# ChatGPT vs Claude for New Zealand businesses.

URL: https://levystreet.com/compare/chatgpt-vs-claude/
Updated: 2026-10-19

ChatGPT vs Claude for NZ businesses: Business and Team seat prices shown from NZ, data handling, Xero and ServiceM8 links, and three tests to run yourself.

## Short answer

ChatGPT and Claude are close enough that a test on your own work should decide. Pick ChatGPT Business for the broadest general assistant, ServiceM8 and Microsoft 365 apps, and a two-seat start at NZ$33 a seat as listed on 19 October 2026. Pick Claude Team for long documents, careful writing, the read-only Xero connector and Claude Code. Neither processes prompts in New Zealand.

- ChatGPT Business Standard is NZ$33 a seat billed annually; GST treatment is not stated.
- Claude Team Standard shows $40 a seat annually from NZ, stated as GST-inclusive.
- Neither trains on Business or Team content by default; personal accounts are the risk.
- Claude has a read-only Xero connector; ChatGPT has an approved ServiceM8 plugin.
- Both process prompts offshore, so plan your privacy assessment on that basis.

## How do ChatGPT and Claude compare in October 2026?

Both products changed a lot this year. Since [7 October 2026](https://deploymentsafety.openai.com/gpt-6-october) every ChatGPT user, free and paid, runs on OpenAI's GPT-6 family. Claude's current models are [Fable 5.1, Opus 5.5, Sonnet 5.5 and Haiku 5.5](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/about-claude/models/overview), all with a one-million-token context window. The table compares the team plans most New Zealand businesses actually buy.

| As listed on 19 October 2026 | ChatGPT Business | Claude Team |
|---|---|---|
| Standard seat, shown from NZ | NZ$33 a month billed annually, NZ$41 monthly; GST not stated | $40 a month billed annually, $50 monthly; "Prices include 15% GST", currency not labelled |
| Heavy-user seat | Premium NZ$165 annually, NZ$205 monthly; five times Standard usage, no 5-hour limit | Premium $200 annually, $250 monthly; five times Standard usage |
| Team size | 2 to 200 seats; every purchased seat is billed | 2 to 150 seats |
| Enterprise | Custom pricing via sales | US$20 a seat a month plus usage at API rates, 20-seat minimum |
| Training on your content | Not by default, including connected apps | Not by default; a rated chat is kept up to five years |
| Where prompts are processed | Offshore; in-region inference only in Europe, the US and the UAE | Offshore; Anthropic offers only "global" or "us" inference |
| NZ software | ServiceM8 approved plugin; MYOB read-only connector | Xero read-only connector; MYOB read-only connector; ServiceM8 as a custom connector |
| Included extras | ChatGPT Work, Codex, deep research | Claude Code, Research, Claude Docs, Slides and Design |
| Usage limits | Premium removes the 5-hour limit | Rolling five-hour window plus weekly limits, shared with Claude Code |
| Strongest at | Broad drafting, research and spreadsheet analysis; agentic tasks in ChatGPT Work | Long documents, careful writing, live Xero answers, coding with Claude Code |
| Weakest at | Apps on by default can surface over-shared files; idle seats still billed | Heavy users hit shared limits; Fable defaults to 30-day retention |

## Where is each one stronger?

**ChatGPT** is the broader all-rounder. Business seats include ChatGPT Work (OpenAI's agentic product for longer tasks) and Codex, and its apps connect to SharePoint, Teams, Outlook, Google Drive, Slack and more. In Business those [apps are on by default](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/11509118-admin-controls-security-and-compliance-for-plugins-and-apps), with admins controlling availability for the whole workspace. For trades and field-service firms, ServiceM8's approved plugin can search jobs, create jobs from templates and add notes. See our [ChatGPT guide](/tools/chatgpt/).

**Claude** suits work built around long documents: tender packs, contracts, policies and board papers, where every current model reads up to a million tokens. Xero's [Claude connector](https://www.xero.com/nz/just-ask-xero/) answers from live Xero data with links back to the source, and Xero says it is read-only. Developers get Claude Code in the same subscription, sharing the plan's usage pool. See our [Claude guide](/tools/claude/) and [Claude Code guide](/tools/claude-code/).

