AI plans for a small business: free, personal or business, and what each costs

Start with what you already have. To try AI on texts that contain no customer data, a free plan or a personal plan at about 5 to 23 euros a month is enough. Once two or more people use AI for work, or you want to put customer, patient or staff information into it, look at a business plan. On 3 November 2026 the standard business plans from Anthropic, Google, Microsoft, Mistral and OpenAI cost between about 7 and 26 euros or dollars per person a month, usually before tax. They add three things a firm needs: your work is not used to train the AI by default (Mistral’s Team plan is the exception: an administrator switches it off), someone in the firm manages the accounts, and there is a data protection contract. No plan is the right one for everyone. If you already pay for Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, check what it already includes before buying anything new.

This site is written with AI tools, including Claude by Anthropic, one of the assistants compared here. The comparison uses only the makers’ published information, with links.

This is lesson 3 of the free course “AI for small business”. Lesson 2 explains the rules on privacy and professional secrecy; this one is about money and contracts.

What do free and personal plans give a business?

A free or personal plan is made for one person. It works well for trying AI on public material: a shop notice, a product description, a menu translation. On 31 October 2026 the personal plans shown in euros from Italy included Google AI Plus at 4.99 euros a month and Google AI Pro at 21.99 euros, ChatGPT Go at 8 euros and ChatGPT Plus at 23 euros, Grok Plus at 8 euros before tax, and Microsoft 365 Personal, with Copilot, at 10 euros. Claude Pro cost 17 dollars a month paid yearly or 20 dollars monthly, and Mistral Vibe Pro 14.99 dollars or euros, both before tax. The comparison of AI assistants lists every plan with its source.

The catch is what happens to what you type. On personal plans, most makers use your chats to improve their AI unless you switch it off. Seven of the nine assistants in the comparison work this way. A personal plan also has no administrator: if an employee leaves, their chats and files stay in their own account. And there is no contract between your business and the maker about the personal data you paste in. What happens to what you type shows where to find each training setting.

What does a business plan add?

Business plans use the same kind of language model, the program that writes the answers. What changes is the contract and the controls around it:

No training on your content by default. Anthropic’s pricing page says “No model training on your content by default” for Team. Google’s Workspace pricing page says your company’s data is not used to train its models. Microsoft’s business page says prompts and responses are not used to train its models. OpenAI’s help centre, in a copy read on 31 October 2026, said it does not use content from Business workspaces to train its models by default. Mistral is different: its help article of 3 September 2026 says administrators of Teams “can disable data training usage for the entire organization”, while Enterprise customers are opted out by default.
Administration. One person adds and removes colleagues, pays one bill and sets what the others can do.
Sharing. Colleagues can share projects and instructions, so everyone starts from the same price list and the same tone of voice. Lesson 5 explains how.
A data protection contract. Under Article 28 of the GDPR, a supplier that handles personal data on your behalf needs a written contract with you, often called a DPA (data processing agreement). Anthropic says its DPA is “automatically incorporated” into the terms of its commercial products, including Team. Google says Gemini in Workspace is governed by its Cloud Data Processing Addendum. Microsoft’s business page names its Data Protection Addendum. Mistral publishes a DPA for commercial customers, effective 27 July 2026; check with Mistral that your plan is covered. OpenAI’s policy pages could not be opened on 3 November 2026: ask OpenAI for its data processing addendum before you sign.

How much does each business plan cost?

All prices below were read on the makers’ official pages on 3 November 2026, except where the table says otherwise. They are per person per month, in the currency each page shows. OpenAI’s page does not say whether VAT is included; the others exclude it. The plans are in alphabetical order by maker.

Plan (maker)	Price per person a month	Who it is for	Training on your content
Claude Team (Anthropic)	Standard seat 20 dollars paid yearly or 25 dollars monthly; Premium seat 100 or 125 dollars; tax excluded	2 to 150 people	None by default
Google Workspace with Gemini (Google)	Business Starter 6.80 euros, Business Standard 13.60 euros, Business Plus 21.10 euros with a one-year commitment; 8.10, 16.20 and 25.30 euros on the flexible monthly plan; tax excluded; launch discounts for new customers	Up to 300 people on these plans	Not used to train models, Google says
Microsoft 365 Copilot Business (Microsoft)	Add-on to an eligible Microsoft 365 Business plan: 18.20 euros on yearly billing, offered at 15.60 euros for the first year from 1 July to 31 December 2026; 21.84 euros on monthly billing; VAT excluded	Microsoft 365 Business customers, up to 300 users	Not used, Microsoft says
Vibe Team (Mistral AI)	24.99 dollars, or 24.99 euros with the page’s euro option; tax excluded	Teams; the price calculator on the page starts at 2 users	Administrators can switch it off for everyone
ChatGPT Business (OpenAI)	Standard seat 21 euros on yearly billing or 26 euros monthly; Premium seat 105 or 130 euros (pricing page, Business tab); the page does not say whether VAT is included	2 to 200 people	Not used by default (help centre copy of 31 October 2026)

Some notes help you read the table:

