How to sell a custom AI (now that custom GPTs are being retired)
Custom GPTs stop running December 11, 2026, and you could never charge for them. Here is how to build and sell your own AI assistant or AI course instead.
To sell a custom AI, you need three things: an AI trained on your own method, a paywall that only lets buyers in, and a checkout that pays you directly. Custom GPTs never had the last two, and OpenAI is retiring them on December 11, 2026. The simplest way to sell one today is to build it as a Custom AI product on Eden: you add your lessons and files, set the AI's instructions, pick a price, and publish it to your store. Buyers chat with it in Eden, or in Claude, ChatGPT, or Cursor.
This guide is for coaches, course creators, and experts who have a method people pay for and want to turn it into an AI that helps each buyer one-on-one. Full disclosure: we make Eden. We cover the other options honestly, including the ones that no longer work.
Why custom GPTs were never a real product
For two years, the common advice was: build a custom GPT, then sell the link on Gumroad or Stan. It worked badly, for three reasons.
- There was no paywall. A custom GPT link opens for anyone who has it. One buyer could post it in a group chat and your product was free.
- OpenAI never let you charge. The GPT Store revenue program was a small, invite-only, US-only pilot. There was never a way to set a price on a GPT.
- You did not own the buyer. You had no list of who used it and no way to reach them.
Now there is a fourth reason. OpenAI announced on September 11, 2026 that custom GPTs will be retired and replaced by plugins, and they are scheduled to stop running on December 11, 2026. Builders report that plugins have no "anyone with the link" sharing for people outside your workspace, which ends the paywalled-link model entirely.
If you sell a GPT link today, you have about ten weeks to move your buyers somewhere else.
Your options in 2026
| Option | Can you charge? | Buyer needs | Weak spot |
|---|---|---|---|
| Custom GPT link | No, only by selling the link | ChatGPT | Retiring December 11, 2026; link can be shared |
| Claude Projects | No | The same Claude Team org | Can't be shared outside your company |
| Poe bots | Yes, per message, where eligible | Poe | Small audience, pay-per-message only |
| Coachvox AI | Yes, access, coupons, trials | Coachvox | $83/mo billed yearly before your first sale |
| Delphi | No clear way to charge users | Delphi | Built for a free "digital mind," not a product |
| Eden | Yes, one-time or membership | Eden, Claude, ChatGPT, or Cursor | 5% per sale; selling needs the $29 plan |
Step 1: Decide what kind of AI you are selling
Most sellable AIs fall into one of three shapes. Pick one before you build, because it changes what you put in.
- An AI tool. It does one job in your style: writes hooks, reviews a sales page, plans a week of posts. Good for a low price and a big audience.
- An AI with a library. A knowledge base with a guide on top: your frameworks, templates, and past answers, and an AI that finds and applies the right one.
- A course taught by AI. Lessons in order, and an AI that knows which lesson the buyer is on, explains it, runs the exercise, and checks their work. This is the highest-value shape, because it replaces the part of a course buyers skip: doing the work.
Dan Koe, Eden's founder, sells his writing course The 2 Hour Writer in the third shape. Buyers read a lesson, then ask the AI to help them apply it to their own newsletter.
Step 2: Gather your method
An AI is only as good as what you give it. Before you build, collect:
- Your method, written down. The steps you walk a client through, in order.
- Your existing material. Lessons, notes, transcripts, templates, and worksheets.
- Proof. Real results you have gotten people, kept separate from made-up examples.
- Your voice. A few pieces of your own writing, so the AI sounds like you.
If you have none of this written yet, start with a free AI that interviews you. Eden's Product Builder asks about your method, builds one full lesson with its AI help, and waits for your OK before building the rest.
Step 3: Build the AI and the product
On Eden, a Custom AI product has five steps:
- Offer. Name, tagline, and price. Pick one-time or membership, and add discount codes if you want.
- Knowledge. Pick the shape from Step 1, then add modules (lessons) and resources (files, boards, links).
- Configure. Write the AI's instructions and up to four conversation starters. Write with AI drafts both from your material.
- Page. Your sales page, with a live preview. Write the page for me drafts the copy.
- Publish. A checklist, your share links, and Preview as buyer so you can test it like a customer.
Test it the way a buyer would before you publish. Ask it the three questions your clients ask most. If an answer is off, fix the lesson or the instructions, not the AI.
Step 4: Price it
Price by the result, not the tech. An AI that teaches your course is still your course, so price it like one. An AI tool that saves someone an hour a week can be a small monthly membership.
Two things to decide on Eden:
- One-time or membership. One-time suits a course. A membership suits a tool people use every week.
- Included AI credits. Chatting with an AI costs credits. Every buyer gets Eden's 50 free credits, and you can add 100, 250, 500, or 1,000 more per purchase (or per month on a membership) at $0.04 each, taken from the sale. Buyers who already pay for Claude or ChatGPT can use your AI there instead, with no Eden credits at all.
Step 5: Put it in front of people
- Your link in bio. Every product you publish is added to your creator page, so the link you already share is now a store.
- One link per post. Content links open your page with the matching product on top, so a video about writing leads straight to your writing AI.
- Your email list. Connect Kit, beehiiv, GoHighLevel, or Substack, and every buyer lands on your list.
- Show it working. Post a screen recording of a real conversation. An AI product sells best when people see the answer it gives.
What it costs to sell on Eden
Building is free on every plan. Publishing needs the Starter plan at $29 a month, which is also the full Eden workspace. Eden takes 5% of each sale, and Stripe's processing fee comes out of your share. Money goes straight to your own Stripe account.
Frequently asked questions
Can you sell a custom GPT?
Not directly. OpenAI never let builders charge for a GPT, and custom GPTs are scheduled to stop running on December 11, 2026. People who "sold" GPTs sold a shareable link, which buyers could pass on for free.
What happens to custom GPTs on December 11, 2026?
OpenAI says they stop running and leave the GPT directory. Instructions and knowledge files can move to a plugin, but custom actions and past chats do not. Some Enterprise workspaces can get an extension to February 11, 2027.
How do I move a paid GPT to Eden?
Copy your GPT's instructions into the Configure step, upload its knowledge files as resources, and publish. Then import your existing buyers so they get access without paying again.
Do my buyers need a ChatGPT or Claude subscription?
No. Buyers chat with your AI inside Eden, on the web or the iPhone and Android apps, using Eden credits. If they already pay for Claude, ChatGPT, or Cursor, they can connect it and use your AI there instead.
Can buyers share my AI with friends?
No. Access is tied to the buyer's Eden account and the email they paid with. There is no public link to pass around.
Have a method people already pay you to explain? Open the Product Builder and turn it into an AI your buyers can talk to.