migration access may become available at different times" and that "a target migration date does not guarantee that every account can migrate on that day." So don't plan the switch for the last week.
What moves to the plugin, and what doesn't?
The instructions become a skill in the new plugin, knowledge files are copied into its reference files, and connected apps are added as apps. The chosen model doesn't carry over, custom actions don't transfer, and sharing settings don't move: the new plugin starts private, and nobody who used the GPT gets access to it automatically.
Laid out side by side:
- Moves: instructions (as a skill), knowledge files (as reference files), connected apps.
- Doesn't move: the selected model, custom actions, sharing settings, public visibility.
- Stays readable: your existing conversations with custom GPTs. OpenAI says they "will remain accessible after retirement."
Two items on the "doesn't move" list are where business GPTs get hurt.
Custom actions
An action is how a GPT talks to another system: it checks stock in your shop, books a slot in your calendar or adds a lead to your CRM. OpenAI's FAQ says "GPT custom actions do not transfer through the migration workflow" and has to be rebuilt separately. If your GPT only answers from documents, you lose nothing here. If it calls your systems, that connection is a small development job, and it should be tested before you switch anyone over.
Sharing and public links
Migration "doesn't carry over your GPT's sharing settings or give its existing users access to the replacement." A GPT that colleagues reached through a shared link, or that customers opened from a button on your site, won't be reachable the same way. Making a plugin public "requires a separate plugin submission process." Any link to a GPT on your website, in an email signature or in onboarding material will need replacing.
What should a business do before December 11?
Make a list first. It's easy to lose track, because anyone on the team with an account could build one.
- Find every GPT you rely on. Who built it, who uses it, and whether it's private, shared inside the company or public.
- Publish drafts before October 26. Migration uses the latest published version only.
- Mark the GPTs with actions. Those need a developer, and they're the ones to start early.
- Migrate when your account shows the option. In My GPTs, select the GPT and choose "Migrate to plugin."
- Test the plugin with the tasks people actually use it for. The model setting didn't come across, so answers may differ.
- Give access and replace links. The plugin starts private, so share it with the people who need it and update every place that linked to the old GPT.
For a GPT that customers use, step 6 is also a moment to ask whether ChatGPT is the right home for it at all. A customer who has to open ChatGPT to talk to your business is one step further away than one who asks a question on your own site. An assistant on your site, trained on the same documents, is a different project with its own trade-offs; our guide on training an AI chatbot on your business documents walks through how that works. For GPTs that do tasks rather than answer questions, see what AI agents can and can't do today.
Is this a reason to stop building on ChatGPT?
Not by itself. Platforms retire features, and this one comes with published dates and a migration tool. The lesson is narrower: anything your customers depend on should have an owner inside your company, a list of what it connects to, and a plan for where it would go if the platform changed. A GPT built in an afternoon by one employee rarely has any of that, and December 11 is when that becomes visible.
If you need help sorting out which of your GPTs to move, rebuild or retire, onlyspell can help you plan it. Tell us what your GPTs do and we'll suggest where each one should go.
Frequently asked questions
When are custom GPTs being retired?
OpenAI plans to retire custom GPTs on December 11, 2026, across all ChatGPT plans. Enterprise workspaces with an approved deferral have until February 11, 2027, and creating new custom GPTs is planned to end on October 26, 2026. OpenAI says the dates may change.
What replaces custom GPTs?
Plugins. Each GPT can be migrated to a plugin: its instructions become a skill, its knowledge files become reference files and its connected apps come along. Custom actions, the selected model and sharing settings don't transfer, and the plugin starts private.
Will I lose my conversations with custom GPTs?
No. OpenAI says existing conversations with custom GPTs will remain accessible after retirement, and no action is needed to keep them. What stops is using the GPT itself, so anything you still need it to do should be migrated before December 11, 2026.
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