ChatGPT plugins were an early system for connecting ChatGPT to outside services through a Plugin Store. OpenAI retired that exact system, so current ChatGPT does not show the old plugin menus. Similar abilities now live in built-in tools, GPTs, connectors, and actions.
Does this affect you?
Use this if an older tutorial tells you to enable a ChatGPT plugin or open the Plugin Store and you cannot find it in the current app. You are probably looking at instructions for a retired feature.
What plugins used to do
This explains the old terminology.
- Plugins were third-party add-ons enabled from a Plugin Store.
- Each plugin connected ChatGPT to a specific outside service or task, such as checking data, browsing a site, booking, or running a tool.
- They were available only to paid users during the plugin era and often required manually selecting the right plugin before asking.
- OpenAI phased them out in favor of built-in tools and GPTs.
- Old references to enabling a plugin or browsing the Plugin Store usually describe that retired system.
Where that functionality lives now
Use these current features instead of hunting for the old store.
- Web browsing and current information: ChatGPT can search the web directly in supported modes when a question needs fresh information.
- Code and file analysis: ChatGPT can run code or analyze uploaded files through built-in data analysis tools, often formerly described as Code Interpreter or Advanced Data Analysis.
- Custom assistants: GPTs are specialized versions of ChatGPT with instructions, knowledge, and tools for a task. Find them through Explore GPTs.
- Outside tools and services: Some GPTs use connectors or actions to work with external apps, APIs, and data sources.
- Old plugin replacements: Search Explore GPTs for the tool or task an older plugin used to provide. Some popular plugin ideas were rebuilt as GPTs.
More control
Why the old system disappeared
The Plugin Store required users to know which plugin existed and enable the right one at the right time. Built-in tools and GPTs reduce that setup and let ChatGPT route some capabilities more naturally.
GPTs are not plugins with a new label
A GPT is more like a specialized assistant. It can combine instructions, knowledge, and tool access. Instead of enabling one plugin for a single question, you open or create a GPT for a particular workflow.
Feature names keep evolving
ChatGPT has changed its tool system several times. For current menus and naming, OpenAI’s Help Center and release notes are more reliable than older blog posts.
Other assistants use different terms
Gemini, Copilot, Claude, and other AI assistants have their own integration systems. ChatGPT plugin history does not necessarily apply to them.
Sources
- OpenAI Help Center – Introducing GPTs (2025)
- OpenAI – ChatGPT Help Center: Custom GPTs FAQ (2026)
- OpenAI – ChatGPT release notes (2026)