Gemini vs. ChatGPT: which one to choose for work?

In brief

If your company works in Gmail, Google Docs, and Drive, start with Gemini: it is included in Google Workspace and looks through your emails and files for you. Otherwise, ChatGPT is the all-purpose assistant to try first, and it also opens inside Word, Excel, and Google Sheets. Both have a free plan: give them the same task before you pay.

What they both do

GeminiGoogle’s assistant, connected to Gmail, Drive, and Calendar

Free plan: Yes
Recommended plan: Google AI Plus, €4.99 per month
Page checked on: October 23, 2026

Anyone who already works with Gmail, Google Docs, Sheets, or Meet.

See the Gemini page

ChatGPTThe all-purpose assistant: write, search, analyze, create

Free plan: Yes
Recommended plan: Plus, $20 per month
Page checked on: October 21, 2026

Everyone at the office. It is the first tool to try when you are starting out.

See the ChatGPT page

Gemini, made by Google, and ChatGPT, made by OpenAI, are two assistants you write or talk to. Both run on the web, on your phone, on Mac, and on Windows. For an everyday office request, either one gives you a useful result.

Draft, summarize, and rephrase a text.
Read an attached PDF or spreadsheet, and answer your questions about it.
Search the web, all the way to a full report with its sources.
Create and edit an image.
Hold a spoken conversation that you can interrupt.

Both can be confidently wrong about a number, a date, or a name. Anything that goes to a customer gets reviewed, whatever the tool.

What sets them apart at the office

The difference is less about the quality of the answers than about where you work: Gemini lives inside Google’s tools, ChatGPT sits next to the ones you already have. Prices and plans checked on October 12, 2026 on the vendors’ pages.

Criterion	Gemini	ChatGPT
Without paying	Chat, images, Deep Research, Canvas, and Gemini Live. Limits reset every 5 hours.	Writing is unlimited. Files, images, voice, and deep research have a limit. Ads may be shown.
Your emails and files	It searches Gmail, Drive, and Calendar if you allow it, from the free plan: type @Gmail in the conversation.	A ChatGPT panel opens in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Google Sheets, on all plans (limited use on Free).
Inside Gmail and Docs	“Ask Gemini” button: Gmail from Google AI Plus, Docs with Google AI Pro, or a Google Workspace plan.	Its add-ins cover Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Google Sheets, where it opens from the “Extensions” menu.
Recommended plan	Google AI Plus, €4.99 per month (price recorded in France)	Plus, $20 per month
For a team	Included in Google Workspace: your content stays within the company and is not used for training without permission	Business, $25 per user per month ($20 billed yearly), two people minimum
Handing over a complete job	The Gemini Spark agent is not yet offered in France	“Work” mode: a document, a spreadsheet, or a presentation, from Plus up
Voice	Gemini Live, free, in the mobile app only	On your phone and on the web, limited on Free, 3 hours per day with Go and Plus

Google lists Google AI prices in euros for France; OpenAI publishes its prices in dollars. On the French App Store, we recorded €22.99 per month for ChatGPT Plus. The exact price is shown at checkout.

Which one for which use at work

There is no winner in absolute terms. Look first at the tools your company already uses, then at what you do most often.

Your company is on Google Workspace: Gemini. It is included in the plan, with nothing to pay out of pocket. Log in with your work account: Business Starter gives basic access and Gemini in Gmail; Business Standard and above add it to Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive, Meet, and Chat.
You keep hunting for an email or a file: Gemini. A request like “@Gmail Where are we on the carrier’s quote?” is enough: it finds the message itself.
Your company is on Microsoft 365: look first at Copilot. Between these two, ChatGPT opens inside Word, Excel, and PowerPoint; Gemini is built for Google’s tools.
You want a complete deliverable (a committee deck, a report): ChatGPT, with “Work” mode, from Plus up.
You have a small budget and a personal Gmail: Google AI Plus, at €4.99 per month, puts Gemini in Gmail and doubles the free limits.

Torn between ChatGPT and Claude instead, for long documents or polished Word files? Read ChatGPT vs. Claude.

The privacy setting to change in each one

With a personal account, both vendors may use your conversations to improve their AI. The setting does not have the same name or the same effect: check it on day one.

In Gemini: open your Gemini activity and turn off “Keep Activity.” Your conversations are then kept for only 72 hours and are no longer used for training. Otherwise, they are kept for 18 months, and some are read by human reviewers.
In ChatGPT: profile icon, “Settings,” “Data controls,” then turn off “Improve the model for everyone.”
For a sensitive, one-off question in ChatGPT: a temporary chat, which is not used for training.

On the website and on iPhone, Gemini reads Gmail and Drive only if “Keep Activity” stays on. At work, the answer is your company’s Google Workspace account: Google says your content is not reviewed by people there. With ChatGPT, it is the Business plan.

These settings do not replace your company’s rule. Before you put a customer file into either one, read what not to share with AI at work.

The test to run before you pay

Both free plans are enough to form an opinion. Take a real task from this week, and give it to both.

Choose a file with no sensitive data: a set of meeting notes, a sales export, a memo to rewrite.
Write a single prompt, with the reader, the expected result, and the format. See how to write a good prompt.
Send the same prompt and the same file to Gemini and to ChatGPT.
If you use Gmail, add a test only Gemini can run: “@Gmail Summarize the emails I received this week about the current quote.”
Keep the one that needs the fewest corrections. Pay on the day its free limit stops you several times a week.

What Nova brings

Nova is subscription software that shows what these tools do in your job: executive assistant, sales representative, project manager, or office manager. You will find the up-to-date pages for Gemini and ChatGPT, with their check date, and demos to recreate step by step, prompt included. To go further: using Gemini at work and using ChatGPT at work. Try the interactive demo.

Frequently asked questions

My company is on Google Workspace: do I need ChatGPT?

Not to get started. Gemini is included in Google Workspace: log in with your work account, and it reads your emails and files with nothing to pay out of pocket. ChatGPT makes sense later for a specific need, such as “Work” mode, and on a Business plan if you put company data into it.

Does Gemini read my emails? And ChatGPT?

Gemini searches Gmail, Drive, and Calendar if you turn on those apps in “Connected Apps,” from the free plan. You can turn them off at any time. ChatGPT opens next to your documents instead, in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Google Sheets.

Which one costs less?

Both have a free plan. With Google, Google AI Plus costs €4.99 per month in France. With OpenAI, Go costs $8 per month and Plus $20 per month. Prices checked on October 12, 2026. In a company on Google Workspace, Gemini is already included in the plan.

Can you use ChatGPT in Google Sheets?

Yes. Install ChatGPT from the Google Workspace Marketplace, then open it from the “Extensions” menu. A panel opens next to the spreadsheet. It works on all plans, with limited use on Free.

Which one should a team choose?

If the team works in Google Workspace, Gemini is already there: your content stays within the company and is not used for training without permission. Otherwise, ChatGPT Business costs $25 per user per month, $20 billed yearly, from two people, with no training on your data.

Sources

Google AI plans (France, in French), Google
Google Workspace pricing, Google
Connected apps, Google, Gemini help
Gemini Apps Privacy Hub, Google, Gemini help
Generative AI in Google Workspace Privacy Hub, Google
ChatGPT pricing, OpenAI
ChatGPT for Excel and Google Sheets, OpenAI
Chat, Work, and Codex, OpenAI, help center
Data controls FAQ, OpenAI, help center

Gemini or ChatGPT: which one to choose for work?