The best ChatGPT connectors cover the same ten jobs as any AI assistant: email, calendar, files, team chat, notes, tasks, CRM, meetings, design and a catch-all. If your company runs on Google or Microsoft, OpenAI builds those apps itself. The rest come from the software makers. Every plan can use directory apps, but Zapier only arrives as a custom app, which needs Plus or above. Start each app on a setting that asks before it changes anything.
New to the idea? Start with what connectors are and why they matter. Using Claude instead? Here's the Claude version of this list.
Connectors, apps or plugins: what is ChatGPT calling them now?
All three, depending on when you last looked. ChatGPT launched connectors, renamed them apps in December 2025, and on 9 July 2026 moved the app directory into a new Plugin directory. A plugin can bundle an app with skills and templates, but the part that links ChatGPT to your software is still the app. We say connectors in this post because that's what most people still search for. In ChatGPT, look under Plugins, or in Settings under Apps.
What are the best ChatGPT connectors to set up first?
This is Intersect's Core 10 again: ten jobs, not ten brands. The jobs are the same as on Claude. The apps behind them differ in places, and so do the rules about who can switch them on. Each row names the app we'd pick, the Microsoft option where it differs, what ChatGPT can do with it today, and the permission setting we'd start it on.
Intersect's Core 10, ChatGPT edition
| # | The job | App | What ChatGPT can do | Start it on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Gmail Outlook Email | Search and summarise threads, draft replies and, on the web, send after you confirm. | Default: asks before sending | |
| 2 | Calendar |  Google CalendarOutlook Calendar | Google: check availability, create and edit events, add Meet links. Outlook: check availability and plan meetings. | Default: asks before changes |
| 3 | Files |  Google Drive SharePoint and OneDrive | Find and summarise files. Drive covers Docs, Sheets and Slides and can create, share, move and delete. SharePoint can manage folders and share. | Any changes, at first |
| 4 | Team chat |  Slack Teams | Search messages and summarise threads. Both can post: Slack messages, Teams replies and Planner tasks. | Default: asks before posting |
| 5 | Notes and docs |  Notion Confluence, via Atlassian | Search, then create and edit pages. Notion can also build databases. | Default |
| 6 | Tasks and projects |  Asana Linear monday.comJira | Find, create and update tasks and issues in the tool your team already uses. | Any changes |
| 7 | CRM |  HubSpot Salesforce | Read and update contacts, companies and deals. HubSpot adds tickets. | Any changes |
| 8 | Meetings |  Granola Fireflies | Search past meetings and pull out decisions and actions. | Default |
| 9 | Design |  Canva Figma | Canva: create, edit and resize designs, including in bulk. Figma: work with your design files. | Default |
| 10 | Everything else |  Zapier MCP, as a custom app | Reach thousands of apps through Zapier. Not in the directory, so you add it yourself in developer mode. | Only the actions you choose |
Checked in ChatGPT's Plugin directory and OpenAI's help centre on 9 November 2026. “Default” is ChatGPT's own setting, which reads on its own and asks before important actions. “Any changes” asks before every change.
How is ChatGPT's list different from Claude's?
Eight of the ten jobs land on the same apps. Four differences matter when you plan the set-up.
We'll compare the two assistants properly, connector by connector, in the last post of this series.
The ten, one at a time
1. Email: Gmail or Outlook Email
Both email apps come from OpenAI rather than from Google or Microsoft. They search your inbox, summarise long threads and draft replies. On ChatGPT's website you can also send from the chat once you've checked the draft. Your workspace admin can block sending, or make ChatGPT ask every time.
Try: “Find every thread where someone has been waiting more than three days for a reply from me. Rank them by how long.”
2. Calendar: Google Calendar or Outlook Calendar
The Google Calendar app can create and edit events, and since 15 June 2026 it can add Google Meet links too. Outlook Calendar's directory listing promises availability checks, meeting planning and new events. OpenAI's help article still describes it as mostly reading your own calendar, so test a booking before you rely on it.
Try: “Find 45 minutes with [name] next week, not Friday afternoon, and suggest three slots.”
3. Files: Google Drive or SharePoint
Google Drive is now one app for Docs, Sheets and Slides as well: the separate apps were folded into it. Since 15 June 2026 it can create, update, share, move, upload, copy and delete files. On Business plans those actions are on by default. On Enterprise and Edu they stay off until an admin turns them on. SharePoint covers SharePoint sites and OneDrive files, and can manage folders and share them. For files, we'd start on Any changes until you trust how ChatGPT names and files things.
Try: “Find the last proposal we sent [client] and list everything we committed to on price and timing.”
4. Team chat: Slack or Teams
Slack builds its own app for ChatGPT, and it can write as well as read. The Teams app, built by OpenAI, searches messages, summarises threads, sends replies and manages Planner tasks. It needs a Microsoft work or school account. Personal accounts aren't supported.
Try: “Summarise what #ops decided this week and who owns each action.”
5. Notes and docs: Notion or Confluence
This is where ChatGPT's work should end up, so other people can find it. Notion's app searches your workspace, creates and edits pages, manages tasks and builds databases. Confluence comes inside Atlassian's app, along with Jira and Loom.
Try: “Turn this chat into a one-page brief in our Projects area in Notion.”
6. Tasks and projects: Asana, Linear, monday.com or Jira
Pick whichever your team already lives in. All four are built by the software makers themselves. These are the first apps that change records other people rely on, so start them on Any changes and loosen later.
Try: “Here are the actions from today's call. Create a task for each, assign the owners we agreed and set Friday as the due date.”
