Quick answer
This page does not say which AI is better than ChatGPT, and it ranks none. It sets ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot and Perplexity, one row each in three tables, using the same five facts from each vendor's own pages as of October 7, 2026. If you pay for Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, check that plan first.
Key takeaways
- No ranking: five assistants get the same five facts, taken from each vendor's own pages on October 7, 2026, in tables ordered alphabetically by vendor.
- Google and Microsoft document their assistant inside an office suite you may already pay for: Gemini in Google Workspace and Copilot in Microsoft 365. The pages we read for the other three do not present one, a gap in what we read.
- In the pages we read, each vendor gives a training statement for personal accounts and one for business accounts, and the wording is not identical, so read the business column before you put customer data in.
- Prices are printed only as each page shows them, with no total and no order: a dollar sign without a named currency, OpenAI's Go price in a local currency (so none is printed), and Microsoft's Copilot add-on price carrying dated conditions.
- Rule from this site: check the plan you already pay for first, then the training terms you need, then, if you work alone, the free tiers.
Which AI is better than ChatGPT for a small business?
5 assistants (Claude, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT, Perplexity) get the same five facts from their own vendors' pages, read October 7, 2026, plus a rule for choosing by what you already pay for; none is ranked. Tables are ordered alphabetically by vendor: Anthropic, Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, Perplexity.
The five facts: a one-line description in this site's words, the free-tier statement, the first paid plan its page lists, the office suite it is documented inside, and its training statement for personal and business accounts. A gap means a page we read did not say, not a finding about the product.
For where an assistant fits among your other tools, see AI Automation for Small Business: A Practical 2026 Guide.
What does each vendor say its assistant is, and is there a free tier?
All five vendors offer an AI chat assistant, and all five pages state a free tier. The description column is this site's own neutral wording, the same for every row; the other columns are the vendors' sentences.
| Vendor and assistant | What it is (this site's words) | Free-tier statement | Office suite it is documented inside |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anthropic, Claude | AI chat assistant | "Free for everyone" | See note below the table |
| Google, Gemini | AI chat assistant | "$0 / month with a Google Account" | Google Workspace, by edition: "Gemini in the side panel of Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive, and Chat" |
| Microsoft, Copilot | AI chat assistant | "A free tier is available with a Microsoft account." The same page adds "some capabilities subject to usage limits" | Microsoft 365: "Microsoft Copilot in apps such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Microsoft Teams" |
| OpenAI, ChatGPT | AI chat assistant | "The free version of ChatGPT is available to everyone." | See note below the table |
| Perplexity | AI chat assistant | "Compare Perplexity subscription plans: the free Standard tier, Perplexity Pro, Max, and Education Pro, plus Enterprise and API Platform options." (help page) | See note below the table |
Google and Microsoft describe their assistants inside their own office suites, in the sentences quoted in the last column. The pages read for Anthropic, OpenAI and Perplexity do not present one, which is a gap in what was read, not a statement about the products.
What does the first paid plan look like on each vendor's page?
The plans are different kinds of product, so this page prints each as the vendor shows it and does not rank or total them. Checked October 7, 2026.
| Vendor | First paid personal plan listed, as printed | First team plan listed, as printed |
|---|---|---|
| Anthropic | Pro: "$17" per month with an annual subscription discount, "$20" if billed monthly | Team, for teams of "2 to 150": "$20" per seat a month if billed annually, "$25" if billed monthly |
| Google AI Plus: "$4.99 / month" | Gemini Enterprise, Business edition: "$21 USD per seat per month", marked "Starting at" | |
| Microsoft | Microsoft 365 Personal, a Microsoft 365 subscription listed under the page heading "Copilot in Microsoft 365 plans for individuals", not a Copilot plan: "$9.99 /month" | Microsoft 365 Copilot Business add-on, per user a month, paid yearly: "Originally starting from $21.00 now starting from $18.00" (conditions below) |
| OpenAI | Go, listed after Free on the pricing page; its price showed in a local currency, so none is printed here | Business, "For teams of 2–200 employees.": "$20/month if billed annually. $25/month if billed monthly." (shown in dollars in the page's caption, with a local-currency price beside it) |
| Perplexity | Pro: "$17 /month or equivalent, when billed annually"; footnote under the plan cards: "For personal use only" | Enterprise tab: "$34 / month per seat when billed annually" |
Microsoft's conditions for that add-on price: the offer runs "between July 1, 2026, and December 31, 2026", "An annual commitment is required, and promotional pricing applies to the first year only.", and the add-on is "available only to existing Microsoft 365 customers with an eligible Business plan".
Currency: apart from Google's Enterprise line, which says USD, the pages show a dollar sign without naming a currency. Pages were read from outside the United States, so OpenAI's Go and Business pages showed local-currency prices.
What do they say about training on your content?
