Copilot vs ChatGPT for business: which is better?
Microsoft Copilot or ChatGPT Business? What each costs for a ten-person team, where your data is processed in the EU, and which tool suits which kind of company.
Copilot is better if your company already spends the day in Outlook, Teams and Word and pays for Microsoft 365 Business. ChatGPT Business is better if you want a strong assistant for writing, analysis and research, whatever office software your team uses. For a ten-person team the two cost about the same, as of October 2026.
It sounds like a matter of taste. It is really a question about how your team works. This article covers how the two differ, what they cost, where data is processed, and when neither is the right fit.
What is the difference between Copilot and ChatGPT?
ChatGPT Business is a separate app. Your team opens it in the browser, on the desktop or on a phone and works with OpenAI's models. Company data comes in through connectors; OpenAI's pricing page lists Microsoft 365, Google Drive and Slack among others.
Microsoft Copilot, until recently called Microsoft 365 Copilot, is built into the apps your team already has open. It summarises a mail thread in Outlook, drafts in Word, works through numbers in Excel and writes up a meeting in Teams. To do that it reads mail, calendar, chats and documents through Microsoft Graph, but only what each user is already allowed to see. That is how Microsoft describes it in its data, privacy and security documentation.
Watch Microsoft's own naming. Copilot Chat comes at no extra cost with an eligible Microsoft 365 account. In Copilot Chat, though, Microsoft says users cannot pull in company content such as files, emails or chats. Only the paid Copilot licence does that. So when someone in the office says "we already have Copilot", they usually mean the chat without your company's data.
How much do Copilot and ChatGPT cost for ten people?
As of 12 October 2026, excluding VAT, euro list prices:
| Per user per month | Ten people per month | Requirement | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Copilot Chat | no extra cost | €0 | eligible Microsoft 365 plan |
| Copilot Business, annual | €18.20 (offer €15.60) | €182 (€156) | Microsoft 365 Business Standard or Premium |
| Copilot Business, monthly | €21.84 | €218.40 | as above |
| ChatGPT Business, annual | €21 | €210 | at least two users |
| ChatGPT Business, monthly | €26 | €260 | at least two users |
Sources: Microsoft's Copilot for business page for Germany (Spain shows the same prices) and OpenAI's pricing page in euros. Outside the euro zone OpenAI lists $20 annual and $25 monthly. Microsoft says the Copilot offer runs from 1 July to 31 December 2026 and applies to the first year only. Copilot Business is for up to 300 users and only for existing customers on a Microsoft 365 Business plan.
So the maths turns on one question: do you already pay for Microsoft 365 Business? A twelve-person engineering practice that has used Outlook, Teams and SharePoint for years only adds the add-on. A design studio running on Google Workspace would have to buy Microsoft 365 as well and would pay twice. What else lands on a ChatGPT Business bill, such as credits and seats that keep running, is in How much does ChatGPT Business cost a company?
Where do Copilot and ChatGPT process your data?
Both vendors say they do not train on your business data, and both offer a data processing agreement under Article 28 GDPR. The difference lies in location and in the exceptions.
Copilot. For EU customers, Microsoft says Copilot is an EU Data Boundary service, so traffic stays in the EU. Microsoft names two exceptions itself. Anthropic models are currently outside the EU Data Boundary and are therefore off by default for customers in the EU, according to its page on Anthropic models. Then there is web search: Copilot takes a few terms from your question and sends them to Bing. For those queries neither the data protection addendum nor the EU Data Boundary applies, and Microsoft acts as a controller. Admins can turn web search off, as the web search documentation explains.
ChatGPT Business. OpenAI's pricing table lists data residency in the EU for Enterprise only, not for Business. The details per plan are in Is ChatGPT GDPR compliant?
Moving personal data out of the EU is governed by Chapter V of the GDPR, which is why the exceptions matter more than the headline. Whichever tool you choose, decide on purpose whether web search is on, and set out which data may go in.
When is Copilot the better choice?
Copilot wins when the work already happens in Microsoft. An accounting firm whose client mail sits in Outlook, whose files live in SharePoint and whose team talks in Teams gets AI exactly where the work already is. Nobody copies text between windows. SharePoint permissions apply to Copilot as well, and admin runs through the Microsoft 365 admin center your IT provider already knows.
The flip side: Copilot is only as good as your filing. If SharePoint folders have been shared with "everyone" for years, Copilot finds those too. Check sharing before you switch it on.
When is ChatGPT the better choice?
ChatGPT wins when the assistant itself is the point. For reading long contracts, drafting proposals, analysing spreadsheets or research, a window of its own usually gives more room than the side panel in Word. ChatGPT also does not care which office suite you run. A company on Google Workspace, on Macs or on industry software without a Microsoft link does not need a second Office plan just for AI.
The limits: you work with one vendor's models, Business is paid by card, and data residency starts at Enterprise. You also write the internal rules for AI use yourself; there is a template in AI policy for employees.
Is there a third option besides Copilot and ChatGPT?
Yes, a separate AI workspace. It makes most sense when your team does not live in one world: finance in Microsoft, sales in Google, operations in a specialist tool. Or when you do not want to be tied to one model.
That is what Verselo is built for. Your team picks the model per task or leaves it on "Auto", from several top models in one place; see Chat & models. You upload your documents to shared or private folders, and every answer cites the document and the passage; see Company knowledge. Microsoft 365 and Google Drive connect as sources at launch; see Integrations. On data: EU-hosted models from leading providers; your data stays in the EU, with no training on it. One exception, stated plainly: with web search, the search term goes to Google, and admins can switch it off. What is processed where is on the Security page.
If your company already lives entirely in Microsoft 365, Copilot is often a good fit. The direct comparisons, with sources, are at Verselo or Microsoft 365 Copilot? and Verselo or ChatGPT Business?, including where they are stronger.
Frequently asked questions
Is Copilot included in Microsoft 365?
Only Copilot Chat. Microsoft says it comes at no extra cost for users with an eligible Microsoft 365 subscription, but it cannot reach your mail, files or chats. Copilot inside Outlook, Word, Excel and Teams with access to company data is an add-on: €18.20 per user per month billed annually, €21.84 billed monthly, excluding VAT, at German and Spanish list prices as of October 2026.
Which is cheaper for ten people, Copilot or ChatGPT?
On paper they are close. ChatGPT Business costs €210 a month for ten people billed annually. The Copilot add-on costs €182, or €156 in the first year under the offer that ends on 31 December 2026. But Copilot requires a Microsoft 365 Business plan. If you already pay for one, Copilot is cheaper. If you would have to buy Microsoft 365 just for this, it is not.
Does Copilot keep data in the EU?
Mostly, yes. Microsoft runs Copilot as an EU Data Boundary service for EU customers. Microsoft names two exceptions itself: Anthropic models sit outside that boundary and are off by default in the EU, and the web search queries Copilot sends to Bing are covered by neither the EU Data Boundary nor the data protection addendum. Admins can switch web search off.
Can ChatGPT Business access Outlook and SharePoint?
Yes, through connectors. OpenAI's pricing page says ChatGPT Business connects tools such as Microsoft 365, Google Drive and Slack. ChatGPT still runs as its own window next to your apps, while Copilot sits inside Word, Excel, Outlook and Teams. For a team that lives in Office all day, that is the difference you notice most.