## How do you test ChatGPT and Claude on the same work?

Give both the same three tasks from your own business, in business workspaces, with personal details removed. Score each output the same way: correct or not, minutes to make it usable, and whether the tool flagged what it was unsure of.


1. **Tender obligations.** Upload the same 80 to 150 page tender pack, such as one from GETS, and ask for every mandatory requirement with its section and page. Check against a list you made by hand: count missed requirements and wrong page references.
2. **Overdue invoices.** In Claude, use the Xero connector. In ChatGPT, upload an aged receivables export from Xero. Ask for every invoice more than 30 days overdue with a next step under your credit policy. Totals must reconcile to Xero to the cent, and no invoice may be invented or dropped.
3. **Customer replies in house style.** Give both your one-page house brief and price list, then ten real enquiries. Look for prices with the right GST treatment, New Zealand English, and how long each draft takes to fix. A wrong price is a failed draft.


Record the results in our [AI pilot scorecard](/resources/ai-pilot-scorecard/), and use [testing a business AI assistant](/learn/testing-a-business-ai-assistant/) for a fuller method.

## What do ChatGPT and Claude cost over a year?

Seat licences dominate. Worked example for an eight-person team on Standard seats with annual billing, at prices shown on 19 October 2026:

- **ChatGPT Business:** 8 × NZ$33 = NZ$264 a month, or NZ$3,168 a year. If that price excludes GST, add 15%: NZ$3,643.20 a year.
- **Claude Team:** 8 × $40 = $320 a month, or $3,840 a year, stated as GST-inclusive.

At face value the gap is NZ$672 a year. With GST added to ChatGPT it shrinks to about NZ$197. Confirm both on your first invoice.

Other costs appear later:

- **Heavy users.** On both, a Premium seat costs five times a Standard seat. Give Premium only to the people who hit limits.
- **Idle seats.** OpenAI [charges for every purchased seat](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/8792536-managing-billing-and-seats-in-chatgpt-business) each cycle, assigned or not.
- **Your own builds.** ChatGPT Business does not include API usage. Claude Team includes up to $500 a month in pooled API credits.
- **Switching.** Chats, Projects and custom GPTs do not move between vendors. Keep prompts and test cases in a library you own, using our [prompt library template](/resources/ai-prompt-library-template/).
- **Model changes.** OpenAI retired GPT-4o and four other models from ChatGPT on 13 February 2026, and Anthropic retires Claude Sonnet 4.5 from its API on 30 November 2026. Rerun your three tests after each change.

## Which should you choose?

### Choose ChatGPT if

- Your team does a broad mix of drafting, research and spreadsheet analysis and wants one assistant.
- You run ServiceM8, or want SharePoint, Teams, Outlook and Google Drive apps switched on for everyone.
- You want to start with two seats and mix Standard and Premium.
- You may later need Enterprise data residency at rest in Australia.

### Choose Claude if

- Most of the value is in long documents you read, compare and rewrite.
- You use Xero and want live answers with links back to the source, without write access.
- Developers on the team will use Claude Code from the same subscription.
- You prefer prices shown GST-inclusive, after confirming the currency on your invoice.

## Where do both fall short?

- **New Zealand rules from memory.** Both will state GST, employment or tenancy rules confidently and sometimes wrongly. Give them the source document.
- **Offshore processing.** Neither processes prompts in New Zealand. ChatGPT Enterprise can [store data at rest in Australia](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/9903489-data-residency-and-inference-residency-for-chatgpt), but processing stays offshore. Developers who need Claude inference kept in Australia and New Zealand can use Amazon Bedrock; see [data residency for AI systems](/engineering/data-residency-for-ai-systems/).
- **Personal accounts.** Under section 11 of the [Privacy Act 2020](https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2020/31/en/latest/), a provider that processes data only on your behalf is treated as part of your organisation. The Privacy Commissioner gives [AI training as an example](https://www.privacy.org.nz/resources-and-learning/a-z-topics/working-with-third-party-providers/) of a provider using data for its own purposes, which can make sharing a disclosure under IPP 11, with IPP 12 applying offshore. Business plans avoid that; staff on personal accounts may not.
- **Connected apps.** Both surface whatever a user's permissions allow. Fix SharePoint and Drive sharing before connecting, and see [understanding AI tool permissions](/learn/understanding-ai-tool-permissions/).
- **Shifting plans.** New ChatGPT Pro 200 subscribers got a smaller usage allowance in late September 2026, and Claude's merged Cowork features reached Pro and Max before Team. Re-check what your plan includes at renewal.

