Private AI / Comparison

Private AI or ChatGPT Business?

A side-by-side for a 20-person firm: what each one costs, where your data goes, and when the cloud plan is the better choice.

The short answer

ChatGPT Business is the cheaper choice, and you sign up for it yourself online: a 20-person firm pays $4,800 to $6,000 a year. Private AI costs more, from $36,999 in the first year and $15,000 a year after that, and it takes an install. What you get for the difference is that your documents and questions stay on a machine you own instead of on OpenAI’s servers. If nothing your team handles is confidential, ChatGPT Business is the sensible buy.

Side by side

ChatGPT Business and private AI, line by line

What it isChatGPT BusinessA shared ChatGPT workspace for a team of 2 to 200 people, run by OpenAI. You sign up and manage it yourself.Private AI from FountainheadAn AI system on a workstation in your office. We build it, install it, connect your systems and look after it.
Where your documents and questions goChatGPT BusinessTo OpenAI’s servers. OpenAI says the data is encrypted and stays owned by you.Private AI from FountainheadThey stay on a machine you own, in your office. Nothing is sent to an AI company.
Used to train AI models?ChatGPT BusinessNot by default, according to OpenAI.Private AI from FountainheadNo. The model runs on your own machine.
Can an outside company be ordered to keep your chats?ChatGPT BusinessYes. In 2025 a court ordered OpenAI to keep conversations it would otherwise have deleted, including on this plan, then called ChatGPT Team. OpenAI says that order ended on September 26, 2025.Private AI from FountainheadNo outside AI company has them. They are kept or deleted under your own retention policy.
Connects to your other systemsChatGPT BusinessYes. OpenAI lists connections to Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Slack, GitHub and more, which you set up yourself.Private AI from FountainheadYes. We connect your shared files, email, CRM, accounting and phones as part of the setup.
The AI modelsChatGPT BusinessOpenAI’s own frontier models, which are ahead on long, complicated reasoning.Private AI from FountainheadOpen models that run on your own hardware. They answer from your documents, draft and summarise well, and are behind the largest cloud models on long, complicated reasoning.
Getting startedChatGPT BusinessSign up online. A workspace needs at least two paid seats.Private AI from FountainheadA 20-minute call, then a fixed quote. We build the machine, install it and connect your systems.
How you payChatGPT BusinessPer user. A Standard seat is $20 per user a month billed annually, or $25 billed monthly.Private AI from FountainheadA one-time setup fee, hardware you buy once and a flat monthly care plan. No per-user fee.
20 people, first yearChatGPT Business$4,800 billed annually, or $6,000 billed monthly, on Standard seats.Private AI from FountainheadFrom $36,999 on the Company Brain package: $12,000 setup, hardware from $9,999 and $15,000 for the care plan.
20 people, each year afterChatGPT Business$4,800 to $6,000 at today’s prices.Private AI from Fountainhead$15,000 for the care plan.
If you stop payingChatGPT BusinessOpenAI may deactivate the workspace, and members then lose access.Private AI from FountainheadThe system keeps running. Only updates and support stop.

Which one

When each is the better choice

ChatGPT Business is the better choice when

  • The information your team would put into it is not confidential.
  • You want to start now, with nothing to install and no upfront cost.
  • You need the strongest models for long, complicated reasoning.
  • Your budget for AI is a few thousand dollars a year.

Private AI is the better choice when

  • You handle client files, tax records or other information that must not sit on an outside company’s servers.
  • You want one system connected to your files, email, CRM, accounting and phones, set up and looked after for you.
  • You want to own it: the hardware and the data are yours, and it keeps running if you cancel the care plan.

Sources

Where the facts come from

The prices and plan details for ChatGPT Business on this page come from OpenAI’s own pages, last checked in . OpenAI’s prices are in US dollars and can change. The private AI prices are ours.

ChatGPT is a trademark of OpenAI. Fountainhead is not affiliated with OpenAI.

Questions

Straight answers

Is private AI cheaper than ChatGPT Business?

No. A 20-person firm pays OpenAI $4,800 to $6,000 a year for ChatGPT Business. The same firm on our Company Brain package pays from $36,999 in the first year and $15,000 a year after that. Firms choose private AI to keep their data on hardware they own, not to spend less.

Is ChatGPT Business private enough for client data?

For many businesses, yes. OpenAI says it does not train on ChatGPT Business data by default, that it encrypts the data and that the data stays owned by you. It is still stored and processed on OpenAI’s servers. Whether that is acceptable depends on what you have promised your clients and on the rules of your profession, which is a question for your own counsel. If the answer has to be that no outside company holds the data, a private system is what fits.

Can we use both?

Yes. Keep a cloud plan for general work that involves nothing confidential, and use the private system for client files and company records.

Does the same apply to Microsoft Copilot, Claude or ChatGPT Enterprise?

The trade-off is the same with every cloud AI plan. The provider says it does not train on business customers’ data, and your data is still processed on the provider’s servers. Prices and admin controls differ from plan to plan.

More on private AI

Keep reading

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