ChatGPT Apps, Claude Apps, Cursor Apps comparison
A year ago, "AI apps" mostly meant wrappers around language models. Today, the three largest AI platforms - ChatGPT, Claude, and Cursor, each have their own app ecosystem, their own distribution logic, and their own idea of what an app is supposed to do.
For developers deciding where to build, and for businesses evaluating where to show up, the differences matter. Here's what each platform actually offers.
The Shared Foundation: MCP
Each platform's app ecosystem is built on the Model Context Protocol (MCP) , an open standard developed by Anthropic in 2024 that defines how AI systems communicate with external tools and data sources.
For developers, this matters: a backend built to MCP standards can, in principle, work across multiple AI platforms. You're not forced to rebuild from scratch for each one.
ChatGPT Apps: Consumer Scale, Curated Directory
ChatGPT launched its App Directory in December 2025, opening submissions to all developers. Apps run directly inside ChatGPT conversations, users can connect them from chatgpt.com/apps, call them by name during a conversation, or have ChatGPT suggest them automatically based on context.
Who it's for: Any developer or business wanting to reach consumers at scale. ChatGPT has 800 million weekly active users, making it the largest distribution channel in the AI space by a significant margin.
How apps work: Apps combine an MCP backend (where your tools and logic live) with a frontend widget (the interactive interface users see in chat). The widget renders inside ChatGPT's iframe environment and must follow OpenAI's UI guidelines.
Discovery: Three pathways - the directory itself, direct invocation by name, and indirect prompting when ChatGPT detects relevant intent in a conversation. The third is the most powerful for organic growth, but it depends on the model learning to trust your app through real user behavior.
Review process: Every app goes through OpenAI's review which is typically 2–3 months. Apps must meet functionality, privacy, and design standards.
Monetization: Currently limited to external checkout (redirecting users to your website or app). In-app purchases and digital goods are in development.
Best for: Consumer products, e-commerce, lifestyle services, productivity tools with broad appeal. Companies like Spotify, Canva, DoorDash, and Zillow are the early models here.
Claude Apps: Enterprise Focus, Developer-First
Anthropic launched Claude's interactive app support on January 26, 2026. The launch gave Claude users the ability to work with external applications - Asana, Figma, Slack, Canva, and others directly inside Claude conversations, with real interactive interfaces rather than text-only output.
Who it's for: Developers building for professional and enterprise workflows. Claude's user base skews toward technical users, enterprise teams, and people using AI for complex, multi-step work.
How apps work: Same MCP foundation as ChatGPT Apps. The MCP Apps extension allows any MCP server to supply an interactive interface that renders inside Claude. Existing MCP server integrations can often be adapted with relatively small additions.
Discovery: More operator-driven than algorithmic. Claude MCP Apps can be installed by users directly or configured by organization admins for their teams. Enterprise deployments can push specific apps to all users in an organization - a distribution model that doesn't exist in ChatGPT.
Review process: Less centralized than OpenAI's process. Apps are configured through MCP server connections rather than submitted to a closed directory.
Ecosystem: Rapidly growing. Anthropic has enterprise partnerships with companies including GitHub, Netflix, Datadog, and Asana. Claude also now works across Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and Word through add-ins for Microsoft 365, with context carrying automatically between applications.
Best for: B2B SaaS products, enterprise workflow integrations, developer tools, and products targeting professional users who already work with Claude. If your primary customer is a knowledge worker or a development team, Claude's ecosystem aligns better than ChatGPT's consumer-oriented directory.
Cursor Plugins: Built for Developers, Lives in the IDE
Cursor is different from the other two in a fundamental way. It's not a general-purpose AI chat platform, it's an AI-native code editor. Its app ecosystem (called Plugins, available through the Cursor Marketplace) is built exclusively for software development workflows.
Who it's for: Software developers, engineering teams, and companies building developer tools.
How plugins work: Cursor Plugins bundle capabilities including MCP servers, skills (reusable knowledge files), subagents, rules, and hooks. They extend Cursor's agents with custom functionality specific to a codebase, tool, or workflow.
Discovery: The public Cursor Marketplace has hundreds of plugins from companies like Shopify, Twilio, AWS, Atlassian, and Azure. Teams can also create private team marketplaces - a controlled set of plugins configured by admins and available to all team members.
Monetization: Plugin distribution is separate from revenue. Most plugins are free tools that drive adoption of a paid product or API. Direct plugin monetization is not a feature of the current ecosystem.
Best for: Developer tool companies, API providers, framework authors, and any company whose primary customer is an engineering team. If you want to be present where developers are writing code, Cursor Plugins are the direct path.
Which Platform Should You Build For?
The answer depends on who your user is.
Build for ChatGPT if your product serves consumers, operates in lifestyle, retail, travel, or productivity categories, and you want maximum distribution. The directory and contextual surfacing give you access to an audience no other AI platform can match.
Build for Claude if your product targets enterprise teams, integrates with professional workflows, or serves developers building on top of AI. The enterprise deployment model where admins push apps to their entire organization creates distribution that doesn't depend on individual users discovering your app in a directory.
Build for Cursor if your customer is a developer or engineering team. You don't need to compete for attention in a consumer marketplace. You show up in the tool where your customer is already spending most of their working day.