OpenAI announced the GPT Store on January 10, 2024, as a place for people to find custom versions of ChatGPT. The launch also included a proposed way for some builders to earn money: OpenAI said it planned an engagement-based payment program for US builders, but did not publish its payment criteria then. That was a future plan, not proof of broad creator earnings or a direct-payment marketplace.
What is the GPT Store?
The GPT Store is a discovery area for custom versions of ChatGPT, known as GPTs. OpenAI said it was beginning to roll it out to ChatGPT Plus, Team, and Enterprise users. The company described the Store as a way to find useful and popular GPTs made by OpenAI and community builders, with categories and a leaderboard to help people browse. OpenAI’s January 10, 2024 launch announcement listed categories including DALL·E, writing, research, programming, education, and lifestyle, and said it would highlight featured GPTs each week.
OpenAI named several featured examples: AllTrails for trail recommendations, Consensus for searching and synthesizing academic papers, Khan Academy for coding tutoring, Canva for presentations or social posts, Books for reading suggestions, and CK-12 for math and science tutoring. These examples illustrated the intended range of uses; being featured does not by itself establish any broader endorsement or commercial relationship.
Why did OpenAI launch it?
OpenAI presented the Store as a way to make custom GPTs easier to discover and build on ChatGPT’s existing audience. The company said users had created over 3 million custom versions of ChatGPT by the time of the announcement. That is OpenAI’s own reported creation count, not an independently audited figure, and it does not measure how many GPTs were used, how often they were used, or how much money they generated.
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Reuters characterized the move as an effort to build on ChatGPT’s consumer success. The launch supports describing user discovery and creator participation as parts of OpenAI’s strategy; the cited materials do not establish that the Store itself caused user growth, increased retention, or produced a particular amount of revenue. Reuters’ contemporaneous coverage also noted that ChatGPT Team launched alongside the Store. Its reported $25–$30 per user per month price was historical launch-era pricing, not current pricing.
How were GPT builders expected to make money?
OpenAI’s January 2024 announcement said: “In Q1 we will launch a GPT builder revenue program. As a first step, US builders will be paid based on user engagement with their GPTs.” The company said it would share payment criteria later. The announcement described an intended program for US builders, not an open, general revenue share with published rates or a settled formula.
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At launch, creators could not charge users directly for access to GPTs, according to TechCrunch’s contemporaneous report. In June 2024, a community discussion reproduced an OpenAI FAQ describing a limited pilot for selected US builders with popular and engaging GPTs, with no additional builders then being accepted. That discussion is historical evidence of a restricted pilot, not a current official statement of availability.
The current availability of builder payouts and any payment formula are not established by the available official information cited here. Accordingly, the launch announcement should not be treated as evidence that GPT creators generally can earn money now, or as a guarantee of income.
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Who can publish a GPT to the Store now?
OpenAI’s Help Center guidance, marked updated six days before October 4, 2026, differs from the launch-era publishing instructions. It says personal ChatGPT accounts cannot create or publish new GPTs. Existing GPTs remain usable and may be edited, subject to plan and permission requirements. In Business, Enterprise, and Edu workspaces, a user’s ability to create or publish depends on workspace settings and role permissions.
Public Store publication can also be restricted. OpenAI lists possible blockers including workspace settings, unsupported app connections, missing privacy-policy URLs for actions, policy checks, and other limitations. Its current guidance is available in “Sharing and publishing GPTs.”
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What is the announced retirement plan?
The same OpenAI Help Center page says custom GPTs in affected Enterprise workspaces are planned for retirement on December 11, 2026; existing GPTs are expected to remain usable there until then. OpenAI says other plans are expected to follow the same timeline and directs users to account or workspace notices. This is a stated future plan, not a completed shutdown, and the timing and scope should be checked against the relevant account or workspace notice.
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What the launch does—and does not—show
- It established a discovery product: OpenAI launched a Store for finding and browsing custom GPTs, initially rolling it out to paid ChatGPT plans.
- It announced an earnings idea: OpenAI proposed engagement-based payments for US builders, while direct charges were unavailable at launch.
- It did not establish financial results: The company’s 3-million figure counted GPTs created, not users, sales, or creator earnings, and the cited materials do not quantify revenue attributable to the Store.
- Its present-day context has changed: Current OpenAI guidance limits new creation and publication for personal accounts and describes a future retirement timeline for affected Enterprise workspaces.
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