Pay for Claude Pro (£18 a month including VAT) if you mainly write, research or code; ChatGPT Plus (£20) if you want the broadest all-rounder; Google AI Pro (£18.99) if your life is in Gmail and Drive; and Microsoft 365 Premium (£18.99) if it is in Word, Excel and Outlook. Those are the UK prices each company showed UK visitors on 25 October 2026. If £18-£20 is too much, Google AI Plus at £4.49 and ChatGPT Go at £7 are the cheapest paid tiers, and all four have a free plan.
Key facts
- Main paid tiers (UK, 25 October 2026): Claude Pro £18, Google AI Pro £18.99, Microsoft 365 Premium £18.99, ChatGPT Plus £20 a month.
- Cheapest paid tiers: Google AI Plus £4.49, ChatGPT Go £7, Microsoft 365 Personal £8.49 a month.
- VAT: only Anthropic says its UK prices include 20% VAT. Google, Microsoft and OpenAI do not say on their consumer pricing pages.
- Training on your chats: on by default or opt-out on the personal plans of ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and the Copilot app. Business plans do not train on your data by default.
- UK data: none of the four offers UK data storage on personal plans. Microsoft expects UK processing for Microsoft 365 Copilot by the end of 2026.
On this page
- The verdict: which one to pay for
- UK prices compared: free, cheap and main tiers
- What the free plans include
- What each one is best at
- Do they train on your chats? How to opt out
- Where your data is processed
- Business plans compared
- Which one for you
- How to pay less
- What about Grok and Perplexity?
- Frequently asked questions
- Read next
- Sources
The verdict: which one to pay for
The four main tiers cost within £2 of each other, so pick by where your work already lives. My verdict by type of user, as of 25 October 2026:
- Writers, researchers and anyone handling long documents: Claude Pro, £18. It adds Anthropic's Opus model, Research, Claude Code and Cowork, its agent for office tasks.
- Everyone who wants one tool for everything: ChatGPT Plus, £20. It has the widest set of features: projects, scheduled tasks, custom GPTs, ChatGPT Work and the Codex coding agent.
- Gmail, Drive and Android users: Google AI Pro, £18.99. It puts Gemini inside Gmail and Docs and comes with 5 TB of storage you can share with five others.
- Word, Excel, Outlook and family households: Microsoft 365 Premium, £18.99. You get the Office apps with Copilot built in, so it replaces an Office subscription you may already pay for.
- On a tight budget: Google AI Plus, £4.49, or ChatGPT Go, £7. OpenAI says Go "may include ads".
- Small businesses: stay with your email provider; see business plans.
UK prices compared: free, cheap and main tiers
All four companies now show UK visitors prices in pounds. I checked each pricing page from a UK connection on 25 October 2026. Only Anthropic states that its prices include 20% VAT.
| ChatGPT (OpenAI) | Claude (Anthropic) | Gemini (Google) | Copilot (Microsoft) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes, with a free Microsoft account |
| Cheapest paid tier | Go, £7 a month | Pro, £18 a month | Google AI Plus, £4.49 a month | Microsoft 365 Personal, £8.49 a month or £84.99 a year |
| Main tier | Plus, £20 a month | Pro, £18 a month, or £180 a year (£15 a month) | Google AI Pro, £18.99 a month | Microsoft 365 Premium, £18.99 a month or £189.99 a year |
| Top personal tier | Pro, from £89 a month | Max, from £90 a month | Google AI Ultra, from £79.99 a month | Premium is the top home plan |
| Billed | Monthly only on personal plans | Monthly or yearly for Pro; Max monthly only | Monthly (no yearly price shown) | Monthly or yearly |
| VAT included? | Not stated on the page | Yes, "Prices include 20% VAT" | Not stated on the page | Not stated on the page |
| Business plan | Business, £18 a seat (£15 yearly) | Team, £22.50 a seat (£18 yearly), VAT included | Workspace Business Standard, £11.80 a user before VAT | Copilot Business add-on, £19.32 a user (£13.80 yearly, offer) before VAT |
On VAT, OpenAI's page is silent, but when I checked for my ChatGPT Dots guide on 17 October, ChatGPT Pro was £89 a month including £14.83 VAT, but OpenAI does not state whether its UK prices include VAT. For OpenAI, Google and Microsoft, check the checkout total. Every price here is also in my UK AI price tracker, which I update monthly.
