Six months after OpenAI announced GPTs, developers are getting creative when it comes to making money with their applications.
The generative-AI giant launched GPTs — custom applications of the popular ChatGPT that can create art, read and summarize documents, and more — in November 2023 and opened a marketplace in January that allowed customers with paid subscriptions to the chatbot to download and use them.
To some, the GPT Store drew comparisons to the early days of the App Store, Apple’s marketplace for mobile applications that debuted in 2008 and helped usher in the smartphone era and “app economy.”
But while developers on the App Store and other mobile marketplaces such as Google Play are able to directly charge consumers who want to purchase and download an app, the GPT Store has taken a different approach for developers to get paid.
OpenAI earlier this year announced a forthcoming program for developers to monetize their GPTs. In this program, US creators could earn revenue based on how often their GPTs were used. The company planned to roll the program out in the first quarter of 2024; a March post on X said a “small group” of builders were testing out “usage-based GPT earnings.”
According to an FAQ page on OpenAI’s website, the small group’s goal is to “partner with builders to develop and fine-tune our strategy for GPT monetization, recognizing and rewarding builders whose creativity and commitment have enriched the ecosystem.”
OpenAI declined to comment on its GPT monetization strategy or answer questions for this story.
However, multiple GPT developers told Business Insider how they’ve made money with their apps while waiting for formal monetization plans to become available.
“I think it will be good when OpenAI comes up with monetization integrated in the GPT Store,” the developer Vicente Silveira told BI.
“But it’s still very early days when compared to mature marketplaces,” he added. “In a way, you might get a lot more tools in those marketplaces, but for GPTs, anyone can do it, even if you don’t really know how to code. Our bet is that the GPT Store will be the best way right now to position yourself to create.”
Developers are using “freemium” models to drum up new business and view GPTs as effective advertising tools
Silveira and Karthik Ramasamy have known each other for more than a decade as they progressed through their careers in Big Tech: Silveria worked at LinkedIn and Uber and Ramasamy completed stints at Google and WhatsApp.
OpenAI launched the first iteration of ChatGPT to the public in November 2022, but it wasn’t until March 2023 when the startup launched plugins — a much less popular precursor to GPTs — that Silveria and Ramasamy decided to take a risk and become creators in the AI space.
The pair contacted OpenAI and convinced the company to give them early access to its plugin program. They eventually developed a GPT that analyzes PDF files. It’s ranked No. 6 on the GPT Store’s productivity chart.
A basic version of their application, PDF Ai PDF, is available to users for free through ChatGPT. Uploaded PDFs, however, are stored at Silveria and Ramasamy’s company, Ai Drive. Users can leave ChatGPT and visit the website to purchase a subscription to store and analyze more documents.
For Silveria and Ramasamy, Ai Drive’s freemium model has been lucrative enough for them both to quit their jobs in Big Tech and work on their startup full time. Since they spun their GPT into a stand-alone company, Ai Drive’s premium subscription uses a bevy of large language models — including Google Gemini and Anthropic’s Claude — depending on the task to offer a better experience for users.
“We have heavy access to early adopters provided by the GPT store, and you can’t get that from an advertisement,” Silveria said. “We have 300,000 users with no advertising.”
Other GPT developers are using ads and affiliate links to make money
For the developer of Humanizer Pro, a GPT that uses AI to generate human-sounding text that’s ranked No. 2 on the GPT Store’s writing charts, the GPT is also a high-quality lead generator for their company, Charly AI.
The developer is a university student in Amsterdam who declined to share their identity, though it is known by BI. Charly AI offers various AI services to businesses, such as custom GPTs and AI phone agents.
In addition to being an important advertising tool for CharlyAI, Humanizer Pro also makes money by running click-based ads for other companies and generating commission-based affiliate links.
The developer said they’ve been especially motivated to think creatively about monetizing their work because OpenAI’s creator program is limited to US-based developers.
Other developers are experimenting with external ads and affiliate links for their GPTs, with many convening on OpenAI’s developer forums to discuss the benefits of various monetization strategies.
OpenAI recently made some GPTs free
At the company’s Spring Update in May, OpenAI launched GPT-4o, its new flagship model, and said that GPTs would become available to everyone using ChatGPT, not just premium subscribers.
While GPTs were originally only available to premium subscribers who paid OpenAI $20 a month, the company has since made GPTs free for all users.
The strategy is a welcome shift for the developer of Humanizer Pro, who said they anticipate earning more money through advertising but that the quality of hits on their website will likely decrease.
“Previously, people who have been using GPTs were paying $20 a month, and those users are in a way more qualified and have proven that they can spend money on AI software,” the Humanizer AI developer said. “Now that all users can use GPTs, the quality of leads will be worse, but the quantity and volume will go up.”
For Silveria and Ramasamy at Ai Drive, OpenAI’s strategy shift is a vote of confidence in GPTs. The pair were invited by OpenAI to attend its recent Spring Update in San Francisco to see the launch of GPT-4o; they said they left the event with more confidence in OpenAI’s plans for the GPT store.
“It’s very early days, and if you compare it to a mature marketplace like Apple’s App Store and the Google Play app store, you might get more tools on those marketplaces,” Silveria said. “As the business grows, it’s a vote of confidence that they see a future for these tools.”
