Chrome
Web
iOS
Android
What Happened to ChatGPT Plugins? The Full Story, and What Replaced Them
ChatGPT plugins were shut down in April 2024, replaced by GPTs, then apps, and in July 2026 the word came back as the Plugin Directory. The full timeline, and what to use now for everything plugins used to do.
- The original ChatGPT plugins were shut down in spring 2024: no new plugin conversations after March 19, and full shutdown on April 9, 2024. GPTs replaced them first, then apps and connectors replaced GPTs as the integration layer.
- In July 2026 OpenAI brought the word back: the App Directory became the Plugin Directory, holding skills, apps, and app templates. So 'plugins' is current vocabulary again, naming a different and more capable system.
- Everything the 2023 plugins did has a stronger 2026 equivalent: connectors for your data, apps for actions, custom connectors (MCP servers) for tools outside the directory, and Zapier for the long tail.
- The biggest upgrade since the plugin era is the open standard underneath: MCP means one integration works across ChatGPT and Claude alike, instead of every vendor building per-platform plugins.
Table of contents
The short version: ChatGPT plugins were shut down in spring 2024 (no new plugin conversations after March 19, 2024, everything off on April 9, 2024), replaced first by GPTs, then by apps and connectors, and in July 2026 OpenAI revived the word by renaming the App Directory to the Plugin Directory. So if you searched for a plugin you used in 2023: it is gone in that form, but whatever it did almost certainly exists today in better shape, and this page maps each old use to its current replacement.
We build integrations for a living, our MCP server connects a shared Gmail inbox to both ChatGPT and Claude, so we watched this timeline as the people re-reading the platform docs at every rename. Here is the whole arc, dated, and then the practical part: what to use now.
The timeline: plugins to GPTs to apps to plugins again
- March 2023. ChatGPT plugins launch in beta: the first way third-party tools could act inside ChatGPT, with a plugin store and a waitlist.
- November 2023 to January 2024. GPTs arrive, custom versions of ChatGPT with instructions and API actions, and the GPT Store opens in January 2024 with hundreds of thousands of them.
- March 19, 2024. Plugins begin shutting down: no new conversations with plugins from this date.
- April 9, 2024. Plugins end entirely; existing plugin conversations stop working. GPTs are the official replacement.
- 2025. OpenAI adopts MCP (Model Context Protocol), the open integration standard, and launches connectors for work data (Gmail, Google Drive, Microsoft 365) plus apps built on the Apps SDK, with launch partners like Canva. The App Directory becomes the discovery layer.
- July 9, 2026. The App Directory is retired and replaced by the Plugin Directory, which organizes skills, apps, and app templates. The word plugins returns, naming the modern system.
Three renames, one direction: from a closed plugin catalog toward an open, permissioned integration layer on a standard shared with other assistants.
What to use now, for everything plugins used to do
| What you used a 2023 plugin for | What does it in 2026 |
|---|---|
| Browsing and live information | Built into ChatGPT, no integration needed |
| Reading your documents and files | Connectors: Google Drive, Microsoft 365 |
| Searching your email | The Gmail connector (search and read) |
| Working a shared team inbox | A custom connector with write tools, like Drag's MCP server |
| PDFs, data analysis, file handling | Built in |
| Task and project tools | Connectors: Asana, Atlassian, and others |
| CRM lookups | Connectors: HubSpot, Salesforce |
| Actions in everything else | Zapier's integration, or a vendor's MCP server in developer mode |
The full work-focused roundup, with what each integration can and cannot do, is our best ChatGPT plugins and connectors guide.
What actually improved since the plugin era
Three things make the 2026 system stronger than what nostalgia remembers:
- Permissions exist now. The 2023 plugins ran with broad access once installed. Today ChatGPT asks before acting, with per-level settings (always ask, ask on changes, ask on important actions, never ask), and workspace admins control what is available at all.
- The standard is open. Plugins were ChatGPT-only, so vendors built and maintained them for one platform. Modern integrations run on MCP: our own server is a working example, one build that serves ChatGPT and Claude alike, 47 tools for a shared Gmail inbox either way.
- Write tools are real. Plugins mostly fetched things. Today's custom connectors can act: draft the reply, send it with permission, create the task, log the call. The read/write line is where the productivity actually lives, and it is why "can it send email" is answered by which connector you attach, not by ChatGPT itself.
AI Platform
The inbox your team and your AI work in together
Shared inbox, live chat, and AI in Gmail, with an MCP server your AI tools can drive.
What did not survive the end of plugins
Honesty requires the other column. The 2023 plugin era let you stack three plugins in one conversation and watch them chain autonomously, and some of that fluidity was lost in the GPTs transition, where each GPT was its own silo. The 2026 system restores most of it, several connectors can work in one chat, but discovery is still directory-shaped, and a handful of niche 2023 plugins simply have no successor because their makers moved on. If a specific old plugin is what brought you here, the mapping table above is the honest answer: look for the category, not the brand.
Frequently asked questions
When were ChatGPT plugins discontinued?
New conversations with plugins ended on March 19, 2024, and existing plugin conversations stopped working on April 9, 2024. GPTs were the announced replacement, and the GPT Store had opened that January. The modern replacement for what plugins actually did is the connector and app system in today's Plugin Directory.
Are ChatGPT plugins coming back?
The word came back; the old system is not returning. Since July 9, 2026 the Plugin Directory is ChatGPT's umbrella for skills, apps, and app templates, all built on the modern apps-and-MCP architecture. Anything the 2023 plugins did is done today by connectors, apps, or custom connectors, with permission controls the old system never had.
What replaced ChatGPT plugins?
In order: GPTs (2024), then apps and connectors (2025), now organized under the Plugin Directory (July 2026). For work data the answer is connectors like Gmail, Google Drive, and Microsoft 365; for actions it is apps and custom connectors built on MCP; for the long tail it is Zapier's integration reaching thousands of apps.
Can ChatGPT still connect to outside tools?
Yes, more capably than in the plugin era. Directory integrations attach with a sign-in, and developer mode (on Pro, Plus, Business, Enterprise, and Edu plans as of August 2026) accepts any MCP server by URL, which is how tools without a directory listing connect. Our shared inbox is one working example of the latter.
Do old plugins work as GPTs or apps?
Not automatically; the platforms are different, so vendors had to rebuild. Many did, first as GPTs, then properly as apps or MCP-based connectors. If a tool you relied on never made the jump, search the Plugin Directory for its category rather than its name; the replacement is usually stronger than the original.
Where this fits
The current-day answer to "which of these should I actually install" is the best ChatGPT plugins and connectors list, the vocabulary the platforms now use is untangled in MCP server vs connector vs plugin vs skill, and the setup walkthrough for the email lane is connecting Gmail to ChatGPT. The standard the modern system runs on is documented in our MCP docs.
Co-founder
Building Drag for nearly ten years: shared inboxes, boards, and now the AI and agent layer, all on Gmail, plus HeyHelp for the personal inbox. Writes the honest versions of the comparisons.
