The cost of AI for business: a budget, tool by tool

In brief

A team assistant costs $20 to $25 per user per month with ChatGPT or Claude, or $200 to $250 per month for ten people. It is often less if your company already has Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, where an assistant is included or can be added for €15.60 excl. tax per user (price in France). Everything else (meetings, presentations, automation) is bought per seat, only for the people who use it.

The price of an assistant for the team

The first line item is a general-purpose assistant in a team account. These plans cost as much as personal plans or a little more, with two differences: your content is not used to train the AI by default, and the company keeps control of the accounts. Prices checked on October 3, 2026 on the vendors’ pages, as shown from France.

Tool	Team plan	Price per user per month	Good to know
ChatGPT	Business	$25, or $20 if billed yearly	Two people minimum
Claude	Team	$25, or $20 if billed yearly	A Premium seat at $125 ($100 billed yearly) gives 5 times more usage
Copilot	Microsoft 365 Copilot Business	€15.60 excl. tax, with a yearly commitment	Added on top of a Microsoft 365 Business subscription. Promotional price until December 31, 2026: €18.20 excl. tax after that
Gemini	Google Workspace	Included in the plan	Basic access with Business Starter; Gemini in Docs, Sheets, and Meet from Business Standard up
Mistral Vibe	Team	€24.99 excl. tax	French vendor, servers in Europe. A billing minimum applies
Perplexity	Enterprise Pro	$40	For a team that does research every day

Before you buy anything, look at what you already pay for. Copilot Chat is included at no extra cost in eligible Microsoft 365 subscriptions, and Gemini is included in Google Workspace.

Specialized tools, seat by seat

Not everyone needs everything. These tools are bought for named people, for the person who uses them every week.

Need	Tool and plan	Price
Meeting notes	Granola Business	$14 per user per month
Presentations	Gamma Plus	€8 per user per month, billed yearly
Visuals	Canva Pro	€110 per year, for one person
Workspace with AI	Notion Business	€19.50 per member per month
Automations	Zapier Professional	€26.77 per month for 750 tasks

Many of these tools have a free plan that is enough to form an opinion: see the free AI tools that are really useful at work. Pay after the trial run, not before.

Three typical budgets for ten people

These budgets are estimates, calculated from the public prices above. They do not account for taxes or exchange rates.

You already have Google Workspace or Microsoft 365: €0 more to start. The assistant included in your subscription is enough to write, summarize, and search. If you want Copilot in Word, Excel, Outlook, and Teams for all ten: €156 excl. tax per month at the promotional price, €182 excl. tax after that.
A team assistant for everyone: $200 per month. Ten ChatGPT Business or Claude Team accounts, billed yearly. Monthly, with no commitment: $250.
The assistant, plus two targeted tools: $242 per month, and €16. The ten team accounts, Granola for the three people who go from meeting to meeting ($42), and Gamma Plus for the two who present every week (€16, billed yearly).

A team of ten does not have to spend more to get going. Plans at $100 or $200 per user per month exist, but they target heavy use, all day long: that is not a starting point.

The costs people forget

The yearly price. The price shown often assumes yearly payment. Monthly, it costs more: $25 instead of $20 with ChatGPT Business and Claude Team.
Currencies and taxes. Several vendors publish their prices in dollars and excluding tax. The exact amount is shown at checkout.
Credits. Agents and automations are paid for by usage. With Zapier, beyond the quota, each extra task is billed at a higher rate, unless you turn that option off. With Perplexity, 100 credits for the Computer agent are worth $1.
Minimums. Two people for ChatGPT Business, a billing minimum with Mistral Vibe Team.
Duplicates. An employee who pays for a personal plan out of pocket when the company already provides an account: that is a wasted expense, and work data in a less protected account.
Dormant subscriptions. A tool bought for the whole team and opened by three people costs more than a well-chosen tool.

The heaviest cost is still a paid tool nobody knows how to use. Plan time for everyone to learn two or three use cases that matter in their role.

Deciding in five steps

Take inventory of what you already pay for: office suite, video conferencing, Notion, Canva. Many already contain AI.
Choose a single assistant for everyone, in a team account. See ChatGPT or Claude.
Add specialized tools one by one, for named people, and review after three months.
Set a budget per person rather than an imposed list of tools: a sales rep and an accountant do not have the same needs.
Review prices every quarter. They move fast, up as well as down, and plans change names.

To connect your apps to one another, start with Zapier’s free plan: 100 tasks per month are enough for a first automation.

What Nova brings

Nova is subscription software: €19 per month for one person, €129 per month for a team of up to 10 people. It does not replace these tools: it helps each person use them, and helps the owner keep to the budget, with a budget per person, a catalog of approved tools, and requests approved in one click. Each tool page gives the prices and their check date. Try the interactive demo.

Frequently asked questions

How much does ChatGPT cost for a company?

The Business plan costs $25 per user per month, or $20 if billed yearly, with two people minimum. Your conversations are not used for training there. The Enterprise plan, for large organizations, has custom pricing.

Is Copilot included in Microsoft 365?

Partly. Copilot Chat, the chat, is included at no extra cost in eligible Microsoft 365 subscriptions. To have Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams with your work data, you need a license: in France, €15.60 excl. tax per user per month for a small or midsize business, with a yearly commitment.

Do you need one subscription per employee?

For the team assistant, yes: plans are counted per user. For specialized tools, no: get them only for the people who use them every week. Some tools, like Zapier, are priced first by task volume.

Can you start with no budget?

Yes, to get to know the tools: free plans are enough to test use cases with no sensitive data. As soon as the team works on customer files, contracts, or employee data, move to a team account: that is what excludes your content from training by default.

Why are some prices in dollars and others in euros?

Because several American vendors publish their prices only in dollars, often excluding tax. Others show euros in France: Microsoft, Google, Mistral, Notion, or Canva. We copy each price in the currency the vendor publishes; the amount actually charged is shown at checkout.

Sources

ChatGPT pricing, OpenAI
Claude pricing, Anthropic
Microsoft 365 Copilot pricing (France, in French), Microsoft
Google AI plans (France, in French), Google
Mistral pricing, Mistral AI
Perplexity pricing, Perplexity
Granola pricing, Granola
Gamma pricing, Gamma
Canva pricing (France, in French), Canva
Notion pricing, Notion
Zapier pricing, Zapier

The AI budget of a small team, tool by tool