# Claude vs ChatGPT Enterprise for professional firms > Claude vs ChatGPT Enterprise for consultancies and professional services firms: data residency, admin, connectors and pricing, checked in October 2026. Source: https://www.assume-ai.com/claude-vs-chatgpt-enterprise For a consultancy or professional services firm, the choice between Claude Enterprise and ChatGPT Enterprise turns less on the models than on three things: where your client data must live, which tools your firm already runs, and which workflows you want automated. Both keep your content out of model training by default and both give admins single sign-on, user provisioning, audit logs and retention controls. The sharpest difference is data residency: ChatGPT Enterprise can store a new workspace's content in the UK or Europe, while Claude Enterprise stores data in the US and the European route for Claude is its desktop app running on Amazon Bedrock or Google Cloud. ## Which is better for a professional services firm, Claude or ChatGPT Enterprise? Neither wins outright, and anyone who tells you otherwise is usually selling one of them. Both are mature, enterprise-grade platforms. Both are used every day for the work that fills a consultant's or adviser's week: drafting proposals and reports, summarising long client files, analysing spreadsheets, preparing first drafts in a house style. The model underneath matters less than it did two years ago, because both vendors now release new models every few months and both make them available to enterprise customers. What separates them for a firm that holds confidential client information is the plumbing: where the data is stored and processed, what the administrators can see and control, which of your systems each one can connect to, and how the commercial terms work. Those are the questions this guide answers, using the vendors' own published pages, checked on 21 October 2026 and listed under Sources at the foot of the page. Our view: choose on data first, then on the tools your firm already runs, then on the workflows you want automated. If your client contracts or your professional body require client data to stay in the UK or the EU, that one requirement will often decide it before anything else is weighed. ## How do Claude Enterprise and ChatGPT Enterprise compare? The table sets the two platforms side by side on the points that matter to a firm of 20 to 200 people. Prices are in US dollars before tax, as the vendors publish them; both vendors may charge in other currencies, and both change their plans often, so treat this as a snapshot and check the linked pages before you sign. | What you are comparing | Claude (Anthropic) | ChatGPT (OpenAI) | | --- | --- | --- | | **Plan for smaller teams**: Claude Team / ChatGPT Business | 2 to 150 seats. Standard $20, Premium $100 a seat a month billed annually ($25 and $125 monthly) | At least 2 seats. Standard $20, Premium $100 a seat a month billed annually ($25 and $125 monthly) | | **Enterprise price**: Claude Enterprise / ChatGPT Enterprise | $20 a seat a month billed annually, plus usage at API rates, 20-seat minimum | Not published: priced through OpenAI's sales team | | **Training on your content**: Business and enterprise plans | None by default | Not used for training unless you opt in | | **Where data is stored**: Conversations, files and outputs at rest | In the US. Processing may be routed through the US, Europe, Asia and Australia | Your choice of region for a new Enterprise workspace, including Europe (EEA and Switzerland) and the UK | | **In-region processing**: Where the model runs on your prompts | US-only processing on usage-based Enterprise. Europe or UK via Claude Desktop on Amazon Bedrock or Google Cloud | Europe, the US and the UAE for eligible Enterprise workspaces; not yet the UK | | **Identity and admin**: Enterprise tier | Single sign-on (also on Team), SCIM, role-based access, audit logs, Compliance API | Single sign-on (also on Business), SCIM, role-based access, Compliance Logs Platform, Enterprise Key Management | | **Retention**: How long chats are kept | Custom data retention controls on Enterprise | Custom retention policy on Enterprise, minimum 90 days | | **Agents for longer tasks**: Multi-step work on your files | Cowork and Claude Code, included on Team and Enterprise | ChatGPT Work (launched July 2026) and Codex | | **Connectors**: Your systems, inside the chat | Microsoft 365, Slack and other connectors, enterprise search, and custom MCP servers | Google Drive, SharePoint and Teams apps, company knowledge, admin-controlled access | | **Certifications**: As each vendor publishes them | SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, ISO/IEC 42001 | SOC 2 Type 2, ISO/IEC 27001, ISO/IEC 27701 | Two things stand out. At the business