ChatGPT alternatives for business: GDPR-ready platforms compared
Many companies across the DACH region already use ChatGPT in daily work, often through private accounts with no central control. Anyone wanting to make that use official and traceable chooses between OpenAI's Business or Enterprise tier and a standalone business platform that bundles several model providers behind one login.
The difference rarely comes down to price alone. What matters is the hosting region, the choice of models, contractual evidence such as a data processing agreement and certifications like ISO 27001 or SOC 2, plus whether a company stays tied to a single model provider.
This article compares eight platforms using checked information from each provider's own website, sets out selection criteria for the decision, and explains when ChatGPT Business or Enterprise itself remains the right choice.
What sets a business platform apart from a private ChatGPT account
A private ChatGPT account runs on terms of use for individuals: whether inputs are used for training depends on a setting each person configures for themselves. There is no data processing agreement, no central administration of roles and permissions, and no audit log to show, if it ever matters, who accessed what and when.
A business platform closes these gaps contractually: training on inputs is excluded, a data processing agreement is in place, and access can be granted and revoked centrally. What remains open, depending on the provider, is whether a single model provider is enough or several providers should sit behind one login.
What ChatGPT Business and Enterprise offer themselves
OpenAI publishes a data processing agreement for Business and Enterprise openly online, including a PDF download and electronic signature. Both tiers are, according to the provider, certified to SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO 27001, 27017, 27018 and 27701, and inputs are not used to train models by default.
One difference concerns data residency: a selectable storage and inference region, including Europe with the EEA and Switzerland, is available according to the provider only for ChatGPT Enterprise and Edu, not for Business. For Business, the processing location is not shown as its own region on the website. The pricing page does not state a euro amount for Business; it shows figures based on location (as of September 2026).
Eight platforms compared
The table below compares eight platforms alphabetically by provider and location, hosting, entry price and stated evidence. Custodos, the platform behind this blog, is one of the eight options compared. Figures for Langdock, nele.ai, DeutschlandGPT, innoGPT and Microsoft 365 Copilot come from a check in August 2026, figures for meinGPT and ChatGPT Business/Enterprise from a check in September 2026; sources are listed below.
| Provider and location | Hosting | Entry price | Models | Evidence | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT Business/Enterprise | OpenAI Ireland Limited, Dublin (Ireland); outside the EEA/Switzerland OpenAI OpCo, LLC, USA | Business: no separate region stated. Enterprise/Edu: selectable data residency, including Europe | Business from 2 users, euro amount not stated; Enterprise individual (September 2026) | OpenAI's GPT model family | Public DPA, SOC 2 Type 2, ISO 27001, 27017, 27018 and 27701 (September 2026) |
| Custodos | Custodos (Switzerland) | EU or Switzerland, region selectable | €15 (Mini), €30 (Business), €90 (Max) per seat per month, minus 20% on annual billing | GPT, Claude, Gemini, Mistral | SSO, roles and permissions and audit logs in every seat; no training on customer data; no ISO 27001, no SOC 2 currently |
| DeutschlandGPT | DeutschlandGPT GmbH, Germering (Germany) | Open Telekom Cloud (T-Systems), data centres in Magdeburg and Biere | €16 per month, Pro plan, annual, incl. VAT (as of August 2026) | OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Meta, Mistral | DPA under Art. 28 GDPR, ISO/IEC 27001:2022 (TÜV SÜD); SOC 2 not stated |
| innoGPT | Inno KI GmbH, Vechta (Germany) | EU hosting, AWS Frankfurt am Main | €25 per user per month plus VAT, Business plan (as of August 2026) | More than 50 models per provider, not individually named | DPA under Art. 28 GDPR, ISO 27001; SOC 2 not stated |
| Langdock | Langdock GmbH, Berlin (Germany) | EU hosting on Microsoft Azure | €25 per user per month, Business plan, minus 20% on annual billing (as of August 2026) | Every leading model according to the provider, not individually named | ISO 27001, SOC 2 Type II; DPA not found |
| meinGPT | SelectCode GmbH, Unterhaching (Germany) | AI inference on Hetzner data centres in Germany | €18 per user per month up to 50 users, plus separate model usage budget (as of September 2026) | OpenAI, Anthropic (via Google Vertex), Google, Mistral, DeepSeek, Kimi | ISO/IEC 27001:2022; DPA on request; SOC 2 not stated |
