Claude skills vs ChatGPT and Copilot: one procedure, three tools

By Ivan Pylypchuk (opens in a new tab), CEO of Softblues. Sources checked 5 October 2026.

Claude skills, ChatGPT skills and Copilot Cowork skills can carry the same written procedure through a SKILL.md file. For a Microsoft-first UK or Irish firm, start by testing that procedure in the platform already approved for the work. Reusing instructions does not transfer access permissions, administrative controls or proof that the output is correct.

Softblues (softblues.io) is a London AI adoption partner for firms bringing governed AI into everyday work.

Key facts

Claude: Team and Enterprise support organisation-wide skill provisioning. Checked 5 October 2026. [1]

ChatGPT: eligible Business and Enterprise users can use skills, subject to workspace settings and availability. Checked 5 October 2026. [2]

Copilot Cowork: imports SKILL.md and converts compatible Claude plugin packages. Checked 5 October 2026. [3]

Copilot Cowork: a standalone skill file can be up to 1 MB. Checked 5 October 2026. [3]

Microsoft: Business Premium with Copilot costs £24.60 per user per month on annual billing, excluding VAT. Checked 5 October 2026. [4]

Claude: Team standard seats cost $20 per user per month on annual billing; Enterprise adds usage at API rates to its $20 seat price. Checked 5 October 2026. [5]

Why compare skills rather than another model leaderboard?

The useful purchase decision is whether your firm's method can survive a change of assistant. A finance director does not want to rewrite month-end instructions because one department uses a different tool.

A skill packages instructions for a repeatable job, optionally with reference material or scripts. A project holds the context for ongoing work. Keep that distinction visible: the procedure for drafting commentary should be reusable; this month's figures should remain in the authorised working location. OpenAI's build documentation describes the instruction file and supporting resources explicitly. [6]

This supports the second test in our AI-native guide: the firm's procedures are encoded in its working practices.

The portability claim is narrower than the headline sounds. Microsoft documents conversion of compatible Claude plugin packages. That is evidence of an import route, not a test showing that every script, connector and approval rule behaves identically after import. [3] Our recommendation is to keep one approved method and test each deployment separately.

How do the three platforms compare?

When should a Microsoft-first firm start with Copilot?

Start there when the source material and intended output already live in Microsoft 365 and your approved licence and Cowork access cover the job.

For our illustrative finance job, keep the approved workbook in its working library. Ask the assistant to check the reporting period and draft commentary from the supplied figures. The finance owner approves the explanation before it enters the board pack. This is a suggested pilot, not a measured customer result.

The important limitation is practical: Microsoft says Cowork cannot read encrypted files even when the user has access, and custom skill outputs need review. [8] A failed source read should stop the draft. It should never be disguised by a confident explanation made from incomplete evidence.

Ask IT to show access and billing together. The licence line alone does not establish the running cost of this workflow; Cowork consumption includes skill and tool calls. [9]

Where do Claude skills fit?

Claude is a sensible candidate when a team already works there and wants a centrally maintained procedure rather than instructions copied between chats. Owners can provision a skill across Team or Enterprise; Enterprise can target groups through plugins. [1]

Keep the procedure small enough for its owner to review. Attach the approved commentary template and explain what counts as acceptable evidence.

Team and Enterprise are separate governance decisions. Compare the retention, identity and audit requirements against the actual plan before putting regulated material into the workflow. Enterprise's seat price also excludes metered usage. [5]

Our existing policy and handbook assistant walkthrough covers the source-grounding side.

Where do ChatGPT skills fit?

ChatGPT is worth testing when the team already uses its workspace and wants to distribute a repeatable method. Business eligibility does not imply every Enterprise administrative control is present on Business. Check the controls you actually need against the current workspace. [2]

The useful separation is between a skill's instructions and the apps that reach other systems. OpenAI's documentation describes dependencies and the resources bundled with a skill. [6] Copying a folder is not evidence that another user's connection has been approved.

For the finance pilot, require the same input files and expected findings used on the other platforms. Have the reviewer mark missing evidence and corrections before considering the writing style. A more fluent draft can still be less useful if it hides a missing reporting period.

What would a portable finance procedure actually contain?

Consider a monthly commentary draft. This is a deliberately limited example within Agent 6, Monthly management and board pack, which remains P2 in our core guide. A standalone drafting skill does not by itself deliver that connected agent.

The procedure should tell the assistant to confirm the reporting period, read the approved figures, check differences against the prior period and draft only explanations supported by evidence. If a number is missing or a total fails to reconcile, it should identify the gap and stop that part of the commentary. The finance owner signs off; the assistant does not approve accounts.

