In many companies, employees have long been using ChatGPT to write their emails. The only question that usually remains is whether this is happening via a company account with clear guidelines. According to a ZEW survey from June 2026, nearly 60 percent of companies in the information economy provide their employees with generative AI. In the manufacturing sector, the figure is 30 percent, with another 39 percent tolerating its use without having established any rules for it.
At the same time, data protection acts as a brake: 66 percent of companies using AI cite it as an obstacle, according to Bitkom . We use ChatGPT ourselves. In this article, we show you how much the plans cost, where ChatGPT helps, where its limitations lie, and what alternatives are available. All prices are taken from the OpenAI pricing page, as of October 2026.
What is ChatGPT for business?
ChatGPT for business includes OpenAI's Business and Enterprise plans. They offer a shared workspace for your team, centralized management, single sign-on, and integrations with Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, or Slack. By default, OpenAI does not use your inputs there for training purposes. Business starts at 21 euros per user per month.
Business and Enterprise differ from the personal plans in three key ways:
- Control: Administration: Admins manage accounts, permissions, and connected apps centrally. They can view, export, and delete conversations within the workspace.
- Training: In Free, Go, Plus, and Pro, OpenAI uses your content for training unless you opt out. In Business and Enterprise, this is disabled by default.
- Contract: For Business, Enterprise, and the API, OpenAI provides a Data Processing Addendum (DPA). There is no such agreement for personal accounts.
The introductory Go plan already includes advertising. To see how OpenAI’s sponsored formats work and what they mean for your marketing strategy, read our guide on ChatGPT Ads: everything businesses need to know now.
ChatGPT Business and Enterprise: Plans and costs
Standard and Premium licenses can be combined as needed in the Business plan. For example: 20 employees with a Standard license cost 20 times 21 euros times 12 months, totaling 5,040 euros per year when paid annually. If two power users are upgraded to a Premium license, the total increases to 7,056 euros.
Dots are persistent agents that OpenAI introduced at the end of September 2026. They work on their own cloud computer around the clock to handle tasks.
The biggest catch: According to the pricing page, data residency in the EU is only available in the Enterprise plan. In the Business plan, you cannot choose where your data is stored. For drafts that don't contain personal data, this usually doesn't matter much. If you regularly process customer or personnel data, check with your data protection officer first. Our article explains what you generally need to look out for with US providers AI and data protection.
Use cases: Where ChatGPT helps in the company
ChatGPT is most effective for tasks that involve generating or summarizing large amounts of text. Here are some typical examples from various departments:
- Marketing: Drafts for posts, newsletters, and product descriptions, as well as variations for subject lines. If your style guide is included in a project, the drafts will sound much more like your brand.
- Sales: Use Deep Research to look up a target company before a meeting, draft follow-up emails, and role-play potential objections in advance.
- Customer Service: Draft responses for recurring inquiries and summarize long email threads.
- HR: Job postings, onboarding materials, and interview guides. Only upload application documents if your data processing agreement and internal policies allow it.
- Finance and Controlling: Get explanations for Excel formulas, analyze tables, and create charts. With extensions, ChatGPT can also work directly in Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.
- Knowledge and Documentation: Summarize meeting minutes and translate policies into plain language. Custom GPTs can handle recurring tasks, such as generating proposal text for the entire team.
- IT and Development: Use Codex, which is included in the business plan, to write scripts and review code.
The results get noticeably better when ChatGPT knows your context. You can achieve this using projects with your own files, custom instructions and apps that connect ChatGPT to Google Drive, Microsoft 365, or Slack. You can find more examples in our AI use cases for businesses.
What all these examples have in common: ChatGPT provides the draft, but a human reviews and makes the final decision.
Limitations: Where ChatGPT falls short in the workplace
According to Bitkom, 45 percent of companies using AI are worried about company data falling into the wrong hands. 26 percent cite poor quality of results, and 25 percent point to a lack of transparency. Here is an overview of the most important limitations:
- Confident errors: ChatGPT can present false information in a fluent and confident manner. That’s why a human should always verify numbers, quotes, sources, and legal questions before anything is shared externally.
- Data protection: Personal data should only be used in Business or Enterprise accounts with a signed data processing agreement (DPA) in place—and even then, only if your internal policies allow it.
- Shadow AI: If there is no company account, employees will use their private logins, often including company data. Bans are rare; according to ZEW, only 4 to 8 percent of companies prohibit generative AI. The solution is an official company account combined with a brief policy on what data is permitted.
