A small business doesn't need every AI tool — it needs one assistant that fits the office suite it already runs on, plus one or two tools for the jobs that eat the most time.
Match your assistant to your office suite: Microsoft 365 Premium ($19.99/mo) if you run on Word, Excel and Outlook; Google AI Pro ($19.99/mo) if you run on Gmail and Docs. Add Fathom (free) for meeting notes and Canva Pro for marketing assets.
| App | Free tier | Paid from | Top plan | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Copilot | Yes | $19.99/mo | $99.99/mo | Excel data, Word drafting, PowerPoint decks, Outlook triage |
| Gemini | Yes | $4.99/mo | $99.99–199.99/mo | Google ecosystem users, video generation, very long documents (1M tokens) |
| ChatGPT | Yes | $8/mo | $500/mo | Everyday writing, brainstorming, image generation, casual coding |
| Claude | Yes | $20/mo | $100–200/mo | Document analysis, research papers, nuanced writing, software engineering |
| Fathom | Yes | $20/mo | $34/mo | Sales call review, CRM-synced recaps, hiring interview notes |
| Canva | Yes | $18/mo | $25/mo | Non-designers who need on-brand social posts, presentations, and marketing assets fast |
| Lindy AI | No | $29.99/mo | $199.99/mo | Inbox triage, meeting scheduling, and repetitive multi-step workflow automation |
Monthly prices in US dollars before tax, from each vendor's official pricing (US list price; weekly-billed plans converted to a monthly figure). Updated October 7, 2026
Copilot is strongest in Excel data, Word drafting, PowerPoint decks and Outlook triage. Note that Premium shares Office with up to 6 family accounts but Copilot AI is for the owner only, so each AI user needs their own plan.
Pick it if: your business already runs on Microsoft Office.
Full Copilot pricing →AI Pro brings Gemini into Gmail and Docs with Deep Research and 5 TB of storage — useful if your files live in Drive.
Pick it if: your email and documents are in Google.
Full Gemini pricing →Plus's unlimited text chats, custom GPTs and image generation cover drafting, customer replies and quick visuals without a separate tool.
Pick it if: you want one flexible assistant for the whole team's odd jobs.
Full ChatGPT pricing →Strong at long-document analysis and careful writing, and Pro includes Claude for Microsoft 365 so it can work alongside your Office files.
Pick it if: you review proposals, policies or long client documents.
Full Claude pricing →Free unlimited recordings with instant AI summaries; the Business tier syncs call notes into CRM fields. Tell clients up front: the notetaker shows up in the call as an attendee.
Pick it if: you take sales or client calls and lose time writing up notes.
Full Fathom pricing →Magic Studio covers on-brand social posts and presentations; Business ($25/mo per person) adds team brand controls and approval workflows.
Pick it if: you make your own marketing without a designer.
Full Canva pricing →A no-code AI assistant for inbox triage, scheduling and multi-step workflows across 100+ apps. There's no standing free plan and credits can burn unpredictably.
Pick it if: repetitive email and admin work is your biggest time sink.
Full Lindy AI pricing →Most business AI tools charge per user: Otter, Fathom's team tiers, Canva Business, Notion AI (full AI only on Business at $20/mo per user) and Lindy all multiply with headcount. Start with the people who'll use it daily, not the whole team.
If your work happens inside Word, Excel and Outlook, Microsoft 365 Premium puts AI where you already work. If you want a stand-alone assistant for many kinds of tasks, ChatGPT Plus is more versatile.
No. Premium is a family plan: it shares the Office apps and storage with up to 6 family accounts, and Copilot AI is for the owner only. Each person who needs Copilot needs their own plan.
How we choose: prices come from each vendor's official pricing page and are re-checked every week. We take no affiliate fees, so rankings aren't for sale.