Is Copilot or ChatGPT better for business?
Neither is better for every business. Microsoft 365 Copilot works inside your Microsoft email and files and only shows each person what they can already open, so if you use Microsoft 365, test it first. ChatGPT Business suits work that doesn't depend on your Microsoft files, or businesses that don't use Microsoft 365.
What's the difference between Copilot and ChatGPT?
Microsoft 365 Copilot is built into Microsoft 365 and, with a licence, works from the emails, files and meetings the person asking can open. ChatGPT is OpenAI's own app, and its business plans work from what people type in or upload.
Copilot and ChatGPT side by side
| Microsoft 365 Copilot | ChatGPT Business | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it works | Inside Microsoft 365: Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams and the rest. | In OpenAI's own app and website. |
| What it works from | Your organisation's emails, files, chats and meetings, limited to what each person can already open. | What people type in or upload to it. |
| Is your data used to train models? | No. Microsoft says prompts, responses and data accessed through Microsoft Graph aren't used to train foundation models. | Not by default on ChatGPT Business and Enterprise, unless you opt in. |
| Where it's processed | In the nearest region, but it can use other regions when busy. Outside the EU, queries may be processed in the US, the EU or elsewhere. | On Business, storage in your region is rolling out and not open to everyone yet, and a copy is kept in the US for a limited time. New Enterprise customers can choose UK storage. |
| Price per person | Microsoft 365 Copilot Business add-on from £13.80 a month paid yearly, or £19.32 monthly, excluding VAT, on top of an eligible Microsoft 365 plan. | £15 a user a month paid yearly, or £18 monthly, with at least two seats. |
How much do Copilot and ChatGPT cost for a business?
On 05/10/2026, Microsoft listed its Microsoft 365 Copilot Business add-on from £13.80 per user a month paid yearly, or £19.32 paid monthly, excluding VAT, on top of an eligible Microsoft 365 plan. On 06/10/2026, OpenAI's UK pricing screen listed ChatGPT Business at £15 per user a month paid yearly, or £18 paid monthly, with at least two seats.
Microsoft's £13.80 is an offer for purchases up to 31/12/2026. The usual yearly price is £16.10. Eligible Microsoft 365 plans also include Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat with web results at no extra cost, but working from your own files needs the paid licence. Is Microsoft Copilot free? covers what each version includes.
Which is safer for confidential information?
Both business versions say they don't train their models on your business data by default, so the bigger risks sit with you: staff using personal accounts, documents shared too widely in Microsoft 365, and nobody checking the output.
See what each one keeps.
Can you use Copilot and ChatGPT together?
Yes, but each needs separate business accounts, a line in your AI policy and checks of its own. Start with one tool, usually the one you already pay for, and add the second only for a gap you've written down.
How should you choose between Copilot and ChatGPT?
Pick a weekly job and test the tool you already have for four weeks on your own documents, with a person checking every output. Time the job before and after, and only look at the other tool if the first leaves a gap that matters.