tier the prices are identical, so price is not a reason to choose either for a small firm. At the enterprise tier the real differences are data residency, which favours ChatGPT if you need a managed workspace in the UK or Europe, and the commercial model, where Claude publishes a seat price plus metered usage and OpenAI quotes. ## Where does your client data go with each platform? This is the question most professional services firms should start with, and it is the one where the two platforms differ most. There are two separate things to ask about: where your data is stored at rest, and where the model processes your prompts. A vendor can satisfy one without the other. OpenAI offers data residency to new ChatGPT Enterprise and Edu workspaces and to its API customers. You choose a region when the workspace is set up, and supported regions include Europe (the EEA and Switzerland) and the UK, among others. In-region processing, which OpenAI calls inference residency, is narrower: it is offered in Europe, the US and the UAE, so a UK workspace can keep its content stored in the UK but not yet have it processed there. OpenAI also notes that some activity, such as sign-in, routing and analytics, may happen outside the chosen region. Data residency is not offered on ChatGPT Business. Anthropic's help centre says data from its commercial products, including Claude Enterprise, is stored in the US, and that by default traffic may be routed for processing through the US, Europe, Asia and Australia. Enterprise customers on usage-based billing can restrict processing to the US. Anthropic's own feature comparison lists data residency in multiple regions as something Claude Enterprise does not offer. The European route for Claude is different in kind. Claude Desktop can run in a third-party mode that sends all model requests to Amazon Bedrock or Google Cloud in a region you choose, and both offer Claude models in EU and UK regions. Conversation history is kept on each user's device rather than with Anthropic. You keep Chat, Cowork and Code, connectors and skills, but you lose web and mobile access, sharing between users and voice mode, and you pay your cloud provider for tokens rather than Anthropic for seats. For a firm that must keep client material in Europe, that trade is often worth it; for one that does not, the standard Enterprise plan is simpler. Whichever you choose, residency is only half of it. A firm that answers to a chartered or professional body needs a written policy on what may go into the tool, an approved tools register and a way to check outputs before they reach a client. When the RICS professional standard on the responsible use of AI took effect on 9 March 2026, we assessed Hillbreak's existing policy against it and prepared the [nine documents that close the gaps](https://www.assume-ai.com/work/hillbreak-ai-governance-foundations). ## What do admins and compliance teams get on each? At the enterprise tier the two are close. Both offer single sign-on through your identity provider, SCIM so that joiners and leavers are added and removed automatically, role-based permissions and retention controls. On the smaller plans, Claude Team and ChatGPT Business both include single sign-on but not the fuller set of controls; Anthropic, for example, reserves SCIM, audit logs, the Compliance API and custom retention for Enterprise. For records and investigations, Claude Enterprise has audit logs and a Compliance API. ChatGPT Enterprise has its Compliance Logs Platform, which feeds eDiscovery, data loss prevention and security monitoring tools; OpenAI keeps those logs for 30 days, so a firm that needs a longer record has to export them continuously. ChatGPT Enterprise also offers Enterprise Key Management, which encrypts your content with keys held in your own cloud key service on Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud or Microsoft Azure. Custom retention in ChatGPT Enterprise has a minimum of 90 days. On certification, Anthropic lists SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001 and ISO/IEC 42001, the standard for AI management systems, across its API, Claude Team and Claude Enterprise. OpenAI lists SOC 2 Type 2 for its business products and ISO/IEC 27001 and 27701 for ChatGPT Enterprise. Either set will satisfy most client security questionnaires; ask each vendor's trust portal for the reports themselves. ## Which fits the way consultants and advisers actually work? Most of the value in a professional services firm comes from connecting the assistant to where the work already lives. Claude connects to Microsoft 365, so it can read and, if the administrator allows it, act on mail, files and Teams; it also connects to Slack, offers enterprise search across connected sources, and can use custom connectors built