Understanding ChatGPT Work

OpenAI introduced ChatGPT Work on July 9th, and it has undergone rapid iterations since then. It's a highly complex and powerful product, with two distinct versions: Work Cloud and Work Local. Work Cloud can be accessed through chatgpt.com or the ChatGPT mobile apps, while Work Local requires the installation of the ChatGPT desktop app. This article focuses on Work Cloud.

Work Cloud is accessible to subscribers paying $20/month or more, whereas free users and $8/month Go users cannot access it. The interface to access Work is presented as a tab selector, designed to be an alternative to Chat. OpenAI suggests using Chat for answers, explanations, brainstorming, or short drafts, and Work for tasks requiring a clear outcome, such as briefs, decks, analyses, recurring updates, workflows, or reviewable files.

Key features of Work Cloud that are not available in Chat include the option to select GPT-5.6 Sol, Luna, or Terra with different reasoning levels, the ability to use GPT-5.5, and the availability of GPT-5.6 Pro exclusively in Chat. Ultra in Work Cloud is believed to be a special mode that more eagerly delegates to sub-agents. Both Work Cloud and Chat sessions consume separate allowances, which might explain the differences in model availability.

One of the most exciting features of ChatGPT Work Cloud is the code execution environment that can access the internet, unlike ChatGPT Chat. ChatGPT Work can clone GitHub repositories, install dependencies, and interact with various web domains. It also allows the creation of a browser instance, loading websites, filling out forms, taking screenshots, and running JavaScript against the DOM of those pages.

This functionality makes Work Cloud a powerful tool for tasks such as scraping websites or building interactive web applications.

Another notable feature of Work Cloud is its ability to build and deploy entire websites using Cloudflare Workers. These websites can include HTML, JavaScript, server-side features, stateful components, and access to Cloudflare D1 and R2. Users can create private sites, which are accessible only to them, or public sites that can be shared with specific individuals on team plans.

ChatGPT Chat does not support sub-agents, while Work Cloud can run multiple parallel agents working together on complex projects. Lastly, ChatGPT Work can schedule prompts to run at specific times, such as checking for updates on Waymo's Half Moon Bay launch every day at 8 am.