guide

What are OpenAI dots? The $100 entry price and other catches

OpenAI dots can keep working after you leave, but personal access starts at $100 a month. Check the regional rules, setup steps and permissions first.

EiliyaSeptember 30, 20267 min read

The cheapest personal plan that includes OpenAI dots costs $100 a month: ChatGPT Pro 100. Personal Pro access currently excludes the EEA, Switzerland and the UK. Business Premium and Enterprise have different availability rules.

Announced on September 29, 2026, dots are persistent agents that can work while you're away. They have their own cloud computer, remember ongoing responsibilities and contact you when work needs attention. You return to the same agent and working environment, rather than starting another ordinary chat.

What are OpenAI dots?

OpenAI describes dots as agents powered by GPT-6 Astra. A dot can research, use connected apps, operate a browser and work on files in its cloud computer.

OpenAI says its plugin system connects to more than 4,000 apps. That describes the available ecosystem; individual actions can still need configuration or approval.

You begin with a primary dot. OpenAI also outlined a future where multiple dots divide responsibilities. Check what your account supports before treating that vision as today's feature list.

The agent keeps its own notes and can use relevant ChatGPT memory. Its computer can retain files, installed software and signed-in sessions, so you don't have to restate a recurring assignment each morning.

OpenAI calls dots available around the clock, and its documentation says a dot can pause and wake when needed. The model doesn't need to run expensive inference every second to stay available.

The $100 entry price comes with access rules

As of September 30, access is narrower than “all ChatGPT subscribers.” The official documentation lists these routes:

Account	Current access	Price detail
Personal Pro 100	Adults outside the EEA, UK and Switzerland	$100 per month
Personal Pro 200	Same personal eligibility rules	$200 per month
Personal Pro 500	Same personal eligibility rules	$500 per month
Business Premium	Rolling out worldwide	First dot included; check the workspace plan
Enterprise	Worldwide, with admin enablement	Access depends on the organization's rollout

OpenAI's launch post also discusses Enterprise beta access for Edu and Healthcare customers. Your administrator decides workspace access. Even if you qualify, a gradual rollout means the dots interface may not have appeared in your account yet.

If you're in Europe, check the plan name before accepting a headline saying dots are unavailable there. The personal exclusion and business rollout follow different rules. A personal Pro subscriber and an employee in an enabled workspace can get different answers in the same country.

The first dot has no separate charge on the eligible plans OpenAI identifies. The company has announced future options for more dots, speed and work capacity, without a launch price list for those extras.

Read “included” carefully. OpenAI says conversations with your dot don't count toward ChatGPT usage limits, while Codex Work tasks it starts or manages count as normal. The getting-started help page also describes an initial month of promotional usage treatment; check the current terms before budgeting around that introductory period.

Create your dot on a desktop first

Open the dots entry in the desktop ChatGPT app or a desktop browser and follow the introduction. OpenAI's help page says mobile creation is unsupported. Mobile app access needs a supporting update, and mobile web is unsupported too.

Setup asks about resources such as email, calendars and files. You can skip those connections while you learn how the agent behaves. Give it access when you're ready to review what it does with that access.

Connecting your personal computer is optional. The cloud computer is separate and doesn't automatically inherit your laptop's browser sessions.

If you allow local access, review the permission request. Local work requires the relevant app to remain open and the computer to stay online.

Your dot starts with a name and appearance. You can change its name, shape, color and accessories after setup to make it recognizable. Spend more attention on the accounts and permissions than the accessories.

Keep the first task bounded: “Draft a briefing from these files every weekday morning. Ask before sending anything.” Specify the source material, expected output and decisions that need you. Review the first result before widening the assignment.

For schedules, give the time zone and duration as well as the time, then confirm what the dot understood. Adding it to a Slack channel doesn't automatically assign it to monitor that channel.

ChatGPT, Slack and Teams share the same dot

OpenAI lists ChatGPT, Slack and Microsoft Teams as channels. Slack supports direct messages and channel mentions, with responses to the owner by default. Interactions with other people need suitable instructions and permissions.

The same dot can retain context across channels, though you won't see every conversation mirrored in every channel. Keep that in mind when you're looking for where a decision was discussed.

You can start voice calls through the call control in ChatGPT. Hanging up doesn't necessarily stop the work you discussed. Dot-initiated calls are planned for after launch, and texting is coming soon; both remain future features.

Inspect the cloud computer before trusting a routine

A dot's cloud computer provides a browser and a place to work on tasks that need more than a text answer. Open it from the dot's profile to inspect the screen. Use Take over to operate it yourself, then Return control to hand it back.

OpenAI lets you enter sign-in credentials outside the conversation and says its design keeps saved passwords out of the model's view. Browser sessions can persist afterward. Access you grant once can affect later tasks too.

Connected apps use ChatGPT's existing plugin permission system. Installed and enabled plugins give the dot access to supported actions. Browser access and an app integration are different routes with different permission implications.

Inspect an unfamiliar workflow before making it recurring. Check the accounts it used, the files it changed and its next intended action. Getting a draft right doesn't tell you whether sending it was authorized.

What needs approval, and what Pause doesn't stop

OpenAI restricts proactive background research to read-only app tools. In that mode, a dot can't send messages, change content or control a browser or computer. Those actions need a separately authorized follow-up.

Under Settings, Personalization, Permissions, then Custom rules, you can specify what it may do without asking, do only on an explicit request, ask about first, or hand back to you. Asking it to draft an email doesn't authorize sending it.

Some limits are built in. OpenAI says saved-card purchases need approval, while permanent deletion and specified security-sensitive actions need confirmation.

Password changes and transfers between financial accounts must go back to you. Custom rules can't remove those mandatory handoffs.

OpenAI also describes a separate auto-review system that checks planned actions outside the environment the dot can modify. That's a company-reported safeguard, not proof that prompt injection or mistaken actions have been eliminated.

Pause affects the main current task. It doesn't stop delegated tasks or cancel recurring schedules, according to the documentation. Check Activity for delegated work and Scheduled for recurring jobs; deleting an agent can't undo actions already taken in another app.

According to OpenAI, Business, Enterprise and Edu data aren't used for training by default. Personal accounts follow their data controls. Background research isn't directly used for training, but information brought into an eligible task can fall under that task's settings.

Specialist dots and Microsoft Agent 365

Specialist dots are intended for organizational jobs, with their own identity and credentials. OpenAI's early testing areas include procurement, invoice processing, email marketing, customer support and commercial contracting.

These are focused enterprise pilots, with OpenAI engineering teams working alongside organizations. There isn't a finished catalog that any subscriber can install immediately.

OpenAI is also working on Microsoft Agent 365 integration so organizations can manage agents through their existing administration and governance systems. That work is still in progress. Before planning a deployment, ask about specialist availability and the Microsoft integration.

FAQ

Are ChatGPT dots free?

The first dot is included in eligible plans at launch. Personal access starts with Pro 100 at $100 per month, with usage conditions and delegated Codex Work limits still attached.

Can I create a dot on my phone?

You'll need a desktop app or desktop browser for setup. Mobile app access needs a supporting update; mobile web is unsupported.

Are dots available in Europe?

Personal Pro access excludes the EEA, Switzerland and the UK at launch. Business Premium and enabled Enterprise workspaces have different, worldwide rollout rules.

Can a dot send messages or spend money without asking?

Your permissions and custom rules govern some actions. Saved-card purchases require approval, and specified sensitive actions keep their mandatory confirmations or handoffs.