The top tiers are for heavy users: Claude Max 20x is £180 and Google AI Ultra 20x £189.99. My Claude pricing UK guide breaks down every Claude plan. Most people do not need them.
What the free plans include
All four have a usable free plan, and for light use you may not need to pay at all. The free tiers differ most in which model you get and how much you can use it.
| Free plan | What you get | Main limit |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT Free | GPT-6 Luna and GPT-5 Thinking Mini, plus limited Codex | Lower usage than paid plans; chats can train OpenAI's models unless you opt out |
| Claude Free | Sonnet and Haiku models for chat | No Opus, no Claude Code and no Cowork |
| Gemini (no subscription) | A Flash-Lite model, Deep Research, Gemini Live, Canvas, Gems, image creation, 15 GB storage | Google gives no numbers, only that paid plans get "higher usage" |
| Microsoft Copilot (free account) | Copilot chat, with limited image creation | Copilot inside Word, Excel and Outlook needs a Microsoft 365 plan |
Start free. Pay when you hit the limit every week.
What each one is best at
Each paid tier is built around a different strength, going by what each pricing page says it includes on 25 October 2026.
| Assistant | Best at | What the main tier adds | Weak spot |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT Plus | All-round use, voice, images and agents | GPT-6 in chat at Medium and High thinking, GPT-6.1 Sol and limited GPT-6 Astra in ChatGPT Work and Codex, projects, scheduled tasks and custom GPTs | Dots, OpenAI's always-on agent, is not on Plus; it comes with Pro, from £89 |
| Claude Pro | Writing, long documents, research and code | Opus, Research, Claude Code, Claude in Chrome and Cowork for scheduled office tasks | Usage refills every five hours, with a weekly cap on top (see Claude usage limits explained) |
| Google AI Pro | Gmail, Docs and Drive users; families | Gemini 4 Argon, Gemini in Gmail and Docs, a 1 million token context window, 5 TB storage, Antigravity and Jules for code, YouTube Premium Lite | Best value only if you use Google's apps |
| Microsoft 365 Premium | Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook | Copilot in the Office desktop apps, extensive chat and image use, and agents for research and analysis | Less useful if you do not use Office |
Count what else is bundled. Google AI Pro includes storage and YouTube Premium Lite, and Microsoft 365 Premium includes the Office apps, so either can replace a subscription you already pay for.
Do they train on your chats? How to opt out
Yes, on personal plans, unless you switch it off. OpenAI's pricing page marks training on Free, Go, Plus and Pro as "Opt-out available". Anthropic's marks Free, Pro and Max as "Opt-out". Google trains on Gemini chats while "Keep activity" is on. Microsoft says it uses Copilot app conversations for AI training unless you opt out or fall into an excluded group, and the UK is not on its list of excluded countries.
| Assistant | Personal plans by default | How to switch it off | Business plans |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | Chats can be used for training | Settings, then Data controls, then turn off "Improve the model for everyone"; or use privacy.openai.com and choose "Do not train on my content" | Business, Enterprise, Edu and API data not used by default |
| Claude | Used if Model Improvement is on; Anthropic lists it as opt-out | Settings, then Privacy (claude.ai/settings/data-privacy-controls), then turn off Model Improvement; incognito chats are never used | Team and Enterprise: no training on your content by default |
| Gemini | Used, and a sample read by human reviewers, while "Keep activity" is on | Turn off "Keep activity" at myactivity.google.com/product/gemini, or use a temporary chat | Workspace: no training without your permission |
| Copilot app | Used for training unless you are excluded or opt out | Profile, then Privacy, then turn off "Training on conversation activity" and "Training on voice conversations" | Microsoft 365 Copilot: prompts and responses not used to train foundation models |
Google keeps chats for 72 hours even with "Keep activity" off, and chats picked for human review for up to three years. When I checked my own account for is ChatGPT private?, "Keep activity" had been on since my first day. Anthropic keeps data for up to five years with Model Improvement on, against 30 days off. And Copilot inside Word, Excel and Outlook on Microsoft 365 home plans is separate from the app: Microsoft says prompts and file contents there "aren't used to train foundation models".
