ChatGPT Business vs Copilot for an Australian small business.

Copilot and ChatGPT Business cost, store data and fit into your day differently. Here are the Australian prices, the privacy details and a simple way to trial both.

Most comparisons of these two tools quote US prices, skip GST, and miss that many businesses already pay for part of Copilot without knowing it. This guide covers Australian prices from Microsoft’s Australian pages, where your data is stored and processed, what each tool does better day to day, what owners and IT providers report after rolling them out, and a simple way to trial both.

AppliedAgents helps businesses set up and use both tools. Prices, plan rules and data policies below come from Microsoft’s and OpenAI’s own pages, checked between 30 October and 2 November 2026. Both companies change their plans often, so check before you buy.

What you are actually choosing between

The names are confusing, so here is what each one is.

• ChatGPT Business is OpenAI’s plan for teams. It was called ChatGPT Team until OpenAI renamed it in August 2025. It is a separate app, with add-ins for Word, Excel and PowerPoint and connections to tools like Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 and Slack.
• Microsoft 365 Copilot Business is Microsoft’s paid Copilot for businesses with up to 300 users. It works inside Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Teams, and it can search the emails, files and chats you already have access to. You can only buy it alongside a Microsoft 365 business plan.
• Copilot Chat is the free version included with Microsoft 365 work accounts. Microsoft says “All subscribers have access to Copilot in Outlook.” It is more limited than paid Copilot, and Microsoft changed what it can do inside Word, Excel and PowerPoint during 2026, so check what your own account shows.
• Personal plans such as ChatGPT Plus or Microsoft 365 Premium are built for individuals. OpenAI says that on Free, Plus and Pro accounts, “data sharing is enabled by default”, which means your chats can be used to improve its models unless you turn that off. They also lack the admin controls and business terms of the business plans.

Copilot Business and ChatGPT Business pricing in Australia

Microsoft publishes Australian prices. They are per user per month, exclude GST, and assume a yearly commitment unless noted. Microsoft says its checkout “will show amounts payable including GST (if applicable) before you purchase”.

Check the bundles first. Business Standard with Copilot costs AU$14.20 more than Business Standard alone, which is far less than the AU$31.40 add-on. Even on a Business Basic plan, adding Copilot as an add-on costs AU$37.41 at the discounted first-year price and AU$41.90 after that. Both are more than Business Standard with Copilot at AU$35.20, which also includes the desktop Office apps. If you want Copilot, price the bundles first.

OpenAI publishes ChatGPT Business prices in Australian dollars for Australian buyers:

A workspace needs at least two seats and can have up to 200. You can mix Standard and Premium seats. OpenAI shows these prices in Australian dollars to visitors in Australia. The pricing page does not say whether GST is included, so check the total at checkout. OpenAI also says that from December, usage limits will be shared across ChatGPT and its coding tool, Codex. On billing, OpenAI says added seats are charged straight away, “Seat reductions take effect at your next renewal”, and “Charges are generally non-refundable”.

Two more costs to know about:

• Usage charges on some Copilot features. Microsoft says “Some AI experiences require usage-based billing and may result in charges based on usage, beyond your license fees.” It lists Copilot Cowork, Code, Autopilot and the Work IQ APIs. Cowork is priced in credits at US$0.01 each. One r/sysadmin post estimated that “a mid level AI task is 400-700 credits per use”, which would be US$4 to US$7 a task. That is one user’s estimate, but it shows why it is worth setting a spending limit before anyone switches these on.
• Trials that turn into subscriptions. Microsoft offers a one-month free trial of Copilot Business. A credit card is required and the trial converts to a paid subscription automatically. Once you are paying, Microsoft gives “a 7-day cancellation window to receive a prorated refund”. After that, an annual subscription normally commits you for the full year. The first-year discount does not apply to trials, so if you want the AU$26.91 price, buy an annual plan directly rather than converting a trial. Either way, put the end date in your calendar.

What it costs for a five-person team

Here is a worked example for an imaginary five-person office on Business Standard, using the yearly prices above and excluding GST:

Few small businesses need the same tool for everyone. The people who live in Outlook, Excel and Teams get the most from Copilot. The people who write proposals, research and draft content often prefer ChatGPT.

Copilot vs ChatGPT privacy: where your data goes

One point matters more than the rest for Copilot. Microsoft says Copilot “only surfaces organizational data to which individual users have at least view permissions.” This also means anything a staff member can open, Copilot can find for them. If payroll spreadsheets or HR files were shared with “everyone” years ago, Copilot will surface them. Tidy up sharing before you switch it on.

If you handle health, legal or financial information and need it to stay in Australia, check where it is stored and where it is processed before using either tool for it. Copilot stores data in your Microsoft 365 location, while ChatGPT Business offers no Australian storage option. Talk to your IT provider or adviser before using either for that information, and read our guide to what customer information to keep out of AI tools.

What each does better day to day

What IT providers and staff report after rolling them out

We read Reddit threads where IT providers and staff describe using these tools at work. Four points stood out.

Copilot is only as good as your files. A commenter in r/msp, a forum for IT providers, wrote: “If your M365 environment isn’t in a good place (permissions, file structure, SharePoint hygiene, etc.)... the output can feel inconsistent”. The same commenter added: “If you just switch it on and hope people figure it out, it usually gets written off pretty quickly.”

