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Use Tasks when you want ChatGPT to run once, repeat on a schedule, monitor for a change, or respond to a supported connected-app event. Use ChatGPT Work for longer, multi-step work such as research, analysis, or creating a finished deliverable. “Agent mode” is now historical terminology: OpenAI’s Help Center says ChatGPT agent is no longer available and points users to Work for longer tasks. Product names and access can change, so check your account’s current options.
Tasks and Work solve different workflow problems
The key difference is how work begins and what you need it to accomplish. A Task is built around a trigger: a time you choose or activity in a supported connected app. Work is an agent for longer, more involved requests that may require several steps and produce a completed work product.
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| Question | Tasks | ChatGPT Work |
|---|---|---|
| Main purpose | Run a one-time or recurring task, monitor for changes, or respond to a supported app event. OpenAI Help Center | Handle longer tasks involving research, analysis, connected apps or files, and finished deliverables. OpenAI describes Work this way in its ChatGPT release notes. |
| How it starts | At a chosen time or when supported connected-app activity occurs. OpenAI Help Center | You give Work a request. Eligible users can also use Work in scheduled or event-triggered task workflows. Release notes; Work help |
| Typical result | Task results, updates, or notifications associated with the run. OpenAI Help Center | Potentially a document, spreadsheet, presentation, report, Site, or other completed work. OpenAI release notes |
| Best fit | Reminders, recurring updates, monitoring, and routine responses to supported events. | Work requiring multiple steps, investigation, analysis, app or file context, or a polished deliverable. |
| Availability | Depends on account, plan, app, model, workspace settings, and—where relevant—event-trigger eligibility. OpenAI Help Center; Work help | Depends on rollout, plan, workspace, and enabled features. Check what is available in your account. OpenAI Work help |
| Oversight | Review the trigger, instructions, app access, and any approval request; some actions pause pending approval. OpenAI Help Center | You can follow progress, answer questions, change direction, and approve important actions. OpenAI release notes |
What “agent mode” means now
OpenAI’s Help Center page for ChatGPT agent currently states, “ChatGPT agent is no longer available,” and directs users to ChatGPT Work for longer, multi-step tasks. OpenAI Help Center: ChatGPT agent Therefore, the current comparison is best understood as scheduled or event-triggered Tasks versus Work—not as two currently available modes with equivalent names.
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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchOpenAI’s July 9, 2026 Business release notes describe ChatGPT Work as “an agent for longer, more involved tasks.” They say it can research and analyze information, work across connected apps and files, and create finished documents, spreadsheets, presentations, reports, and Sites. ChatGPT release notes
#1 Best Overall
Choose by the job you need done
Choose a Task for repeatable or trigger-based work
- Set a reminder for a specific time or on a recurring schedule.
- Ask for a recurring update or monitoring task.
- Respond to supported activity in a connected service, such as Gmail or Slack messages or GitHub pull-request activity, when event-triggered Tasks are available to your account.
Tasks only act on the schedule, app activity, and permissions actually configured. A connection to an app does not mean every event or action in that service is supported. OpenAI Work help
Choose Work for multi-step analysis or a deliverable
- Research a question and synthesize findings.
- Analyze information across connected apps or files available to the Work session.
- Create a finished report, spreadsheet, presentation, document, or other supported output.
- Stay involved as the work progresses, answer clarifying questions, or redirect it.
Work can also be part of eligible scheduled or event-triggered task workflows, so the distinction is not simply “Tasks are automatic; Work is always manual.” The appropriate option depends on whether the job needs a trigger, a longer reasoning-and-production process, or both. OpenAI Work help
Task limits and event-trigger availability
OpenAI’s scheduled-task help page lists the following active-task caps. These are documented product limits, not independent performance statistics; check the help page and your account because features and plan terms can change. OpenAI Help Center
| Plan | Maximum active Tasks listed |
|---|---|
| Free | 3 |
| Go | 3 |
| Plus | 5 |
| Business | 10 |
| Edu | 10 |
| Pro | 15 |
| Enterprise | 15 |
The same help page says Free users can create one-time tasks or recurring tasks no more than once per day, using flexible time windows such as morning, afternoon, or night. Eligible paid plans support recurrence as often as hourly and exact delivery times. OpenAI Help Center
Event-triggered Tasks have additional conditions. OpenAI documents a ceiling of up to 30 runs per hour and 720 per day across a user’s event-triggered Tasks. They require eligible access to Work and a supported connected app; they are not available on Free or Go plans or in FedRAMP workspaces. Enterprise, Edu, and ChatGPT for Healthcare administrators must enable the feature. These are stated product limits and availability rules, not a guarantee that any particular event will trigger a run. OpenAI Help Center; Work help
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Connected apps, permissions, and approvals
Before enabling a Task or asking Work to use a connected service, confirm which account is connected, what event or data it can access, and what the instructions authorize it to do. Connected apps may read information or take actions according to the permissions granted. A Task that sends a message or changes external data may pause and ask for approval before proceeding. OpenAI Help Center
- Check the exact connected account and requested app permissions.
- Make the trigger and conditions specific; do not assume broad monitoring if only a supported event is configured.
- Review proposed external actions before approving them.
- For Business and Enterprise team Tasks, remember that runs use the team’s service account, saved instructions, and configured team connections; access and actions depend on workspace permissions. OpenAI Work help
For ChatGPT for Healthcare specifically, OpenAI says event-triggered Tasks are not covered by a Business Associate Agreement and must not be used to transmit, store, or process protected health information. This restriction is stated for those event-triggered Tasks; it should not be generalized to every ChatGPT feature. OpenAI Work help
Quick Recap
A quick decision rule
- Pick Tasks if the work should happen at a time, repeat, monitor, or react to a supported app event.
- Pick Work if you need a multi-step investigation, analysis, use of connected context, or a finished deliverable.
- Check access first if a plan, connected app, administrator policy, workspace, or region could affect availability.
- Review permissions and approvals whenever a workflow can read private data or change something outside ChatGPT.
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