What is the best ChatGPT plugin?

It depends on the job, which is why we publish a score per plugin rather than a single winner. Our top-ranked plugins are the MCP-backed integrations that scored highest across usefulness, reliability, ease of use, setup, in-chat experience, privacy clarity, and value. The ranking table on this page is ordered by that score.

Are ChatGPT plugins and ChatGPT apps the same thing?

They name different layers. A plugin is the installable package; an app is the MCP-backed integration inside it that connects to a real service. Most things you would call an app are distributed as a plugin, so in practice a search for either term is looking for the same shortlist.

Are these the old 2023 ChatGPT plugins?

No. The 2023 plugin generation — manifest-based, with its own store and a per-chat enable toggle — was retired. The word returned in July 2026 with a different meaning: the installable package that can bundle skills, an MCP server, and optional in-chat UI.

Are ChatGPT plugins free?

Many are. Most plugins we have tested ship a usable free tier, though some require a paid account on the underlying service and some require a paid ChatGPT plan. Pricing and free-plan availability are listed per plugin in the table, and the free-only shortlist has its own page.

How do I install a ChatGPT plugin?

Open the plugin directory inside ChatGPT, find the plugin, and connect it — authenticating your account on the underlying service if it needs one. Existing connections carried over through the July 2026 directory migration, so nothing needed reinstalling.

Do you rank skills-only plugins?

No. A plugin can contain only workflow instructions with no service behind it. Our seven criteria are built to compare integrations that can break, rate-limit, or expose data, so most of them are undefined for a folder of instructions. We leave those out rather than publish a score with nothing underneath it.

Is this ranking affiliated with OpenAI?

No. ChatGPTAppsRank is independent and not affiliated with OpenAI or any listed plugin. There are no paid placements and no sponsored positions in the ranking.

Best ChatGPT Plugins — Tested and Ranked

The best ChatGPT plugins are the MCP-backed integrations that scored highest in hands-on testing — Canva leads the current ranking at 88/100. If you searched for plugins and expected apps: you are in the right place. Since OpenAI migrated the app directory to the plugin directory in July 2026, plugin names the installable package and app names the integration inside it.

Updated Aug 24, 2026Top 12 of 122 testedEditorial only — no user ratingsNo paid placements

Reviewed by the ChatGPTAppsRank editorial team · How we test · Apps vs plugins explained

TL;DR

Quick answer

Best overall: Canva — non-designers who need a quick visual draft.
Best free plugin: Canva — real free tier, no card required to try it.
Best for work: Slack — clearest business payoff inside a conversation.
Not ranked here: skills-only plugins and custom GPTs — why.

What counts as a ChatGPT plugin in 2026

OpenAI's developer docs define plugins as the packages people discover, install, share, and publish in ChatGPT and Codex. A plugin can contain skills (packaged workflow instructions), an MCP server (tools, authentication, and a live connection to a real service), or both. Custom in-chat UI is optional.

This ranking covers the MCP-backed ones — the plugins that connect to a service and actually do something in your conversation, like pulling a Canva template or grounding an answer in your own Drive documents. That is the layer this site has always called an app, and the layer nearly everyone means when they search for the best plugin. Skills-only plugins are excluded on purpose: our criteria measure things that only exist when there is a service behind the listing. The full reasoning is on apps vs plugins.

Every plugin here is scored 0–100 across seven criteria, carries a visible last-tested date, and keeps an honest status — plugins that are region-limited, business-only, or no longer working are flagged rather than quietly dropped. Weights are published on the methodology page, and there are no sponsored positions.

The top 12 ChatGPT plugins

Ordered by editorial score. This is the shortlist — the complete table of all 122 tested plugins, with filters, lives on the full ranking page.

