How to Use ChatGPT Plugins: Step-by-Step Guide

Still treating ChatGPT as just a 24/7 chatbot? You’re leaving money on the table!

Here is why your current approach is costing you:

• The context-switching tax: You copy data from an external tool into ChatGPT to ask a question, then jump back to the tool to apply the answer. Every time you switch tabs, you lose focus, momentum, and cognitive energy
• Disconnected workflows: ChatGPT operates in a vacuum. It doesn’t know about the spreadsheet you updated 10 minutes ago or your client’s brand guidelines. Since it’s not synced with your files, specialized tools, or chats, the output is generic
• You have AI but no automation: Sure, you can prompt GPT to quickly whip up reports or designs. But can it automatically generate that report without your nudges?

ChatGPT plugins elevate the platform from a simple chat interface to a powerful command center. Scroll down to learn the latest buzz around ChatGPT plugins and how you can use them.

Bonus: We’ll also show you how to use the ClickUp Desktop App to replace this chaotic web of ChatGPT plugins. 🤩

Summarize this article with AI ClickUp Brain not only saves you precious time by instantly summarizing articles, it also leverages AI to connect your tasks, docs, people, and more, streamlining your workflow like never before. Summarize article

Summarize this article for me please

Want to save even more time? Try ClickUp Brain free

What Are ChatGPT Plugins and Why Use Them

ChatGPT plugins are add-ons that enable users to connect their AI chats with external services.

On its own, ChatGPT can think, explain, and suggest. 

But with the right integrations, it can access and act on live data from external systems—think PDF documents, databases, project tools, or the live web.

🚨 Important Note: While the original ChatGPT “plugins” feature was retired in April 2024, you can still bring work directly inside your chats in two ways:

• Custom GPTs: Consider them as mini versions of ChatGPT designed to perform a specific task. For example, a customer support GPT that answers queries only from your internal documentation
• ChatGPT Apps: The official replacement for ChatGPT plugins. These are third-party app integrations that you can enable inside your ChatGPT interface to extend its functionality. For example, generate images and videos using the Canva app without leaving ChatGPT

Common use cases

Both custom GPTs and official third-party apps significantly enhance ChatGPT’s capabilities. Here are some common areas where you can use them:

1. Research and information gathering

Need to back a proposal with verified data?

Choose a custom GPT for research (e.g., ScholarGPT). It connects directly to a massive library of over 200 million resources, providing accurate statistics, report summaries, and facts—all with formal citations.

Or, if you want to analyze massive Google Sheets within seconds, go for the Data Analyst GPT. Just share your file, tell the AI what you’re looking for, and it will generate report summaries and presentation-ready charts instantly.

2. Coding assistance

Traditional ChatGPT can only take a developer so far. You often waste time re-explaining your tech stack or coding style at the start of each chat session.

Instead, use custom GPTs like Code Copilot and PythonGPT. They already understand modern development standards, deprecated libraries to avoid, and best practices.

Simply drop in your code, and they’ll help you refactor, generate unit tests, and automate your documentation.

✅ Fact Check: Approximately 63% of software developers use ChatGPT specifically for work-related tasks (the third-highest among all surveyed professions).

3. Workflow automation

If you use ChatGPT heavily for work, you know how much of a hassle it is to switch back and forth between your workspace (emails, calendars, chats, PM tools).

By connecting ChatGPT with your favorite apps, you can access and manage work directly from this interface. You can draft email replies, find open meeting slots in real-time, and update task statuses in your PM tools through the chat.

🎥 Check out this video to see how tab switching between ChatGPT and work tools is killing your team’s productivity.👇🏼

4. Content management

Using OpenAI plugins, you can pull content briefs stored in your Google Drive into ChatGPT. Then, instruct the AI to analyze those files and generate drafts, social copy, or images that align with your requirements.

Similarly, you can use official third-party content creation apps like Canva to go from a rough brief to a finished design without ever switching tabs.

Benefits of installing ChatGPT plugins

AI technologies are only as powerful as your ability to leverage them.

For ChatGPT users, this means installing the right plugins to combine chat assistance with AI-powered action.