on the open [Model Context Protocol](https://www.assume-ai.com/glossary#mcp). ChatGPT connects to Google Drive, SharePoint and Microsoft Teams, and its company knowledge feature answers from the sources your administrators have switched on. Both vendors now sell an agent for longer, multi-step jobs as part of the subscription, not only a chat window. Anthropic's is Cowork, which works through tasks on your files and can create spreadsheets, slides and documents; Anthropic has announced that Cowork is being folded into the main Claude app, starting with its individual plans. OpenAI's is ChatGPT Work, launched in July 2026, which can research, analyse and produce documents, spreadsheets and presentations. Where these agents earn their keep is in skills: saved, repeatable instructions that make the assistant do a task your way, every time. For Hillbreak, a specialist ESG and sustainability advisory firm, we ran [three Claude Cowork workshops](https://www.assume-ai.com/work/hillbreak-cowork-training) alongside its pilot and built six custom skills: spreadsheets, slides, PDFs, LinkedIn carousels, writing in the house voice, and quality assurance. That is the difference between a licence and a working tool. ## What will Claude or ChatGPT cost a firm of 20 to 200 people? On the business plans the arithmetic is simple. Thirty people on standard seats cost $20 a seat a month billed annually on either Claude Team or ChatGPT Business, which is $7,200 a year before tax. Premium seats, for heavy users, are $100 a month on both. On the enterprise plans it is less simple. Claude Enterprise charges $20 a seat a month billed annually with a 20-seat minimum, and then bills usage separately at API rates, so the total depends on how much your people use it. ChatGPT Enterprise does not publish a price; you agree one with OpenAI. If you take the Claude Desktop route through Amazon Bedrock or Google Cloud, there are no seat licences at all, and you pay your cloud provider for the tokens used. The licence is rarely the expensive part. Many firms have already bought licences, or watched their people use personal accounts with company data, and found that nothing changed: without the workflows built and a policy in place, nobody knew what to do with the tool. Budget for setting it up properly, not only for the seats. ## How should a firm decide between Claude and ChatGPT Enterprise? Work through these in order. The first one that gives you a clear answer usually decides it. - Data location. If client contracts or your professional body require UK or EU storage from a managed workspace that everyone reaches in a browser, ChatGPT Enterprise with residency chosen at set-up is the more direct route. If processing must stay in Europe and desktop-only access is acceptable, Claude Desktop on Amazon Bedrock or Google Cloud does that. - Commercial model. If you want a published enterprise price and can live with metered usage, Claude Enterprise starts at 20 seats. If you would rather negotiate one figure, talk to OpenAI. - Your systems. List the four or five systems your people live in and check each platform's current connectors against them. - Your people. Run the same real tasks through both for two weeks with a handful of staff, and ask them which they would choose. - Your policy. Whatever you pick, write down what may and may not go into it before you roll it out. If you do not have a policy, [AI governance implementation](https://www.assume-ai.com/services/ai-governance-implementation) produces one, from £3,000. If you are still undecided after that, choose the one your people preferred. Adoption decides the return far more than the feature list does. ## How does AssumeAI deploy Claude or ChatGPT Enterprise? Our [Enterprise AI Deployment](https://www.assume-ai.com/services/enterprise-ai-deployment) is built for firms of 20 to 200 employees who want enterprise AI in everyone's hands, safely, without a long programme first. We help you choose between Claude Cowork and ChatGPT Enterprise on the basis of your data governance requirements, the tools your firm already runs and the workflows you want automated, and then we deploy whichever fits. We deploy the platform on EU-based data hosting and configure it to your data governance policies: access, permissions, retention and data handling. We then build six to twelve agents and skills around the workflows your teams run every week, such as drafting a proposal from your templates, summarising a client file or preparing a first-pass report, and test them with the people who will use them. Your people are onboarded, every agent and skill is documented so your team can maintain and extend it, and the workflows are already there on day one. It costs £20,000 excluding VAT. That is the price, not a starting point, and