#	App	Best For	Category	Editorial Score	Pricing	Login	Status	Last Tested
1	Canva Generate quick designs, social posts, and visual layouts from a ChatGPT conversation.	Non-designers who need a quick visual draft	Design	88	Freemium	Required	Verified	Jun 10, 2026	Review
2	Wolfram Run computations, equations, and structured queries from a ChatGPT conversation.	Students, scientists, engineers	Research	87	Freemium	Not required	Verified	Jun 10, 2026	Review
3	GitHub Browse repos, summarize PRs, and reason over code from inside ChatGPT.	Engineers and technical reviewers	Productivity	86	Freemium	Required	Verified	Jun 10, 2026	Review
4	ScholarAI Search and cite peer-reviewed academic papers directly inside ChatGPT.	Researchers and graduate students who need peer-reviewed sources with real DOI citations	Research	86	Freemium	Not required	Needs verification	Jun 26, 2026	Review
5	Google Drive Reference, summarize, and search files in your Google Drive from ChatGPT.	People with active Google Drive workflows	Productivity	85	Freemium	Required	Verified	Jun 10, 2026	Review
6	Notion Query, summarize, and write to Notion pages and databases from ChatGPT.	Knowledge workers with serious Notion setups	Productivity	84	Freemium	Required	Verified	Jun 10, 2026	Review
7	Consensus Search peer-reviewed research and get evidence-backed answers with citations from inside a ChatGPT conversation.	Researchers, students, and analysts who need answers tied to citable peer-reviewed sources	Research	84	Freemium	Required	Needs verification	Jun 25, 2026	Review
8	Google Calendar Schedule, find time, and summarize your week from ChatGPT.	Anyone juggling many meetings	Productivity	83	Freemium	Required	Verified	Jun 10, 2026	Review
9	Gmail Read, draft, and search Gmail from inside a ChatGPT conversation.	Anyone with a busy inbox	Productivity	82	Freemium	Required	Verified	Jun 10, 2026	Review
10	Adobe Acrobat Edit, summarize, sign, and transform PDFs through a ChatGPT conversation — free for all ChatGPT users.	Anyone who works with PDFs and wants a chat-first interface	Productivity	82	Free	Required	Doc-verified	Jun 10, 2026	Review
11	Zapier Trigger workflows across thousands of apps from a ChatGPT conversation.	Existing Zapier users	Automation	81	Freemium	Required	Verified	Jun 10, 2026	Review
12	Replit Build, update, and deploy real web apps from a ChatGPT conversation using Replit Agent.	Builders shipping prototypes or small apps without a full IDE	Productivity	81	Freemium	Required	Doc-verified	Jun 10, 2026	Review

Canva

Non-designers who need a quick visual draft

Generate quick designs, social posts, and visual layouts from a ChatGPT conversation.

DesignVerified Tutorial

Pricing: Freemium
Login: Required
Free plan: Yes
Tested: Jun 10, 2026

Wolfram

Students, scientists, engineers

Run computations, equations, and structured queries from a ChatGPT conversation.

ResearchVerified Tutorial

Pricing: Freemium
Login: Not required
Free plan: Yes
Tested: Jun 10, 2026

GitHub

Engineers and technical reviewers

Browse repos, summarize PRs, and reason over code from inside ChatGPT.

ProductivityVerified Tutorial

Pricing: Freemium
Login: Required
Free plan: Yes
Tested: Jun 10, 2026

ScholarAI

Researchers and graduate students who need peer-reviewed sources with real DOI citations

Search and cite peer-reviewed academic papers directly inside ChatGPT.

ResearchNeeds verification

Pricing: Freemium
Login: Not required
Free plan: Yes
Tested: Jun 26, 2026

Google Drive

People with active Google Drive workflows

Reference, summarize, and search files in your Google Drive from ChatGPT.

ProductivityVerified Tutorial

Pricing: Freemium
Login: Required
Free plan: Yes
Tested: Jun 10, 2026

Notion

Knowledge workers with serious Notion setups

Query, summarize, and write to Notion pages and databases from ChatGPT.

ProductivityVerified Tutorial

Pricing: Freemium
Login: Required
Free plan: Yes
Tested: Jun 10, 2026

Consensus

Researchers, students, and analysts who need answers tied to citable peer-reviewed sources

Search peer-reviewed research and get evidence-backed answers with citations from inside a ChatGPT conversation.