All five vendors give separate statements for personal and business accounts, and the wording is not the same, so read the business column before you paste customer data. Each statement is quoted with the account type it applies to; none of this is a legal reading.
| Vendor | Personal account | Business account |
|---|---|---|
| Anthropic | Free, Pro, Max. Pricing page, "Model training" row: "Opt-out". Privacy article: chats are used if "You choose to allow us to use your chats and coding sessions to improve Claude", if "Your conversations are flagged for safety review" (then "we may use or analyze them to improve our ability to detect and enforce our Usage Policy, including training models for use by our Safeguards team"), or if you explicitly opt in. Setting: "Model Improvement" in Privacy Settings; check the toggle. | Team plan list on the pricing page: "No model training on your content by default"; no control named in the sentence quoted |
| Gemini Apps privacy page: "Google uses your activity to provide, develop, and improve its services (including training generative AI models), as well as to protect Google, its users, and the public with the help of human reviewers." Under its Keep Activity off setting: "Your future chats won’t appear in your Activity, and won’t be used to train our AI models, unless you choose to send Google feedback." | Workspace help page: "Your content is not human reviewed or used for Generative AI model training outside your domain without permission." and "Your existing Google Workspace protections are automatically applied."; no control named in the sentences quoted | |
| Microsoft | Microsoft account, updated app: "Prompts, responses, and your file contents when using the Microsoft Copilot app aren't used to train foundation models." Microsoft's privacy FAQ for the older app says "Except for certain categories of users or users who have opted out, Microsoft uses data from Bing, MSN, Copilot, and interactions with ads on Microsoft for AI training."; each page says which app version it covers | Copilot Chat, work accounts: "Prompts and responses aren't used to train the underlying foundation models." and "The specific controls and policies vary depending on the underlying subscription plan."; no control named in the sentences quoted |
| OpenAI | Personal ChatGPT, help page: "When you use our services for individuals, such as ChatGPT and Codex, we may use your content to train our models." Whether the setting is on by default: not stated on the pages we read. Setting: "Improve the model for everyone" under Settings, Data controls; data controls page: "When Improve the model for everyone is off, your new conversations won’t be used to train OpenAI models." | Help page, named workspaces: "By default, OpenAI does not use content from ChatGPT Business, Enterprise, Edu, or ChatGPT for Healthcare workspaces to train its models."; no control named in the sentence quoted |
| Perplexity | Free, Pro and Max, help page: "For Free, Perplexity Pro and Perplexity Max users, AI Data Retention is enabled by default. However, these users can control whether their data is used for AI model training." Setting: the "AI data retention" toggle, under Account settings, Preferences; the page says if it is enabled, "your data is being collected for AI training". | Enterprise, help page: "Perplexity Enterprise data is never used for AI training purposes."; no control named in the sentence quoted |
Qualifiers differ: Anthropic and OpenAI say "by default", Perplexity says "never", Google says "without permission", and Microsoft's Copilot Chat sentence carries none. If you need an absolute promise, ask for it in the contract.
How do you choose without the page choosing for you?
This site's rule: start with the plan you already pay for, then compare the training terms you need, then, if you work alone, the free tiers.
- You pay for Google Workspace. Google says "The AI features available to your organization depend on Google Workspace edition." Then read Google's business cell in the training table.
- You pay for a Microsoft 365 business plan. Microsoft says "Copilot Chat is available at no additional cost for all Microsoft Entra account users with an eligible Microsoft 365 subscription." Then read Microsoft's business cell in the training table.
- You pay for both suites, or for neither. Read the business-accounts column for the two or three assistants you are considering, compare the stated default and control, then try each on one real task.
- You need a team plan with stated training terms. Read the business-accounts column of the training table row by row. Each vendor's sentence has its own wording and scope, listed under that table.
- You work alone and use no suite. Read the free-tier column, then the personal-accounts column of the training table.
Ask any seller: Is training off for my plan by default, where does the contract say so, and which plan applies to my team size?
How was this page made?
It was built from vendor pages opened on October 7, 2026, and every figure and quoted sentence was checked against its page.
This page was drafted with Claude, an AI model made by Anthropic, and checked against each vendor's published material on October 7, 2026. Anthropic is one of the five vendors covered here, and each vendor has one row per table, in alphabetical order. For an email use case, see AI Email Responder for Small Business.
FAQ
What is a good free alternative to ChatGPT?
This page does not pick one. As of October 7, 2026, the pages of Anthropic (Claude), Google (Gemini), Microsoft (Copilot), OpenAI (ChatGPT) and Perplexity each state a free tier; the first table quotes each.
Is there a ChatGPT alternative already included in Google Workspace or Microsoft 365?
Possibly. Google says the AI features available to an organization depend on its Google Workspace edition. Microsoft says Copilot Chat is available at no additional cost for all users with a work account (Microsoft calls it a Microsoft Entra account) and an eligible Microsoft 365 subscription. Check your plan's page.
Do these assistants train on my business chats?
Each vendor words it differently: by default for Anthropic and OpenAI, never for Perplexity Enterprise, without permission for Google, and no qualifier in Microsoft's Copilot Chat sentence. The training table quotes each in full.
Which alternative should I choose?
This page does not choose for you. Check what your current Google or Microsoft plan includes, then the training terms you need, then, if you work alone, the free tiers.