Finding things is the big win. In an r/CopilotPro thread titled “No One is Using CoPilot”, a highly upvoted reply said: “It’s great to find documents I didn’t even know existed in my company.” Another r/msp commenter, who works at an IT provider, bought licences for their whole team and found “meeting notes in Teams is a very easy win”, but said it was not “tangibly useful for us on a day to day basis.” Their team then tried paid ChatGPT and Claude, and found Claude the most useful of the three.

Results can be inconsistent. One r/microsoft_365_copilot user described asking Copilot to check the day’s emails and being told there were none, until “After rephrasing or pushing back, suddenly dozens of emails appear.” Expect some trial and error with how you ask. Our guide on how to prompt AI covers the habits that help.

Approving a tool does not stop staff using others. In r/OpenAI, a poster whose company had approved both Copilot and ChatGPT still found staff using unapproved AI tools. The top reply: “The fix that actually works is making the sanctioned tools good enough that people dont need to go hunting.” A short written rule helps too. Our one-page AI policy template covers which tools to use and what to keep out of them.

The YouTube creator Stewart Gauld, who reviews AI tools for small businesses, offers a simple rule of thumb: if 60% or more of your day is spent inside Excel, Teams and PowerPoint, Copilot is the one to pick. He gives the same advice for strict industries such as finance or healthcare that need rigid data security compliance. He also suggests: “don’t be afraid to test two out of the four AI models in your business for 30 days”.

ChatGPT Business or Copilot: which should you choose?

How to trial both without wasting money

1. Use what you already pay for. If you have Microsoft 365, try free Copilot Chat in Outlook for a week before buying anything.
2. Tidy your sharing first. Check who can open folders like HR, payroll and finance before switching on paid Copilot.
3. Pick three real tasks. For example: summarising a long customer email thread, drafting a quote cover letter, and pulling figures from a spreadsheet into a short report.
4. Trial with two or three people. Use Microsoft’s one-month Copilot trial and a two-seat ChatGPT Business workspace on monthly billing. Set calendar reminders for the trial end and renewal dates.
5. Score both on the same tasks. Use the scorecard below.
6. Write down the rule. Decide which tool is approved for what, and what information stays out.

Trial scorecard
Task: [e.g. summarise a 20-email customer thread]
• Time it took before AI: [minutes]
• ChatGPT Business: [minutes] | Quality 1 to 5: [ ] | Fixes needed: [ ]
• Copilot: [minutes] | Quality 1 to 5: [ ] | Fixes needed: [ ]
• Did either show anything it shouldn’t have? [yes/no, what]
• Who on the team would use this weekly? [names]
• Worth paying for? [yes/no, why]

If one tool saves a person an hour a week on real work, it is worth its price. If neither does after a month, look at the tasks you chose and how the tool was set up before deciding AI is not for you. If you want help choosing or setting up either one, our AI implementation service covers rollout, permissions and training.

Common questions

Is Copilot free with Microsoft 365?

Copilot Chat is included with Microsoft 365 work accounts at no extra cost, including in Outlook. Free Copilot Chat in Outlook can already help with your inbox and calendar. Full Copilot, which searches across all your files, chats and company data and works fully inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Teams, is a paid add-on or part of a “with Copilot” plan.

Can I use ChatGPT Plus for work?

You can, but it is a personal plan. Model training is on by default unless you switch it off, and there is no shared admin, billing or business terms. For a team, ChatGPT Business is the safer choice.

Do these prices include GST?

Microsoft’s Australian prices exclude GST, and its checkout shows the amount including GST before you pay. OpenAI’s pricing page does not say whether its Australian prices include GST, so check the final amount at checkout. If your business is registered for GST, ask your accountant how to treat these invoices.

Does Copilot work with Gmail?

Copilot is built for Microsoft 365, and you need a Microsoft 365 business plan to buy it. If your business runs on Gmail and Google Drive, ChatGPT Business or Google’s own Gemini will usually fit better.

Sources

Microsoft:

• Microsoft 365 plans and pricing for business (Australia), Business Standard, Business Premium and Copilot for business
• Data, privacy and security for Microsoft 365 Copilot, Data residency for Microsoft Copilot and Anthropic as a subprocessor
• In-country data processing for Microsoft 365 Copilot (with April 2026 update)
• Use Copilot Chat in Microsoft 365 apps and Copilot Cowork pricing

OpenAI:

• ChatGPT pricing and What is ChatGPT Business?
• ChatGPT Business FAQ and supported billing currencies
• Enterprise privacy, Data controls FAQ and Data residency for ChatGPT
• ChatGPT in Slack and Teams

Practitioner reports:

• Stewart Gauld, The Best AI for Small Business (Gemini vs Claude vs ChatGPT vs Copilot)
• Reddit: r/msp, r/CopilotPro, r/microsoft_365_copilot, r/sysadmin and r/OpenAI

Prices, plan rules and data policies were checked between 30 October and 2 November 2026. Microsoft’s first-year Copilot discount ends on 31 December 2026, and both companies change plans often.