This offers multiple benefits:

• No more tab-switching: Plugins remove the friction of hunting for data across dozens of web browser tabs. Whether you’re pulling quotes from a CSV file, comparing prices on a competitor’s website, or creating a graphic—you can do it all from the chat interface
• Direct execution for higher productivity: Traditional ChatGPT can only suggest. Plugins, on the other hand, let you draft emails, update rows in your project trackers, and add calendar events without leaving the conversation
• Fewer AI hallucinations: When you give large language models like ChatGPT access to your internal tools and live data, its outputs become more accurate, contextual, and meaningful. This eliminates AI hallucinations and the need for constant prompt engineering
• On-demand specialized expertise: Custom GPTs come pre-configured with specific instructions and tools needed for niche tasks. You get better results faster because you don’t need to teach AI the basics of your task every time you start a new chat
• Cohesive, intelligent workspace: ChatGPT evolves into a true smart assistant that manages your files, updates your calendar, moves tasks through your PM tools, and even pushes content live for publishing

Summarize this article with AI ClickUp Brain not only saves you precious time by instantly summarizing articles, it also leverages AI to connect your tasks, docs, people, and more, streamlining your workflow like never before. Summarize article

Summarize this article for me please

Want to save even more time? Try ClickUp Brain free

How to Set Up ChatGPT Plugins Step-by-Step

Although ChatGPT plugins are sunset, you can still benefit from a similar functionality by using custom GPTs and official third-party apps inside ChatGPT.

Here is how to get started with both:

1. Using custom GPTs

A custom GPT is a specialized version of ChatGPT designed for a specific task or use case. These are created by individual users, teams, or companies without using code.

While only paid users can create a custom GPT, anyone can use a publicly available one.

To access and use a custom GPT:

• Log In: Sign in to your ChatGPT account
• Explore the Ecosystem: In the sidebar, look for the “GPTs” section and click on “Explore GPTs“

Here, you can: 

• Search: Type a specific task into the search bar. For example, typing “Humanize content” will pull up a list of GPTs trained specifically to refine and polish AI text
• Or, browse: Scroll through the list of custom GPTs available for use in each category—Writing, Productivity, Research & Analysis, Education, Lifestyle, DALL-E, and Programming
• Evaluate: Click on a GPT to see its description, developer, capabilities, and user ratings. This helps you ensure you choose plugins wisely

• Launch: You can either select a “Conversation Starter” to use a pre-written prompt or click “Start Chat” to enter your own custom prompt

2. Using official third-party apps

The right way to use ChatGPT plugins? Via Apps in ChatGPT. 

These have replaced the legacy plugin system, offering a more stable and powerful experience.

To enable plugins or apps inside ChatGPT (as we call them today), follow the steps below:

• Access the ChatGPT App Store: Log in to your account and click the “Apps” button in the sidebar. This is the official marketplace for all ChatGPT integrations

• Connect your tools: Browse the collections or search for a specific tool. Once you find the app you need, click “Connect” to begin the integration. Review the permissions and click “Allow” to authorize the sync

• Launch the integration: Your app will be ready in seconds. Click “Start Chat” to jump right in
• Use Mentions for faster access: Invoke any connected app in an active conversation by typing “@” followed by the app name. For example: “@Canva, create a social media post for our Black Friday Sale”
• Bonus: You can also click the “+” icon next to the prompt bar to quickly select an app from your connected list without leaving your current ChatGPT interaction

Here’s a quick look at the differences between custom GPTs and official third-party apps in ChatGPT: ⬇️

Summarize this article with AI ClickUp Brain not only saves you precious time by instantly summarizing articles, it also leverages AI to connect your tasks, docs, people, and more, streamlining your workflow like never before. Summarize article

Summarize this article for me please

Want to save even more time? Try ClickUp Brain free

Top ChatGPT Plugins to Try

If you already have a specific tool in mind to plug into ChatGPT (like an AI task manager), awesome.

But if you’re new to all this and have no clue where to start, don’t sweat it.

We’ve picked out five popular plugins in ChatGPT that will make your daily grind a lot faster and less stressful

1. Figma

Most creators use ChatGPT to draft rough ideas or develop creative concepts. The conversational AI interface makes it easy to suggest corrections or enhancements.

But when you integrate the Figma App, ChatGPT leverages Figma’s design engine to bring your ideas to life. It generates images, diagrams, presentation slides, sitemaps, social media posts, illustrations, etc., within seconds.

Once done, you can move the file over to Figma for final pixel-perfect edits.

2. Agentforce Sales

Manually digging through CRMs is time-consuming. Especially when your sales rep is on a call and needs data in seconds.

The ChatGPT + Salesforce integration solves this. Your team can “chat” with the CRM to pull lists of uncontacted leads or summarize a specific account’s history before a high-stakes meeting.

It’s also perfect for closing loops: you can simply type, “Update this opportunity to Closed-Won,” directly in the chat.

3. Voice to Text 

The custom GPT Voice-to-Text is configured to receive audio input (voice recordings or live speech), convert it into text, and then process, summarize, analyze, or act on that text within the same chat experience.

The best part is that it turns speech into usable text with context-aware outputs.

