Summary
- You need ChatGPT’s Plus subscription to create custom GPTs.
- Surprisingly, it seems that you can still use those custom GPTs even without an active subscription, even though the docs say otherwise.
- The only thing you can’t do without a Plus subscription is edit an existing custom GPT or make a new one, but using one you already made works fine.
I love ChatGPT’s ability to build custom GPTs, though I do hate that it’s locked behind a paywall. Or is it? I recently found out that you only need ChatGPT Plus to create a custom GPT, not use one.
ChatGPT Plus Is Required to Make a Custom GPT
If you’ve been wanting to make a custom GPT in ChatGPT, you’ll need ChatGPT Plus. Sadly, there’s no workaround here outside of knowing someone with ChatGPT Plus who can make the custom GPT for you, then having them publish it to the repository.
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Making custom GPTs is actually pretty straightforward, though. I’ve made one of my own, but have ideas for more I’d like to create in the future when I have ChatGPT Plus again. I did have ChatGPT Plus for a while, and used it to create one GPT that I use daily now. However, I didn’t really use it all that often right after creating it, so I decided to cancel my Plus subscription.
Before canceling my ChatGPT Plus subscription, I did some research to find out what would happen to the custom GPT I made if I canceled my subscription. According to the official support docs, custom GPTs are essentially archived and not usable until you re-subscribe. They’re deleted if you delete your account.
I was okay with this outcome as I wasn’t using the custom GPT much, so I went ahead with canceling it. Then, a few months later, I thought it would be nice to use that custom GPT, but I didn’t want to pay for Plus again. Even though I knew what the docs said, I decided to try it anyway, and I quickly realized that I could still use the custom GPT even without a Plus subscription.
You Don’t Need ChatGPT Plus to Keep Using Your Custom GPTs
Finding out that I could still use my custom GPT without a subscription was a thrilling revelation for me. Right now, my wife and I are trying to cut back on subscriptions that aren’t necessary to save some cash, as many others are right now too.
So, this was an amazing discovery. The custom GPT works exactly as you’d expect it to, without skipping a beat. It’s still rate limited like other GPTs out there, so that is something to keep in mind.
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When I first realized that I could use the custom GPT without a subscription, I set out to make sure I didn’t somehow accidentally publish the GPT to the marketplace, and that’s why I was able to use it. As I thought, I didn’t publish it. I even created a new ChatGPT account and searched for it in the marketplace, and it wasn’t there.
This could, in theory, be a bug or glitch in ChatGPT that allows it to work. I mean, their own docs say it shouldn’t work. I have, however, been using my custom GPT for a few weeks now without a subscription, and it’s worked flawlessly.
While you don’t need a Plus subscription to use your custom GPT, you do need one to edit it. My custom GPT is locked in its current state unless I get a Plus subscription again. For me, this is absolutely fine. I had the custom chatbot already tweaked how I wanted, and I desire to make no changes to it right now. That’s just something to keep in mind for the future, though, should you cancel your Plus subscription.
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I sure do hope this isn’t a flaw in the code, and it’s something that sticks around. I am considering getting a Plus subscription again soon in order to get around the rate limits if I continue to use ChatGPT at the rate I’ve been using it to help me code, ideate for my business, help with board game instructions, and many other tasks. I just don’t want to re-subscribe, then lose access in the future if I cancel again.
Either way, I’ll enjoy the free access to my custom GPT while it lasts.
Not sure if you should make your own custom GPT or not? Here are nine reasons to make your own custom GPTs, including some ideas for chatbots you could make!