| Microsoft 365 Copilot | Microsoft Corporation, Redmond (USA) | EU data boundary for EU customers; Anthropic models currently excluded from it | €18.20 per user per month as an add-on, annual, plus VAT (as of August 2026) | OpenAI, Anthropic and Microsoft's own models | ISO 27001, ISO 42001; SOC 2 not stated |
| nele.ai | GAL Digital GmbH, Hungen (Germany) | Servers exclusively in Germany, according to the provider | €10 per month from 1,000 credits, whole company (as of August 2026) | OpenAI, Microsoft Azure, Anthropic, Meta Llama 3 | DPA linked, ISO 27001 (TÜV Rheinland); SOC 2 not stated |
How the pricing models differ
The platforms compared here bill differently. Custodos, Langdock, innoGPT and Microsoft 365 Copilot charge a fixed amount per user per month. meinGPT tiers the per-user price by company size and adds a separate model usage budget. nele.ai bills entirely through a credit allowance for the whole company, independent of user numbers. DeutschlandGPT distinguishes between a cheaper individual tier and a pricier business tier per user. A comparison only makes sense once projected onto your own user numbers and expected usage, not by whichever figure is lowest.
Selection criteria for a business platform
These criteria follow from the comparison and can be checked in this order.
- Clarify model access: a single provider, or several models behind one login?
- Have the hosting region and processing location confirmed in writing, not just the provider's registered office.
- Have the training exclusion secured contractually, including for sub-processors and in aggregated form.
- Ask for evidence such as ISO 27001, SOC 2 or a data processing agreement individually; a missing statement does not mean the item does not exist.
- Project the pricing model onto your own user numbers and usage volume, not the lowest stated figure.
- Compare governance features such as SSO, roles and audit logs as part of the core price or as an add-on.
When ChatGPT Business or Enterprise remains the right choice
For companies whose daily work is already closely tied to OpenAI's models, Business offers a publicly available data processing agreement, SOC 2 and ISO certifications and a contractual training exclusion, without introducing a second platform.
Enterprise adds a selectable data residency, including Europe. Anyone who needs that option but cannot calculate a public euro price in advance should request the individual offer directly from OpenAI. Anyone who instead needs several model providers behind one login, or requires Switzerland as its own hosting region, will find that among the other platforms in this comparison.
Frequently asked questions
Is ChatGPT Business GDPR-compliant?
Business offers a public data processing agreement, excludes training on inputs by default and is certified to SOC 2 and ISO 27001. A selectable data residency in Europe, however, is available according to the provider only for Enterprise and Edu, not for Business. Whether that is enough for a given use case remains a case-by-case assessment for the company.
What does a business AI platform cost?
The models differ sharply: a fixed price per user per month, tiered pricing by company size, or a credit allowance for the whole company. A comparison only makes sense once projected onto your own user numbers, not by the lowest stated entry price.
Is a single model provider enough to start with?
That depends on the use case. Anyone relying on a model only one provider offers can manage with a single connection. Many companies choose a model-agnostic access instead, so a price, availability or quality change at one provider does not mean switching the whole platform.
What does 'not stated on the provider's website' mean?
The information is missing from the provider's checked pages at the time of the check. That says nothing about whether the feature exists, only that it could not be evidenced publicly. A binding answer requires asking the provider directly.
What does Custodos offer that ChatGPT Business does not?
Custodos bundles several model providers, GPT, Claude, Gemini and Mistral, behind one login and lets you choose the hosting region between the EU and Switzerland. Custodos does not currently hold an ISO 27001 or SOC 2 certification; anyone who requires that evidence should check this beforehand.
Sources
- Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR) · EUR-Lex
- Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP, SR 235.1) · Fedlex, Swiss Federal Chancellery
- Trust Center (SOC 2, ISO 27001) · OpenAI
- Data residency and inference residency for ChatGPT · OpenAI Help Center
- Security · Langdock
- Security · meinGPT (SelectCode GmbH)
- AI and data protection · nele.ai
- Microsoft 365 Copilot: privacy · Microsoft Learn
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