If you want help running the comparison on your own documents, that is part of our [AI model selection](/services/ai-model-selection/) work.

## Questions people ask

### Is ChatGPT or Claude better for business?

Neither is better for every business. ChatGPT Business is the broader general assistant, with agentic ChatGPT Work, Codex and apps for SharePoint, Teams, Outlook and ServiceM8. Claude Team suits document-heavy work and firms that want live Xero answers through Xero's read-only connector, and it includes Claude Code for developers. Run both on the same three real tasks for a week and choose on errors and editing time, not on demos.

### Which is cheaper in New Zealand, ChatGPT Business or Claude Team?

On the face of the pricing pages on 19 October 2026, ChatGPT Business Standard is NZ$33 a seat a month on annual billing and Claude Team Standard is $40. But Claude's page says its prices include 15% GST and ChatGPT's page says nothing about GST. If ChatGPT's figure turns out to exclude GST, an eight-person team pays about NZ$197 a year less than on Claude, not NZ$672.

### Do ChatGPT and Claude train on my company's data?

Not on their business plans by default. OpenAI does not train on ChatGPT Business or Enterprise content, including data reached through connected apps, and Anthropic does not train on Team, Enterprise or API content unless you opt in. On Claude, a thumbs-up or thumbs-down rating stores that chat for up to five years, so owners should consider switching ratings off. Personal Free, Plus, Pro and Max accounts are where training settings bite.

### Which works with Xero, MYOB and ServiceM8?

As checked on 19 October 2026, Xero offers a read-only connector inside Claude that answers from live Xero data with links back to the source. MYOB's read-only MYOB Connector works with both Claude and ChatGPT once the business owner allows AI access. ServiceM8 is an approved plugin in ChatGPT and can be added to Claude as a custom connector using its official MCP server.

### Should we pay for both ChatGPT and Claude?

Only if each one clearly wins on work that matters to you. Plenty of New Zealand teams give most staff one assistant and a handful of heavy users the other. If you do run both, your AI use policy has to say which tool may see which data, and both need business plans, because a personal account with training switched on is where the privacy risk sits.


## Sources

- [ChatGPT plans and pricing](https://chatgpt.com/pricing/)
- [ChatGPT Business overview](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/8792828-chatgpt-business-overview)
- [Managing billing and seats in ChatGPT Business](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/8792536-managing-billing-and-seats-in-chatgpt-business)
- [Enterprise privacy at OpenAI](https://openai.com/enterprise-privacy/)
- [Data residency and inference residency for ChatGPT](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/9903489-data-residency-and-inference-residency-for-chatgpt)
- [Admin controls, security and compliance for plugins and apps](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/11509118-admin-controls-security-and-compliance-for-plugins-and-apps)
- [GPT-6 in ChatGPT](https://deploymentsafety.openai.com/gpt-6-october)
- [Retiring GPT-4o and other ChatGPT models](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/20001051-retiring-gpt-4o-and-other-chatgpt-models)
- [Claude plans and pricing](https://claude.com/pricing)
- [Models overview](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/about-claude/models/overview)
- [Is my data used for model training? (commercial)](https://privacy.claude.com/en/articles/7996868-is-my-data-used-for-model-training)
- [Data residency](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/manage-claude/data-residency)
- [Model deprecations](https://platform.claude.com/docs/en/about-claude/model-deprecations)
- [JAX and the Xero connector in Claude](https://www.xero.com/nz/just-ask-xero/)
- [Connecting MYOB to Claude or ChatGPT](https://www.myob.com/nz/support/myob-business/product-account/connecting-myob)
- [How to connect ServiceM8 to ChatGPT with MCP](https://support.servicem8.com/hc/en-us/articles/13811757421327-how-to-connect-servicem8-to-chatgpt-with-mcp)
- [Privacy Act 2020](https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2020/31/en/latest/)
- [Working with third-party providers](https://www.privacy.org.nz/resources-and-learning/a-z-topics/working-with-third-party-providers/)

Published by Levy Street (https://levystreet.com), Wellington, New Zealand.