Updated October 28, 2026. This is a news analysis post. Dates come from OpenAI’s and Google’s own announcements and may change, so check the in-app notices in your accounts for the latest timing.
If you built a custom assistant for a client, a writing style, or a repeat task, you have homework before the holidays. OpenAI is retiring custom GPTs in favor of ChatGPT plugins, and Google is retiring Gemini Gems in favor of Skills. Both changes land within weeks of each other, and both can break workflows that freelancers, marketers, and content creators rely on every day.
Quick Answer: Custom GPTs are scheduled to stop working on December 11, 2026, on all ChatGPT plans, with a later deadline for some Enterprise workspaces. Personal Gemini Gems become read-only on November 17, 2026, and disappear on December 17, 2026. Google Workspace business accounts have until March 2027. Both companies offer a migration tool, but sharing settings, custom actions, and some features don’t carry over, so back up your instructions and files now and test the migrated versions before a client deadline depends on them.
Key Dates at a Glance
| Platform | What Changes | Key Date | Who’s Affected |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gemini (personal accounts) | Gems become read-only (view only, no use or edits) | November 17, 2026 | Personal Google accounts, 18+ |
| Gemini (personal accounts) | Gems removed from Gemini apps | December 17, 2026 | Personal Google accounts, 18+ |
| ChatGPT | Custom GPTs retired | December 11, 2026 | All ChatGPT plans |
| ChatGPT Enterprise | Extended deadline with an approved deferral | February 11, 2027 | Qualifying Enterprise workspaces |
| Gemini (Workspace) | Gems transition to skills | March 2027 | Workspace business, enterprise, and nonprofit accounts |
| Gemini (Workspace for Education) | Gems transition to skills | June 2027 | Education accounts |
Table: Dates checked on October 28, 2026, against Google’s Gemini help center and reporting on OpenAI’s retirement FAQ. Both companies say timing can vary by account.
What’s Happening to Custom GPTs
OpenAI announced in September that it plans to retire custom GPTs across ChatGPT plans and move their workflows to plugins. According to OpenAI’s retirement FAQ, as reported by Virtualization Review and Campus Technology, retirement is currently scheduled for December 11, 2026. Enterprise workspaces stopped creating new custom GPTs on October 26, and qualifying Enterprise customers with an approved deferral can keep using them until February 11, 2027.
A plugin is a broader container than a GPT. It can hold one or more skills, which are instructions and reference files for a repeatable task, an MCP server that connects ChatGPT to outside tools and data, or both. Plugins live in a directory shared by ChatGPT and OpenAI’s Codex agent.
Creators can convert a GPT from the My GPTs screen. Here’s what the reports say does and doesn’t carry over:
- Carries over: Your instructions (they become a skill), your knowledge files (they become plugin reference files), and connected apps.
- Doesn’t carry over: Past conversations with the GPT, the model you selected, sharing settings, and custom Actions. Actions may need to be rebuilt with an available app or a custom MCP server.
- Starts private: A migrated plugin is visible only to you at first. People who used your GPT don’t get access automatically.
OpenAI also warns that “a migrated plugin may respond differently,” and it recommends retesting prompts, output formats, and integrations before you rely on the new version. You can read the details in OpenAI’s custom GPT retirement and migration FAQ.
What’s Happening to Gemini Gems
Google is replacing Gems, its saved custom versions of Gemini, with Skills. Skills reached the Gemini app on October 13 and are available to anyone over 18 with a personal Google account, including free users, according to PCWorld.
Google’s Gemini help page on the transition lays out the timeline for personal accounts: on November 17, 2026, Gems “transition to skills and become read only,” and on December 17, 2026, they are removed. Google says it will convert your Gems into skills automatically, including supported files, but you can convert them yourself sooner.
Skills work differently from Gems. Instead of opening a separate assistant, you call a skill inside any chat by typing a slash and its name, and you can stack several skills in one conversation. Gemini can also apply a skill on its own when it recognizes a matching task. A few limits are worth knowing:
- Missing features (for now): Google says some Gem features don’t work with skills yet, including Create video, Create music, Canvas, Deep Research, and Guided Learning. Sharing and adding files from Google Drive are promised “in the coming weeks.”
- File limits: Skills allow up to 100 MB of files in total. If a Gem has more, the largest files are dropped first during automatic conversion. Audio, video, legacy Office formats (.doc, .xls, .ppt), and archive files aren’t supported.
- Active limit: You can create unlimited skills, but only 100 can be active at once.
- No sync: According to Android Central, skills made in the Gemini app and in Workspace don’t sync, so you’d create them separately in each place.
Why Both Companies Are Making the Same Move
Custom GPTs and Gems were self-contained chatbots. You had to leave your current chat, open the right assistant, and work inside it. Skills flip that model. A skill is a reusable set of instructions and files that you can pull into whatever conversation you’re already having, and combine with other skills.
