Copilot, ChatGPT or Claude: which suits an Australian small business?

As at 4 November 2026, the right choice depends mostly on the software your business already runs. On Microsoft 365, start with Copilot Chat, which is included with eligible plans. On Google Workspace, start with Gemini, which is included from Business Standard. For heavy writing, analysis or building small tools, trial ChatGPT Business and Claude Team side by side. None of these business plans trains on your data by default.

Microsoft 365 Copilot Business, the paid seat that works across your email, files and meetings, is AU$31.40 per user a month plus GST on an annual plan. It's AU$26.91 for the first year under an offer that closes 31 December 2026. Claude Team costs US$20 per user a month on annual billing, and IT Brief reported the same price for ChatGPT Business. Google Workspace Business Standard is A$19.80 per user a month on an annual plan.

Coverleo builds client tools with Claude. Every price and policy here comes from each vendor's own pages, except where a news report is named.

Whichever tool you pick, let it prepare the work: draft, match, sort and flag. People send, approve and pay.

How Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini compare

Each section covers four points in the same order: cost, connections, strength and main limit. Anthropic gives Claude prices in US dollars, and IT Brief reported ChatGPT's in US dollars. This article doesn't convert them.

Microsoft Copilot

Copilot Chat costs nothing extra for staff signed in with a work account on an eligible Microsoft 365 plan, says Microsoft's Australian Copilot Chat page. The paid seat, Microsoft 365 Copilot Business, costs AU$31.40 per user a month paid yearly, or AU$37.68 paid monthly, excluding GST, says Microsoft's Australian pricing page. Existing customers on an eligible Business plan who commit to a year by 31 December 2026 pay AU$26.91 for the first year. Bundles with Copilot, paid yearly, are AU$35.20 a user a month (Business Standard) and AU$47.90 (Business Premium).

Without a paid seat, Copilot Chat works from the web, files you upload and content open in Outlook and Teams. It can't search your mail and files by itself, Microsoft's Copilot overview says. A paid seat draws on your emails, files, meetings and calendars automatically. Microsoft's connectors gallery has Microsoft-built connectors for Gmail, Google Drive and Google Calendar, and one built by Xero.

Copilot's strength is that it works inside Outlook, Teams, Word and Excel, using the permissions you already have. Its main limit is that a paid seat can reach whatever that person can open, so a badly shared SharePoint folder becomes easy to find. Paid seats include Microsoft's SharePoint Advanced Management for reducing oversharing.

ChatGPT Business

ChatGPT Business costs $20 per user a month billed annually, or $25 monthly, for two or more users, says OpenAI's pricing page. IT Brief reported those prices in US dollars in August 2026.

OpenAI's plugins page gives Gmail, Google Drive and Slack as examples of plugins for ChatGPT, and its workspace connections page covers using ChatGPT inside Slack and Microsoft Teams. Admins choose which actions each app may take, including ones that change information in the connected service, OpenAI's plugin controls page says. Xero's 16 September 2026 post says its plugin in ChatGPT is live and lets customers ask questions about their live Xero data. The post doesn't say whether the plugin can change records. MYOB's connection guide says its connector for ChatGPT and Claude is read-only and is being rolled out gradually.

ChatGPT's strength is reach: it works with Gmail and Google Drive, answers inside Slack and Teams, and connects to Xero and MYOB, which suits a mixed setup. Its main limit is that Business sets app availability for the whole workspace, OpenAI's plugin controls page says. Role-based access is an Enterprise feature. Review each app's allowed actions before staff connect mailboxes.

Claude Team

Claude Team is for teams of 2 to 150, says Anthropic's pricing page. A standard seat is US$20 a month billed annually or US$25 monthly. A premium seat, with five times the usage, is US$100 or US$125. Anthropic's Team plan article says these are US prices before tax, and that pricing, currency and tax vary by region. Claude Enterprise is US$20 per seat a month billed annually, plus usage at API rates, with a 20-seat minimum.

Team connects to Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Drive, Microsoft 365 and Slack. Anthropic's Microsoft 365 connector article says it's read-only for work accounts unless an admin turns on write tools. Its Google connectors article says Claude can send email and share Drive files, asking for approval before each action by default. On Team, owners decide whether members may skip that step. Xero's Claude connector page says Claude "can't create, edit, approve, reconcile or pay in Xero".

Claude's strength is that Team includes Claude Code and Cowork, so the same seat covers building small tools. Its main limit is location and logging. Anthropic says Claude data is stored in the US, and audit logs are an Enterprise feature.

Gemini in Google Workspace

Business Starter costs A$9.90 per user a month on an annual plan or A$11.80 flexible, Business Standard A$19.80 or A$23.60, and Business Plus A$30.90 or A$37, says Google's plan comparison page. Google's pricing page says its prices don't include tax, and its tax page says invoices to Australian businesses include 10% GST. Gemini in Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive and Meet comes with Business Standard and above, the pricing page says.

Gemini works inside Google's own apps. The Xero and MYOB connectors here are for the other tools.

Gemini's strength is cost: from Business Standard, you already pay for it. Its main limit is location. Google's Data Regions page says data can be kept in the US or Europe. There's no Australian option.

Will they train on our business data?

