A Custom GPT is a chat window. A help center has URLs.
Custom GPTs live inside ChatGPT. Helpable lives on your domain with public articles that rank on Google, get cited by AI tools, and answer customers through an embeddable widget.
7-day free trial · No credit card · Built in Europe
Why a Custom GPT is not a help center
Building a Custom GPT is free and fast. But it creates a chat window inside ChatGPT, not a help center on your domain. Your customers need pages they can find, link to, and bookmark.
No public URLs
A Custom GPT has one URL: the ChatGPT interface. There are no individual article pages, no search results, no sitemap. Google cannot index your answers. Perplexity cannot cite them. Helpable publishes every article on its own URL with structured data.
Locked inside ChatGPT
Customers need a ChatGPT Plus account to use most Custom GPTs. That is a paywall you do not control. Helpable works for anyone with a browser. No login, no subscription, no third-party dependency.
No SEO or structured data
A Custom GPT generates zero search engine presence. No FAQPage schema, no HowTo markup, no breadcrumbs, no hreflang. Helpable generates four schema types on every article and includes sitemaps, robots.txt, and custom domain support.
No escalation path
When a Custom GPT cannot answer, the conversation ends. There is no contact form, no inbox, no fallback. Helpable's Calli AI escalates to your contact inbox with the full conversation attached, so your team picks up where the AI left off.
Helpable vs Custom GPT: feature comparison.
| Feature | Helpable | Custom GPT |
|---|---|---|
| Individual article URLs | ✓ Public, indexable pages | ✗ Single chat interface |
| Google indexing | ✓ Sitemap + structured data | ✗ Not indexable |
| AI citations (Perplexity, etc.) | ✓ Cited via public URLs | ✗ No public content to cite |
| Cost | $29/mo (Starter) | Free to build |
| Customer access | Anyone with a browser | Requires ChatGPT account |
| Embeddable widget | ✓ One script tag | ✗ Lives in ChatGPT only |
| Custom domain + SSL | ✓ All plans | ✗ Not possible |
| Contact form + inbox | ✓ With AI context | ✗ Not available |
| SEO structured data | ✓ 4 schema types | ✗ None |
| Multilingual (50+ languages) | ✓ Automatic hreflang | GPT responds in multiple languages |
| Analytics | ✓ Article + AI analytics | Limited usage stats |
| Branding control | ✓ Your domain, your brand | ChatGPT branding |
When a Custom GPT makes sense
If you want a quick internal experiment, a chatbot for personal use, or a proof-of-concept before investing in a help center, a Custom GPT is free and fast to set up. It is also useful as a supplementary channel for users who already live in ChatGPT.
When Helpable is the right choice
If you want your help content to rank on Google, get cited by AI tools, work for any customer without a ChatGPT login, and live on your own domain with your own branding, you need a proper help center. Helpable gives you that, plus AI answers through Calli.
Custom GPT pricing vs Helpable: what you actually pay.
A Custom GPT is free to build and free for ChatGPT Plus users to access. But there is no SEO value, no public URLs, and no way to own the content on your domain. Helpable Starter is $29/month. Pro is $79/month with unlimited team members and 10,000 AI answers. The investment pays for itself when your articles start ranking on Google and deflecting support tickets.
Competitor pricing verified April 2026. Prices may vary by region.
What Helpable gives you that a Custom GPT cannot.
Public URLs that rank. Structured data that AI tools cite. A widget inside your product. A contact inbox for when AI is not enough. All on your domain.
Calli AI answers customer questions
Conversational AI grounded in your articles. Provides source links. Escalates to your inbox with full context when it cannot help.
SEO and AI visibility built in
FAQPage, HowTo, Article, BreadcrumbList schema on every article. Sitemap, robots.txt, hreflang, custom domain. Your content appears in Google and gets cited by ChatGPT and Perplexity.
Embeddable widget
One script tag. Floating help button in your product. Customers search and ask Calli without leaving the page. No ChatGPT account needed.
Contact inbox with context
When Calli cannot answer, the customer gets a contact form. The form lands in your inbox with the full AI conversation attached. A Custom GPT just stops.
“We built a Custom GPT for our docs and it worked, but nobody found it. Zero Google presence. We moved to Helpable and within two months our articles were showing up in search results and getting cited by Perplexity.”
Kevin R., Founder, Botframe (AI platform startup)
“Our Custom GPT was a fun demo, but customers needed real help pages they could bookmark and share. Helpable gave us that plus AI answers in the widget. Support volume dropped 30%.”
Nadia S., Head of Product, Querylens (Search analytics tool)
Can a Custom GPT replace a help center?
No. A Custom GPT is a chat interface inside ChatGPT. It has no public URLs, no SEO, no sitemap, and no way for Google or AI tools to index your content. A help center like Helpable publishes articles on your domain where they can be found, linked, and cited.
Is a Custom GPT free?
Yes, Custom GPTs are free to build. However, most users need a ChatGPT Plus subscription ($20/month) to access them. Helpable costs $29/month but is accessible to anyone with a browser, no login required.
Does Helpable use AI like a Custom GPT?
Yes. Helpable includes Calli, a conversational AI that answers customer questions from your articles. The difference is that Calli lives on your domain, in your widget, and alongside public articles that Google can index. A Custom GPT lives inside ChatGPT only.
Will my help articles be cited by AI tools?
Yes. Helpable generates FAQPage, HowTo, Article, and BreadcrumbList structured data on every article. AI tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews can discover and cite your public content. A Custom GPT generates no indexable content.
Can I use both a Custom GPT and Helpable?
Yes. Some teams build a Custom GPT as an extra channel while using Helpable as the primary help center. The Helpable articles become the source of truth that both Calli and your Custom GPT can reference.
Compare other alternatives
Own your help content. Do not rent a chat window.
7-day free trial. No credit card. Live on your domain in 5 minutes.
Starter $29/mo · Pro $79/mo · Scale $199/mo