Claude vs ChatGPT Team vs Microsoft Copilot for a 5–30 person Irish business

For a 5–30 person Irish business, Claude Team, ChatGPT Business and Microsoft 365 Copilot all cost about the same per seat and all keep your data out of model training by default. Copilot is the pick if you already run on Microsoft 365. ChatGPT Business is the safe general choice. Claude Team is the pick if the work is mostly writing, reading long documents, or building shared workflows the whole team uses.

This guide compares the three on price, data policy, integrations, GDPR and fit, then explains what a Claude install involves and what it costs with FMOps. Prices are from the vendors' public pages on 17 August 2026 and can change.

How do Claude, ChatGPT and Copilot compare?

	Claude Team	ChatGPT Business	Microsoft 365 Copilot
Price per seat	$20/month billed annually, $25 monthly (Premium seat $100/$125). Minimum 2 seats. Source	$20/month billed annually, $25 monthly. Minimum 2 seats. Source	€15.60/user/month annual (list €18.20, discounted to Sept 2026), plus a Microsoft 365 licence. Source
Training on your data	Not by default on Team and Enterprise. Policy	Not by default on Business and Enterprise.	Prompts, responses and Graph data are not used to train foundation models. Policy
Google Workspace	Native connectors for Gmail, Calendar and Drive	Connectors for Drive, Gmail and Calendar	No. Built for Microsoft 365
Microsoft 365	Connectors for Outlook, SharePoint and OneDrive; Claude models are also available inside Copilot	Connectors for SharePoint and OneDrive	Native, inside Word, Excel, Outlook and Teams
Xero	No native connector. Via Zapier, Make or a custom MCP connector	No native connector. Via Zapier or Make	Via Power Automate
GDPR / EU data	DPA with Standard Contractual Clauses. Data stored in the US on Team; EU hosting only via AWS Bedrock or Google Cloud regions	DPA with SCCs. EU data residency offered on Enterprise and API, not Business	Covered by Microsoft DPA and EU Data Boundary (web queries and Anthropic models excluded)
Best for	Writing, long documents, shared Projects and Skills, building small internal tools	General assistant, image generation, widest plug-in ecosystem	Firms already paying for Microsoft 365 who want AI inside Word, Excel and Teams

In euro at today's rates, Claude and ChatGPT sit at roughly €17–22 a seat and Copilot at €15.60–18.20 plus the Microsoft 365 licence you already hold. For a 10-person firm, all three cost €2,000–3,000 a year in licences. The licence is not where the decision is.

Which one should a small Irish business pick?

An honest verdict, by situation:

• You run on Microsoft 365 and most work happens in Outlook, Word and Excel. Buy Copilot. It sits where the work already is, your data stays inside the Microsoft tenant, and there is no new app to learn. Its weakness is that it is a weaker writer and reasoner than the standalone tools for long, careful tasks.
• You use Google Workspace, and staff use AI in a mixed way: research, quick drafts, images, brainstorming. ChatGPT Business is the safe default. Most staff have used it. Nothing about it will surprise anyone.
• The work is writing, quoting, reports, contracts, proposals, or reading long documents, and you want the whole team to use the same set-up. Claude Team. Projects let you give every staff member the same context (your tone, your price list, your process docs). Skills and connectors let one person build a workflow, such as "turn this site visit note into a quote", that everyone else can run.
• You handle sensitive personal data and your data protection officer wants EU-only processing. Copilot, or Claude through an EU cloud region. Ask before you sign, not after.

You can also mix. A common setup is Copilot for the office team and Claude for the two or three people who write for a living. FMOps sells and installs Claude, so read that with the bias in mind. It is still not the right answer for every firm.

Is Claude GDPR compliant?

Claude Team and Enterprise are used under Anthropic's commercial terms and a Data Processing Addendum that covers GDPR and incorporates the EU Standard Contractual Clauses for transfers. Your inputs and outputs are not used for training by default. What Anthropic does not offer on the standard Team plan is EU data residency; data is processed and stored in the United States under the SCCs. That is the same position most US SaaS tools take, and it is acceptable for most Irish SMEs, but you must record it in your data protection notes and processing register.

If EU residency is a hard requirement, Claude models are available through AWS Bedrock in the Ireland and Frankfurt regions and through Google Cloud Vertex AI EU regions. That is an API deployment, not the Team app, so it needs a developer or a partner to set up.

What does a Claude install involve?

Buying licences takes ten minutes. Making them pay takes a few weeks of deliberate work. A typical FMOps install for a 5–30 person firm looks like this:

1. Readiness check. A short call and a readiness questionnaire: what tools you use, where the repetitive writing and reading happens, what data is sensitive.
2. Workspace set-up. Claude Team workspace, single sign-on if you have it, roles, and the connectors that fit your stack (Google Workspace or Microsoft 365).
3. Projects and Skills. Three to five shared Projects loaded with your tone guide, price list, templates and process docs. Two or three Skills for the jobs that repeat every week: quotes, follow-up emails, meeting notes to actions, tender responses.
4. Training. A 90-minute session for the team, a one-page cheat sheet, and a follow-up a fortnight later once real questions have surfaced.
5. Data rules. A one-page policy on what can and cannot go into Claude, matched to your privacy notice.
6. Monthly care. New Skills as needs appear, connector fixes, model updates, and a monthly usage review.

If you already automate parts of your admin with Zapier or Make, Claude fits alongside it. Our comparison of Zapier vs Make for Irish businesses and our guide to automating Xero show where the hand-offs usually sit.

What does Claude cost with FMOps?

• Set-up from €1,750 for the workspace, Projects, Skills, data rules and training above.
• Care from €600 a month for ongoing Skills, connector upkeep and a monthly review.
• Licences are paid directly to Anthropic at the public price. FMOps does not mark them up.

For a 10-person firm that is about €2,400 a year in licences plus €1,750 once and €600 a month. It pays back if it saves the team roughly 30 hours a month, which is three hours a person. Most firms find that in email, quotes and reporting alone.

Frequently asked questions

Is Claude GDPR compliant?

Claude Team and Enterprise are covered by Anthropic's Data Processing Addendum, which incorporates the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, and your data is not used for training by default. Data is stored in the US on the Team plan, so record the transfer in your processing register. EU-only hosting is possible through AWS Bedrock or Google Cloud regions.

How much does Claude Team cost per user?

As of 17 August 2026 Claude Team is $20 per seat per month billed annually or $25 billed monthly, with a minimum of two seats. Premium seats with higher usage cost $100 or $125. See claude.com/pricing for current figures.

How much does ChatGPT Business cost per user?

As of 17 August 2026 ChatGPT Business is $20 per user per month billed annually or $25 billed monthly, with a minimum of two seats, according to OpenAI's help centre.

How much does Microsoft 365 Copilot cost in Ireland?

Microsoft lists Copilot Business at €15.60 per user per month on an annual plan, discounted from €18.20 until September 2026, on top of an eligible Microsoft 365 subscription. Prices exclude VAT.

Does Claude work with Google Workspace or Microsoft 365?

Yes. Claude Team has connectors for Gmail, Google Calendar and Drive, and for Outlook, SharePoint and OneDrive. Xero has no native connector, so it is linked through Zapier, Make or a custom connector.

What does FMOps charge to set up Claude?

Set-up starts at €1,750 and monthly care starts at €600. Claude licences are paid directly to Anthropic at the public price with no mark-up.