ChatGPT Dots: what OpenAI's always-on agents can do

ChatGPT Dots are OpenAI's always-on agents in ChatGPT, announced on September 29, 2026 for Pro, Business Premium and Enterprise plans in eligible markets. Each dot runs on GPT-6 Astra with its own cloud computer, can connect to over 4,000 apps, and chatting with it doesn't count toward your ChatGPT usage limits.

What are ChatGPT Dots?

A ChatGPT dot is an agent that keeps working for you inside ChatGPT. Many people search for a "ChatGPT agent" that does this; OpenAI's name for it is a dot. The ChatGPT release notes in OpenAI's Help Center, read on November 3, 2026, call dots "always-on agents in ChatGPT" and say: "Powered by GPT-6 Astra, your dot has its own cloud computer."

OpenAI's launch post from Tuesday, September 29, 2026 says a dot can "connect to over 4,000 apps" through the plugin ecosystem. It also describes proactive research. When you aren't working with it, "your dot looks for ways to help in the background," using apps you've already connected.

The same post sets a limit on that background work. It uses "tools that are restricted to be read-only, which means that they can't send messages, change app content, or control your browser or computer." So while it works in the background, a dot can read your connected apps but can't act in them.

Texting is a separate beta. The Help Center says texting your dot "is starting to roll out in beta to Pro users in the U.S." over iMessage or RCS.

Who can use ChatGPT Dots?

Dots are for paid Pro, Business Premium and Enterprise plans, and access is arriving in stages. The Help Center release notes, read on November 3, 2026, say: "Dots are rolling out gradually to eligible Pro and Business Premium users aged 18 and older in supported markets. Pro access excludes the European Economic Area, Switzerland, and the UK at launch."

OpenAI's launch post adds that "your first dot is included in your Pro or Business Premium plan at no extra cost." If you are on Pro in the UK or the EEA, you are outside the launch for now, and Business Premium has no such exclusion in the same note.

Do dots use your ChatGPT message limit?

Talking to a dot doesn't use your limit, but the work it hands off can. OpenAI's launch post says: "Conversations with your dot don't count toward your ChatGPT usage limits. When you ask your dot to start or manage tasks in Codex or ChatGPT Work, those tasks count toward your usage limits as usual."

The Help Center adds a temporary rule: "For the next month, dots usage won't count toward eligible Pro, Business, and Enterprise users' plan allowances." The note doesn't say which day that month ends, so check the release notes again before you plan heavy use.

Which models power ChatGPT Dots?

Today it is GPT-6 Astra, and OpenAI has said that may widen. On Monday, November 2, 2026, Thibault Sottiaux wrote that "we're working on expanding the family of frontier models that power dots, including GPT-6 Astra and GPT-6.1 Terra," and that "your dot will choose the best model for the task, drawing on different models for different parts of the work." That is a plan still being worked on, and on November 3 the Help Center gave no date for it.

Terra came out on October 26, 2026. On OpenAI's API pricing page, read on November 3, 2026, it is the cheapest of these three models:

Dots come with ChatGPT plans, so you don't pay these API rates for them. The gap does show why lighter steps might go to Terra. Our GPT-6.1 Terra post covers that model in more detail.

Giving a dot a shopping task

A dot can look up a lowest price, but the answer is only right if it comes from live store data. A model's memory of a price goes stale. Ask the dot to name the store and the date it saw the price, then check that against a current listing.

For example, a price check on November 3, 2026 found the Apple AirPods Pro 2nd Generation with MagSafe Charging Case at $130.45 new at Walmart, for online delivery in the US. In-store prices and stock may differ. If a dot quotes a different number for the same product that day, ask where it came from. Keep in mind that a dot researching in the background has read-only tools, so it can't place the order on its own.

What ChatGPT Dots mean for you

If you pay for Pro or Business Premium outside the excluded regions, your first dot comes with the plan, and chatting with it is outside your limits. Watch the tasks it sends to Codex or ChatGPT Work, since those count. Pro in the UK, Switzerland and the EEA isn't part of the launch. For another agent that works on a screen, see our post on Gemini Computer Use.

How we checked: on November 3, 2026 we read OpenAI's dots launch post, the ChatGPT release notes in the Help Center and OpenAI's API pricing page, plus Thibault Sottiaux's November 2 posts. The AirPods price is from a Divux price check the same day. We didn't run a dot ourselves.

To use Divux in your AI, add mcp.divux.si to any AI agent that supports MCP, like Claude, ChatGPT, Grok or Muse.