Make the handover concrete. Keep a method file with a named owner and revision, a reference describing the required output, and an example with invented data clearly labelled. Do not bundle real payroll or customer records simply to make installation convenient.

For the cross-platform test, give each assistant the same sanitised input. Include a wrong period label and a missing explanation on purpose. Record whether each problem was identified, which source supported each statement, and what the reviewer changed. These are proposed test conditions, not a published benchmark.

Time the complete job, including review and filing, against the existing method. A faster first draft has limited value if the finance director spends longer checking it.

What does this cost for a 100-person UK firm?

Begin with the whole-firm AI ROI calculator to explore your own capacity assumptions. Its outputs are illustrative starting points; this article claims no measured saving or payback.

The licence arithmetic below uses public prices checked on 5 October 2026. It excludes VAT or applicable tax, implementation and variable usage. Dollar prices remain in dollars because a made-up exchange rate would make the comparison less reliable.

Microsoft's row includes a broader productivity and security bundle. The other rows are additional assistant purchases, so these are not like-for-like totals. For an existing Microsoft customer, compare the incremental change from the current contract, not the full bundle price twice.

Implementation needs its own scope: documenting the method, resolving access, testing outputs and training the owner. Obtain a GBP quote for that work.

What should governance and residency cover?

Treat the method as a controlled business document. Name who approves changes and who can distribute them. Keep review outside the assistant where the result commits the firm to an action. A written instruction to ask permission is not a substitute for platform permissions that restrict the action.

Record storage and processing separately. Claude's first-party workspace geography is currently US; OpenAI's eligible UK storage option does not establish UK inference. Microsoft's storage commitments apply to specified content and services. [11,12,13] A skill's external dependencies need their own assessment. Changing the folder format changes none of those terms.

For UK and Irish firms, treat residency as a documentation task, not a legal barrier by assumption. That is a starting point for due diligence, not a conclusion that every transfer is permissible. The firm's responsible advisers must check contractual restrictions and the proposed data flow before approval. Keep the first comparison on sanitised inputs while that assessment is completed.

What should you ask your IT lead this week?

Start at £0 in new software. Ask: "Can we write down one approved procedure and its acceptance criteria using the tools we already have?" A good answer identifies the owner, input location and what a reviewer must accept. Staff time still has a cost.

Use existing approved seats, with usage monitored. Ask: "Can we test that procedure on a sanitised completed job and show the corrections and consumption?" A good answer includes the accepted output and a real usage record. It does not promise that a clean import proves the workflow works.

Buy additional capacity only after the test. Ask: "Which gap requires another licence or an engineered integration?" A good answer names a failed requirement, prices the smallest suitable change and explains how it will be retested. Compare platform routes before commissioning a build.

Softblues uses its own Claude operating system as a practical reference for organising work around maintained procedures. We help firms choose the platform and scope the implementation, including when the right answer is to use a seat they already own.

Get the deck: AI-native with Claude. Read the Claude implementation guide for the wider operating model. To discuss your firm's first controlled workflow, book a discovery call.

Frequently asked questions

How do I use Claude skills for business?

Begin with one repeatable job and an approved output example. Package the procedure, test it on sanitised material, and have the owner review results before distribution. Organisation-wide provisioning is available on Team and Enterprise. [1]

What is the difference between a Claude skill and a project?

A skill carries reusable task guidance; a project provides the working context. Keep the stable method separate from changing case material. This makes revisions easier to review and avoids duplicating sensitive inputs. [7]

Can ChatGPT skills use a Claude SKILL.md file?

Both use SKILL.md-based instructions. Check the package structure and any scripts, dependencies or product-specific instructions before use. Shared syntax is a starting point for a test, not evidence of identical behaviour. [6,7]

Are Copilot skills the same as Copilot agents?

No. A skill supplies task instructions within its host; an agent may also need connections, triggers and action controls. This article compares Cowork's skill import path, not every feature called a skill across Microsoft's products. [3,9]

Sources checked 5 October 2026

[1] Anthropic: provision and manage organisation skills. [2] OpenAI: Skills in ChatGPT. [3] Microsoft: customise Copilot Cowork. [4] Microsoft: Business Premium with Copilot UK pricing. [5] Anthropic: pricing. [6] OpenAI: build skills. [7] Anthropic: what are skills. [8] Microsoft: Cowork common questions. [9] Microsoft: manage Copilot Cowork. [10] OpenAI: ChatGPT Business overview and business plans. [11] Anthropic: commercial data storage and processing. [12] OpenAI: data and inference residency. [13] Microsoft: Copilot data residency.