ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Copilot? Choosing AI subscriptions for your company in India
Your people are probably using AI already, often on personal accounts the company cannot see. Here is how the business plans of six popular AI tools compare, what changes for GST and the DPDP Act, and how to roll them out without paying for seats nobody uses.
Personal accounts or business plans?
In most companies, AI arrived before the policy did. People signed up with their own email, sometimes on a paid personal plan, and started pasting in emails, spreadsheets and contracts. It works, until someone leaves, a client asks where their data went, or an auditor asks who approved it.
Personal plans are made for individuals, and on some of them the provider may use your chats to improve its models unless the user switches that off. OpenAI turns data sharing on by default for personal ChatGPT Free, Go, Plus and Pro accounts, with an opt-out in Data controls. Anthropic asks Claude Free, Pro and Max users to choose, and keeps their chats for five years if they allow training. GitHub started using interaction data from Copilot Free, Pro and Pro+ for training on 24 April 2026, unless the user opts out.
Business plans change three things:
- The company owns the accounts. An admin console shows who has a seat, and you remove access the day someone leaves.
- Sign-in goes through your identity provider. Single sign-on (SSO), and on higher tiers automatic provisioning (SCIM), so joiners and leavers are handled in one place.
- Your data is covered by business terms. All six providers below say their business plans do not use your data to train their AI models by default; the table sums up how each one puts it.
Check the plan, not the brand. ChatGPT, Claude and GitHub Copilot each come as personal and business products, and the data terms are different.
Six AI tools compared
These are the business plans of six widely used AI tools, as their providers describe them in October 2026. We have left prices out on purpose: they change often and depend on seat type, billing period and currency. Check each provider’s pricing page before you budget.
| Tool | Business plans | Good fit for | Admin and data controls | Pricing model |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT (OpenAI) | ChatGPT Business, ChatGPT Enterprise | A general assistant for writing, analysis and research | No training on business data by default; SSO on Business; SCIM, custom roles and key management on Enterprise | Business: per user per month, monthly or yearly, two users or more. Enterprise: through sales |
| Claude (Anthropic) | Claude Team, Claude Enterprise | A general assistant for writing, analysis and long documents | No training by default; SSO on Team; SCIM, audit logs and custom retention on Enterprise | Team: per seat per month, monthly or yearly, 2 to 150 seats. Enterprise: seat fee plus usage, billed yearly |
| Gemini (Google Workspace) | Built into Google Workspace plans | Companies that work in Gmail, Docs and Drive | Not used to train models outside your domain; retrieves only what the user can already open | Part of the Workspace price per user per month; features depend on the edition |
| Microsoft 365 Copilot | Copilot Chat with eligible Microsoft 365 licences; paid Copilot, including Copilot Business for up to 300 users | Companies that work in Outlook, Teams, Word and Excel | Prompts, responses and Graph data not used to train foundation models; respects your permissions and labels | Per-user add-on to Microsoft 365; Copilot Business is an annual commitment |
| GitHub Copilot | Copilot Business, Copilot Enterprise | Software developers | Business and Enterprise data not used for training; policies for models and features; IP indemnity with filtering on | Per seat per month, with AI credits included; Enterprise is designed for GitHub Enterprise Cloud |
| Perplexity | Enterprise Pro, Enterprise Max | Research with cited web sources | Not used for training; SSO; SCIM and audit logs for organisations with 50 or more seats or at least one Enterprise Max seat | Per seat, monthly or yearly |
Microsoft is renaming Microsoft 365 Copilot to Microsoft Copilot, so its documents use both names.
Which one, for whom
- On Microsoft 365? Start with Copilot Chat, which comes with eligible licences, and add paid Copilot seats for people who need it inside their email, files and meetings.
- On Google Workspace? Gemini is already in your plan. Check what your edition includes before you buy a second assistant.
- Developers need a coding tool such as GitHub Copilot Business, whatever the rest of the company uses.
- A general assistant across teams? Trial ChatGPT Business and Claude Team side by side, on real work, for a few weeks.
