ChatGPT App Store Struggles with Sluggish Adoption Six Months After Launch
Remember when OpenAI launched its app store and everyone thought it was the next App Store moment? Six months later, the ChatGPT app platform has 300+ integrations — and almost nobody is using them.
What Went Wrong
OpenAI’s ambitious plan to let companies like Spotify, Booking.com, Uber, and StubHub launch mini apps within ChatGPT looked like a key step toward building an all-in-one platform. But according to Bloomberg interviews with app makers, the reality has been frustrating.
The apps are hidden away, the functionality is limited, and partner companies are hesitant to hand off customer relationships and payments to OpenAI. Most apps force users to leave ChatGPT to complete a purchase — defeating the entire purpose of in-app integration.
Developers Are Frustrated
The developer experience has been rough. App makers report a tedious approval process, a buggy coding system, and critically — almost no usage data. Because OpenAI treats chatbot prompts as private data, developers receive “very limited” analytics on app performance.
“I’ve got this app live, but I have no idea if it’s failing,” one developer told Bloomberg. OpenAI recently ramped up approvals to ~70 apps per week, up from just 3-5 per day, but documentation hasn’t kept pace with bugs flagged on developer forums.
Consumers Aren’t Ready Either
A Criteo survey found 55% of consumers are “extra cautious” about sharing payment information with AI assistants. And 96% of regular AI chatbot users still rely on other channels — social media, traditional search, retailer websites — to complete purchases.
Booking.com CEO Glenn Fogel said referral traffic from ChatGPT is “small” and his company still spends “an enormous amount” on Google advertising relative to OpenAI.
Part of a Pattern
The sluggish app store adds to a growing list of product bets by OpenAI that haven’t paid off. Sora was discontinued last week. The Atlas browser had early growing pains. And now ads are appearing inside ChatGPT itself, meaning partner apps may soon compete with sponsored content for user attention.
The Bottom Line
OpenAI says the app platform is “central to its product strategy” and acknowledges areas needing improvement. But the chicken-or-the-egg problem is real: consumers won’t switch to AI for purchases unless the experience is better, and companies have no incentive to empower a middleman that doesn’t yet drive meaningful traffic. As one developer put it: “The floodgates have not opened yet.”