Comparison

ChatGPT, Claude or Copilot: which AI tool suits an SME team?

The three business plans compared on what you can check: price, minimum, connections and data. And a way to choose that starts with your own work rather than a ranking.

Published 19 October 2026

Test the same task in each tool before choosing for the whole team.

For an SME team there are three obvious business AI assistants: ChatGPT Business from OpenAI, Claude Team from Anthropic and Microsoft Copilot. On paper they look alike: they write, summarise, search your documents and do not train on your business data by default. Which one fits best you will not see in a ranking but in your own work. Below is what you can compare, from the official pages, as of October 2026, followed by a simple test to choose.

What you can check

Price (as of October 2026)
ChatGPT Business
$20 per user per month billed annually, $25 monthly
Claude Team
$20 per seat per month billed annually, $25 monthly
Microsoft Copilot
Copilot Business (Dutch price page): € 18.20 per user per month paid yearly, € 21.84 monthly, excluding VAT, on top of Microsoft 365
Team size
ChatGPT Business
At least 2 seats
Claude Team
For teams of 2 to 150
Microsoft Copilot
Copilot Business for up to 300 users
Connections
ChatGPT Business
Google Workspace, Slack, GitHub, Microsoft 365 and more
Claude Team
Google Drive, Gmail, Google Calendar, GitHub, Microsoft 365 and Slack
Microsoft Copilot
Your own Microsoft 365: email, files, meetings, calendars
Training on your data
ChatGPT Business
Not by default
Claude Team
Not by default
Microsoft Copilot
Not for prompts, responses and data accessed through Microsoft Graph

What you can check
	ChatGPT Business	Claude Team	Microsoft Copilot
Price (as of October 2026)	$20 per user per month billed annually, $25 monthly	$20 per seat per month billed annually, $25 monthly	Copilot Business (Dutch price page): € 18.20 per user per month paid yearly, € 21.84 monthly, excluding VAT, on top of Microsoft 365
Team size	At least 2 seats	For teams of 2 to 150	Copilot Business for up to 300 users
Connections	Google Workspace, Slack, GitHub, Microsoft 365 and more	Google Drive, Gmail, Google Calendar, GitHub, Microsoft 365 and Slack	Your own Microsoft 365: email, files, meetings, calendars
Training on your data	Not by default	Not by default	Not for prompts, responses and data accessed through Microsoft Graph

What a table does not show

How well a tool writes, reasons or understands your jargon differs per task and changes with every new model version. A comparison that names one winner today is out of date in a few months. That is why we do not recommend a tool on reputation, but on a test with your own work.

How to choose in two weeks

Pick three tasks that come back every week, for example a quote email, notes from a meeting and a question from your own documents.
Have two or three people do those tasks in each tool, with the same instruction and the same sample material. Do not use sensitive client data while you have no business plan yet.
Judge per task: how much still needed changing, and was the content right?
Only then look at the practical side: where are your documents, which environment does your team already use, and who manages the licences?

When each one fits

Microsoft Copilot fits if your team works in Microsoft 365 and most work happens in Outlook, Teams, Word and Excel. How Copilot compares with ChatGPT is covered in more depth in Microsoft Copilot or ChatGPT.
ChatGPT Business fits if you want one assistant connected to several environments, and your team wants the extra features such as Deep Research or agents.
Claude Team fits if it handled the tasks best in your test and you want a separate workspace alongside Google Workspace or Microsoft 365.
If you cannot choose, that usually means the differences are small for your work. Then choose on management and price, and invest in how the team works with it.

The tool is the smallest step

A licence changes little if nobody knows what to use it for. The difference is in agreements: which tasks you do with AI, what you check and what you keep out of the tool. How to roll that out with a team is in rolling out AI with your team. We give training per tool, for ChatGPT, Copilot and Claude, and are tied to none of the three.

Frequently asked

Which AI tool is best for an SME?

There is no fixed winner. Microsoft Copilot is the obvious choice if you work in Microsoft 365; ChatGPT Business and Claude Team are separate workspaces you connect to your tools. Test the same tasks in each and choose on what it does for your work.

What does a business plan cost?

As of October 2026: ChatGPT Business and Claude Team both cost $20 per user per month billed annually and $25 monthly. Microsoft Copilot Business costs € 18.20 per user per month paid yearly, excluding VAT, on top of a Microsoft 365 subscription (Dutch price page). Check the official pages below for the current price.

Is a free version enough for a team?

Not for work with business data. The business plans do not train on your data by default and give you control over who has access. For Claude's consumer plans, model training is 'opt-out', according to Anthropic's pricing page.

Do you give training for all three?

Yes. We give training per tool for ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot and Claude, with examples from your own work. See Copilot, ChatGPT and Claude training.