Not sure yet where AI will help at all? Start with an AI readiness assessment.
Where your data is stored
India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 does not require personal data to stay in India: the government may restrict transfers to countries it notifies (section 16), and some sector regulators are stricter. Clients and auditors may still ask, so know the answer for each tool.
- ChatGPT: India is one of OpenAI’s data residency regions. New ChatGPT Enterprise and Edu workspaces can store conversations and files at rest in India at no extra cost; some processing can still happen elsewhere. ChatGPT Business has narrower residency terms.
- Claude: Anthropic says data from its commercial products is stored in the US. Regional data residency in India comes through Claude on Amazon Bedrock or Google Cloud Vertex AI (Microsoft Foundry does not yet cover Asia-Pacific): a route for building on the API, not for Claude Team seats.
- Gemini in Google Workspace: data regions are the United States or Europe, on supported editions. At Cloud Next 2026, Google said more countries, such as India, will follow.
- Microsoft 365 Copilot: for a tenant signed up in India, Microsoft’s Product Terms commit to storing Copilot prompts and responses at rest in India. Microsoft expects in-country processing for India by the end of 2026.
- GitHub Copilot: Copilot with data residency is offered only in the US and the EU.
- Perplexity: its help centre does not describe a choice of data region, so ask.
Stored in India is not the same as processed in India. Ask both questions, and get the answers in writing for the plan you buy.
Paying for foreign subscriptions: GST
When you buy an AI subscription straight from a provider outside India, GST still applies. The question is who pays it.
GST law treats most of these tools as online information and database access or retrieval (OIDAR) services: services delivered over the internet that cannot be supplied without information technology. Section 2(17) of the IGST Act lists cloud services, software and data storage among its examples. When the customer is in India, the supply is taxable in India.
- If your company is registered for GST, you pay the IGST yourself under reverse charge (section 5(3) of the IGST Act and entry 1 of Notification 10/2017-Integrated Tax (Rate)). It is paid in cash, not from input tax credit; once paid, you can take the credit if otherwise eligible. If a billing page asks for a tax ID, give your GSTIN.
- If you are not registered, you count as a “non-taxable online recipient”, and the foreign provider has to register in India and pay the tax (section 14).
- If you buy through an Indian company, such as a service provider that bills you, it is a domestic supply: GST is on its invoice, and you claim input tax credit in the usual way if eligible.
This is a summary, not tax advice. The rate, the credit and how each payment is recorded depend on your registration and how you buy, so ask your CA before the first payment, and keep every invoice.
Personal data and the DPDP Act
When staff upload customer or employee details into an AI tool, your company is the Data Fiduciary under the DPDP Act, and the provider processes that data for you. Most of the Act’s duties apply from 13 May 2027, eighteen months after the commencement notification of 13 November 2025.
- A valid contract. You may use a Data Processor only under a valid contract (section 8(2)). OpenAI signs a data processing addendum for ChatGPT Business, Enterprise and its API, and Anthropic and Microsoft describe themselves as processors for business customers. A staff member’s personal account gives your company no contract at all.
- The agreed purpose. Personal data may be used for the purpose it was given for, with consent or for a legitimate use (sections 4 to 7). A customer list collected for billing should not go into a tool to plan a campaign without checking.
- Security safeguards. Reasonable safeguards against a breach are required (section 8(5)): SSO, multi-factor sign-in, the right admin roles and sensible retention.
- Breaches and erasure. Report a breach to the Data Protection Board and each person affected (section 8(6)), and erase data once its purpose is served, by your processor too (section 8(7)).
The safest data is the data a model never sees. Inside Effred One, our assistant EVA masks PAN, Aadhaar, passport, IFSC, card and account numbers before anything reaches a model. Do the same with general tools: if a task does not need someone’s identifiers, take them out first.
Write an AI usage policy first
A one-page policy, agreed before you buy seats, prevents most problems. Cover:
- Approved tools. Which tools, on which business plans. No company work on personal accounts.
