AI Plan Options for a Solo Practice Owner — Decision Sheet
Status: DRAFT for Kathryn's review · built by Arden, figures verified by Kit (2026-06-23) What it's for: a one-page answer to "which AI plan should I be on, and is it safe for my client data?" — reusable across the cohort and a PBOS-General asset. (First use: Meryl's 6/24 1:1; her specifics stay in her brief.)
The one rule (start here)
If client-confidential data goes into the AI, you need a business/team tier. A consumer plan — free or paid individual — is not the data-safe tier. Full stop.
For a practice that touches client financials, returns, or PII, that's not a "nice upgrade" — it's the baseline for doing the work safely.
The options
| Plan | Safe for client data? | Min seats | ~Cost/mo | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Consumer — Free / Plus / Pro | No — consumer terms; inputs can be used to improve the model | 1 | $0–$200 | Personal or non-client work only |
| ChatGPT Business | Yes — no-train contract + SOC 2 | 2 | ~$50/mo floor (2 × $25; ~$40/mo annual) | A solo who wants the cheapest safe tier |
| Claude Team | Yes — no-train contract + SOC 2 | 5 | ~$125 floor | A team of 5+, or anyone who wants Cowork (Claude writes to your own files) |
What "data-safe" actually means
The business/team tier carries a contractual promise not to train on your data, SOC 2 Type 2, and a DPA (you're the data controller, the vendor is a processor). Consumer tiers can use your inputs to improve the model — there's an opt-out toggle, but that's not the contractual protection a CPA needs for client confidentiality.
The cost, in plain terms
A business account pays for itself if it saves about one hour a month. And that hour is yours to spend however you want — leave early, take a day, or stop bringing someone in to do work the setup now does. The point isn't "do more." It's less work and less payroll for the same output.
How to choose
- Are you putting client data into the AI? Yes → you need a business tier (consumer is out). Genuinely never → a consumer plan is fine.
- Want the cheapest safe tier as a solo? → ChatGPT Business (2-seat floor — the lowest safe entry; you pay for one unused seat, still cheaper than Claude's 5).
- Already deep in Claude, want Cowork (it writes to your own files), or have a team of 5+? → Claude Team.
No provider offers a single-seat business tier. ChatGPT Business's 2-seat minimum is the lowest data-safe floor on the market right now.
Verified (Kit, 2026-06-24 — full claim-by-claim audit)
- Per-seat price is identical on both — $25/mo monthly, $20/mo annual. (ChatGPT Business dropped $5/seat on April 2, 2026; older "$30" figures are stale.) So price isn't the deciding factor — the seat minimum is (2 vs. 5).
- Connectors work on ChatGPT Business's entry tier (not Enterprise-only): SharePoint / OneDrive / Microsoft 365 and Google Drive. That matters here — practice owners run on Google Workspace or M365. Caveat: custom-role RBAC + SCIM are Enterprise-only; on Business an admin enables a connector once and each user connects their own (admin-managed deploy is also available). The synced connector requires US data residency — fine for a solo.
- Cowork stays Claude-only — the one capability ChatGPT Business doesn't match.
Net for a solo: same price either way → ChatGPT Business wins on the seat floor (2 vs. 5) and has the connectors on the entry tier; Claude Team wins only if you need Cowork or have 5+ people.
Draft. Once the content is approved, this can become a formatted one-pager for member/client use.