ChatGPT Sites is OpenAI's built-in website and web app builder, launched July 9, 2026 in public beta inside ChatGPT Work. You describe a site in chat, ChatGPT builds and hosts it, and you share it by URL. It is available on paid ChatGPT plans, and it replaces the Canvas workflow for building web experiences.
This is a neutral explainer. It covers what Sites is, who can use it, what it can and cannot build, the technical limits of its runtime, and how the pricing works, based on OpenAI's own launch materials and documentation. Everything here describes the public beta as of July 2026; OpenAI says limits and availability may change during the beta.
What is ChatGPT Sites?
Sites lets ChatGPT create, host, refine, and share interactive websites, web apps, and games without a separate deployment workflow. It shipped on July 9, 2026 as part of the ChatGPT Work launch, OpenAI's agent product that turns requests into finished artifacts: sheets, slides, docs, and now hosted websites.
The workflow is conversational:
- Describe the site. In Work mode (or Codex in the desktop app), ask ChatGPT to build a website. Including the word "website" or mentioning @Sites triggers the Sites flow. You can attach files, data, links, and constraints.
- Review the preview. ChatGPT generates the site and shows a private preview limited to you (and workspace admins) until you change access.
- Refine through chat. Ask for changes to copy, layout, data, styles, forms, or interactive behavior, and review the updated preview.
- Publish. Choose who can visit: only you and admins, selected users, your workspace, or anyone on the internet. Sites generates the production URL.
One operational detail worth knowing before you press anything: every Sites deployment URL is a production URL. There is no separate staging environment. If you want to review a build before it goes live, you save a version first and deploy only after reviewing it.
Sites is the successor to the Canvas approach for building web things in ChatGPT. Canvas gave you code in a side panel that you had to host yourself; Sites generates the code, hosts it, versions it, and serves it at a real URL with access controls and optional storage attached. For the broader question of what ChatGPT can do for website building beyond Sites, see our guide on whether ChatGPT can build a website.
Who can use ChatGPT Sites?
Availability has three gates as of July 2026: plan, region, and workspace settings.
Plans. Sites is in public beta on paid ChatGPT plans, excluding the Free and Go tiers. The rollout is staged: Pro, Pro Lite, Enterprise, and Edu received Sites first, with Plus and Business following over the days after launch. If you do not see Sites yet, it may still be rolling out to your account. Sites is not available in the older ChatGPT Classic app; it requires the new ChatGPT desktop app or ChatGPT Work on the web.
Regions. Sites is not available in the European Economic Area, Switzerland, or the United Kingdom at launch. OpenAI has not announced a timeline for these regions.
Workspace settings. In Business workspaces, Sites is enabled by default. In Enterprise workspaces, an admin must enable it through role-based access controls, and public publishing is off by default until an admin turns it on. Workspace admins can also control who may create and publish Sites.
What can you build with ChatGPT Sites?
OpenAI positions Sites for interactive websites and lightweight apps. Its own examples skew toward work artifacts: dashboards, project trackers, launch calendars, prototypes, internal portals, and interactive reports. The documentation also names websites, web apps, and games, including content-led sites and landing pages.
Sites can go beyond static pages. Depending on what you ask for, a Site can include:
- A database. Sites can attach D1, a relational (SQLite-based) database, for saved records, user progress, or game scores.
- File storage. R2 object storage handles images, documents, audio, video, and other uploads.
- Sign-in. Internal sites can use the workspace user's identity; public-facing sites can use Sign in with ChatGPT or an external identity provider where supported.
- Environment variables and secrets. Managed through the Site's settings, not in prompts or code.
- A custom domain. Where available, you can point a domain you already own at your Site by adding the DNS records Sites provides. Sites does not register domains, and custom domains are not available in Enterprise workspaces at launch.
What you cannot build is equally well defined. OpenAI's terms prohibit Sites from enabling financial transactions or processing payment-card data, which rules out online stores and checkout flows entirely. Sites also must not process Protected Health Information, target children under 13, or violate OpenAI's usage policies. OpenAI can remove or restrict a Site it believes violates policy.
What are the technical limits?
Sites runs on a serverless edge runtime rather than a traditional server. The stack is Cloudflare's developer platform: a Workers runtime for code, D1 (SQLite) for the database, and R2 for object storage. That architecture is what makes instant, zero-config hosting possible, and it is also the source of the hard limits.
| Capability | ChatGPT Sites (public beta, July 2026) |
|---|---|
| Hosting | Included, managed by Sites; every deployment URL is production |
| Runtime | Cloudflare Workers (serverless edge functions) |
| Database | D1 (SQLite-based relational database) |
| File storage | R2 object storage |
| Node.js servers | Not supported |
| Postgres and other external databases | Not supported |
| Background services and long-running jobs | Not supported |
| Commerce and payments | Prohibited by OpenAI's terms |
| Custom domains | Supported where available; not in Enterprise workspaces at launch |
| Versioning | Save a version, then deploy; saved versions map to Git commits for local projects |
| Access control | Owner-only, selected users, workspace, or public (admin-gated in Enterprise) |
| Regions | Unavailable in the EEA, Switzerland, and the UK at launch |
| Data residency | Not supported at launch (code, D1/R2 data, artifacts, logs) |
In practice, this means Sites is a great fit for front-end experiences, lightweight CRUD apps, and internal tools whose data fits comfortably in SQLite and object storage. It is not a fit for anything that needs a persistent Node.js process, a Postgres database, WebSocket servers, scheduled background workers, or third-party frameworks and hosting patterns the Sites runtime does not support. OpenAI's docs say plainly that "some frameworks, private networks, databases, background services, and hosting patterns may not be supported."
