Head to head 2026 edition
OpenAI Operator vs Sidekick Pro
Operator was shut down in August 2025. OpenAI's browser agent now ships inside ChatGPT Work. Here is what changed, and how today's OpenAI agent compares with Sidekick Pro.
OpenAI Operator
Retired browser agent, now part of ChatGPT Work by OpenAI
From $20/mo
Best for Turning a goal into a finished spreadsheet, slide deck, report or small web app on OpenAI's models.
Visit OpenAI Operator
Sidekick Pro
AI agents for your email, calendar, calls and browser
From $59/mo
Best for Professionals and small teams who want web chores, email, calls and meetings handled in their own accounts.
The short answer
OpenAI Operator or Sidekick Pro: which should you use?
Operator no longer exists as its own product. OpenAI folded it into ChatGPT agent in July 2025 and shut Operator down that August; agent mode was replaced by ChatGPT Work in July 2026. Choose ChatGPT Work if you want a goal turned into a finished document on OpenAI's models. Choose Sidekick Pro if you want an assistant that works in your own Chrome, reads your email, answers your phone and runs on GPT, Claude or Gemini, from $59 a month.
Operator was OpenAI's first browser agent. It arrived in January 2025 as a research preview for ChatGPT Pro subscribers in the United States, drove a browser in OpenAI's cloud, and clicked, typed and scrolled through sites for you. In July 2025 OpenAI released ChatGPT agent, which absorbed what Operator did, and Operator itself was shut down in August 2025.
The agent kept moving. In July 2026 OpenAI retired agent mode and its Atlas browser and replaced them with ChatGPT Work, which is included with Plus, Pro, Business and Enterprise at no extra cost. Since August 2026 Work also runs a browser in OpenAI's cloud that stays signed in between chats.
So the real question behind an "Operator vs Sidekick Pro" search is which browser agent to use today. Everything below compares ChatGPT Work, the product that replaced Operator, with Sidekick Pro. Prices and features come from each vendor's own pages, and we say where OpenAI is the better pick.
OpenAI Operator vs Sidekick Pro, feature by feature
Prices and features come from each vendor’s own site. OpenAI Operator pricing was last checked on October 4, 2026.
| Feature | OpenAI Operator | Our pick Sidekick Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Price | ||
| Starting price | From $20/mo | From $59/mo |
| Free plan | No | No |
| Plans | Operator is retired; ChatGPT Work is included with Plus $20/mo · Pro $200/mo · Business $25/user/mo | Personal $59/mo · Business $149/mo |
| What happened to Operator | ||
| Where the browser agent lives now | ChatGPT Work | Chrome extension and cloud browser |
| Plan needed for the agent | Plus, Pro, Business or Enterprise | Every plan |
| Browser and web tasks | ||
| Works in your own browser with your logins | Desktop app browser | Your own Chrome |
| Keeps working with your computer off | Cloud browser | Private cloud browser |
| Runs tasks on a schedule | Yes | Yes |
| Start a task by voice or from your phone | Yes | Yes |
| Other agents can drive it (MCP) | Not listed | Yes |
| Email, calendar and alerts | ||
| Reads Gmail and Google Calendar | Via connectors | Yes |
| Flags important email without being asked | No | Yes |
| Daily brief and calendar alerts | No | Yes |
| Drafts replies for you to approve | When you ask | Yes |
| Phone, texts and meetings | ||
| Answers your business phone | No | Every plan |
| Sends and replies to texts for you | No | Every plan |
| Joins Zoom and Google Meet calls | No | Business plan |
| Records and transcribes meetings | Record mode, desktop | Business plan |
| Models, memory and apps | ||
| Choose your AI model | OpenAI models only | GPT, Claude, Gemini |
| Remembers you across conversations | Yes | Yes |
| Connect apps (Slack, Notion, GitHub) | Yes | Yes |
| Shared team workspace | Business plan | Business plan |
| Apps | Web, iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, Linux | Web, Chrome, iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, Apple Watch |
Head to head, topic by topic
Where the agent clicks
OpenAI Operator
Operator drove a browser in OpenAI's cloud, and that is still how the OpenAI agent works. ChatGPT Work uses the browser built into the ChatGPT desktop app and, since August 2026, a cloud browser that keeps your sessions between chats. Each site you use has to be signed in to inside that browser.
Sidekick Pro
Sidekick Pro acts in the Chrome you already use, through its extension, with the logins you already have. For jobs that must finish with your laptop closed it switches to a private cloud browser that keeps its own logins. The chat shows a live view of the tab it is driving.
What you get back
OpenAI Operator
Work is at its best when the answer is a file. It breaks a goal into steps, works across your connected apps, stays with a long project and hands back a spreadsheet, a slide deck, a report or a small web app.
