Monetizing Within the Rules

Lesson rewritten on November 3, 2026 based on the Commerce and monetization section of OpenAI’s Plugin guidelines. Previous advice suggesting freemium models, subscriptions, or usage-based billing within the app is no longer valid. Current plugin rules prohibit selling digital products or services, including subscriptions, whether directly or through a freemium upsell. Source: Plugin guidelines.

What the Rules Say

The core rule is simple: a plugin can only facilitate commerce for physical goods. Selling digital products or services—such as subscriptions, digital content, tokens, or credits—is not permitted. This ban applies to both direct sales and indirect methods, such as freemium upsells. Three additional rules complete the framework:

• No advertising. A plugin must not display ads or exist primarily as an advertising vehicle. It must provide genuine, standalone utility.
• No degraded versions. If a feature exists on your website or app, the plugin cannot offer an inferior version. You also cannot apply ChatGPT-specific fees or rates that penalize the user. Temporary discounts on other platforms remain allowed.
• No promotions in the listing. The name, subtitle, and description must not highlight prices, subscriptions, free trials, discounts, or promotions.

Subscription Services

The rules do not block existing paid services: a user can log in to a paid account they already own and use the features included in their subscription within the plugin. What is prohibited is displaying plan options, initiating a new subscription, or pushing for an upgrade.

When a feature requires a plan or permissions the user does not have, the plugin may explain this so the user understands why the feature is unavailable.

From a design perspective, this affects your tools. If a user lacks the necessary permissions, the tool called by that user must return a clear error—for example, a result with isError: true explaining that the feature is not included in their plan—rather than a payment link. Permission checks must occur on the server side, based on the authenticated account, just like any other authorization (Lesson 8).

Selling Physical Goods

If your business sells physical goods, the plugin can support the purchase journey, provided you adhere to three principles covered in Lesson 7: external payment on your own domain is required as long as native ChatGPT payment is not available to your plugin; no third-party payment solutions can be embedded in the interface; and the server is the source of truth for prices and orders.

The rules also list specific goods and services that a plugin cannot sell, promote, or facilitate. This list includes:

• Adult content and services;
• Gambling;
• Illegal or regulated drugs and associated paraphernalia;
• Prescription medications and age-restricted products;
• Illicit goods (counterfeits, stolen items, fraud or hacking tools);
• Malware and covert surveillance devices;
• Tobacco and nicotine products;
• Weapons, ammunition, explosives, and hazardous materials;
• Fraudulent or high-risk services, such as fake documents, certain predatory financial services, or the execution of wire transfers, cryptocurrency transfers, or stock orders.

Review the full list before designing any purchase flow. It is more detailed than this summary and subject to change.

What Business Models Remain?

A plugin is not a product you bill for inside ChatGPT. Instead, it is an access point to your service from ChatGPT and Codex. Value lies outside an integrated pricing grid:

• Serve existing customers where they work, using the features included in their subscription;
• Sell physical goods, with payment processed on your domain;
• Make your service useful enough that people want to use it. Discovery happens through the directory and, for the most useful plugins, through enhanced distribution granted by OpenAI (which you cannot request).

OpenAI indicates it is working to expand authorized commercial uses. Before starting any project, reread the Commerce and monetization section of the guidelines. Those rules are authoritative; this course does not replace them.

Key Takeaways

• Commerce is limited to physical goods; digital products and services are forbidden, including subscriptions and freemium upsells
• Subscribers can use their existing paid accounts; the plugin may explain limitations and link to an informational page, but never to a payment page
• No advertising, no degraded versions, and no ChatGPT-specific fees
• External payment on your domain, with no embedded third-party payment solutions
• Verify the list of prohibited goods and services before designing any purchase flow