On this page
Choose AI tools for business per task, not per brand. A general assistant such as ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini writes and summarises, from roughly 18 to 21 euros per user per month in a business plan. The AI already inside your software, such as Copilot in Microsoft 365, works where your data already lives. And a custom solution answers from your own documents and customer data. Start with the task that costs your team time every week, then pick the kind of tool that fits it.
If it is about your own processes, see AI for business. Since 2 February 2025 the EU AI Act requires you to support your people's AI literacy, wherever in the EU you operate; what that means is in the EU AI Act for business.
AI tools for business come in three kinds
| Kind | Examples | Price per user per month | Strong at | Weak at |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General assistant | ChatGPT Business, Claude Team, Gemini | ChatGPT Business 21 euros (20 dollars billed yearly); Claude Team Standard 18 euros billed yearly; Gemini Enterprise Business from 21 dollars | Writing, summarising, translating, analysing | Knows only what you give it |
| AI in your software | Copilot in Microsoft 365, Gemini in Google Workspace, AI in your CRM or accounting | Copilot Business 18.20 euros on a yearly contract, 21 dollars in the US (euro promotion 15.60 in the first year, until the end of 2026), on top of Microsoft 365 | Works with your mail, calendar and files, with existing permissions | Works only inside that suite |
| Custom on your own data | An assistant on your procedures, a chatbot on your site, an automated flow | Build plus usage per token | Answers from your own documents, with source and permissions | Needs building and upkeep |
Euro prices differ slightly per country. Torn between the two biggest? Read ChatGPT or Copilot; between assistants, ChatGPT vs Claude and ChatGPT vs Gemini. What ChatGPT itself costs per plan: ChatGPT pricing.
The kind of AI that fits each task
Task
- GeneralA general assistant
- In your softwareAI in your software
- CustomCustom, on your own data
WritingGive context, always read it back.
Lands best here: A general assistant. Can too: AI in your software.Summarising mail and notesWorks where your mail already lives.
Lands best here: AI in your software. Can too: A general assistant.Searching your own documentsAn answer with a source, permissions per person.
Lands best here: Custom, on your own data. Can too: AI in your software.Images and videoFor what you cannot photograph.
Lands best here: A general assistant.Answering customer questionsFrom your own information, a person on money and complaints.
Lands best here: Custom, on your own data. Can too: AI in your software.Figures and reportsA formula calculates, AI explains.
Lands best here: AI in your software. Can too: Custom, on your own data.
Six tasks every small business knows
Writing
Quotes, job ads, posts, a first draft of a web page. A general assistant does this well, provided you give it context: for whom, in what tone, with which facts. Read everything back. An assistant fills gaps with something that sounds like a fact, and an invented discount or a wrong rate in a quote costs you more than the hour you saved. For marketing it pays to set down your brand, tone and offer once, so every draft starts from the same facts. For quotes, a fixed structure helps: start from our quote template and let the assistant fill in the description, never the price.
Summarising mail and meeting notes
This is the ground of the AI in your software. Copilot in Outlook and Teams, or Gemini in Gmail and Meet, works with the mail and meetings that are already there. You copy nothing and permissions keep applying.
Searching your own documents
"What warranty do we give on a gutter?" "What is in that customer's contract?" For a few files, a project in ChatGPT or your files in SharePoint with Copilot is enough. With hundreds of procedures, files and price lists, with permissions per person and a source with every answer, a custom assistant on your own documents is the better route. We build those as part of AI automation.
Images and video
Image tools make an illustration, a background or a variant of an ad in seconds. Use them for things that need not show a real person or place. For your team, your premises and your work, real photos win. Since 2 August 2026 providers must mark AI images in a machine-readable way, and whoever publishes a deepfake must disclose it; see EU AI Act transparency obligations.
Processing invoices and documents
Pulling data out of invoices, receipts or forms and putting it into your accounting or your system. That takes more than a chat: a flow that reads the document, checks the fields and passes them on. Which automation platform fits: Make, Zapier or n8n.
