The three cost models
All AI costs fall into three categories:
- Subscription (SaaS): fixed monthly or annual fee per seat — ChatGPT Plus, Claude Pro, Microsoft Copilot
- API consumption: pay per token/request — used by technical teams and automated workflows
- Local infrastructure: one-time cost for hardware + ongoing electricity costs — Ollama, LM Studio, local models
Most SMEs pay for subscriptions. Tech companies mix subscription and API. Data-sensitive industries are increasingly exploring local infrastructure.
Subscription comparison 2026
| Service | Price/mo (per seat) | Price in SEK* | Included | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT Plus (OpenAI) | $20/mo | ≈ 210 kr | GPT-4o, DALL·E, web search | All-around text work, image generation |
| Claude Pro (Anthropic) | $20/mo | ≈ 210 kr | Claude 3.7 Sonnet, longer context, priority | Long documents, legal, analysis |
| Microsoft Copilot Pro | $30/mo | ≈ 315 SEK | AI in Word/Excel/Outlook/Teams | Office-heavy organizations |
| Google Gemini Advanced | $20/mo | ≈ 210 kr | Gemini 2.5 Pro, Google Workspace integration | Google ecosystem users |
| Free (ChatGPT/Claude/Gemini) | 0 SEK | 0 SEK | Older models, limited use | Evaluation, occasional use |
* The SEK price varies with the dollar exchange rate. Expect ±10 percent.
What does it cost for a whole team?
Let's calculate for a 10-person company where 6 out of 10 employees actively use AI in their daily work:
| Option | Cost/month | Cost/year |
|---|---|---|
| 6 × ChatGPT Plus ($20) | ≈ 1,260 SEK | ≈ 15,100 SEK |
| 6 × Claude Pro ($20) | ≈ 1,260 SEK | ≈ 15,100 SEK |
| 6 × Microsoft Copilot Pro ($30) | ≈ 1,890 SEK | ≈ 22,700 SEK |
| Mixed (3 + 3) | ≈ 1,260 SEK | ≈ 15,100 SEK |
15,000–23,000 SEK per year for 6 users is a reasonable investment compared to the time saved. An employee who saves 2 hours per week with AI frees up 96 hours per year — worth 33,600–48,000 SEK in internal costs (350–500 SEK/h). The ROI is clear.
The hidden costs most people miss
1. Learning time
Becoming proficient with AI takes 2–4 weeks of active learning. Account for 4–8 hours per person in lost productivity during the learning phase. For a 10-person team: 40–80 hours.
2. Prompt design and process documentation
Building a company-specific prompt template library takes 10–20 hours. Without it, AI will never achieve consistent quality in your organization. It is an investment, not a waste — but it is rarely visible in budget discussions.
3. API costs can spiral
If you start using AI programmatically (automated flows, agents), you move from a fixed subscription to API consumption. An unoptimized flow processing thousands of documents can easily cost 1,000–10,000 SEK per month. Always set spending limits in the API dashboard.
4. Hardware for local models
A server running qwen2.5:32b locally requires at least an RTX 4090 (24 GB VRAM) or equivalent GPU. Purchase price: 15,000–25,000 SEK. Power consumption: 400–600 W during active operation, barely measurable in standby. Amortized over 3 years: 400–700 SEK per month — cheaper per seat than SaaS for a team.
Recommendation by company size
| Company size | Recommended setup | Estimated cost/month |
|---|---|---|
| Solopreneur / 1–2 people | 1 × ChatGPT Plus or Claude Pro | 210 SEK |
| Small company, 3–10 people | Subscription per active user | 630–2,100 SEK |
| Medium-sized SME, 10–50 people | Subscription + dedicated API account for automation | 2 100–15,000 SEK |
| Data-sensitive industries, all sizes | Investigate local AI — one-time investment can save money long-term | 0–700 SEK/month (amortized) |
ChatGPT, Claude or Copilot — which one to choose?
In short:
- ChatGPT Plus: Best for all-around use and image generation. Largest ecosystem of plugins and customizations. Strong English language capability.
- Claude Pro: Best for long documents, analysis, and nuanced Swedish texts. Excellent for legal work, report writing, and complex reasoning.
- Microsoft Copilot Pro: Best if you live in Microsoft 365. Not the best in absolute AI capability, but wins on integration if Outlook/Teams/Excel are central.
For most Swedish SMEs: start with one account (ChatGPT or Claude), test for 1–2 months, and then add more seats selectively for the employees who actually use it.
The AI cost for a team of 10 people should not exceed 2,000–3,000 SEK per month in subscription costs. More than that and you should review if all seats are actually being used. If yes — it is a sign that the AI culture is strong and the investment is paying off.