Comparison
Private AI vs ChatGPT Business and Copilot: which fits your firm?
The honest answer first: the cloud plans cost less and their models are smarter on long, complex tasks. Private AI is about control: where your data lives, owning the machine, and one brain connected to every system you run.
Side by side
| Compared on | ChatGPT Business | Microsoft 365 Copilot Business | Spectre private AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | OpenAI's cloud | Microsoft's cloud, inside your Microsoft 365 account | A Mac Studio in your office |
| Price | $20 a user a month billed yearly, $25 monthly; 2 users minimum | $21 a user a month paid yearly ($18 first-year promotion), on top of an eligible Microsoft 365 Business plan | Machine from $4,799 once, implementation $5,000 to $7,500, management plan $1,500 a month. No per-seat fees |
| Your data | Held by OpenAI; not used for training by default on Business | Held by Microsoft in your Microsoft 365 account | Never leaves your building; every model runs on the machine |
| Model quality | Among the strongest models available | Among the strongest models available | Open models (35B to 320B-class); behind the best cloud models on long, complex tasks |
| What it knows | What you connect or upload (it connects to tools such as Microsoft 365, Google Drive and Slack) | Your Microsoft 365 files, email and chats | Every file read once at implementation, plus your email, CRM, accounting and phones, with links to the source |
| Set up by | You | You or your IT provider | Us: implementation, accounts and training |
| If you stop paying | Access ends | Access ends | The machine is yours and keeps working |
Cloud prices as published on the vendors' sites on October 8, 2026.
What it costs for a 15-person firm
ChatGPT Business for 15 people is $3,600 a year billed yearly. Copilot Business is $3,780 a year at list price, plus the Microsoft 365 plan it needs.
Fifteen people is the Office level for us: $9,499 for a Mac Studio M5 Ultra at Apple's price, $5,000 to $7,500 for the implementation and $1,500 a month, so $32,499 to $34,999 in year one and $18,000 a year after. Private AI costs several times more. It is not the cheap option.
When a cloud plan is the better choice
- You want the smartest models available, especially for long, complex tasks.
- Your files are not sensitive, or your clients and advisers are comfortable with them in a vendor's cloud.
- The budget is a few hundred dollars a month.
When private AI is the better choice
Want the connected brain but happy with the cloud? Our sister company Fountainhead builds the same brain in your own cloud and AI accounts, with no machine to buy: www.fountainhead.llc/company-brain.
- Client or patient information should stay in the building, and you would rather not rely on a vendor's terms.
- You want one brain connected to every system you run (files, email, CRM, accounting, phones), answering with the source.
- You would rather own the machine than pay per seat forever; it keeps working if you stop paying us.
- Nobody in the office has time to set it up, connect it and keep it current.
Questions we get asked
Does ChatGPT Business train on our data?
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OpenAI says it does not train on business data by default on its Business plan. The data is still held in OpenAI's cloud under OpenAI's terms. With private AI it never leaves your building.
Can we use both?
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Yes. Some firms keep a cloud plan for general writing and research and put client files only on the private machine.
See whether it fits your office
A free consultation: which systems you run on, how many people, what you want to ask it. We tell you what connects and which level fits, then send a fixed quote.
Book a Consultation