AI assistants in 2026, explained: Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot and Grok

The AI assistants most small businesses meet at work in 2026 are Claude (Anthropic), ChatGPT (OpenAI), Gemini (Google), Microsoft Copilot and Grok (SpaceXSI). All five chat, read files and follow your instructions; the differences are where they live and what they can connect to. Two open standards tie them together: MCP connects an assistant to your tools, and Agent Skills package a routine as a file. For a small business, Claude is our favourite and ChatGPT the alternative. As of 08/10/2026.

Plans, names and menus change often. If something differs, the vendor's own help page wins.

What do all AI assistants have in common in 2026?

The same five building blocks under different names:

What separates a chat from an agent is the last two rows: an agent has tools and uses them over several steps. Our glossary explains each term in one paragraph.

What is each assistant built for?

Claude (Anthropic)

Our favourite for the back office: a general assistant with a strong focus on writing, analysis and working with documents. Plans: Free, Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise (Claude pricing page, as of 08/10/2026). Relevant for the back office:

• Skills on all plans, with code execution switched on; Team and Enterprise owners can share skills across the organisation (Anthropic Help Center).
• Custom connectors through MCP on all plans; the Free plan is limited to one (Anthropic Help Center).
• Anthropic developed both MCP and the Agent Skills format and released them as open standards.

ChatGPT (OpenAI)

The alternative to Claude and the best-known assistant, with free and paid personal plans and business plans (Business, Enterprise, Edu). Relevant for the back office:

• Projects and custom GPTs keep files and instructions together.
• Agent mode on paid plans works through tasks on websites and files and asks before consequential steps; OpenAI's help pages list the current plans.
• Custom MCP connectors through developer mode. OpenAI's developer guide listed Pro, Plus, Business, Enterprise and Education on the web when we read it on 04/10/2026; its current pages name no plans, so check your settings.
• Skills in Business, Enterprise and Edu workspaces where the admin allows them (OpenAI Help Center, as found on 08/10/2026).

Gemini (Google)

Google's assistant, as an app and inside Google Workspace (Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Drive). Relevant for the back office:

• Gems are saved versions of Gemini with your instructions and files, and can be shared (Gemini Apps Help).
• Since 16 Oct 2026, skills have been coming to the Gemini app, with the rollout running until mid-November (as of 16 Oct 2026).
• Anthropic's MCP announcement lists Gemini among the products that adopted MCP.

Microsoft Copilot

Microsoft's assistant, built into Microsoft 365. Microsoft's own overview (updated 01/10/2026) separates three levels:

• Copilot Chat comes with eligible Microsoft 365 licences. It works mainly with web data; your own files only if you upload or open them.
• Microsoft 365 Copilot is a paid add-on. It works with your emails, files, meetings and calendar, and includes agents that use work data.
• Copilot Studio is a low-code tool to build your own agents and connect other data sources.

For EU users, Microsoft says Copilot traffic stays within the EU Data Boundary. Anthropic's MCP announcement also lists Microsoft Copilot among the products that adopted MCP.

Grok (SpaceXSI, formerly xAI)

Use Grok to pull in live information from the web and public X posts. Plans: Free, Plus, Premium, Super and Ultra, plus Teams and Enterprise, all under "The X Subscription", which also includes Cursor and X Premium (SpaceXSI pricing page, as of 16 Oct 2026). Relevant for the back office:

• Connectors are open to every Grok user, with built-in ones for Gmail, Google Drive, Outlook and OneDrive, among others. You add your own MCP servers by URL. In Teams and Enterprise, an admin approves each connector first (SpaceXSI help).
• Skills and automations on grok.com: describe a task once and Grok runs it on a schedule (SpaceXSI, as of 16 Oct 2026).
• Grok Bot is a separate agent with its own persistent cloud computer, so it keeps working when your laptop is closed. You get it from Premium up. Sensitive steps wait for your approval.
• Data protection (as of 16 Oct 2026): the private plans Free to Ultra come without a data processing agreement, and SpaceXSI may use your chats for training (you can switch that off or use Private Chat). Client data on these plans is not processed in line with GDPR, so keep it out. For Teams and Enterprise, the provider says there is no training. Its current data processing agreement covers personal data only through the ZDR API, not in the chat. Processing can happen in the USA, and SpaceXSI names no EU region.

And the rest?

There are more: European providers such as Mistral AI from France with its assistant Le Chat, open-source models you can run yourself, and AI built into the business software you already use. The building blocks above apply to them too.

What are MCP, skills and agents, in plain words?

• MCP (Model Context Protocol) is the plug between an AI assistant and other software. A tool that offers an MCP server can be used from any assistant that supports MCP. Anthropic introduced it in November 2024 and in December 2025 gave it to the Agentic AI Foundation under the Linux Foundation, co-founded with Block and OpenAI and supported by Google, Microsoft and others. More in our glossary.
• Skills in the Agent Skills format are folders with a SKILL.md file: a routine the AI loads when the task fits. The format was developed by Anthropic and is now open; skills run in Claude, ChatGPT, Codex, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and Grok Build, among others. Eight free back-office skills are in our skill library.
• Agents are assistants that use tools over several steps. Every vendor now has one form or another; the important question is what it may do without asking you.

How do you choose as a small business in DE or AT?

Start with our favourite, then check the rest.

1. Your assistant. Our favourite is Claude: Anthropic developed MCP and Agent Skills, and skills and custom connectors come with every plan, one connector on the Free plan. The alternative is ChatGPT, with projects, custom GPTs and agent mode. Both connect broadly through connectors.
2. Your business tools. Does your invoicing, time-tracking or bookkeeping tool offer an MCP connector or an official integration? That decides whether the AI can work on real data or only on what you paste.
3. The plan. Client data is personal data. For work with it you need a plan with a data processing agreement (Art. 28 GDPR), usually a business plan, see AI and GDPR.
4. The language. All five understand and answer in German. Legal terms from DE and AT still need checking against the source, whatever the assistant writes.

Already using the assistant in your office suite? Add Claude and connect it to your business tools. Fine, as long as you know which one may access what.

What does this mean for the back office?

What holds you back now is scattered data and unwritten rules. An assistant connected to one tidy place for hours, invoices and receipts, with written rules and clear approvals, will do more useful work than the most capable assistant working from copy and paste. The bigger picture is in How AI agents are changing back-office work.