Countries where ChatGPT is not available: 8 UN states, 11 for Claude, and 6 with no ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini

Which countries is ChatGPT not available in?

OpenAI leaves 8 UN member states off its list, and no country gets Claude without also getting ChatGPT. We read OpenAI's, Anthropic's and Google's own country lists on 18 October 2026 and matched them name by name. All 185 places on Anthropic's list are on OpenAI's. They're on Google's too.

The 8 that OpenAI leaves out are Belarus, China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Syria and Venezuela. Hong Kong, Macau and Kosovo are missing too, though they aren't UN members. OpenAI lists Ukraine "with certain exceptions" and doesn't name the exceptions. Its supported countries page is blunt about the rest: "Accessing or offering access to our services outside of the countries and territories listed below may result in your account being blocked or suspended."

Older lists get this wrong both ways. Some still name Afghanistan, Chad, Eritrea, South Sudan and Yemen as places without ChatGPT. All five are on OpenAI's list as of 18 October 2026. Italy is the other stale entry. Its privacy regulator blocked ChatGPT in 2023, and OpenAI reopened it in Italy on 28 April 2023.

Which countries block ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini?

Six UN member states are on none of the three lists: Belarus, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia and Syria. China would make it seven, but Google's list names "Mainland China (Workspace only)", so we count it as listed. Five more split the companies. The table holds every place that at least one list leaves out. Each column is that company's own list, read on 18 October 2026: OpenAI's country list, Anthropic's Supported Regions Policy and Google's Gemini web app list.

All three companies cover the same 182 UN member states. OpenAI adds three that Anthropic leaves out: Afghanistan, Myanmar and Yemen. Afghanistan is the one UN state where ChatGPT is the only one of the three. Google goes furthest. Gemini's web app is the only one of the three in Venezuela, Hong Kong, Macau and Kosovo, and work accounts reach it in mainland China.

If ChatGPT turned you away, Claude will too. Anthropic's list has no place that OpenAI's lacks. Gemini is the one worth checking next, and only in the four places above. ChatGPT not available in your country explains the network, phone and card checks behind the error, and Claude not available in your country traces how Anthropic's list grew to 185.

Where is Grok or DeepSeek available when ChatGPT is not?

DeepSeek's app is listed in Apple's App Store in China, Russia and Belarus, where ChatGPT's isn't. xAI and DeepSeek publish no country list. So we asked Apple's lookup API whether each app is listed in 10 storefronts on 18 October 2026. DeepSeek was listed in 9 of them. Claude was listed in 1.

A listing means you can download the app there. It doesn't mean the service will let you sign up, since each company checks your location again inside the app. Grok's pattern is close to Claude's, with one exception. It's missing from Afghanistan, Myanmar and Yemen as well as China, Russia and Belarus, yet it's listed in Hong Kong. All five apps were listed in the Ukraine, South Korea, Indonesia, Pakistan and US stores we also checked.

xAI's consumer terms, last updated 12 October 2026, don't list countries either. They bar anyone in "any country or territory for which the United States maintains trade or economic sanctions or embargoes", without naming those places.

Is ChatGPT banned by any government?

Yes. China blocks it. GreatFire, which tests websites from inside mainland China, rated chatgpt.com blocked on 18 October 2026: all 4 of its latest conclusive tests failed, the last on 14 September 2026. OpenAI leaves China off its list as well, and ChatGPT isn't in China's App Store, so both sides say no. Most of the other gaps on this page are company decisions, not government bans.

Regulators elsewhere have stepped in too. Italy's ChatGPT block lasted about a month, but its DeepSeek order hasn't been reversed.

• Italy and ChatGPT, 2023. The Garante, Italy's privacy regulator, blocked ChatGPT in spring 2023. OpenAI made changes and reopened it on 28 April 2023.
• Italy and DeepSeek, 2025. The Garante ordered DeepSeek to stop processing Italian users' data on 30 January 2025. On 18 October 2026 DeepSeek was still missing from Italy's App Store.
• Grok in Southeast Asia, 2026. Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines blocked Grok in early 2026 over sexual deepfakes. Indonesia said on 1 February 2026 it would restore access on conditions, and Malaysia lifted its block too.

In the Western Hemisphere, ChatGPT is missing in two countries: Cuba and Venezuela. Gemini's web app reaches Venezuela. It doesn't reach Cuba.

Do the companies say why a country is missing?

No. None of the three companies gives a reason for each country it leaves out. What they do publish points to US sanctions for a few places and to their own policy for the rest.

Syria shows how slowly the lists follow the law. President Trump's Executive Order 14312, signed on 30 June 2025, ended the Syria sanctions emergency from 1 July 2025. More than 15 months later, Syria is on none of the three lists. Microsoft's Copilot page, last updated September 2026, puts the usual exceptions in one line: "There are a few exceptions for regions like China (excluding Hong Kong SAR) and embargoed markets." Microsoft says Copilot reaches "over 170 markets" but publishes no list, so we couldn't count it.

Anthropic goes furthest on ownership. Its policy refuses "entities that are majority-owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by persons or entities in unsupported regions", even when the users sit in a listed country. So a company in Singapore with a Russian or Chinese parent falls under that rule, though Singapore is on the list.

Why do the lists say 185, 208 and 242?

The totals differ mostly because of territories, not countries. Count UN member states and the gap shrinks to 182, 185 and 186.

OpenAI publishes two lists. Its help center article on the "unsupported country" error has 188 entries. Its developer page has 208, the same 188 plus 20 territories such as Bermuda, Greenland and Réunion. Anthropic's list looks shorter for a related reason. Its policy, in the version marked effective 12 November 2026, says "Territories and dependencies of a listed country are also supported", with Puerto Rico as its example. So Bermuda counts for Claude through the United Kingdom, even though only OpenAI names it.

What can you do if your country is on no list?

Check the table above before you pay for anything. Gemini's web app covers Venezuela, Hong Kong, Macau and Kosovo, which ChatGPT and Claude leave out. If you're in one of the six countries on no list, no setting fixes it. Anthropic's policy says use is refused "while physically located in an unsupported region", and OpenAI warns of blocked accounts. A VPN puts a paid account at risk.

Whizi isn't a way around any of this. Anthropic's policy covers Claude "offered through cloud platforms and authorized resellers", so an app that passes your messages to Claude doesn't change which countries qualify. That includes Whizi. If you're in a listed country and want Claude, GPT and Gemini models on one bill, Whizi Pro costs $29.99 a month. If you only use one of them, that company's own plan costs less.