Claude vs ChatGPT vs Copilot for Business: Pick a Plan

By the time a company decides to provide an AI tool, its staff have usually already picked one. Some live in ChatGPT, some swear by Claude, and the Microsoft 365 crowd has found Copilot Chat. Usually on personal accounts. Most comparison articles answer "which model is smarter," which changes every few months. This one answers the question IT and finance actually own: which business plan gives the company control.

We don't resell any of these, and we set up whichever one fits. Facts below are from each vendor's own help, pricing and documentation pages, checked on November 2, 2026. Prices change often, so confirm them before you budget.

The short version

• Small team, mostly Microsoft 365, light AI use: start with Copilot Chat, which you may already have, and require work sign-in.
• Staff already prefer ChatGPT or Claude: buy the business tier of that tool. ChatGPT Business or Claude Team is enough for SSO and no training on your data.
• You need SCIM, audit logs, retention control, or to pull in existing personal accounts: that is Enterprise territory on both ChatGPT and Claude.
• Regulated data (PHI): only a tier with a BAA for that product. See our ChatGPT and Claude HIPAA breakdowns.

Side by side

Gemini for Google Workspace is the equivalent for Google shops. Google says "Workspace does not use customer data for training models without customer's prior permission or instruction," admins can retain, hold, search and export Gemini app conversations with Vault, and Gemini app chats can be kept "Up to 36 months, as determined by admins." Google's Starter, Standard and Plus plans are capped at 300 users.

The details that change the decision

Claude Enterprise's seat price isn't the whole price

Anthropic lists Enterprise at "US$20/seat/month, billed annually, 20 seat minimum," and its Enterprise help article adds: "The seat fee only covers access to the platform and doesn't include any usage." Usage is billed at API rates on top. Budget from a usage estimate, not the seat line.

Pulling in personal accounts is an Enterprise feature on both

This is the feature most firms in our situation actually need, and it's the least advertised. OpenAI's help center: "ChatGPT Business admins cannot require someone to merge or delete a personal workspace." Anthropic: "Team plans can verify a domain and block new personal accounts from being created," but "Domain claiming is supported on Claude Enterprise plans only," the migration window is 30 days, and "Domain capture is a one-way door." Plan that step carefully; you can't undo it.

On Business or Team, the migration is a people process: announce the company tool, ask staff to move work over, stop reimbursing personal subscriptions, then block unapproved AI apps. Our policy-to-controls post covers that sequence.

Microsoft has the reverse problem

With Microsoft, the risk runs the other way. With multiple account access on, Microsoft says "your users can use Copilot on work documents without a Microsoft Copilot license" from your organization, using a personal subscription, and that "Microsoft Copilot data protection is always based on the identity used to access the file." Decide deliberately whether to allow it. Also note that Microsoft says Copilot Chat "uses a limited set of organizational content and reduced graph grounding" compared with the paid add-on. The free tier is a good sanctioned chat tool, but it isn't Microsoft 365 Copilot.

Logs matter more than people expect

If you ever need to answer a legal hold, a client audit, or "did anyone paste the client list into AI?", you need logs. OpenAI's Compliance Platform, which you can connect to eDiscovery, DLP or SIEM tools, "is available to ChatGPT Enterprise and Edu workspaces." Anthropic: "Audit logs are available for Enterprise organizations only." Microsoft says no extra steps are needed to configure auditing for Copilot in Purview. For regulated firms, that difference alone often decides between Business/Team and Enterprise. For finance teams it ties directly to audit evidence for AI-assisted work.

One open item on ChatGPT Business: OpenAI's own pages describe Business admins' control over retention inconsistently. If retention matters to you, get it confirmed in writing before you buy.

Many firms end up with two

It's common, and fine, to run Copilot Chat for everyone because it comes with Microsoft 365 and sits next to mail and documents, plus Claude or ChatGPT for the people who do long-form drafting, analysis or coding. The rules don't change: every approved tool is on a company account with SSO, every unapproved one is restricted, and the acceptable-use policy names both.

If you want help choosing and setting up, our AI usage review starts with what your people already use and ends with the tier, SSO, admin controls and migration plan. Vendor-neutral; we don't resell any of these.