OpenAI's help centre says custom GPTs are scheduled to retire on 11 December 2026. OpenAI's own route is to move each GPT into a ChatGPT plugin. That keeps your instructions and files, but drops custom actions and your choice of model. If your GPT answers questions from your own documents, a document chatbot service can take its place instead, outside ChatGPT.
This page sets OpenAI's route beside two document chatbot services, using each one's own pages. It shows what carries over, what does not and what each route costs, with the dates you need to plan around.
Who this is for
- you built a custom GPT in ChatGPT and need to move it before it retires
- your GPT answers from your own documents and you are weighing a chatbot on your website instead
- your team relies on someone else's GPT and you want to know what happens to it
Not for you if you are choosing a website chatbot from scratch: our comparison of chatbots for your website covers that.
Key numbers
- 11 Dec 2026 the standard retirement date of custom GPTs, according to OpenAI's help centre Official page,
- 11 Feb 2027 the later date for FedRAMP workspaces and Enterprise workspaces with an approved deferral Official page,
- 50 pages the source pages DocsBot AI's free plan holds, enough for a small GPT's files Official page,
- 7 days CustomGPT.ai's free trial, which needs a credit card Official page,
What is changing, and when
OpenAI says the change affects all ChatGPT plans, but the options can differ by account and workspace. The notice in your own account is the one to follow. Your existing GPTs keep working until the retirement date. After that, the GPTs and their pages become inaccessible, while your past conversations with them stay.
Dates in OpenAI's custom GPT retirement FAQ (read 26 Oct 2026)
- Enterprise: OpenAI sends admins a notice to help them prepare.
- Enterprise: target date for the migration option and the user banner (a target, not a promise).
- Affected Enterprise workspaces can no longer create new GPTs (FedRAMP workspaces excepted).
- Standard retirement: custom GPTs and their pages become inaccessible.
- Retirement for FedRAMP workspaces and Enterprise workspaces with an approved deferral.
A GPT is moved with the account or workspace where it was created. If you use several accounts, check which one holds each GPT, because that account's dates and permissions apply.
What moves to a plugin, and what you lose
When migration is open for your account, you start it from My GPTs with "Migrate to plugin". The table sets out what OpenAI's FAQ says happens to each part of a GPT:
Instructions, files and connected apps move to the plugin; custom actions, the chosen model and public sharing do not.
| Part of your GPT | What happens | Carried over |
|---|---|---|
| Instructions | become a skill inside the new plugin | yes |
| Knowledge files | are copied into the plugin's reference files | yes |
| Connected apps | are added to the plugin as apps | yes |
| Custom actions | do not transfer; a replacement may need an app or a custom MCP server | no |
| The model you chose | does not carry over (Enterprise defaults apply in Enterprise workspaces) | no |
| Public sharing settings | do not carry over; the plugin starts private | no |
| Unpublished drafts | do not transfer: migration uses the latest published version | no |
| Your past conversations | stay accessible after retirement, with nothing to do | kept |
Two details matter for planning. After migration, the original GPT becomes read-only and its creator can no longer delete it, so finish your edits first. And the new plugin starts private: nobody who used your GPT gets it until you share it.
In a managed workspace, Share Plugin can fill in the original GPT's audience for you; check it and select Save. Making a personal plugin public is a separate submission process. Once it is installed, ChatGPT uses a plugin when it fits the request, or you pick it with an @ mention.
Your three options
Most GPTs fall into one of three cases, and each has its own best route:
Stay in ChatGPT: move the GPT to a plugin
This is the shortest route if your users already work in ChatGPT. It keeps your instructions and files, and you test the result with the prompts you normally use. Allow extra time if your GPT calls other services through custom actions, because those have to be rebuilt.
Move to a document chatbot service
If your GPT mainly answers questions from your own documents, a document chatbot service does the same job outside ChatGPT. It can sit on your website, where people use it without a ChatGPT account. CustomGPT.ai is one: despite its name, it is a separate company, not part of OpenAI. DocsBot AI is another.
Neither service imports a custom GPT directly, according to their pricing pages. You upload the same documents and paste in the same instructions.
Run your own chatbot on a server
If the documents must stay on hardware you control, you can run an open model and a chat front end on your own server. That takes the most work. Our guide to fine-tuning or a document chatbot explains how such a chatbot finds answers in your files. Where to run an open-source LLM covers the server.
Alternatives to OpenAI's custom GPTs, compared
The table puts together what each one's own pages say, read on 27 October 2026; prices come from our weekly checks.
