---
title: "Custom GPTs Retire 11 December 2026: What to Do Next"
canonical_url: "https://chatthing.ai/blog/custom-gpts-retiring"
last_updated: "2026-11-03T11:19:09.134Z"
meta:
description: "OpenAI is retiring Custom GPTs on 11 December 2026. What migrates to plugins, what breaks for shared GPTs, and how to keep yours online."
"og:description": "OpenAI is retiring Custom GPTs on 11 December 2026. What migrates to plugins, what breaks for shared GPTs, and how to keep yours online."
"og:title": "Custom GPTs retire on 11 December: what changes and what to do - Blog - Chat Thing"
"twitter:description": "OpenAI is retiring Custom GPTs on 11 December 2026. What migrates to plugins, what breaks for shared GPTs, and how to keep yours online."
"twitter:title": "Custom GPTs retire on 11 December: what changes and what to do - Blog - Chat Thing"
---
[← Back to blog](https://chatthing.ai/blog)**Blog**# **Custom GPTs retire on 11 December: what changes and what to do**
Zef
3 Nov 2026
~ 6 min read
---
---
### **On this page**
1. [The dates](#the-dates)
2. What replaces Custom GPTs: ChatGPT plugins
3. [What doesn't carry over](#what-doesnt-carry-over)
4. [Who this affects most](#who-this-affects-most)
5. [Custom GPT alternatives: where should yours go?](#custom-gpt-alternatives-where-should-yours-go)
6. [A slightly smug aside](#a-slightly-smug-aside)
7. [Moving a shared GPT to Chat Thing](#moving-a-shared-gpt-to-chat-thing)
8. [Custom GPT retirement FAQ](#custom-gpt-retirement-faq)
1. [Will my Custom GPT link still work after 11 December?](#will-my-custom-gpt-link-still-work-after-11-december)
2. [What happens to my GPT's conversations?](#what-happens-to-my-gpts-conversations)
3. [Does Claude or Gemini have Custom GPTs?](#does-claude-or-gemini-have-custom-gpts)
4. [Can I embed a Custom GPT on my website?](#can-i-embed-a-custom-gpt-on-my-website)
5. [Is there a free Custom GPT alternative?](#is-there-a-free-custom-gpt-alternative)
9. [Do it before 11 December](#do-it-before-11-december)
On 11 September, OpenAI announced that Custom GPTs are being retired. They're scheduled to stop working on **11 December 2026**, and their replacement is ChatGPT plugins.
If you built a GPT for yourself, this is mostly a tidy-up job. If you built one for other people, such as customers, clients, students or your team, it's more serious. The link people use to reach your GPT stops working, and the replacement doesn't bring those people with it.
## The dates
| Date | What happens |
| --- | --- |
| 11 September 2026 | OpenAI announces the retirement |
| 26 October 2026 | New Custom GPT creation ends for Enterprise workspaces |
| **11 December 2026** | Custom GPTs retire. GPTs and their pages become inaccessible |
| 11 February 2027 | Retirement for Enterprise workspaces with an approved deferral, and FedRAMP workspaces |
OpenAI says the dates may change and can vary by workspace, so check [OpenAI's retirement FAQ](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001519-custom-gpt-retirement-and-migration-faq) for yours.
## What replaces Custom GPTs: ChatGPT plugins
A plugin bundles **skills** (reusable instructions), **reference files** and **apps** (connected tools, including MCP servers). Plugins work in both ChatGPT and Codex.
OpenAI's migration tool converts a GPT like this:
- Your **instructions** become a skill.
- Your **knowledge files** are copied into the plugin as reference files.
- Your **connected apps** come across as apps in the plugin.
After you migrate, the original GPT goes read-only until it retires. OpenAI plans to redirect its link to the new plugin, but the redirect only works for people who already have access to the plugin.
## What doesn't carry over
According to OpenAI, these don't transfer:
- **Custom actions.** If your GPT called an API, that integration has to be rebuilt, usually as an app or a custom MCP server.
- **The model you chose.** The plugin uses whatever ChatGPT uses.
- **Past conversations.** They stay with the old GPT.
- **Sharing settings and user access.** A migrated plugin starts private, and people who used your GPT don't get access automatically.
OpenAI also warns that a migrated plugin may respond differently, and recommends retesting before you rely on it.
## Who this affects most
US searches for "chatgpt gpts" went from 27,100 in August to 49,500 in September, the month OpenAI announced the retirement. The loudest reaction has come from people who shared their GPTs.
On OpenAI's developer forum, creators point out that GPT links have been published in articles, newsletters, course materials, documentation and on QR codes, and that plugins have nothing like "anyone with the link", so the people following those links lose access. One creator wrote: "The frustrating part is not that private creation is gone... The frustrating part is that the entire distribution layer has been removed." Another asked how small creators should keep serving "customers who have already paid for our GPT-based products".
So for each of your GPTs, start with who uses it.
## Custom GPT alternatives: where should yours go?
**It's only for you.** Migrate it to a plugin, or move it into a ChatGPT project if it's mostly instructions and files. Claude Projects and Gemini Gems are similar options if you want to try another assistant. All of these are good personal tools.