Answering customer questions
A chatbot on your site that knows your offer, or an assistant that helps your team answer. What that costs is in how much does a chatbot cost.
Worked example: ten people, one year
A small business with ten office staff, each saving two hours a week with an assistant, at 40 euros of wage cost per hour. The time saved is an example, measure your own; if an hour costs your business more, the value row grows with it.
| 10 users, per year | ChatGPT Business | Claude Team | Copilot Business |
|---|---|---|---|
| Licences | 10 x 21 x 12 = 2,520 euros | 10 x 18 x 12 = 2,160 euros | 10 x 18.20 x 12 = 2,184 euros, promotion 1,872 euros |
| Time saved (2 hours a week, 46 weeks) | 920 hours | 920 hours | 920 hours |
| Value of that time at 40 euros | 36,800 euros | 36,800 euros | 36,800 euros |
| Training, one-off (example) | 1,500 euros | 1,500 euros | 1,500 euros |
The licence is rarely the problem; the question is whether your team really saves those two hours. That is why you start with a pilot on one task, and measure. How to set that up: AI implementation in your business. What a custom solution costs per use, work out with the AI cost calculator.
What happens to your data
| Question | ChatGPT Business | Claude Team | Gemini in Workspace | Copilot in Microsoft 365 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trains on your business data? | Not by default | Not by default | Not outside your domain without permission | Not by default |
| Where is your data stored? | Storage region chosen at purchase (rollout under way); Enterprise can store in Europe | Stored in the US | Storage and processing in the EU or the US, your choice | Inside your Microsoft 365 environment |
| Works with your existing permissions? | No, you grant access yourself | No, you grant access yourself | Yes, inside Workspace | Yes, inside Microsoft 365 |
For sensitive data your own agreement counts too: which tool, which plan, and which data never. Whether you need an AI policy: do I need an AI policy.
Five questions before you take a subscription
- Which task do you want off your plate? Not "we want to do something with AI", but "writing quotes costs us six hours a week".
- Where is the data the tool needs? In Microsoft 365, in your CRM, in a folder of PDFs, in someone's head?
- Who approves the result? Every text that goes to a customer is read by a person.
- What does it cost per year, for the people who really use it? A licence for a colleague who never opens it is money thrown away.
- What happens to your data? A business plan, clear agreements and no customer data where it does not belong.
Where a tool stops and custom work begins
An off-the-shelf tool is the fastest start. But as soon as AI has to work with your own data, inside your own process, with permissions per person and a person who approves, it becomes a build. A flow that reads enquiries and puts them in your CRM, an assistant inside your client portal, a report that goes out by itself every week: that is AI automation built around your work. What an agent does differently from a flow: AI agents explained.
Questions about AI tools for business
Which AI tool is best for a small business?
That depends on the task. For writing and summarising, a business assistant such as ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini is enough. If your team works in Microsoft 365, Copilot brings the most. For answers from your own documents you build something custom.
How much does an AI tool cost per month?
A business assistant costs roughly 18 to 21 euros per user per month: ChatGPT Business 21 euros, Claude Team Standard 18 euros billed yearly. Copilot Business costs 18.20 euros per user on a yearly contract, with a promotion of 15.60 euros in the first year until the end of 2026, on top of Microsoft 365.
Can I put customer data into ChatGPT?
Not into the free version. In a business plan your data is not used for training by default, but even then you set down which data may go in. National ID numbers, medical or legal data rarely belong there.
Do I have to train my team in AI?
In the EU, yes. Since 2 February 2025 the AI Act requires you to take measures to support your people's AI literacy. A short training with your own examples and agreements is a good start.
Can AI make mistakes in my quotes or texts?
Yes. An assistant fills gaps with something that sounds like a fact. Have every text that goes to a customer read back, and give the assistant the right facts: your prices, your terms, your offer.
When do I need custom AI?
When the AI has to work with your own documents or customer data, with permissions per person, or as a step in your own process, such as processing invoices or putting enquiries into your CRM. Then you build a solution around your work.