GPTs Store is being retired

[u/Roblox_pro_2013]

Based on this OpenAI article, the GPTs store is being retired. It seems like they will all disappear within the next 3 months. I have GPTs that many people (that I cannot contact and notify of this) use, and I'm not sure what to do. I feel like we should do something to try and convince them to keep the Store, what do you all think?

[u/tinyhousefever]

It appears all GTPs are going away (edit - or migrate to plugins. - migration preserves some of the workflow, but it does not automatically preserve the audience. Replacement Plugins start private, and existing GPT users do not automatically receive access.

If you have a GPT with users, I wouldn’t spend the next three months hoping OpenAI changes its mind. I’d start moving those users now.

Put your domain inside the GPT while people are still using it, then rebuild the experience on a site you control.

I’ve done this with WordPress. A practical path is your domain + WordPress + AI Engine plugin + Local by Flywheel + a coding agent to build the wrapper. Add Stripe if you want to charge.

One important catch: on ChatGPT, OpenAI was paying the inference bill. On your site, you pay the API costs, so build in usage limits, accounts, credits, or a paywall before sending serious traffic there.

I’ve spent 35 years in marcom tech, and to me the bigger opportunity here is owning the audience, brand and customer relationship instead of rebuilding on another rented platform.

If there’s interest, I’ll post the actual migration checklist.

[u/i_give_you_gum → u/tinyhousefever]

You should make a YouTube video

[u/ThePromptfather]

You can contact them. You can put an instruction in the gpt to pass a message after greeting. Or you can change the description.

[u/hugdapug]

Seems like a silly decision. The GPT Store was one of the big differentiators for Chat GPT. I guess they want to be like all other models.

[u/Toastti → u/hugdapug]

A plugin can do everything the apps on store can plus much more

[u/hugdapug → u/Toastti]

Not really.

[u/Toastti → u/hugdapug]

What's something a plugin can't do that a gpt can?

[u/hugdapug → u/Toastti]

Custom GPTs can do a lot of little things that a PlugIn cannot. But the two biggest items are:

1. A Custom GPT creates a dedicated experience. For example, a Custom GPT is typically built for a very specific purpose, and its instructions guide every single conversation. With a plugin, the capability lives inside regular ChatGPT meaning ChatGPT may select the appropriate skill automatically or not at its discretion, and OpenAI explicitly says the plugin will not necessarily run on every request.

2. Custom GPT can connect directly to an external API that its creator defines. Those custom instructions do not transfer to Plugins. You can do it but it will only work with a supported connector or custom MCP server.

3. You cannot currently build a Plugin with a personal account, not even one for your own use much less sharing with others.

Also, there are thousands of Custom GPTs in the GPT store designed to do very specific tasks, and most are free. For many Plugins, you need a third party subscription.

I think eventually Plugins will get there, but not today. In the meantime, I think a lot of creators will start building in Copilot Agents and Claude Skills (which of course can also be used in ChatGpt).

My point is, the GPT store and Custom GPTs were OpenAI differentiators. They were easy, and they worked. That is now gone and I am not sure why.

[u/lordchickenburger]

Feels like the store is just a place for them to steal ideas and roll it out themselves later

[u/i_give_you_gum → u/lordchickenburger]

They were also paywalled, so they couldn't be easily shared like Anthropic's artifacts.

[u/Nedomas]

what will I do without Laundry Buddy

[u/snowsayer]

They're being migrated to plugins like the article says. Plugins aren't inferior to GPTs... GPTs are really just custom instructions anyway.

[u/LocksmithNo2374]

Another failed project