Not by default, on any of the four business plans. Microsoft's enterprise data protection page says Copilot prompts, responses and data reached through Microsoft Graph aren't used to train foundation models. OpenAI says ChatGPT Business has "no training on your business data by default", and Anthropic says Claude Team has "no model training on your content by default". Google's Workspace privacy hub says Workspace doesn't use customer data to train models without the customer's permission or instruction.

The real risk is staff on personal accounts. Engadget reported in August 2026 that OpenAI enrols free ChatGPT accounts in model training by default, and that users can opt out by switching off "Improve the model for everyone". Anthropic's model training article says Claude's consumer plans use chats for training if the user chooses to allow it. Microsoft's enterprise data protection applies when staff sign in with their work account. For what should never go into a personal account, see Is it safe to put business data into ChatGPT?

Where is our data stored and processed?

As at 4 November 2026, none of the four vendors commits to processing prompts in Australia on the plans covered here.

In an April 2026 update to its in-country processing announcement, Microsoft said it expects to process Copilot interactions in Australia by the end of 2026, a year later than first announced. Microsoft's page on Anthropic models says Claude models inside Copilot are excluded from in-country processing commitments. They're on by default for most Australian customers, and an AI Administrator can turn them off.

OpenAI's pricing page lists data residency controls as an Enterprise and Edu feature. Computerworld reported in November 2025 that new ChatGPT Enterprise and Edu workspaces could store data at rest in Australia, and that this didn't cover where prompts are processed.

Anthropic's server location article says Claude data is stored in the US. It may route traffic to the US, Europe, Asia and Australia. Only some Enterprise and Developer Platform customers can choose a routing location.

Google's Data Regions keep data at rest, including Gemini prompts, in the US or Europe. Only its Enterprise Data Regions and Assured Controls options also cover processing.

If a contract requires Australian processing, get it confirmed in writing before you buy.

What can admins control and audit?

Copilot controls in the Microsoft 365 admin centre manage agents, web search and who can use Copilot Chat. An AI Administrator role manages Copilot without full admin rights. When auditing is on, Microsoft Purview logs each Copilot interaction, including the files Copilot accessed, Microsoft's audit log page says.

ChatGPT Business has SAML single sign-on and multi-factor authentication. SCIM provisioning, role-based access and audit logs through the Compliance API are Enterprise features, OpenAI's pricing page says.

Claude Team has single sign-on, admin controls for connectors and spend controls. SCIM and audit logs are Enterprise only, Anthropic's pricing page says.

Google says admins can turn the Gemini app, and Gemini in Gmail, Drive, Docs, Meet and Chat, on or off. Its privacy hub points admins to audit logs of Gemini activity.

Which fits your business?

On Microsoft 365

Start with Copilot Chat, which you already pay for. Buy Copilot Business seats only for people whose work lives in Outlook, Teams and SharePoint and who will use it daily. The AU$26.91 first-year price needs an order by 31 December 2026.

On Google Workspace

Start with Gemini if you're on Business Standard or above. Add ChatGPT Business or Claude Team only for a named job that Gemini handles poorly for your team.

For heavy documents, writing and analysis

Trial ChatGPT Business and Claude Team on the same three real tasks, such as month-end commentary, a contract summary and a policy draft. Give each to two to five people for two weeks, then keep the one whose drafts needed the fewest fixes. If an earlier trial stalled, see Why most Australian businesses aren't getting value from AI yet.

For building small tools

Claude Team includes Claude Code and Cowork in the seat price. ChatGPT Business includes Codex, OpenAI's coding tool. On Microsoft, Cowork and Copilot Code need a paid Copilot seat plus usage-based billing, and Copilot Code is still in Microsoft's Frontier preview program. Coverleo builds client tools with Claude, so weigh this paragraph accordingly.

Do you need more than one?

Often not. Microsoft turns Anthropic's Claude models on by default for most commercial customers outside the EU, EFTA and the UK, in licensed Copilot experiences such as Researcher. So an Australian business with Copilot may already have them.

One main tool plus a second for a few people with a specific job can work. Network Solutions' survey report found 73% of 187 American small business owners using AI had run more than one AI tool in the previous three months (Fractl, September 2026). It's one small survey, from another market. If you add a second tool, put it on a business plan and give it one named job.

Set it up so AI prepares and people decide

1. Move all work use onto business accounts. In Microsoft 365, tenant restrictions can block sign-in with personal Microsoft accounts.
2. Connect Xero and MYOB read-only. Xero's Claude connector and MYOB's connector are read-only. Before switching on Xero's ChatGPT plugin or the Xero connector in Copilot, ask Xero whether each can change records. What AI can do with Xero and MYOB right now covers each connection.
3. Keep write actions off, or behind an approval. In Claude, leave Microsoft 365 write tools off and keep approval on for Gmail and Drive. In ChatGPT, check each app's allowed actions first.
4. In Copilot, fix overshared folders before assigning paid seats, and decide whether Claude models stay on.
5. Name the person who checks AI output before it leaves the business. A person sends the email, approves the bill and makes the payment.

If any of these tools will help make decisions about people, read The Privacy Act's new rule on automated decisions starts 10 December 2026.

Weighing outside help against a new hire? See AI consultant, in-house hire or ongoing support.