As of September 2026, ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini have converged on almost identical pricing — around R330 a month for a solid individual plan and roughly R2,000 a month per seat for a team plan. The real difference for a small business isn’t price any more; it’s which ecosystem you already work in and what you’ll use the assistant for.
ChatGPT vs Claude vs Gemini: what do they actually cost right now?
All prices are billed in US dollars and converted here at the rate on 24 September 2026 (roughly R16.43 to the dollar, per Wise) — your actual Rand cost will move with the exchange rate and your card provider’s conversion fee.
| Plan tier | ChatGPT | Claude | Gemini |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | Free | Free |
| Entry paid | Go — ~$8/mo (~R131) | — (not offered) | AI Plus — ~$8/mo (~R131) |
| Main individual plan | Plus — $20/mo (~R329) | Pro — $20/mo, or $17/mo billed annually (~R279–R329) | AI Pro — $20/mo (~R329) |
| Power-user plan | Pro — $100 or $200/mo (~R1,643–R3,286) | Max — from $100/mo (~R1,643) | AI Ultra — $100 or $200/mo (~R1,643–R3,286) |
| Team, per seat | Standard $20–$25 (~R329–R411); Premium $100–$125 (~R1,643–R2,054) | Standard $20–$25 (~R329–R411); Premium $100–$125 (~R1,643–R2,054) | No dedicated small-team seat pricing — Workspace features are bundled into the personal plans instead |
Which one fits an existing Google Workspace or Microsoft setup?
If your business already runs on Gmail, Google Docs and Google Drive, Gemini’s paid plans build the assistant directly into that inbox and file system — an AI-powered inbox in Gmail and a daily briefing agent, for instance — so there is very little new to learn. Claude’s Pro plan instead ships with extensions for Chrome and Microsoft 365, which suits a business built around Word, Excel and Outlook. ChatGPT sits apart from both, with the broadest set of third-party plug-ins regardless of which office suite you use.
Which one is built for getting real work done, not just chatting?
All three have moved past being just a chat window. ChatGPT’s Plus and Pro plans add “Projects” and custom GPTs for repeatable workflows, plus deep research and image generation. Claude’s Pro plan folds in Claude Code and dedicated Design, Slides and Docs tools — what Anthropic previously sold separately as “Claude Cowork” (file and task automation) is now built into the standard plans rather than sold on its own. Gemini’s higher tiers add access to Google’s newer agent tooling and a bundled YouTube Premium subscription, which is a nice-to-have rather than a business tool.
Is one of them actually cheaper for a small business?
Not meaningfully. At the individual level, all three sit within a few Rand of R330 a month, and the team tiers from ChatGPT and Claude are close enough to each other that price alone won’t decide it for you. Gemini doesn’t offer a discounted per-seat team tier at all — for a small team, you would be paying for individual AI Pro or Ultra subscriptions per person rather than a bundled seat price.
So which should a South African small business actually choose?
There isn’t a single right answer, but there is a straightforward way to decide: pick based on what you already use daily, not on marketing claims. A business already living in Google Workspace gets the smoothest experience from Gemini. A business built around Microsoft Office or Chrome, or one that wants writing and documents handled carefully, is generally better served by Claude. A business that wants the widest range of third-party integrations and the largest ecosystem of guides and community tools will find that with ChatGPT. Try the free tier of whichever fits your existing tools before paying for any of them — with pricing this close, there is no cost to testing first.
Once you’ve picked a tool, two questions tend to follow. If you’re still deciding whether AI belongs in your marketing at all, our overview of AI in marketing for South African SMEs is the place to start. And if you’re already using one of these assistants to draft content, it’s worth checking whether the output actually sounds like your brand before you publish it.