**Your team uses it, and everyone has ChatGPT Business or Enterprise.** Migrate to a plugin and share it within your workspace. Budget time to rebuild custom actions and to retest.
**Customers, clients, students or the public use it.** This is where plugins fall short. Everyone needs ChatGPT, the plugin starts private, and your existing links won't let people in. You need an assistant you can share with a link or put on your own website, where people don't need any account.
## A slightly smug aside
When OpenAI announced Custom GPTs in November 2023, we'd been building Chat Thing for about eight months, and honestly, we thought it might kill us. Anyone paying for ChatGPT could suddenly build their own assistant from some instructions and a few files. That sounded a lot like what we were selling.
It didn't kill us. Three years on, Chat Thing is still here and Custom GPTs are the ones being retired. We're a little smug about that, and we're trying to keep it to this one section.
We didn't out-build OpenAI. We were solving a different problem. A GPT lives inside ChatGPT, for people who use ChatGPT. The businesses using Chat Thing needed an assistant on their own website, WhatsApp or Slack, one that answers people who've never opened ChatGPT and shows them every conversation. Plugins don't fill that gap either.
## Moving a shared GPT to Chat Thing
Chat Thing is built for that last case. A bot has the same parts as a GPT:
| Custom GPT | Chat Thing |
| --- | --- |
| Instructions | Prompt |
| Conversation starters | Example questions |
| Knowledge files | An Upload files data source (plus websites, Notion, Google Drive and more, kept in sync) |
| Actions | Power-ups: call your API, connect an MCP server, book meetings, send email, hand off to a human |
| Model | Your choice of model, including GPT models (Standard and up) |
| Share link | A bot page link, a website widget, an inline embed or your own domain |
The people using it don't need a ChatGPT or Chat Thing account, and you can add a password if it should stay private. Every conversation shows up in your dashboard, which a GPT never gave you.
To move one across:
1. Copy the instructions and conversation starters from your GPT's **Configure** tab, and gather the original knowledge files.
2. Click **New bot** and give Chat Thing's setup assistant the instructions and starters. Drop the knowledge files into the chat and it builds the bot with you.
3. Check the bot's **Prompt** and **Example questions** read the way you want.
4. Rebuild any actions as power-ups.
5. Ask both the same real questions and compare the answers.
6. Share the new link and swap it in wherever the old GPT link lives.
The full walkthrough is in our guide: [Move a Custom GPT to Chat Thing](https://chatthing.ai/docs/get-started/move-from-a-custom-gpt). For a side-by-side comparison, see our [Custom GPT alternative](https://chatthing.ai/pages/alternatives/openai-custom-gpts) page.
You can start on the free plan, which includes one bot. Paid plans start at $14 a month, and the people using your bot never pay.
## Custom GPT retirement FAQ
### Will my Custom GPT link still work after 11 December?
Not for most of the people using it. OpenAI says GPTs and their pages become inaccessible when they retire. If you migrate a GPT, OpenAI plans to redirect its link to the new plugin, but the redirect doesn't grant access. The plugin starts private, and only people you share it with inside ChatGPT can open it. Anywhere you've shared the link publicly, such as emails, documents, course materials or QR codes, will need a new one.
### What happens to my GPT's conversations?
Past conversations don't transfer to the plugin. As a builder, you never could read what people asked your GPT anyway. On Chat Thing, every conversation your bot has shows up in your dashboard, on every plan.
### Does Claude or Gemini have Custom GPTs?
Not by that name. Claude has Projects and Gemini has Gems, and both let you save instructions and files for an assistant you come back to. They're good replacements for a personal GPT, but like ChatGPT plugins they live inside their own apps, so anyone you share them with needs an account there.
### Can I embed a Custom GPT on my website?
No. Custom GPTs only ever ran inside ChatGPT, and plugins do too. To put an assistant on your own site, rebuild it in a tool made for that. In Chat Thing, you add the chat widget or an inline embed with one snippet of code.
### Is there a free Custom GPT alternative?
Chat Thing's free plan includes one bot with one data source, which can hold all of a GPT's knowledge files. You can share it by link or put it on your website, and the people using it don't pay or sign up.
## Do it before 11 December
Whatever you choose, copy your GPT's instructions, starters, file list and action details out now, while you can still open its settings. After retirement, that page is gone.
If you've got a lot of GPTs to move, for yourself or for clients, [get in touch](mailto:support@chatthing.ai) and we'll help.
---
Sources: [OpenAI retirement FAQ](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001519-custom-gpt-retirement-and-migration-faq), [Virtualization Review](https://virtualizationreview.com/articles/2026/09/28/openai-to-retire-custom-gpts-replace-them-with-plugins.aspx), [EdTech Innovation Hub](https://www.edtechinnovationhub.com/news/openai-to-retire-custom-gpts-in-december-as-creators-move-to-plugins), [OpenAI developer forum](https://community.openai.com/t/openai-s-custom-gpt-plugin-migration-raises-access-concerns/1399984). Search data from DataForSEO via OpenSEO (US).
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