OpenAI's ChatGPT Checkout Explained for 2026

As of 2026, OpenAI’s ChatGPT has opened a direct commerce channel through its 700 million weekly active users. The company launched ChatGPT Checkout in September 2025, powered by Stripe and the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP), letting users buy products without leaving the chat interface.

This articles dives into just exactly what ChatGPT Checkout is, and how AI developers can use it to monetize their agents and chatbots.

Understanding ChatGPT Checkout

ChatGPT Checkout is OpenAI’s native commerce integration built on the Agentic Commerce Protocol. The protocol extends Anthropic’s Model Context Protocol (MCP) and has since been adopted by Google and Microsoft.

The system offers two implementation paths: External Checkout and Instant Checkout.

External Checkout redirects users to your merchant site for payment. OpenAI currently recommends this approach for most developers. You maintain control over pricing, fulfillment, and the entire transaction flow.

Instant Checkout processes payments directly within ChatGPT using Stripe. It’s currently in beta and limited to select marketplace partners selling physical goods. If you’re building on OpenAI’s platform, review our ChatGPT Apps SDK guide for integration context.

For merchants already using Stripe, integration takes one line of code. That simplicity has attracted major brands to the platform quickly.

Sam Altman confirmed OpenAI will charge approximately 2% commission on purchases made through ChatGPT Checkout. That fee structure mirrors standard affiliate network rates, but applies only to direct commerce transactions.

External Checkout: How It Works

External Checkout is the recommended path for developers not yet ready for in-app payments. Users express purchase intent in ChatGPT, then get redirected to your website for checkout.

This approach gives you complete control over the payment experience. You handle pricing, discounts, subscriptions, and fulfillment using your existing infrastructure. No PCI compliance changes needed.

The implementation requires setting up a commerce endpoint in your ChatGPT app configuration. When users indicate they want to buy, ChatGPT generates a secure redirect link to your checkout page.

Benefits of External Checkout:

• Uses your existing payment processor
• Full control over pricing and promotions
• No new compliance requirements
• Works with subscription models
• Handles both physical and digital products

The main tradeoff is friction. Users leave the chat interface to complete their purchase. Conversion rates typically drop 15-30% compared to in-app checkout, based on standard e-commerce benchmarks.

External Checkout makes sense if you already have an optimized checkout flow. You avoid rebuilding payment infrastructure just to support ChatGPT users.

Instant Checkout: How It Works

Instant Checkout processes payments directly within the chat window, letting users complete transactions without leaving the conversation or entering a separate payment page.

The system uses the complete_checkout tool from MCP’s commerce protocol. Your ChatGPT app calls requestCheckout() with product details, pricing, and merchant information. Stripe handles the actual payment processing.

Here’s what happens during an Instant Checkout transaction:

1. User expresses purchase intent in chat
2. Your app calls requestCheckout() with product data
3. ChatGPT displays payment interface (saved cards, new card entry)
4. User confirms purchase
5. Stripe processes payment
6. Your app receives webhook notification
7. ChatGPT confirms order to user

The entire flow stays within the chat window. No redirects, no context switching.

Current limitations:

• Beta access only (select partners)
• Physical goods only (no digital products or services)
• Requires Stripe merchant account
• Subject to OpenAI’s 2% commission
• Limited customization of payment UI

The technical implementation requires integrating Stripe webhooks for order management. You’ll also need systems to handle inventory updates, shipping notifications, and returns processing.

Developer Concerns With Checkout

Direct commerce in ChatGPT adds operational complexity you might not expect.

Returns and refunds become your responsibility. When a customer initiates a return through ChatGPT, your system must process the refund, update inventory, and handle the physical product return. There’s no standardized return flow yet in the ACP specification.

Inventory synchronization requires real-time updates. If a product sells out on your website, ChatGPT needs to know immediately. Otherwise, users can attempt purchases for unavailable items. Most developers build webhook listeners to push inventory changes to OpenAI’s API.

Subscription management gets complicated. Monthly subscriptions, annual renewals, and upgrade paths all need custom handling. The MCP commerce protocol doesn’t currently specify subscription lifecycle management patterns.

Accidental purchases happen more frequently in conversational interfaces. Users might say “add that to my cart” conversationally without realizing they’re initiating a purchase. You need confirmation flows and clear cancellation policies.

PCI compliance requirements don’t change just because payments happen in ChatGPT. If you’re handling card data, you still need PCI DSS certification. Stripe helps, but your systems touching payment data still need compliance.

Customer support complexity increases. Users expect to manage orders through ChatGPT, your website, and potentially email. Building unified order management across these channels takes engineering resources.

These operational challenges make direct commerce best suited for companies with existing e-commerce infrastructure. If you’re building your first AI agent, starting with checkout creates significant overhead. For alternative approaches, see our guide on how to monetize AI chatbots.

Alternative: Affiliate revenue with ChatAds

Affiliate revenue offers a fundamentally different monetization model. Instead of selling products directly, you earn commissions by recommending products users can buy elsewhere.

ChatAds handles this through a single API call in your AI agent. When your agent mentions a product, ChatAds automatically finds the best affiliate link and inserts it into the response. Users click through to merchant sites like Amazon, Target, or Walmart. You earn 3-8% commission on purchases.

The key difference from checkout: you have zero inventory, no returns processing, no PCI compliance requirements. The merchant handles everything after the click.

Here’s how it works in your AI agent:

1. User asks for product recommendations
2. Your agent generates a response
3. Before sending to user, call ChatAds API with the message
4. ChatAds extracts product mentions and inserts affiliate links
5. User receives response with clickable product links
6. User purchases from merchant site
7. You earn commission automatically

Comparison: Direct Commerce vs Affiliate Revenue

The choice between direct commerce and affiliate revenue depends on your business model and operational capacity.

Direct commerce makes sense when you sell your own products. If you manufacture goods, run a brand, or have existing inventory, ChatGPT Checkout lets you reach 700 million users.

Affiliate revenue works better for informational agents. Product recommendation engines, shopping assistants, and research tools generate value by helping users make purchase decisions, not by selling directly. This approach aligns with native ad strategies for AI conversations.

The approaches aren’t mutually exclusive. You can implement both: checkout for your own products, affiliate links for complementary items from other brands.

Which Approach to Use

Use ChatGPT Checkout when:

• You sell your own physical products
• You have existing e-commerce infrastructure
• You need control over the entire customer experience
• Your margins justify the operational overhead
• You’re already PCI compliant
• You have customer support capacity for order issues

Use affiliate revenue when:

• You don’t hold inventory
• Your agent provides product recommendations
• You want minimal operational complexity
• You’re building an MVP or early-stage product
• You need access to products across multiple brands
• Your value is in curation, not sales

Use both when:

• You sell branded products but also recommend complementary items
• You want to test market demand before stocking inventory
• Your agent serves different user intents (browsing vs buying)

The decision comes down to engineering focus. Building commerce infrastructure takes months while integrating affiliate revenue takes days.

Most developers should start with affiliate revenue to prove market demand with minimal investment. Add direct commerce later if users actively request your own products.

For established e-commerce brands, ChatGPT Checkout makes strategic sense. You already have the infrastructure. Adding a new sales channel through ChatGPT extends your reach without rebuilding operations.

The AI assistant market is growing fast enough to support both models. Choose based on your current capabilities and long-term business goals.