- No background automation: ChatGPT works when someone asks a question. You can build recurring workflows between your CRM, accounting, and inbox using tools like n8n or Make. You can connect the AI model there via API. Dots are moving in this direction, but they are new and only available with a premium license. More on this in AI automation explained simply.
- Mandatory training: Since February 2025, Article 4 of the EU AI Act requires you to ensure your employees have sufficient AI literacy. This also applies to ChatGPT. You can read the details in our article on Mandatory AI training.
- Vendor lock-in: OpenAI’s models, features, and prices change constantly; the pricing page currently lists nine models. Document your prompts, GPTs, and workflows to make a future switch easier.
ChatGPT alternatives for companies
Which tool is the best fit depends primarily on what you are currently using:
If your team works entirely within Microsoft 365, we would test Copilot first because it integrates directly with your files and emails. If you want to use multiple models and keep your data in Germany, we would take a look at Langdock. You can find our detailed review at Langdock review. For most other teams, ChatGPT Business is a good starting point because the feature set and price are a great match.
For a side-by-side evaluation, see our hands-on test of ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, and Claude. To find out when running your own models makes sense, check out our guide on Open-source LLMs vs. Closed-source LLMs.
How to introduce ChatGPT in your company
- Current status: Ask your team who is already using AI tools, either personally or for work, and what they use them for.
- Choose a plan and sign a DPA: The Business plan is sufficient for most teams of up to 200 people. You can request the DPA via a form on the OpenAI data privacy page.
- Set some ground rules: One page is enough. What data can be entered and what can't, and who checks the results before they go public?
- Training and task definition: Each team should identify two or three tasks to use ChatGPT for. This includes a quick training session on its capabilities and limitations. You can find tips for this in our article AI-ready.
- Evaluate after four to eight weeks: The admin console shows who is using ChatGPT and how often. Those who are barely active might need support or don't need a license at all. Those who regularly hit their limits should be upgraded to a premium license.
Bottom line: ChatGPT is worth it with a company account and clear rules
ChatGPT helps almost every department with writing, research, analysis, and documentation. For business use, we would always choose a Business or Enterprise plan. Only these plans exclude your data from training by default, offer centralized management, and include a data processing agreement (DPA). The limitations lie in incorrect answers, personal data, and processes that are meant to run automatically in the background. If you work entirely within Microsoft 365 or have very strict data protection requirements, it's worth looking at Copilot or Langdock.
The best way to start: Begin with ChatGPT Business in a team that does a lot of writing, such as marketing or sales. Define which data is off-limits beforehand, and evaluate how much time you're saving after six weeks.
If you want to know which tool fits your workflows, get in touch with us for an AI consultation.
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FAQ: Frequently asked questions about ChatGPT for businesses
How much does ChatGPT Business cost?
ChatGPT Business costs 21 euros per user per month with annual billing, and 26 euros with monthly billing. The premium license with five times the usage costs 105 or 130 euros, respectively. The plan is designed for teams of 2 to 200 people.
Is ChatGPT GDPR-compliant?
Not automatically. You create the foundation for this with ChatGPT Business or Enterprise, a signed DPA, and clear rules on what data can be entered. You should clarify with your data protection officer whether this is sufficient for your specific use cases.
What is the difference between ChatGPT Business and Enterprise?
Enterprise additionally offers data residency in the EU, user management via SCIM, role-based permissions, a compliance API, and support with an SLA. Business is aimed at teams of 2 to 200 people and has fixed list prices. Enterprise is negotiated individually.
Does OpenAI use our company data for training?
Not in Business and Enterprise, as long as you don't explicitly consent, for example via feedback features. In the private plans—Free, Go, Plus, and Pro—OpenAI uses content for training unless you opt out.
Are employees allowed to use their private ChatGPT accounts for work?
We would advise against this for company data. There is no DPA for private accounts, content is used for training unless you opt out, and as a company, you have no access to the chats. A company account with clear rules solves all three problems.
Which ChatGPT alternative is suitable for companies?
For teams on Microsoft 365, usually Copilot; for teams on Google Workspace, Gemini. If you have strict data protection requirements, a platform like Langdock with data hosting in Germany is worth considering. For highly sensitive data, open-source models on your own servers are an option.
Posted by:
Jens is the co-founder of bakedwith, a boutique consultancy firm specialising in smart automation and AI. He helps medium-sized companies and corporations to optimise processes, reduce manual work and achieve growth through efficient workflows. Previously, he was Growth Lead at OMR and worked as a freelancer, helping numerous companies optimise their CRM and automation systems. Jens is passionate about combining growth and efficiency to enable teams to focus on what matters most.
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