ChatGPT vs. Microsoft Copilot for a small business
A comparison of ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot for small businesses: what each is good at, how they handle your data on free and business plans, and how to choose.
By Aaron Tibbitts, High Basin Solutions · · 6 min read
The short answer
Both ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot can be safe for a small business on a business plan. The bigger risk is staff using free or personal accounts. Copilot fits best if your office already runs on Microsoft 365, and ChatGPT is often the stronger general assistant for drafting and analysis.
The short version
Small business owners ask this a lot, and the honest answer is that the plan matters more than the brand. On their business plans, both OpenAI and Microsoft say they don't use your data to train their models by default. On free and personal plans, conversations may be used for training unless someone changes the settings.
- Microsoft 365 Copilot fits offices already on Microsoft 365. It works inside Outlook, Word, Excel, and Teams, and it respects the file permissions you already have.
- ChatGPT is often the stronger general assistant. It's good at drafting, rewriting, analysis, and custom GPTs your team can reuse for common tasks.
Plans, names, and terms change often. Check each provider's current terms before you decide, and again every few months.
Side by side
| Feature | ChatGPT | Microsoft Copilot |
|---|---|---|
| Best at | Drafting, rewriting, analysis, brainstorming, and custom GPTs for repeat tasks. | Working with your own email, documents, spreadsheets, and meetings inside Microsoft 365. |
| Where it works | Its own app and website. It can connect to other services, but you set that up. | Inside Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Teams, plus its own chat. |
| Business plan | ChatGPT's business plans (Business, formerly Team, and Enterprise). | Microsoft 365 Copilot, signed in with a work account, with enterprise data protection. |
| Training on your data (business plans) | Not used to train models by default. | Not used to train models by default. |
| Admin controls | Workspace admin settings for members, sharing, and data retention. More on Enterprise. | Managed through your existing Microsoft 365 admin tools, users, and permissions. |
| Watch out for | Staff using free or personal accounts for work, and connections to other apps nobody approved. | Overshared SharePoint and OneDrive files. Copilot can surface anything a user already has access to. |
A note on Copilot and permissions: it can find and summarize any file a person already has access to. If your SharePoint or OneDrive has folders shared with “everyone” that shouldn't be, Copilot makes them much easier to stumble on. That's worth fixing anyway, but it becomes urgent once Copilot is on.
How to choose
- If your office already runs on Microsoft 365, start with Copilot. It works where your team already is, and it uses the permissions you already manage.
- If your team mostly needs help writing, summarizing, or thinking things through, ChatGPT on a business plan is often the stronger general assistant.
- If you use Google Workspace or a mix of tools, ChatGPT is usually the simpler fit, since Copilot's biggest strength is inside Microsoft apps.
- If your file permissions are messy, clean them up before turning on Copilot, or it may show people files they were never meant to see.
- If you can't decide, pick one, put it on a business plan, and try it with a few people for a month. Either is better than staff using free accounts.
What matters more than which tool
Most AI problems in small offices don't come from picking the wrong tool. They come from how it's used. Three things matter more than the brand:
- Business accounts for everyone. Move staff off free and personal accounts, so your data gets the business plan's protections and you can remove access when someone leaves.
- A written policy. One page that says which tools are approved and what never goes in. Our AI use policy template has a sample you can copy.
- A review step. A person reads anything AI helped write before it reaches a client. Both tools can be confidently wrong.
Not sure where your office stands? The free AI check takes a few minutes and shows what to fix first.
The bottom line
If you live in Outlook, Word, and Teams, Copilot is the natural first choice, as long as your file sharing is tidy. If you want the most capable general assistant, ChatGPT on a business plan is hard to beat. Either way, the business plan, a short written policy, and a person checking the output do more for safety than the choice of tool.
This guide is general information, not legal or compliance advice. Check your AI provider's current terms and any rules that apply to your industry.