AI for freelancers: tools, prices in euros and what the GDPR requires

Which tasks AI takes off freelancers' hands

AI saves the most time on recurring writing: drafting quotes and customer emails, structuring a concept, summarising a long text or outlining a presentation. General assistants such as ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini are suited to this.

Then there are specialised tools. DeepL translates texts and entire documents. According to the vendor, bookkeeping software such as sevdesk reads scanned receipts, matches them to bank transactions and suggests a booking category. Microsoft 365 has Copilot built into Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, and according to Microsoft also into Teams for video calls, and it generates images.

Our assessment: one tool you use every day brings more than five you are trying out. Start with what fits your existing software, for example Copilot if you already use Microsoft 365.

What the tools cost (as of October 2026)

ChatGPT: can be used free of charge. According to Notebookcheck, Go costs 8 euros and Plus 23 euros a month in Germany.

Claude: Anthropic lists Pro at 20 US dollars a month billed monthly or 17 US dollars billed annually, each excluding tax. You only see the euro amount at checkout.

Gemini: Google lists Google AI Plus at 4.99 euros and Google AI Pro at 21.99 euros a month.

Microsoft 365 Single with Copilot: 10 euros a month or 99 euros a year according to Microsoft.

DeepL Pro: the plan for individuals costs 7.49 euros a month billed annually, including VAT, according to DeepL.

sevdesk: the Buchhaltung (bookkeeping) plan with AI-assisted receipt capture regularly costs 25.90 euros a month plus VAT according to its pricing page, whether billed monthly or annually. On top of that there are time-limited introductory discounts: when we checked, it was 10.36 euros a month for three months billed monthly or six months billed annually, after which the regular price applies.

Careful when comparing: some providers state gross prices, others net prices, and some only dollars. What counts is the amount at checkout.

Customer data and the GDPR

The German consumer advice centres advise private users not to enter personal or sensitive data into AI chatbots. For freelancers this is often not practical, because quotes and emails contain names and customer details. Then the GDPR's rules apply.

The German data protection conference, made up of the supervisory authorities, recommends separate business accounts rather than private ones for professional use. Training on inputs should be switched off and history should not be kept beyond the session. Anyone using an external provider's AI for their own purposes usually needs a data processing agreement under Article 28 GDPR.

On the providers: in the personal versions of ChatGPT, OpenAI may use content for training, which you can switch off in the data controls. For ChatGPT Business, OpenAI says it does not use inputs for training by default. DeepL states that for Pro customers texts are deleted after processing unless agreed otherwise, and never used for training. The exception: translations you deliberately save, for example as saved translations or glossaries, stay in your account.

The Munich Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK München) points to the information duties under Articles 13 and 14 GDPR: your customers must learn how their data is processed. And the data protection conference stresses that AI results must be checked critically because they can be wrong.

AI literacy under the AI Act

Article 4 of the European AI Act contains an AI literacy obligation. According to IHK München, it has applied since 2 February 2025 to businesses that use AI, with regard to their staff.

In July 2026 this obligation was softened by an amending regulation. According to law firm White & Case, providers and deployers must now take measures to support a sufficient level of AI literacy among their staff and other people working with AI on their behalf. Previously, they had to ensure this level.

In practice, for small businesses with employees or freelance helpers this means briefly explaining which AI is used, what may and may not go into it, and that results must be checked. Writing this down is a simple record.

Our assessment: if you work completely alone, you have no staff to train. Knowing the basics still protects you from mistakes towards customers.