- What may go in. Internal material in approved tools; no PAN, Aadhaar, bank details, salaries or health information unless a named use is approved.
- Checking the output. A person checks facts, figures, code and anything legal before it is used. AI output is a draft.
- Connectors. Defaults differ: plugins and apps are on by default in ChatGPT Business workspaces and off in Enterprise. Decide which connections to email, files or code are allowed.
- Ownership. A named admin for each tool, a way to report a mistake or a leak, and a review date.
For assistants that act inside your systems, also read what an AI assistant should never be allowed to do.
How to roll it out
- Pilot with one or two teamsBusiness seats for a small group, for a few weeks, on real work. Note which tasks save time and which tool people actually open.
- Agree the policyTurn what you learnt into the usage policy and get it signed off before anyone else gets a seat.
- Buy seats and set them upSeats for the people who will use them, not for everyone. Turn on SSO, set data controls and retention, and switch off connectors you do not need.
- Train peopleShort sessions by role: good prompts, checking answers and what never goes in. Show admins how seats and data controls work.
- Review usage and cut unused seatsCheck usage every month where the admin console reports it, and remove idle seats before each renewal.
Common mistakes
- Leaving personal accounts running. Company data stays in accounts you cannot see, audit or close.
- A seat for everyone on day one. Seats nobody opens still cost money.
- Paying twice for the same job. Check what Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace already includes first.
- Missing the renewal date. Copilot Business and Claude Enterprise, for example, are annual commitments. Review seats before each renewal.
- Forgetting the reverse charge. Card payments to foreign providers still need GST entries in a registered company’s books.
Want help? Our AI & software subscriptions service recommends plans and seats for each team, arranges the subscriptions you approve, sets them up with SSO, data controls and a usage policy, trains your people and manages seats and renewals, with one point of contact and consolidated billing in INR, USD, AED, GBP or EUR (GST added on Indian invoices). For an assistant that answers from your own documents and systems, see AI development.
ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Microsoft 365, Copilot, GitHub, Perplexity and other product names here are trademarks of their owners. Effred Technologies is an independent service provider, not endorsed by any of them.
Common questions
Which is better for business: ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini?
It depends on the work and the tools you already use. On Google Workspace, Gemini is built into your plan; on Microsoft 365, Copilot works inside Outlook, Teams, Word and Excel. For a general assistant across teams, trial ChatGPT Business and Claude Team side by side on real tasks for a few weeks.
Do AI providers train their models on our company data?
Not by default on business plans. OpenAI, Anthropic, GitHub and Perplexity say business data is not used for training, Microsoft says Copilot prompts and responses are not used to train foundation models, and Google says Workspace content is not used to train models outside your domain. Personal plans are different, so keep company work off them.
Do we pay GST on ChatGPT or Claude bought from abroad?
Yes, GST applies. A GST-registered company usually pays IGST itself under reverse charge, then claims input tax credit if it is eligible. If you are not registered, the foreign provider is liable to pay the tax. Ask your CA how to record each payment.
Can our AI data be stored in India?
For some tools. New ChatGPT Enterprise and Edu workspaces can store content at rest in India, and Microsoft 365 Copilot stores prompts and responses in India for tenants signed up there. Google Workspace data regions are the US or Europe for now, Anthropic stores Claude data in the US, and GitHub Copilot has no India region.
Can Effred arrange these subscriptions for us?
Yes. We help you choose plans, arrange business subscriptions to ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Microsoft 365 Copilot, GitHub Copilot, Perplexity and business software such as Microsoft 365, Google Workspace and Zoho, set them up, train your team and manage seats and renewals. We are an independent service provider and invoice in INR, USD, AED, GBP or EUR.