Where your data is processed
On personal plans, assume your chats leave the UK. None of the four offers UK data storage to individuals.
- ChatGPT: OpenAI OpCo, LLC in the US is the data controller for UK users, as my personal AI assistant guide records. OpenAI offers data residency, with the UK among the regions, only to new Enterprise and Edu customers. Business is not on the list.
- Claude: Anthropic Ireland is the controller for UK users, and data is processed in the US. Anthropic's regional compliance page offers European storage only through AWS Bedrock or Google Cloud Vertex, not on Claude's own plans.
- Gemini: Google's Gemini privacy notice names Google Ireland as the provider in the European Economic Area and Switzerland, and Google LLC elsewhere. It does not say where chats are processed. Workspace Business Plus lists "Enterprise data regions".
- Copilot: Microsoft keeps EU data in its EU Data Boundary, but says other customers' data may be processed in the US, the EU or other regions. In an editor's note of 3 April 2026, it said local processing of Microsoft 365 Copilot prompts in the UK is "expected to become available" by the end of 2026.
If you handle client, patient or legal data, use a business plan with a data processing agreement, or keep the work on your own machine. My guides to AI agents and UK GDPR and private AI on your own computer cover both routes.
Business plans compared
For a team, the business plans are the safer buy: none of them trains on your data by default, and they come with admin controls. Prices are per user a month, as shown to UK visitors on 25 October 2026.
| Plan | Monthly billing | Yearly billing | VAT | Seats and notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT Business, Standard seat | £18 | £15 a month | Not stated | Teams of 2-200; Premium seat £90, or £75 yearly, adds 5x usage and Dots |
| Claude Team, Standard seat | £22.50 | £18 a month | Included | 2-150 seats; Premium seat £113, or £90 yearly |
| Google Workspace Business Standard | £11.80 shown | One-year commitment saves 16% | Excluded | Gemini in Gmail, Docs and Sheets; intro price £5.90 for the first year, first 20 users, new customers |
| Microsoft 365 Copilot Business (add-on) | £19.32 | £13.80 a month (offer, was £16.10) | Excluded | Added to a Microsoft 365 business plan; Business Standard with Copilot £21.72 monthly or £18.10 yearly |
Google is the cheapest way to give a team an assistant, because Gemini comes inside Workspace. Business Starter at £5.90 has only "Limited" Gemini outside Gmail, so Standard is the realistic entry point. Microsoft's yearly Copilot price is an offer for 1 July to 31 December 2026, first year only.
ChatGPT Business and Claude Team suit teams that want a standalone assistant whichever email they use. With a two-seat minimum, the smallest teams cost £36 and £45 a month.
Which one for you
- A UK student: Google AI Plus. Google gives eligible UK university students aged 18 or over a free year, if you redeem it by 31 December 2026; then it is £4.49 a month. You need to add a payment method.
- A freelancer who writes for a living: Claude Pro, paid yearly at £180. Switch off Model Improvement first.
- A household on Gmail and Android: Google AI Pro. Google says the plan includes family sharing with up to five others, along with 5 TB of storage.
- A developer: Claude Pro for Claude Code. If you live in ChatGPT already, Plus includes Codex. My Codex vs Claude Code guide compares the two, and Claude Code vs Cursor helps if you are choosing between an agent and an AI editor.
- A small business on Google: Workspace Business Standard. On Microsoft: Microsoft 365 Business Standard with Copilot.
- Someone who cannot send data to a US cloud: run a model on your own Mac.
How to pay less
- Pay on the web, not through the App Store. On the UK App Store on 25 October 2026, Claude Pro was £20 a month against £18 on Claude's website, and Max 5x was £119.99 against £90. ChatGPT was the exception: Plus was £19.99 in the App Store, 1p less than on the web. My ChatGPT prices in the UK guide lists every ChatGPT plan in pounds.
- Pay yearly if you are sure. Claude Pro yearly is £180, saving £36 on twelve monthly payments. Microsoft 365 Premium yearly is £189.99 against £227.88 paid monthly. OpenAI offers no yearly price on personal plans.
- Upgrade what you already pay for. Moving Google One or Microsoft 365 up a tier can cost less than a separate assistant.