Sidekick Pro
Sidekick Pro is aimed at the chore rather than the deliverable: check the portal, fill in the form, book the slot, pull the numbers into a table. It writes documents, builds interactive pages and generates images too, but the job is usually a task finished in an account you own.
The work that arrives on its own
OpenAI Operator
ChatGPT waits for you to open it. Its Gmail and Google Calendar connectors read your mail and schedule when a task needs them, and Work can run tasks on a schedule, but nothing watches your inbox and tells you what needs attention.
Sidekick Pro
Sidekick Pro reads every new email as it arrives and flags what matters with Smart Inbox, alerts you to calendar changes and sends a daily brief. It drafts the reply or starts the task, and nothing goes out without your approval.
Calls, texts and meetings
OpenAI Operator
OpenAI does not give you a phone number, text your customers or send an assistant into a video call. Record mode in the desktop app transcribes a meeting you are already in.
Sidekick Pro
On every plan, Sidekick Pro gets its own number and works as an AI receptionist: it answers calls and texts, books appointments, plays hold music and transfers the calls that need you. On the Business plan it also joins Zoom and Google Meet calls, takes notes and follows up.
Models and lock-in
OpenAI Operator
Work runs on OpenAI's models only. If you want a second opinion from Claude or Gemini, that is a second subscription.
Sidekick Pro
Sidekick Pro lets you pick GPT, Claude or Gemini per turn, or let it choose, in one subscription. It also acts as an MCP server, so Claude Code, Cursor and other agents can drive your signed-in browser through it.
Price
OpenAI Operator
There is no separate Operator price any more. ChatGPT Work is included with Plus at $20 a month, Pro at $200, Business at $25 a seat and Enterprise. The free and Go plans do not include it.
Sidekick Pro
Sidekick Pro is $59 a month for Personal, which includes the phone line and texts, and $149 for Business, which adds the whole team, meetings and the coding agent. Every plan includes the browser agent. Business is one flat price however many members you invite, and there is no free plan and no trial.
Which should you choose?
Choose OpenAI Operator if you
- want the output to be a finished spreadsheet, deck, report or small web app
- already pay for ChatGPT and want the agent at no extra cost
- work mostly in OpenAI's apps, files and connectors
- want a desktop app for Mac, Windows or Linux that also handles local files
Choose Sidekick Pro if you
- need an agent in your own Chrome, with the accounts you are already signed in to
- want your inbox and calendar watched for you
- need your business phone answered and your texts handled
- want an assistant in your Zoom and Google Meet calls
- want GPT, Claude and Gemini in one subscription, with no vendor lock-in
Our verdict
Operator is gone. ChatGPT Work is the better document factory; Sidekick Pro is the better assistant.
If you came here looking for Operator, the honest answer is that it closed in August 2025 and its work now happens inside ChatGPT Work, at no extra cost on any paid ChatGPT plan above Go. For research that ends in a document, that is a strong agent and hard to beat on price if you already subscribe.
If you want the agent to work in your own accounts, read your email, answer your phone and join your calls, those are jobs OpenAI does not do. Sidekick Pro costs more, $59 a month against $20 for ChatGPT Plus, and it runs on GPT as well as Claude and Gemini and works in the Chrome you already use.
Frequently asked questions
Is OpenAI Operator still available?
No. OpenAI released ChatGPT agent in July 2025, which took over what Operator did, and shut Operator down in August 2025. Agent mode was then retired in July 2026 and replaced by ChatGPT Work, which is where OpenAI's browser agent lives today.
What replaced OpenAI Operator?
ChatGPT Work. It breaks a goal into steps, works across your connected apps and files, runs tasks on a schedule and hands back finished documents, spreadsheets, slide decks and small web apps. It is included with ChatGPT Plus, Pro, Business and Enterprise, but not with the free or Go plans.
Does the OpenAI agent use my own browser and logins?
No. It uses the browser inside the ChatGPT desktop app and a cloud browser that OpenAI runs, so you sign in to each site inside that browser. Sidekick Pro works in the Chrome you already use, with the logins you already have, and can also use a private cloud browser for long jobs.
How much did Operator cost, and what does it cost now?
Operator was part of ChatGPT Pro at $200 a month during its research preview. ChatGPT Work costs nothing extra: it is included with Plus at $20 a month, Pro at $200 and Business at $25 a seat. Sidekick Pro is $59 a month for Personal and $149 for Business.
Can either one answer my business phone?
Only Sidekick Pro. Every plan gives the assistant its own phone number that answers calls and texts, books appointments and transfers callers to you. OpenAI does not offer a phone number or SMS for your business.
Which one can I choose the AI model on?
Sidekick Pro. You pick GPT, Claude or Gemini, or let it choose the best model for each turn, in one subscription. ChatGPT Work runs on OpenAI's models only.