Google includes AI in its office suite. Business Starter has Gemini in Gmail and the Gemini chat app; Business Standard and Plus add Gemini in Docs, Meet and other apps. You also get business email, storage and video calls, so the price is not for AI alone. Google sells more AI features, such as more image and video generation, as a separate add-on called AI Expanded Access.
Microsoft includes Copilot Chat, a web chat assistant, at no extra cost in eligible Microsoft 365 plans. The paid add-on puts Copilot inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams. The page adds that some advanced AI features, listed next to Cowork and Autopilot, are billed by usage on top of the licence.
Claude Team and ChatGPT Business both sell two kinds of seat, Standard and Premium; Anthropic says you can mix them, for example most people on Standard and a heavy user on Premium.
Other assistants. On 31 October 2026 Perplexity’s help centre said Enterprise data is never used for training, and xAI’s FAQ said it does not use content from business and enterprise customers to improve its models. Their business prices were not checked for this lesson. DeepSeek and Meta AI publish no business chat plan in the comparison.

For a sense of scale: three people on Standard seats paid monthly cost 75 dollars a month before tax on Claude Team, or 78 euros on ChatGPT Business, whose page does not say whether VAT is included. Three people on Google Workspace Business Standard with a one-year commitment cost 40.80 euros a month before tax, including email and storage.

When should you move to a business plan?

Move when one or more of these is true:

More than one person uses AI for work. You want shared instructions, one bill, and the power to close an account when someone leaves.
You want to use personal data. Customer names, invoices, health details, case files. Even then, paste only what the task needs, as lesson 2 explains.
You need to show what you use. The EU AI Act expects firms to make sure the people who use AI know enough about it; lesson 2 explains what that means after the 2026 changes. A business account makes it easier to see who uses which tool, which helps you keep the training log from lesson 2.
You already pay for Google Workspace or Microsoft 365. Check what your current plan already includes before adding another maker.

Stay on a personal plan when you work alone, use AI only for public texts, and switch training off in the settings.

What should you check before you pay?

The price shown. Per person or per company, with or without VAT, monthly or yearly. Yearly billing is cheaper but ties you in.
The minimum number of people. Claude Team and ChatGPT Business start at 2; some plans have discounts for the first months only.
The contract. Find the DPA and read who stores the data and where. If you are a lawyer, accountant or doctor, ask your professional body whether it has guidance.
The free trial. Google and Microsoft offer trials that turn into paid plans: Microsoft says its one-month trial converts automatically and needs a credit card.

Where to go next

Lesson 2: the rules explains privacy, professional secrecy and the training log.
Lesson 4: ready-made requests for your trade gives requests to copy for six kinds of business.
Lesson 5: make AI remember how your business works shows how to set up shared instructions.
AI for everyone is the complete guide to today’s AI, from the start.

Quiz: check what you learned

Pick one answer for each question: you see at once whether it is right, and why. Your answers are not sent anywhere.

What is the main difference between a personal AI plan and a business plan?
Show the answer
Right answer:B. Most business plans keep your work out of training by default, and they come with a data protection contract
The makers' pages list admin tools, a data processing contract and, except on Mistral's Team plan, no training on business content by default as what business plans add; the AI itself is often the same.
On 3 November 2026, how did Claude, Google Workspace, Microsoft and Mistral show their business prices?
Show the answer
Right answer:A. Per person per month, without tax
All four pages showed a price per user per month and said tax was not included, so you add VAT and multiply by the number of people.
Your Microsoft 365 Business plan already includes Copilot Chat. What do you get by adding Microsoft 365 Copilot Business?
Show the answer
Right answer:B. Copilot inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams
Microsoft says Copilot Chat is included in eligible plans; the paid licence adds Copilot inside the Microsoft 365 apps and other features.
On the Mistral Vibe Team plan, who stops your company's chats from being used for training?
Show the answer
Right answer:C. An administrator, who can switch training off for the whole organisation
Mistral's help article says administrators of Teams can disable training for the whole organisation; only Enterprise customers are opted out by default.

Common questions

Can I use free ChatGPT or Gemini for my business?

You can use them to try AI on texts that contain no personal data, such as a draft notice or a product description. On free and personal plans most makers use your chats to improve their AI unless you switch it off, and there is no data protection contract between your business and the maker. For anything with customer, patient or staff data, look at a business plan first.

How much does ChatGPT Business cost?

On 3 November 2026 OpenAI's Italian pricing page listed a Standard seat at 21 euros per person a month on yearly billing or 26 euros monthly, and a Premium seat at 105 or 130 euros. The plan is for teams of 2 to 200 people. The page does not say whether VAT is included.

Is Copilot included in Microsoft 365 for business?

Copilot Chat, a web chat assistant, is included at no extra cost in eligible Microsoft 365 plans, according to Microsoft's business page read on 3 November 2026. Copilot inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams needs Microsoft 365 Copilot Business, an add-on listed at 18.20 euros per user a month on yearly billing, tax excluded.

Does a business AI plan make me GDPR compliant?

No. A business plan gives you a data processing contract with the maker, which the GDPR requires when a supplier handles personal data for you, and most business plans keep your work out of training by default. You still decide what data goes in, tell your customers, and keep your own records. Lesson 2 of this course covers the rules.

Topics: comparison, AI for small business, prices, ChatGPT Business, Claude Team, Gemini, Microsoft 365 Copilot, Mistral, GDPR