Gemini vs ChatGPT for New Zealand businesses.

How do Gemini and ChatGPT compare in October 2026?

They are bought differently. Google includes Gemini in Workspace Business and Enterprise plans rather than selling a separate seat, so a Workspace customer is choosing a plan level. ChatGPT Business is an extra subscription on top of whatever office suite you run.

Where is each one stronger?

Gemini wins on placement. Drafting in Gmail, turning notes into a Doc, recapping a Meet call and labelling rows in Sheets happen without copying anything into another tool. For research across a folder of PDFs, Gemini Notebook answers from the sources you load into it. And for a Workspace customer on Business Standard, there is no new invoice. Our Gemini guide covers each plan.

ChatGPT wins as a standalone workbench: analysing an uploaded spreadsheet, deep research across the web, longer tasks in ChatGPT Work, and coding in Codex. It also connects beyond Google, including SharePoint, Slack and ServiceM8, which matters for firms on a mixed stack.

How do you test Gemini and ChatGPT on the same work?

Pick five people, give both tools the same material, and keep personal details out of the test files.

1. Sort 300 enquiries in a sheet. In Sheets, use the AI function to label each enquiry as quote request, booking change, complaint, invoice or other. Upload the same rows to ChatGPT and ask for the same labels. Check 30 rows by hand and count disagreements with your own call.
2. Reply to a long Gmail thread. Take a 25-message client thread, ask each for a summary of what was agreed and a reply that answers the open questions. Look for commitments missed or invented, and minutes to edit.
3. Answer from 20 documents. Load the same 20 PDFs, such as your policies or a council’s consent conditions for a site, into Gemini Notebook and a ChatGPT Project. Ask ten questions you know the answers to, including two that the documents do not answer. Score correct answers, citation accuracy and whether each admits a gap.

Our lesson on analysing a spreadsheet with AI covers the checking method for task one.

What do Gemini and ChatGPT cost over a year?

The answer depends on your current Workspace plan. Worked examples at list prices on 19 October 2026, GST and billing term to confirm:

• A 15-person firm on Business Starter upgrading to Standard to get Gemini in Docs and Sheets: 15 × (NZ$21 − NZ$10.50) = NZ$157.50 a month, or NZ$1,890 a year.
• The same firm adding ChatGPT Business for everyone instead: 15 × NZ$33 = NZ$495 a month, or NZ$5,940 a year, on top of Workspace.
• A firm already on Business Standard adding ChatGPT for five heavy users: 5 × NZ$33 = NZ$165 a month, or NZ$1,980 a year, with Gemini still available to all 15.

Costs that appear later:

• Usage caps. The Sheets AI function stops at 5,000 uses a month on Standard and Plus. Google’s AI Expanded Access add-on raises that to 25,000, but we found no official price for it.
• Withdrawn add-ons. Google stopped selling AI Ultra Access in 2026 and moved customers to AI Expanded Access. Check what your plan includes at each renewal.
• Seat billing. ChatGPT Business charges for every purchased seat, assigned or not.
• Switching. Gemini’s value is tied to Workspace; leaving Google means losing it. ChatGPT Projects and custom GPTs do not export to Gemini. Keep prompts in a library you own.

Which should you choose?

Choose Gemini if

• Your business already runs on Google Workspace Business Standard or above.
• Most AI work is email, documents, meetings and spreadsheets inside Google’s apps.
• You want answers drawn from a folder of your own documents, through Gemini Notebook.
• You would rather improve use of a tool you pay for than add a new subscription.

Choose ChatGPT if

• You are on Microsoft 365, a mixed stack or Workspace Starter, where Gemini is limited.
• Staff need heavy research, file analysis or longer agentic tasks in one place.
• You use ServiceM8 and want its approved plugin.
• Your tests show Gemini getting your task wrong more often.

Where do both fall short?

• Personal and free accounts. Free Google AI Studio and the free Gemini API tier let Google use prompts to improve its products, and human reviewers may read them; in New Zealand the paid-service terms do not apply to free use. ChatGPT’s Free, Go, Plus and Pro plans train on content unless the user opts out. A staff member pasting client details into either is the real risk.
• Offshore processing. Google announced an Auckland region in 2022, but its region list on 15 October 2026 shows only Sydney and Melbourne nearby. ChatGPT processes offshore too. Under the Privacy Act 2020, record both in your privacy assessment and see protecting customer information when using AI.
• Labels that look like facts. An AI column in Sheets that tags a customer “bad payer” is personal information. IPP 8 expects reasonable steps to check accuracy before you use it.
• NZ specifics. Both will answer questions about NZ tax, employment or tenancy rules from memory. Give them the source.
• Plan confusion. Staff on Starter see fewer Gemini features than colleagues on Standard. Audit licences before training anyone; our AI training starts from what each person actually has.

Written by the Levy Street team in Wellington. Last updated 19 October 2026.