In other words, after a 15-minute meeting call, the voice-to-text GPT turns the same recording into a short meeting summary and gives a list of decisions made. You can even prompt it to generate action items with task owners and draft a follow-up email. 

4. HubSpot

Still clicking through HubSpot’s tabs to find a lead’s status? That’s the old way of working.

Instead, just ask ChatGPT to pull up recent client interactions, summarize support tickets, or identify which marketing campaigns drive the most revenue.

You can also update deal stages inside HubSpot, generate reports based on real-time data analysis, or draft personalized emails directly using the ChatGPT interface.

5. Replit

For web and app developers, ChatGPT is a great brainstorming partner. But the Replit integration turns it into a co-developer.

With the Replit x ChatGPT integration, you can now create entire websites, software, and apps inside ChatGPT. It’s an excellent solution for rapid prototyping.

Describe your idea (e.g., “Build a dashboard to track my team’s weekly goals”) and the Replit Agent kicks in to scaffold the project, write the code, and set up the live dashboard for you.

You can test, refine, and deploy your app directly through the plugin.

Summarize this article with AI ClickUp Brain not only saves you precious time by instantly summarizing articles, it also leverages AI to connect your tasks, docs, people, and more, streamlining your workflow like never before. Summarize article

Summarize this article for me please

Want to save even more time? Try ClickUp Brain free

How to Use ChatGPT Plugins Effectively

Here are some simple, practical tips to use custom GPTs and ChatGPT apps effectively: 

• Vet thoroughly before choosing custom GPTs: Before using a public GPT, take a moment to check who developed it, what it’s designed to do, and the inputs it expects. Many GPTs fail not because they’re bad, but because they’re used for the wrong job
• Choose GPTs built for a single job: Avoid all-in-one GPTs that claim to do everything. A GPT dedicated strictly to Python debugging or SEO keyword analysis will always outperform a generalist
• Switch GPT instead of over-prompting: If you find yourself rewriting the same prompt repeatedly, try another GPT. Public GPTs are pre-configured. Fighting their behavior will only slow you down
• Turn on memory and chat referencing: When connecting an external tool to ChatGPT, make sure to allow it to reference saved memories and chats. This way, ChatGPT recalls earlier inputs (files, constraints, decisions) without asking you to repeat them
• Combine capabilities: Use one plugin to gather or analyze information, then another to structure or write. This handoff is faster than forcing one single plugin to stretch beyond its strengths
• Try the prompt-perfect GPT: Have a great idea, but not a good prompt? Ask the Prompt Perfect GPT to first refine it so that the AI easily understands what you need 
• Try conversation starters: They show the ideal way the creator intended for you to use the custom GPT. If you don’t have a prompt in mind, just click on them to initiate the chat and get a high-quality output  
• Clean up your sidebar: Remove GPTs and apps you don’t use, and keep only the ones that consistently deliver value. A smaller, intentional set of tools increases clarity

Summarize this article with AI ClickUp Brain not only saves you precious time by instantly summarizing articles, it also leverages AI to connect your tasks, docs, people, and more, streamlining your workflow like never before. Summarize article

Summarize this article for me please

Want to save even more time? Try ClickUp Brain free

Limitations of ChatGPT Plugins

The OG ChatGPT plugins were only available for Plus subscribers. Thankfully, anyone can use custom GPTs and third-party apps. (Yayy.)

But these aren’t perfect either. The limitations include 👇

1. Aggravated tool sprawl for teams and complex tasks

ChatGPT plugins consolidate work to some extent, but they don’t reduce tool sprawl, or the number of tools you manage.

You still pay for and maintain your original accounts. In fact, the higher the number of GPTs pinned to your sidebar, the more time you spend trying to manage stitching everything together (aka work sprawl).

But the biggest hurdle is that ChatGPT can run only one major app action at a time.

Also, most of these apps only give you a lite version of the real software. 

So, you can check a lead’s status in HubSpot through ChatGPT. But if you need to build a complex workflow automation, you’ll have to leave ChatGPT and log in to the full HubSpot site.

2. Data integrity and privacy concerns

When you connect an app like HubSpot or Canva, you grant ChatGPT access to that app’s data. While OpenAI has security measures in place, it might not provide the granular security controls that data security regulations across industries require.

And since custom GPTs are trained on diverse datasets, there’s always a possibility that your internal company info might be used as training data.

3. Quality varies widely across custom GPTs

Public custom GPTs are created by different people with varying levels of expertise. Two GPTs with similar descriptions can produce wildly different results. There’s no guarantee of depth, accuracy, or rigor unless you test them yourself.

