Best AI assistants for UK small businesses (checked 3 November 2026)
By Gary Dhanda · 3 November 2026 · 4 min read
Short answer
There is no single best assistant. Choose Copilot or Gemini if your work lives in Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, and ChatGPT or Claude if you want a general assistant for drafting and long documents. Tekmait earns nothing from any tool on this page.
How we judged this
How we judged. We read each vendor's own pricing and data pages on 3 November 2026. We did not run a lab test. The picks below are Tekmait's judgement from running workshops and setting up AI for small firms, and they are not a measured ranking.
What we left out. Speed, quality of answers and features change monthly, so we do not score them. We compare things you can check: where the tool works, what it costs, and what the vendor says about training on your data.
Conflicts. Tekmait has no affiliate, reseller or referral arrangement with any tool on this page, and is not part of the ranking. Prices are as shown by vendors on the date above, and plans change.
The four tools compared
| Tool | Best for | Do not buy if | UK price and date checked | Data and training |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft 365 Copilot | Best if your firm already runs on Outlook, Word, Excel and Teams. | Do not buy if your files and permissions are untidy. It works on what it can see, so clean up first. | Copilot Business add-on: £13.80 per user per month, promotional (list £16.10), first year only, 1 July to 31 December 2026. £19.32 on monthly billing. Bundled with Business Standard from £18.10 and Business Premium from £24.60 per user per month on yearly billing. All prices exclude VAT. Source: Microsoft UK, 3 November 2026. | Terms sit in your Microsoft agreement and depend on your licence and admin settings. Confirm in writing with your supplier. |
| Gemini in Google Workspace | Best if your firm already runs on Gmail, Docs, Drive and Meet. | Do not buy if you only need a standalone chat assistant. Gemini features are limited on the Starter plan. | We could not retrieve a UK price on 3 November 2026. Google's page showed no amounts without a region setting, and did not say whether VAT is included. Check workspace.google.com for your price. | Terms sit in your Google Workspace agreement and depend on your plan and admin settings. Confirm in writing. |
| ChatGPT Business | Best general assistant if your team wants one tool for drafting, analysis and custom assistants. | Do not buy if your priority is working inside your existing email and files with no setup. | US$25 per user per month billed annually, US$30 monthly, on OpenAI's pricing page on 3 November 2026. The page labelled the plan Team, while OpenAI's help centre calls it Business. No UK price or VAT note was shown. | OpenAI's help centre says inputs to Business, Enterprise, Edu and the API are not used for training by default. Free, Plus and Pro can be, unless you opt out. |
| Claude | Best for careful writing and working with long documents. | Do not buy if you need it embedded in Outlook or Google Docs. It sits outside those suites. | Team plan: US$20 per standard seat per month billed annually, US$25 monthly. Premium seats US$100 annually, US$125 monthly. For 2 to 150 people. No UK price or VAT note was shown. Source: claude.com/pricing, 3 November 2026. | Anthropic's pricing page says Team content is not used for training by default. Its consumer terms update of 28 August 2025 does not apply to Team and Enterprise. |
Before you buy
Many firms use two: an in-suite assistant plus a general one. If you do, keep your instructions and reference documents in your own files, so you can change tools without starting again.
Before you buy, set a data rule, as we explain in our guide on putting client data into AI tools. This is a general guide, not legal advice or a buying recommendation for your firm. If you would like a second opinion on your own set-up, get in touch through our Contact page.
Sources
Microsoft UK, Microsoft 365 Copilot Business pricing, microsoft.com/en-gb. Read 3 November 2026.
OpenAI, ChatGPT pricing page, openai.com/chatgpt/pricing. Read 3 November 2026. OpenAI help centre articles, help-lb.openai.com, read 3 November 2026.
Anthropic, claude.com/pricing, read 3 November 2026. Anthropic, 'Updates to our consumer terms', 28 August 2025.
Google Workspace pricing page, workspace.google.com. Read 3 November 2026.