ChatGPT vs Claude
Which assistant should a small team pay for?
Both have a free tier good enough to trial for a fortnight. Pay for the one where your second-most-common task also works, because you will not buy two.
Pick ChatGPT when
You need one subscription that also does spreadsheets, images, code and connectors. ChatGPT's breadth is the reason to pick it; very little else asks for a separate tool.
Pick Claude when
Most of your work is reading and writing long documents. Claude's advantage is not intelligence in the abstract — it is that a forty-page contract stays coherent across the whole exchange.
What each one costs
ChatGPT
$20/mo / seat, per seat
maintained by the desk · recorded 2026-10-03
Best for. Teams that want one assistant for writing, summarising and light analysis.
Watch for. Business tiers charge per seat and the free tier changes shape often, so pin the plan your team is actually on.
| Plan | Price | Recorded |
|---|---|---|
| Business | $25/mo / seat | 2026-10-03 |
| Plus | $20/mo / seat | 2026-10-03 |
| Free | Free | 2026-10-03 |
Claude
$17/mo ▼ $3 less
verified 2 d ago · recorded 2026-10-15
Best for. Long-context work: contracts, research packs, large repositories.
Watch for. Usage limits at the seat tiers are the practical constraint, not features.
| Plan | Price | Recorded |
|---|---|---|
| Pro | $17/mo | 2026-10-15 |
| Pro | $20/mo | 2026-10-11 |
| Pro | $200/yr | 2026-10-07 |
| Team | $30/mo / seat | 2026-10-03 |
| Pro | $20/mo / seat | 2026-10-03 |
What we don't know
- We compare list prices. Your effective cost depends on how much you use it and whether you pay annually.
- Neither tool was given a free account in exchange for this page. There is no sponsorship here.
- Both vendors change pricing without notice. Check the date above against the vendor's own page.