4. Each custom GPT is a separate silo

Custom GPTs do not share knowledge with one another. If you spend an hour teaching a “Marketing Strategist GPT” about your brand, that context is lost when you switch to a “Logo Creator GPT.” 

Because these agents are isolated, you’ll often find yourself repeating context or re-uploading the same files.

5. The app store might not have your tool yet

The ChatGPT App Store is still in its early stages (it’s a beta feature). While major players like Salesforce are present, you’ll find that smaller tools and specialized software haven’t launched official apps yet.

6. Usage caps still apply

Even on a paid Plus or Team plan, access to the most advanced models is not unlimited. If you use a resource-heavy custom GPT for several hours, you hit a message cap.

Once that happens, the AI downgrades to a mini model that’s not smart enough to run complex tools or follow the instructions your specialized GPT requires.

Summarize this article with AI ClickUp Brain not only saves you precious time by instantly summarizing articles, it also leverages AI to connect your tasks, docs, people, and more, streamlining your workflow like never before. Summarize article

Summarize this article for me please

Want to save even more time? Try ClickUp Brain free

ClickUp as an Alternative to Multiple AI Plugins

If you use five different apps for your work every day, adding their respective ChatGPT plugins doesn’t fix the chaos. 

Why? Because no two ChatGPT plugins sync with each other.

Your work is still broken. Your automation is limited. And you’re still manually moving information between tools. How do you solve it all without losing simplicity and functionality?

Enter ClickUp—the world’s first Converged AI workspace. 

It combines AI knowledge management, communication, task execution, and project management into a single place. Let’s see how ClickUp’s built-in contextual AI replaces popular ChatGPT plugins and unifies work ⭐

Integrated AI tools–ClickUp Brain, Brain MAX, AI Cards, AI Notetaker

ClickUp Brain, the platform’s native AI, forms the core intelligence layer for your entire workspace. It powers multiple AI tools in ClickUp, so you can do almost everything with just one contextual AI.

This AI assistant understands your tasks, documents, conversations, owners, deadlines, and priorities in real time. That’s why you don’t need separate GPTs for writing, summarizing, or analysis. The same AI works everywhere.

With ClickUp Brain, you can:

• Ask questions like “What’s blocked this week?” or “Which tasks depend on this launch?”
• Generate summaries from Docs, comments, or entire projects
• Rewrite content using the actual brand, project, and audience context
• Turn discussions into action items without re-prompting or re-explaining

Enterprise Search: One answer across all your work 

One of the biggest reasons teams rely on ChatGPT plugins is to find things. ClickUp replaces that need with Enterprise Search. 

Ask natural language questions, and it sifts through external apps, ClickUp assets (tasks, Docs, Whiteboards, Dashboards, Chat, Spaces, Folders, Lists, and attachments), and third-party integration objects (documents, spreadsheets, slides, PDFs) to locate the relevant information. 

Talk to Text to capture ideas without breaking flow 

ClickUp’s Talk to Text capability, powered by BrainGPT, the standalone desktop app, goes beyond typed prompts. Speak ideas, meeting notes, or task updates and instantly convert them into structured text, tasks, or Docs. BrainGPT can then refine, summarize, or turn that input into actionable next steps.

🎥: For a quick overview of how ChatGPT works and why ClickUp Brain is a step-up, watch this video.

Access to multiple external models 

ClickUp Brain supports multiple underlying AI models within a single workspace experience. The Brain acts as an orchestration layer, routing requests to different models while enforcing ClickUp’s permissions, security settings, and AI governance controls.

AI access is abstracted through Brain, meaning users interact with AI from tasks, Docs, comments, and other ClickUp surfaces without leaving the platform or managing separate AI subscriptions. Depending on the feature and surface, Brain may automatically select a model or allow users to choose one, while controlling what workspace content, if any, is passed into the prompt.

This design lets teams benefit from different model strengths without fragmenting workflows or exposing workspace data directly to external AI tools, while keeping AI usage centralized, auditable, and consistent with ClickUp’s data boundaries.

Automatic meeting summaries and action items with AI Notetaker 

With ClickUp AI Notetaker, your talk points don’t drop off mid-meeting. The conversation is captured as it unfolds, turning spoken updates, decisions, and next steps into structured notes inside ClickUp.

ClickUp Brain steps in next. It reads the meeting in context, understands what was decided, what needs to happen, and who’s involved. Action items don’t stay buried in paragraphs. They surface as real work.

From there, execution begins immediately. Tasks are created, owners are clear, deadlines exist, and every task links back to the exact moment it was discussed. If someone asks why a decision was made, the trail is already there.