The bigger shift is portability. Google says its skills use an open, Markdown-based SKILL.md format, and you can already import SKILL.md files from other platforms in the Gemini web and Mac apps. The same skills format is used by a growing list of AI tools, including Anthropic’s Claude and OpenAI’s Codex. In practice, that means a well-written skill for your client’s brand voice or your proposal template should be far easier to move between assistants than a GPT or Gem ever was.
For freelancers who juggle several assistants, that’s good news in the long run. In the short run, it’s a migration job with real deadlines.
What Freelancers Should Do This Week
- List every GPT and Gem you rely on. Include ones you built for clients, ones clients built for you, and public GPTs from other creators that you use often. Public GPTs you don’t own depend on their creators to migrate them.
- Back up the instructions and files. Copy each set of instructions into a document and download every knowledge file. Google recommends downloading Gem files before December 17 on personal accounts. For ChatGPT, keep a copy before you migrate in case something doesn’t convert cleanly.
- Save the conversations you need. Past chats with a GPT don’t move into the plugin. If a chat holds an approved draft or a client decision, copy it out.
- Migrate your most important assistant first, then test it. Run the same three or four prompts you use every week and compare the output with the old version. Check formatting, tone, and anything that relied on files or Actions.
- Re-share with clients and teammates. Migrated ChatGPT plugins start private, so send access again to anyone who used your GPT.
- Clean up while you’re at it. Merge overlapping assistants into a smaller set of focused skills, such as one for each client’s voice, one for proposals, and one for editing. Skills can be stacked, so you no longer need one giant assistant per client.
If your brand voice setup lived inside a GPT or Gem, this is a good moment to rebuild it properly. Our step-by-step guide on how to train AI on your brand voice works just as well for writing a skill.
What This Means for Client Work
If you sold a custom GPT or Gem as a deliverable, tell your client now. Explain the deadline, offer to migrate and test it, and decide together whether that’s included or billable. A short heads-up email protects the relationship far better than a broken assistant in December.
If your client’s team uses Google Workspace, their Gems have until March 2027, but your personal Gems don’t. Check which account each Gem lives in before you assume you have extra time.
If you depend on Actions, such as a GPT that posts to a CRM or pulls data from a spreadsheet, budget extra time. Those connections need to be rebuilt as an app connection or MCP server, which may mean help from a developer.
If you’ve been thinking about switching assistants, this is a natural time to do it, because you have to rebuild your setup anyway. Compare your options in our guides to ChatGPT alternatives and Claude alternatives, or read ChatGPT vs Claude for marketing copy if writing is your main use.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Mistake 1: Waiting for the automatic conversion. Google will convert Gems automatically, but large files can be dropped and some features aren’t supported yet. Convert your important Gems yourself so you can check the result.
Mistake 2: Assuming a migrated assistant works the same. Both companies say results may differ. Test before you use a migrated plugin or skill on paid client work.
Mistake 3: Forgetting the people who use your assistant. Sharing doesn’t carry over in ChatGPT. Make a list of everyone who needs access and re-share after you migrate.
Mistake 4: Rebuilding your whole workflow at once. Start with the one or two assistants that touch billable work. The rest can follow once the deadlines are covered. For a broader look at streamlining, see how to automate your content workflow with AI.
Frequently Asked Questions
When do custom GPTs stop working?
OpenAI has scheduled custom GPT retirement for December 11, 2026, on all ChatGPT plans. Some Enterprise workspaces with an approved deferral can keep using them until February 11, 2027. OpenAI says dates may change, so check the notice in your ChatGPT account.
What replaces custom GPTs?
Plugins. A plugin can bundle one or more skills (instructions and reference files) with app connections or an MCP server. You can convert a GPT into a plugin from the My GPTs screen.
When do Gemini Gems go away?
On personal Google accounts, Gems become read-only on November 17, 2026, and are removed on December 17, 2026. Workspace business, enterprise, and nonprofit accounts move in March 2027, and education accounts in June 2027.
Will I lose my Gems?
Google says it will convert Gems into skills automatically when Gems are removed, including supported files. Files over the 100 MB total limit, and unsupported formats such as audio, video, and archives, may not make it, so download anything you need first.
Are Gemini Skills free?
Yes. Google made Skills available to anyone over 18 with a personal Google account, including free users. Work and school accounts are expected to follow.
Can I use the same skill in ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude?
Often, yes, with some editing. All three support skills built on the SKILL.md format, and Gemini can import SKILL.md files in its web and Mac apps. Features that depend on one platform’s tools or connections won’t transfer automatically.
Sources
- Google Gemini Help: Gems to skills transition
- OpenAI Help: Custom GPT retirement and migration FAQ
- Virtualization Review: OpenAI to retire custom GPTs, replace them with plugins
- Campus Technology: OpenAI discontinuing custom GPTs and moving to plugin architecture
- PCWorld: Google’s new Gemini Skills won’t be paywalled
- Android Central: Google outlines timeline to phase out Gemini Gems
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