if you are not happy for any reason we refund you in full. If your team already has the tools and needs to get more from them, [tailored AI team training](https://www.assume-ai.com/services/ai-team-training) covers Claude, Cowork, Gemini and more, from £5,000. For the wider picture, see [AI consulting for professional services firms](https://www.assume-ai.com/ai-for-professional-services). ## Sources checked for this guide Every product fact on this page was checked against these pages on 21 October 2026. Vendors change plans, prices and regions often; if something here no longer matches, the vendor's page is right. - Anthropic, [Claude plans and pricing](https://claude.com/pricing) - Anthropic, [Where are your servers located?](https://privacy.claude.com/en/articles/7996890-where-are-your-servers-located-do-you-host-your-models-on-eu-servers) (updated 15 June 2026) - Anthropic, [Claude Desktop on third-party platforms: overview](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/overview) and [feature comparison](https://claude.com/docs/third-party/claude-desktop/feature-matrix) - Anthropic, [Regional compliance](https://claude.com/regional-compliance) - Anthropic, [What certifications has Anthropic obtained?](https://privacy.claude.com/en/articles/10015870-what-certifications-has-anthropic-obtained) - Anthropic, [Set up the Microsoft 365 connector](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/12542951-set-up-the-microsoft-365-connector) - OpenAI, [ChatGPT business pricing](https://openai.com/business/pricing/) - OpenAI, [Data residency and inference residency for ChatGPT](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/9903489-data-residency-and-inference-residency-for-chatgpt) - OpenAI, [Enterprise privacy at OpenAI](https://openai.com/enterprise-privacy/) and [Security and privacy at OpenAI](https://openai.com/security-and-privacy/) - OpenAI, [Compliance Platform for Enterprise and Edu customers](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/9261474-openai-compliance-platform-for-enterprise-and-edu-customers) - OpenAI, [ChatGPT Enterprise and Edu release notes](https://help.openai.com/en/articles/10128477-chatgpt-enterprise-and-edu-release-notes) ## Questions ### Do Claude Enterprise or ChatGPT Enterprise train on our data? Not by default. Anthropic's pricing page lists model training on your content as none by default for both its Team and Enterprise plans, and OpenAI says data from ChatGPT Business and Enterprise is not used for training unless the customer explicitly opts in. Check the terms you sign rather than a marketing page, and set your own policy for what staff may put into either tool. ### Can we keep our data in the UK or the EU? With ChatGPT Enterprise, yes for storage: new Enterprise workspaces can store customer content at rest in Europe or the UK, and in-region processing is offered in Europe but not yet the UK. Claude Enterprise stores data in the US. The EU route for Claude is Claude Desktop running against Amazon Bedrock or Google Cloud in a European or UK region, which keeps processing in that region but drops web and mobile access and sharing between users. ### Is Claude Cowork part of Claude Enterprise? Cowork, Anthropic's agent for longer, multi-step tasks on your files, comes with Claude Team and Claude Enterprise alongside Claude Code. Anthropic has announced that Cowork is being folded into the main Claude app, starting with its individual plans, so the separate name may disappear. OpenAI's closest equivalent is ChatGPT Work, launched in July 2026. ### Which is cheaper, Claude or ChatGPT? At the business tier they are priced the same: Claude Team and ChatGPT Business both charge $20 a standard seat a month billed annually, or $25 monthly. At the enterprise tier Claude publishes $20 a seat a month billed annually plus usage at API rates, with a 20-seat minimum, while ChatGPT Enterprise is priced by OpenAI's sales team. The bigger cost for most firms is setting the platform up so people actually use it. ### Can we use both Claude and ChatGPT? Yes, and some firms do, but it doubles the work that matters most: two sets of admin settings, two sets of connectors to approve, two places client data can go and two platforms to train people on. For a firm of 20 to 200 people, one platform for everyone is usually simpler, chosen on data, tools and workflows, with a written policy that says what else is allowed. ### Who can deploy Claude or ChatGPT Enterprise for our firm? AssumeAI does. Our Enterprise AI Deployment puts Claude Cowork or ChatGPT Enterprise on EU-based data hosting, configured to your data governance policies, with six to twelve agents and skills built around your real workflows. It is £20,000 excluding VAT, and if you are not happy for any reason we refund you in full.