Stay with a plugin if your users live in ChatGPT; choose a document chatbot service if the bot should sit on your website.
| Route | Where people use it | Imports your GPT | What it holds | How you can start |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT plugin (OpenAI's migration) | inside ChatGPT, for people with access to the plugin | yes: Migrate to plugin, when it opens for your account | your instructions, files and connected apps; custom actions must be rebuilt | included where your plan and workspace allow plugins |
| CustomGPT.ai, Standard | on your website or app, by its deployment guide; Slack included | no: upload the files and paste the instructions | 10 agents, 1,000 questions a month, 5,000 documents per agent | 7-day trial; a card is needed and the plan is charged unless you cancel |
| DocsBot AI, Free to Standard | a website widget on every plan; unbranded only on Business | no: upload the files and paste the instructions | Free: 1 bot, 50 source pages, 100 AI credits a month; Personal: 5,000 pages | a free plan with no card; a Standard trial for eligible businesses |
| Plan | Price | New-customer offer | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| CustomGPT.ai Standard | $99/month billed monthly; the page says you can cancel or upgrade at any time · VAT not stated checked 25 Oct 2026 | A 7-day free trial of the Standard or Premium plan, with all of that plan's features checked 29 Oct 2026 | Visit |
| CustomGPT.ai Premium | $499/month billed monthly; the page says you can cancel or upgrade at any time · VAT not stated checked 25 Oct 2026 | A 7-day free trial of the Standard or Premium plan, with all of that plan's features checked 29 Oct 2026 | Visit |
| DocsBot AI Personal | $49/month billed monthly · VAT not stated checked 25 Oct 2026 | Paid plans come with a 14-day money-back guarantee checked 30 Oct 2026 | Visit |
| DocsBot AI Standard | $149/month billed monthly · VAT not stated checked 25 Oct 2026 | Businesses that qualify can ask for a free trial of the Standard plan with every feature checked 29 Oct 2026 | Visit |
CustomGPT.ai's 7-day trial needs a credit card. DocsBot AI's free plan holds 50 source pages.
Where your documents are kept differs too. CustomGPT.ai keeps everything in the US, and DocsBot AI stores document data in Frankfurt through its database provider. Our guide to AI hosting in Europe has the details.
Step by step: move one GPT
These steps work whichever route you choose:
- Open the GPT in edit mode and copy its instructions into a text file.
- Download every knowledge file, and write down any connected apps and custom actions.
- Write 10 prompts your users really ask, with the answers you expect, so you can compare the old and the new bot.
- Publish your last edits, because migration uses the latest published version and makes the original read-only.
- Migrate to a plugin from My GPTs, or upload the files and instructions to the service you chose.
- Ask your 10 prompts again and compare the answers with the ones you wrote down.
- Rebuild any custom actions, then share the new plugin or embed the new chatbot, and tell your users where it is.
Which option fits you
Where should your custom GPT go?
Question 1 Do your users all work in ChatGPT?
- Yes: go to question 2
- No, or not all of them: a document chatbot service
Question 2 Does the GPT use custom actions?
Mistakes to avoid
Waiting for 11 December
Instead: Migrate and test now: migration may open at different times for different accounts.
Migrating before the last edits
Instead: Publish your changes first: the original becomes read-only after migration.
Expecting custom actions to move
Instead: List them now; they need a replacement app or integration.
Assuming users will follow automatically
Instead: Share the new plugin or chatbot and tell them where it is.
Confusing CustomGPT.ai with OpenAI
Instead: CustomGPT.ai is a separate company with its own plans and terms.
Other questions
Will I lose my conversations with custom GPTs?
No. OpenAI's FAQ says your existing conversations with custom GPTs stay accessible after the retirement, with nothing for you to do.
What happens to a GPT made by someone else that I use?
You cannot migrate it yourself. Check the notice on the GPT and its creator's guidance about a replacement. Access to the old GPT does not give you access to its new plugin.
Can I still create a new custom GPT?
In affected Enterprise workspaces, creating new GPTs ended on 26 October 2026, except in FedRAMP workspaces. For other accounts, follow the notice in your account.
Is CustomGPT.ai the same as OpenAI's custom GPTs?
No. CustomGPT.ai is a separate company whose service, according to its security page, is built on OpenAI's API.
How we checked
We read OpenAI's custom GPT retirement FAQ and its Plugins in ChatGPT page on 27 October 2026. We read the pricing pages of CustomGPT.ai and DocsBot AI on the same day. Our own measurements will be added here, with their dates, when our test bench runs them. Prices come from our weekly price checks, each with its own date. We will read OpenAI's FAQ again every week until 11 December 2026.
Sources and test notes
- OpenAI Help Center: Custom GPT retirement and migration FAQ, read
- OpenAI Help Center: Plugins in ChatGPT, read
- CustomGPT.ai pricing, read
- CustomGPT.ai security and trust page, read
- DocsBot AI pricing, read
- DocsBot AI subprocessors, read
Every page read on 27 October 2026.