Meetings then become the front door to execution, with Brain quietly carrying context forward so teams don’t have to.

AI Cards for executive summaries 

ClickUp turns static dashboard data into interactive insights using AI Cards. For example, place an executive summary AI card to automatically provide at a glance insights tailored for the C-suite stakeholders.

🚀 ClickUp Advantage: ClickUp offers 1000+ native integrations for robust cross-platform support. Just select which tools you want for work, toggle them on, and connect them to your ClickUp Workspace in a whiff.

No need to hire a developer or change legacy code in your old system.

Task and project automation: Replace multiple plugin workflows

At best, ChatGPT integrations provide a one-and-done service. You tell the AI to create a task, and it does. You tell it to move a task, and it complies.

This automation is clumsy, incomplete, and still manual.

ClickUp Tasks are inherently dynamic and offer immense scope for no-code automation.

Start by breaking projects into tasks—add descriptions, due dates, assignees, QA checklists, custom statuses, subtasks, etc. Even better, tell Brain to create and assign them on your behalf. Think AI-powered task automation at your fingertips. 

To stay on top of everything, visualize these Tasks using ClickUp Views, such as Lists, Kanban Boards, Calendars, Gantt Charts, and more.

Next, pair them with ClickUp Automations to trigger actions based on real changes, such as status updates, due date completions, or assignee changes.

For example, when a copywriter moves a task to “Complete,” update the status to “Pending Approval,” notify the editor, and set a new deadline for the review.

You can chain unlimited steps to automate entire workflows:

• When a task status changes to “In Review,” add a custom field “Reviewer Notes,” add and notify the reviewer via email, and move the task to the Review List
• If the custom field “Budget Approved” is True/Yes, create an invoice task, update the project Rollup field, and post to the team chat

🚀 ClickUp Advantage: While no-code automations react to triggers, ClickUp Super Agents proactively monitor your workspace and take action based on context, logic, and intent.

Think of them as always-on AI teammates that:

• Watch tasks, Lists, and Spaces in the background
• Interpret conditions like priority, workload, skills, or deadlines
• Take multi-step actions without being explicitly triggered every time

📌 Example of a Super Agent at work: It scans new tasks added to a “Blogs for Assigning” List, evaluates each task’s requirements, checks writer availability and expertise, and auto-assigns the work—no rules or manual triage needed. 

To learn how to build an AI agent, watch this video:

Real-time collaboration–Docs, Chat, and Dashboards in one place

ChatGPT plugins speed up work, no doubt. But if you work in a team, you know it’s virtually impossible to collaborate in real-time within a chat interface.

You can’t co-edit assets. There’s no room for group communication. Even though the reports are generated from real-time data, they are static.

ClickUp replaces all of that with shared communication, collaboration, and built-in analytics support. Here’s how:

• ClickUp Docs for live co-editing: No need to jump between Google or Word docs. Create a ClickUp Doc, invite multiple users to edit it simultaneously, tag teammates in comments, and pull in Brain for AI-powered content creation or editing. Plus, you can highlight any text in a ClickUp Doc and instantly turn it into a trackable ClickUp Task

• ClickUp Chat for instant team sync: Every single ClickUp Task List has its own dedicated chat section where team members can brainstorm ideas, share feedback, leave suggestions, and drop file links within ClickUp Chat

• ClickUp Dashboards for shared visibility: Use pre-built ClickUp Dashboards or customize them as per your reporting needs. They can pull data directly from your tasks, Custom Fields, time tracking, and automation

Summarize this article with AI ClickUp Brain not only saves you precious time by instantly summarizing articles, it also leverages AI to connect your tasks, docs, people, and more, streamlining your workflow like never before. Summarize article

Summarize this article for me please

Want to save even more time? Try ClickUp Brain free

Replace ChatGPT Plugins with the All-in-one Power of ClickUp

ChatGPT plugins are no longer available. While their alternatives (custom GPTs and third-party app integrations) get the job done, they don’t simplify your work life.

You still spend a major chunk of your time manually moving data between tools, managing multiple apps, and hopping between tabs.

By moving into a highly interconnected ecosystem like ClickUp, you can easily bring together AI, tasks, your team, and external tools into a single space. That too, without added costs or setup complexity.

Ready to see it in action? Sign up for ClickUp and see how much quieter your workday gets when everything lives in one place.

Summarize this article with AI ClickUp Brain not only saves you precious time by instantly summarizing articles, it also leverages AI to connect your tasks, docs, people, and more, streamlining your workflow like never before. Summarize article

Summarize this article for me please

Want to save even more time? Try ClickUp Brain free

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Everything you need to stay organized and get work done.

Sign Up Contact Sales