Made for Swiss self-employed & SMEs
"What does it actually cost?" — that is the first question whenever AI comes up at work. Fair enough: nobody wants to pay for tools they do not need, and nobody wants to be pushed into a subscription that eats a little more each month. The good news up front: AI is cheaper than most people think — if you look carefully instead of chasing the next headline.
This guide is honest and free of sales pressure. You get the real price bands, the hidden costs, and a clear way to decide what is worth it for your office — whether you run a notary's practice, a fiduciary, a doctor's surgery or a small office.
The three price bands, simply put
Almost every AI tool sits in one of three bands. That is all you need to orient yourself.
- Free: ChatGPT, Claude and others offer free tiers. They are enough for trying things out and for occasional tasks — a draft letter, a summary, a list of ideas. You give up comfort in return: less speed, smaller limits, and your input may be used for training.
- Around 20 to 30 francs a month: the individual plans such as ChatGPT Plus or Claude Pro. For most self-employed people this is the point where the work gets noticeably lighter: better models, longer texts, more reliable operation. A single subscription of this kind is almost always enough.
- From around 25 francs per person per month: team and business tiers. These only pay off once several people work together and you want shared templates, permissions and — important in Switzerland — settings that keep your data out of training.
The figures are ballpark values and can change. What matters is not the franc amount but whether the tool gives you time back.
What you actually pay — and what you do not
The subscription price is only part of the bill. If you calculate honestly, three things belong in it:
- The subscription: 0 to about 30 francs a month for a single seat.
- Your time: setting up the first templates and task lists costs a few quiet hours. That is not an expense but an investment that pays for itself within a few weeks.
- The data decision: if you work with client or patient data, a plan with privacy settings or a local model is the safer choice — a few francs more, but far less worry.
Local or cloud: an honest comparison
One question keeps coming up: is a local model on your own computer worth it? The answer depends on your data.
Local models cost nothing per month but need a decent computer and a little setup time. They are the right choice when confidential data must not leave the house. Cloud plans are more convenient and more capable, but they ask for trust in the provider. Both are legitimate — what matters is that you make the choice deliberately, not out of habit.
Write me an honest comparison for my office: an individual plan with ChatGPT or Claude against a local model. List monthly costs, setup effort and data protection. I run a fiduciary with one person and work with client data.
The hidden costs — and how to keep them small
AI rarely becomes expensive through the subscription, but through three detours:
- Too many tools: whoever signs up for five subscriptions pays five times and ends up using two. Start with one tool and stick with it until you really know what you need.
- Unused features: the pricier tiers add image generation, data analysis and more — useful, but often unnecessary in daily office work. Only pay for what you use every week.
- No cancellation rhythm: subscriptions quietly keep running. A diary date every six months to check what you actually use keeps the costs small.
List my current AI tools and subscriptions and tell me which one I could drop. For each, note what I actually use it for, and whether a single tool could cover several of those tasks.
A clear way to decide
You do not have to rush anything. The unhurried path looks like this: start with the free tier and test for a few weeks without obligation. As soon as you notice you use the tool every day, take the individual plan. Only consider a local model or a business tier once confidential data or a team come into play.
That way you never pay more than necessary and still win back hours every month.
The outcome
For a Swiss self-employed person, AI realistically costs between zero and thirty francs a month — a fraction of what one hour of your own work is worth. The real question is not whether it pays off, but whether you with care find the entry point that suits your business. That is exactly what a short, no-obligation conversation can help you with.