For coding, automation and meeting tool prices, see the UK AI price tracker.
What about Grok and Perplexity?
Both sell in the UK, but neither is my pick for most people. Grok Premium, which includes Grok Bot, is $30 (about £22.50) a month plus VAT. Perplexity Pro is $17 a month billed yearly on its website, or £20 on the UK App Store, and suits research with sources.
Frequently asked questions
Which is best in the UK: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Copilot?
There is no single best. As of 25 October 2026, Claude Pro (£18 including VAT) is the pick for writing, research and code; ChatGPT Plus (£20) is the broadest all-rounder; Google AI Pro (£18.99) suits Gmail and Drive users; Microsoft 365 Premium (£18.99) suits Word, Excel and Outlook users.
How much is ChatGPT Plus in the UK?
ChatGPT Plus costs £20 a month in the UK, as shown on chatgpt.com/pricing to UK visitors on 25 October 2026. ChatGPT Go is £7 and Pro starts at £89. OpenAI offers no yearly price on personal plans, and on the UK App Store Plus was £19.99.
Do UK AI subscription prices include VAT?
Only Anthropic says so: Claude's UK pricing page states "Prices include 20% VAT". OpenAI, Google and Microsoft do not say on their consumer pricing pages, although a ChatGPT Pro checkout showed VAT included. Business prices from Google and Microsoft exclude VAT.
How do I stop ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Copilot training on my chats?
In ChatGPT, turn off "Improve the model for everyone" under Settings and Data controls. In Claude, turn off Model Improvement under Settings and Privacy. In Gemini, turn off "Keep activity" at myactivity.google.com/product/gemini. In the Copilot app, turn off "Training on conversation activity" under Privacy in your profile.
Where is my data stored if I use these in the UK?
Mostly outside the UK. OpenAI and Anthropic process UK users' chats in the US, and none of the four offers UK data storage on personal plans. OpenAI offers UK data residency to new Enterprise and Edu customers, and Microsoft expects UK processing for Microsoft 365 Copilot by the end of 2026.
Which is best for a small UK business?
Usually the one that matches your email. Google Workspace Business Standard includes Gemini at £11.80 a user a month before VAT. Microsoft 365 Copilot Business is £19.32 a user a month, or £13.80 paid yearly on an offer, before VAT. ChatGPT Business and Claude Team suit teams that want a standalone assistant.
Read next
- UK AI price tracker: what AI subscriptions cost (October 2026)
- Personal AI assistant: the 2026 guide for the UK
- Is ChatGPT private? What OpenAI keeps, how to stop it training on you, and why a VPN does not help (2026)
- Claude Cowork review: Anthropic's agent for your files and office tasks (2026)
Sources
- ChatGPT pricing, OpenAI (UK view) - checked 25 October 2026
- ChatGPT Business pricing, OpenAI (UK view) - checked 25 October 2026
- How your data is used, OpenAI Help - checked 25 October 2026
- Data residency, OpenAI Help - checked 25 October 2026
- Claude plans and pricing, Anthropic (UK view) - checked 25 October 2026
- Is my data used for model training?, Anthropic Privacy Center - checked 25 October 2026
- Google AI plans (UK) - checked 25 October 2026
- Gemini subscriptions, Google - checked 26 October 2026
- Gemini Apps Privacy Hub, Google - checked 26 October 2026
- Google AI for students (UK) - checked 25 October 2026
- Google Workspace pricing (UK) - checked 25 October 2026
- Compare Microsoft 365 plans (UK) - checked 26 October 2026
- Microsoft 365 Copilot for small business (UK) - checked 25 October 2026
- Microsoft Copilot privacy controls, Microsoft Support - checked 26 October 2026
- Privacy FAQ for Microsoft Copilot, Microsoft Support - checked 26 October 2026
- Copilot in Microsoft 365 apps for home, Microsoft Support - checked 26 October 2026
- In-country data processing for Microsoft 365 Copilot, Microsoft 365 Blog - checked 26 October 2026
- X Subscription pricing, SpaceXSI - checked 25 October 2026
- Perplexity pricing - checked 25 October 2026
- UK App Store prices for ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity - checked 25 October 2026
- ChatGPT and Claude data controller details: my linked guides, checked 17-23 October 2026
