How do AI options stack up for small businesses?

For founders of small businesses or startups, decisions about which AI models to tap or how to best use them can be daunting. It’s a fast-changing and competitive new technology in which token prices and model leaderboard rankings change almost by the week.

Most small businesses now use AI in some way, according to various recent surveys, but whether or not they are getting the most out of the technology seems harder to pin down. Many small businesses have yet to embed AI into core operations or realize the ROI they’re aiming for, according to two recent polls.

Frontier labs and tech giants know this, and they’ve been increasingly rolling out more AI tools, incentives, and programs catered specifically to budding entrepreneurs. We break down the basics of what major AI providers offer.

OpenAI

OpenAI has both a startups team, made up mostly of former tech founders, and offerings catered to small and medium-size businesses.

For tech startups, it provides code repositories, technical guides, and a monthly newsletter called Startup Drop. The company also hosts webinars and IRL instructional sessions across various international cities. In terms of free usage credits, OpenAI partners with various VCs and accelerators to distribute them to their portfolio startups. It’s also currently investing its own funds in a second batch of early-stage startups.

On the more general small and medium-size business side, OpenAI offers virtual trainings, periodic in-person events, and various guides with prompts to get started. It also advertises agents in its marketplace from common SMB software providers like Intuit, Wix, and Shopify.

Anthropic

Earlier this year, Anthropic rolled out a new workflow product designed specifically for small businesses, Claude For Small Business. Like OpenAI, the package also includes integrations with various software tools favored by small businesses, like Intuit QuickBooks, Canva, and HubSpot. Anthropic also has a free AI fluency course, which offers a framework to decide on which tasks are best delegated to AI, how to set workflows up, and what the constraints might be.

On the tech startup side, Anthropic invites investment-backed founders to apply online for the possibility of free credits and better rate limits. It has its own partner network of VCs through which it distributes credits to startups, as well. The company also hosts its own various builder events virtually, across the country and internationally.

Google

As a major cloud provider, Google’s AI offerings for startups and small businesses are broader than those of the above frontier labs. It also has its own suite of business tools and ecosystem into which its flagship AI model Gemini is woven.

The company offers up to $200,000 in cloud credits ($350,000 for AI-focused startups) through its Google for Startups program at its scale tier. The lowest tier—for earlier stage startups—grants up to $2,000, while higher tiers are more selective and geared towards later-stage startups. Those credits can be spent on Google’s AI models (Gemini and Gemma), as well as more general cloud computing tasks. The program also comes with access to various technical tutorials and community events.

Google announced two capabilities for small businesses this summer: the ability to connect Gemini to existing business profiles for access to performance, and customer review data integrated with AI and business notebooks to organize agentic workflows.

Microsoft

Microsoft is working on differentiating its own enterprise AI products as it drifts further from its erstwhile partner OpenAI. But like Google and Amazon, it also offers cloud services and its own software ecosystem.

Microsoft offers a Copilot subscription tier designed specifically for small businesses, priced at between $18 and $3223.50 per month, with up to 300 licenses. The subscription functions as either an add-on or a bundle with Microsoft’s suite of tools like Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Word.

Like Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure also offers a startups program that companies between pre-seed and Series B stages can apply to for up to $150,000 or $200,000 in credits, depending on eligibility, as well as access to technical resources.

Amazon

Amazon has the least well-known in-house AI models of the list, but boasts the most robust cloud business.

Amazon Web Services offers a base $1,000 in credits for self-funded or bootstrapped startups with potential for up to $5,000 if selected. Higher tiers of the startup program reach up to $200,000 but require a referral code from an investor or accelerator or a focus on AI. AWS also offers a pricing tier of its Quick suite that is geared towards businesses that need up to 300 licenses priced at $20–$25 per user per month.