Sources
- OpenAI — ChatGPT plans and pricing (opens in a new tab)learn.chatgpt.com
- OpenAI — business data privacy, security and compliance (opens in a new tab)openai.com
- OpenAI — enterprise privacy (data processing addendum for Business, Enterprise and API) (opens in a new tab)openai.com
- OpenAI — ChatGPT Work cloud security (no training on business data by default; Enterprise Key Management) (opens in a new tab)learn.chatgpt.com
- OpenAI — ChatGPT Work admin FAQ (SCIM and custom roles on Enterprise) (opens in a new tab)learn.chatgpt.com
- OpenAI — ChatGPT Work overview (plugin and app defaults by plan) (opens in a new tab)learn.chatgpt.com
- OpenAI Help — single sign-on for ChatGPT Business (opens in a new tab)help.openai.com
- OpenAI Help — data controls in ChatGPT (personal accounts) (opens in a new tab)help.openai.com
- OpenAI — expanding data residency to business customers worldwide (India among the regions) (opens in a new tab)openai.com
- OpenAI Help — data residency and inference residency for ChatGPT (opens in a new tab)help.openai.com
- Anthropic — Claude plans and pricing (opens in a new tab)claude.com
- Anthropic — is my data used for model training? (opens in a new tab)privacy.claude.com
- Anthropic — updates to the consumer terms, 28 August 2025 (opens in a new tab)anthropic.com
- Anthropic — does Anthropic act as a data processor or controller? (opens in a new tab)privacy.claude.com
- Anthropic — where are your servers located? (opens in a new tab)privacy.claude.com
- Anthropic — regional compliance (deployments on Amazon Bedrock, Vertex AI and Microsoft Foundry) (opens in a new tab)claude.com
- Google — Generative AI in Google Workspace Privacy Hub (opens in a new tab)knowledge.workspace.google.com
- Google Workspace — plans and pricing (opens in a new tab)workspace.google.com
- Google Workspace Admin Help — choose a geographic location for your data (opens in a new tab)knowledge.workspace.google.com
- Google Cloud — Next 2026 wrap-up (Workspace sovereign controls, item 259) (opens in a new tab)cloud.google.com
- Microsoft Learn — enterprise data protection in Microsoft Copilot and Copilot Chat (opens in a new tab)learn.microsoft.com
- Microsoft Learn — overview of Microsoft Copilot Chat (opens in a new tab)learn.microsoft.com
- Microsoft Learn — Copilot Business FAQ (opens in a new tab)learn.microsoft.com
- Microsoft Learn — data residency for Microsoft 365 Copilot offerings (opens in a new tab)learn.microsoft.com
- Microsoft — in-country data processing for Microsoft 365 Copilot (with the April 2026 update) (opens in a new tab)microsoft.com
- GitHub Docs — plans for GitHub Copilot (opens in a new tab)docs.github.com
- GitHub — Copilot plans (training and IP indemnity) (opens in a new tab)github.com
- GitHub Blog — updates to the Copilot interaction data usage policy, 25 March 2026 (opens in a new tab)github.blog
- GitHub Docs — GitHub Copilot with data residency (opens in a new tab)docs.github.com
- Perplexity — Enterprise plans and pricing (opens in a new tab)perplexity.ai
- Perplexity Help Center — data collection at Perplexity (Enterprise data not used for training) (opens in a new tab)perplexity.ai
- CBIC — IGST Act, 2017, section 2 (definitions 16 and 17) (opens in a new tab)taxinformation.cbic.gov.in
- CBIC — IGST Act, 2017, section 5 (reverse charge) (opens in a new tab)taxinformation.cbic.gov.in
- CBIC — IGST Act, 2017, section 14 (OIDAR services to non-taxable online recipients) (opens in a new tab)taxinformation.cbic.gov.in
- CBIC — Notification No. 10/2017-Integrated Tax (Rate) (opens in a new tab)cbic-gst.gov.in
- GST Council — flyer: OIDAR services in GST (opens in a new tab)gstcouncil.gov.in
- GST Council — flyer: reverse charge mechanism (opens in a new tab)gstcouncil.gov.in
- MeitY — Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (opens in a new tab)meity.gov.in
- MeitY — DPDP Act commencement notification, G.S.R. 843(E), 13 November 2025 (opens in a new tab)meity.gov.in
Spotted something out of date or unclear? Email info@effred.com and we will look at it.