Two smaller caveats: Sites does not support data residency or inference residency at launch, which matters for compliance-sensitive teams, and deleting a Site is permanent, with no restore.
How much does ChatGPT Sites cost?
There is no separate Sites price. The cost has two layers, both tied to your ChatGPT plan:
1. The plan itself. Sites requires a paid ChatGPT plan (anything except Free and Go). If you are not already paying for ChatGPT, that subscription is the entry price.
2. Metered agent usage. Building and editing a Site is agent work performed by ChatGPT Work, and OpenAI is explicit that Work "follows the same usage structure as Codex": usage varies with the amount of work a task requires and meters against your plan's allowance. No per-task prices or credit rates were published at launch. Separately, during the public beta, Sites usage (the sites themselves, their storage, and their traffic) is included up to plan-specific limits that OpenAI shows inside the product rather than on a public pricing page.
The beta limits have real teeth: if you reach one, you may be unable to create a new Site, add storage, or keep a high-usage Site publicly available until usage drops. You can still edit and manage existing Sites. Limits apply across all Sites on the account, Enterprise and Edu limits may vary by workspace, and OpenAI says the limits may change during the beta. ChatGPT notifies you as you approach a limit.
The honest summary: as of July 2026 there is no public price list for Sites. You pay for a ChatGPT plan, agent work meters against that plan's usage allowance, and hosting is included up to in-product beta limits. Anyone budgeting for serious use should build one real project and watch the usage meter before committing to a workflow.
Is ChatGPT Sites the same as OpenAI Sites?
Yes. "ChatGPT Sites," "OpenAI Sites," and "Codex Sites" all refer to the same product. The feature first appeared under the Codex banner, when Codex was OpenAI's standalone coding agent. On July 9, 2026, the Codex app merged into the new ChatGPT desktop app, and Sites shipped in public beta inside ChatGPT Work. OpenAI's own naming is "Sites" or "ChatGPT Sites"; "OpenAI Sites" is simply what people call it when searching. If you see any of the three names, they describe the product covered in this article.
What happens if you outgrow ChatGPT Sites?
The constraints that most commonly push people to look elsewhere are:
- Region. You are in the EEA, Switzerland, or the UK, where Sites is unavailable at launch.
- Commerce. You want to sell anything, which Sites contractually cannot do.
- Backend depth. You need a real Node.js server, Postgres, WebSockets, or background jobs, none of which the Workers runtime provides.
- Plan fit. You do not want a ChatGPT Work subscription just to host one website.
If any of those apply, the good news is that Sites validated a category that already has mature options. Dedicated AI website builders such as Playcode run full-stack apps with real servers and databases, support commerce, and are available in Europe. We compare the whole field in ChatGPT Sites alternatives (2026) and go deep on the head-to-head in ChatGPT Sites vs Playcode.
And if Sites' limits do not affect your project, there is no need to switch: for internal dashboards, prototypes, and lightweight tools inside a team that already pays for ChatGPT, Sites is exactly the kind of zero-setup hosting the category needed.
Frequently asked questions
What is ChatGPT Sites?
ChatGPT Sites is OpenAI's built-in website and web app builder, launched July 9, 2026 in public beta inside ChatGPT Work. You describe a site in chat, ChatGPT generates the code, hosts it, and gives you a shareable URL. It replaces the Canvas workflow for building web experiences in ChatGPT.
Is ChatGPT Sites free to use?
No. As of July 2026, Sites requires a paid ChatGPT plan; it is not available on the Free or Go tiers. During the public beta, usage is included up to plan-specific limits, and the agent work that builds and edits Sites is metered under the same usage structure as Codex. OpenAI has not published per-task rates.
Can ChatGPT Sites sell products or take payments?
No. OpenAI's terms prohibit Sites from enabling financial transactions, and Sites must not process payment-card data. That rules out e-commerce stores, checkout flows, and paid bookings. Sites also cannot process Protected Health Information or target children under 13.
Why is ChatGPT Sites not available in my country?
At launch, Sites is not available in the European Economic Area, Switzerland, or the United Kingdom. Elsewhere, access depends on your plan (paid plans except Free and Go) and the staged rollout: Pro, Pro Lite, Enterprise, and Edu received it first, with Plus and Business following over the days after launch.
Can I use my own domain with ChatGPT Sites?
Yes, where custom domains are available. Sites does not register domains; you must already own one and be able to edit its DNS records, then add the records Sites provides through your domain provider. Custom domains are not available in Enterprise workspaces at launch.
Does ChatGPT Sites replace Canvas?
For building websites and web apps, yes. Sites replaces the Canvas workflow for creating web experiences in ChatGPT: instead of code in a side panel that you host yourself, Sites generates, hosts, and serves the result at a real URL, with versioning, access controls, and optional storage.