ResearchNeeds verification

Pricing: Freemium
Login: Required
Free plan: Yes
Tested: Jun 25, 2026

Google Calendar

Anyone juggling many meetings

Schedule, find time, and summarize your week from ChatGPT.

ProductivityVerified Tutorial

Pricing: Freemium
Login: Required
Free plan: Yes
Tested: Jun 10, 2026

Gmail

Anyone with a busy inbox

Read, draft, and search Gmail from inside a ChatGPT conversation.

ProductivityVerified Tutorial

Pricing: Freemium
Login: Required
Free plan: Yes
Tested: Jun 10, 2026

#10

Adobe Acrobat

Anyone who works with PDFs and wants a chat-first interface

Edit, summarize, sign, and transform PDFs through a ChatGPT conversation — free for all ChatGPT users.

ProductivityDoc-verified Tutorial

Pricing: Free
Login: Required
Free plan: Yes
Tested: Jun 10, 2026

#11

Zapier

Existing Zapier users

Trigger workflows across thousands of apps from a ChatGPT conversation.

AutomationVerified Tutorial

Pricing: Freemium
Login: Required
Free plan: Yes
Tested: Jun 10, 2026

#12

Replit

Builders shipping prototypes or small apps without a full IDE

Build, update, and deploy real web apps from a ChatGPT conversation using Replit Agent.

ProductivityDoc-verified Tutorial

Pricing: Freemium
Login: Required
Free plan: Yes
Tested: Jun 10, 2026

See all 122 ranked →Filterable directory Free plugins only

Best plugins by category

Best for productivity →Best for business →Best for design →Best for students →Best for research →Best for automation →Best for lifestyle →

Methodology

How we rank ChatGPT apps

Our rankings are editorial, not user-generated. Each app is manually evaluated using repeatable prompts and scored across seven criteria.

Full methodology →

Usefulness25%
Does it actually solve a real problem inside ChatGPT?
Reliability20%
Does it consistently return correct, complete results?
Ease of use15%
Is it discoverable, predictable, and forgiving?
Setup10%
How quickly can a real user get to first value?
In-chat experience10%
Does it feel native inside ChatGPT, or grafted on?
Privacy clarity10%
Are permissions, scopes, and data flows clearly disclosed?
Value10%
Pricing, free tier quality, and overall value for money.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best ChatGPT plugin?: It depends on the job, which is why we publish a score per plugin rather than a single winner. Our top-ranked plugins are the MCP-backed integrations that scored highest across usefulness, reliability, ease of use, setup, in-chat experience, privacy clarity, and value. The ranking table on this page is ordered by that score.
Are ChatGPT plugins and ChatGPT apps the same thing?: They name different layers. A plugin is the installable package; an app is the MCP-backed integration inside it that connects to a real service. Most things you would call an app are distributed as a plugin, so in practice a search for either term is looking for the same shortlist.
Are these the old 2023 ChatGPT plugins?: No. The 2023 plugin generation — manifest-based, with its own store and a per-chat enable toggle — was retired. The word returned in July 2026 with a different meaning: the installable package that can bundle skills, an MCP server, and optional in-chat UI.
Are ChatGPT plugins free?: Many are. Most plugins we have tested ship a usable free tier, though some require a paid account on the underlying service and some require a paid ChatGPT plan. Pricing and free-plan availability are listed per plugin in the table, and the free-only shortlist has its own page.
How do I install a ChatGPT plugin?: Open the plugin directory inside ChatGPT, find the plugin, and connect it — authenticating your account on the underlying service if it needs one. Existing connections carried over through the July 2026 directory migration, so nothing needed reinstalling.
Do you rank skills-only plugins?: No. A plugin can contain only workflow instructions with no service behind it. Our seven criteria are built to compare integrations that can break, rate-limit, or expose data, so most of them are undefined for a folder of instructions. We leave those out rather than publish a score with nothing underneath it.
Is this ranking affiliated with OpenAI?: No. ChatGPTAppsRank is independent and not affiliated with OpenAI or any listed plugin. There are no paid placements and no sponsored positions in the ranking.