7. CRM: HubSpot or Salesforce
Both big CRMs build their own ChatGPT apps, and both can write. HubSpot's reads and updates deals, contacts, companies and tickets. Salesforce's reads and writes your org's records. Your CRM is the system most likely to be wrong after a careless update, so keep it on Any changes.
Try: “Which deals over [amount] haven't had any activity in 21 days? Draft a one-line nudge for each owner.”
8. Meetings: Granola or Fireflies
Your meeting notes hold what people actually agreed. With one of these connected, ChatGPT can search your past calls and pull out decisions, objections and actions. If you haven't chosen a note-taker yet, here's how we'd pick one your team will trust.
Try: “What did [client] push back on across our last three calls?”
9. Design: Canva or Figma
Canva's app can create, edit and resize designs, and make them in bulk from a list. Figma's works with your design files. Both are low risk: nothing leaves your account until someone exports it.
Try: “Resize last week's webinar banner for LinkedIn, Instagram stories and an email header.”
10. Everything else: Zapier MCP, as a custom app
Zapier isn't in ChatGPT's Plugin directory, so this is the one you add yourself. Turn on developer mode, create an app and paste in Zapier's server address, then sign in to Zapier. On Business, Enterprise and Edu, an admin does this and publishes it for the workspace. OpenAI's help centre keeps write actions in custom apps for those company plans, so on Plus and Pro expect Zapier to read and fetch only, which rules out most of what it's for. In Zapier, switch on only the actions you'd be happy for ChatGPT to run.
Try: “When I say ‘log it’, add this conversation's summary as a row in our client log.”
What order should you set them up in?
Four sittings, about a week apart. Each one adds apps that can do a little more than the last, so you learn how ChatGPT behaves before it can change anything shared.
On Business, Enterprise and Edu, admins decide which apps the workspace can use and which actions they may take. Then each person signs in with their own account, so ChatGPT only sees what that person can see. Our Read, Draft, Act ladder sets out where each tool should sit.
Where does this break?
- The cheaper plans stop short. Free and Go can use directory apps, but OpenAI says some capabilities need Plus or higher, and neither plan has developer mode for custom apps.
- Custom apps on personal plans mostly read. OpenAI's help centre describes full custom apps, with write actions, as a beta for Business, Enterprise and Edu. That's what limits Zapier on Plus and Pro.
- Apps can see your chats and memories. Each app's listing says ChatGPT may share relevant chats and memories with it. If Memory holds things you wouldn't hand to that company, review it first.
- Teams wants a work account. Personal Microsoft accounts aren't supported.
- Emails and invites come from strangers. Text in an inbound email or a calendar invite can include instructions aimed at an AI. Keep sending, sharing and deleting on a setting that asks first, and that text can't act on its own.
- The names keep changing. Connectors became apps, and apps now sit inside plugins. We checked every app here on 9 November 2026 and will update this list each quarter.
What comes after the Core 10?
The Core 10 cover the jobs everyone has. The rest of this series adds the five connectors that matter for one kind of work, the Trade 5, starting with marketing.
Want the Core 10 set up properly?
We'll pick the right ten for your stack, set the workspace permissions, connect Zapier or a custom app where the directory falls short, and write the house rules that tell ChatGPT what it may do without asking.
FAQs
Are ChatGPT connectors, apps and plugins the same thing?
Nearly. Connectors were renamed apps in December 2025. Since July 2026 apps sit inside plugins, which can also bundle skills and templates. The app is the part that links ChatGPT to your software.
Can I use ChatGPT connectors on the free plan?
Yes. ChatGPT's pricing page lists finding and using plugins on every plan, including Free. Some capabilities need Plus or higher, and custom apps such as Zapier need developer mode, which starts at Plus.
Can ChatGPT send emails from Gmail or Outlook?
Yes, on ChatGPT's website. It drafts the email and sends it once you confirm. On company plans, admins can block sending or require approval.
Can I use Zapier with ChatGPT?
Yes, but not from the directory. Add Zapier MCP as a custom app in developer mode. OpenAI's help centre keeps write actions in custom apps for Business, Enterprise and Edu, so most Zapier actions need a company workspace.
Does the Teams app work with a personal Microsoft account?
No. OpenAI's listing says it needs a Microsoft work or school account.
Related reading
- The 10 Claude Connectors Every Team Should Set Up First
- Connectors: Give the Claude and ChatGPT Brain Your Business
- ChatGPT Says Unlimited. So Why Did You Hit a Limit?
- Set Up a Shared AI Workspace for Your Team in an Afternoon
Sources
- ChatGPT: Plugin directory, accessed 9 November 2026
- ChatGPT: Google Drive, accessed 9 November 2026
- ChatGPT: Outlook Email, accessed 9 November 2026
- ChatGPT: Outlook Calendar, accessed 9 November 2026
- ChatGPT: Teams, accessed 9 November 2026
- ChatGPT: SharePoint, accessed 9 November 2026
- ChatGPT: HubSpot, accessed 9 November 2026
- OpenAI Help Center: Plugins in ChatGPT and Codex, accessed 9 November 2026
- ChatGPT: Plans and pricing, accessed 9 November 2026
- OpenAI Help Center: What is ChatGPT Go?, accessed 9 November 2026
- OpenAI Help Center: Google apps in ChatGPT, accessed 9 November 2026
- OpenAI Help Center: Outlook apps in ChatGPT, accessed 9 November 2026
- OpenAI Help Center: Developer mode and MCP apps in ChatGPT, accessed 9 November 2026
- OpenAI: ChatGPT developer mode, accessed 9 November 2026
- Zapier: Connect Zapier MCP to ChatGPT, accessed 9 November 2026
- Hostinger: How to send an email using ChatGPT, 2026