SMB Compare Is Now in ChatGPT and Claude: Price Business Software at Your Size

SMB Compare now works inside ChatGPT and Claude. Describe your business, ask what payroll, accounting software or card processing would cost, and the assistant answers with providers ranked by estimated monthly cost from our comparison tables. It's listed in both assistants' directories, and any other AI tool that supports MCP can use it by adding one URL. It's free, read-only and needs no account.

Key takeaways:

• Find SMB Compare in ChatGPT's plugin directory and Claude's connectors directory.
• In Cursor, VS Code, Claude Code or another MCP client, add the connector URL below.
• Give it your figures (headcount, monthly card sales, contacts) and it prices each provider at that size, then links to the full comparison.

What it looks like in ChatGPT and Claude

An example, with live figures from our payroll comparison. The demo switches between Claude and ChatGPT; the figures are the same in both.

Claude

What's the cheapest payroll software for 10 employees in the United States?

Used SMB Compare: compare

Estimated monthly cost at 10 employees, from SMB Compare:

1. Patriot Software, $87 (Full Service)
2. Homebase, $109 (Basic + Payroll)
3. OnPay, $109 (OnPay)

See all 12 on SMB Compare

Ask anything↑

The assistant writes the words. The prices, plan names and order are ours.

Where you can use it

Claude's connectors directory has listed SMB Compare since October 5, 2026, and ChatGPT's plugin directory added it on October 26.

It's an MCP server, the open standard both directories use, which is why it isn't tied to them. Cursor, VS Code and Claude Code can all connect to it directly, and it's published on the official MCP Registry as com.smbcompare/smb-compare.

What the SMB Compare plugin does

The plugin has two parts. One lists the categories we price in a country and the figures each one needs. The other ranks providers by estimated monthly cost at the figures you give it.

Both run on the engine behind our comparison tables. For each provider it picks the cheapest plan that covers your business, then prices that plan at your inputs. So if a provider's entry plan stops at five employees, a twelve-person business is priced on the plan above it.

Leave a figure out and it uses our calculator's default, and the response lists what it assumed. Some providers publish only a starting price, and some charge card processing on top; the response marks both, and the assistant is told to say when a figure is partial.

Why a price at your size beats a list of "best" tools

Ask a chatbot for the best payroll software and you'll usually get familiar names with their entry prices, which are rarely the bill. Per-employee fees, contact tiers, transaction rates and plan caps all move the cost as a business grows, so two companies can see the same provider at very different monthly prices.

The order can change as you hire, too. Our payroll cost report prices every platform at several headcounts for exactly that reason. The plugin prices each one at your figures.

What to ask it

Plain words work, with whatever numbers you know:

• "What would payroll software cost for a 12 person business in the US?"
• "Which payment processor is cheapest for a US store taking about $30,000 a month in card sales, average sale $40?"
• "Compare accounting software for a sole proprietor in the US."

Then name a provider you're already looking at, say "What about Gusto?", and the assistant places it in the same ranking.

Every category on SMB Compare is covered, from payroll and accounting software to payment processing and email marketing. A category we add here becomes available in every assistant the day it goes live.

How to add it

Claude

Add it once on a computer, at claude.ai or in the Claude desktop app, and it's then in the Claude app on your phone too. Anthropic says adding connectors from the phone app is still in beta.

1. Go to Customize, then Connectors.
2. Click + next to Connectors, search for SMB Compare and click Connect. There's no account to set up.
3. Start a new chat and ask your question. If Claude answers without it, click +, open Connectors and switch SMB Compare on.

You can also open our listing in Claude's directory. On a Team or Enterprise plan, an owner needs to enable it for your organization first.

ChatGPT

On your phone:

1. Open the menu and tap Explore, then Plugins.
2. Search for SMB Compare and tap Connect.

On a computer:

1. Click Plugins in the sidebar.
2. Search for SMB Compare, select it and click Install plugin.

Then start a new chat and ask your question. ChatGPT uses the plugin when it fits, and you can call it directly by typing @SMB Compare. You can also open our listing in the plugin directory.

Other AI assistants and MCP clients

In Cursor, VS Code or any client that supports remote MCP servers, add a new server named SMB Compare, set the transport to Streamable HTTP (some clients call it HTTP), choose no authentication, and paste this URL:

In Claude Code, one command does it:

The same URL also works as a custom connector in Claude (Customize, Connectors, Add, Custom, Web). Our AI assistants page keeps the current steps for each.

Using it outside the United States

If the assistant doesn't already know your country, it asks, then prices from there.

US questions are priced through SMB Compare in US dollars. A UK business gets prices in pounds from our UK site, SME Compare, and an Australian one gets Australian dollars from Merchant Compare. Each answer links only to the site for that country.

Everywhere else, you get our US prices in US dollars, and the answer says so before the results. A provider may charge differently in your country, or not operate there at all, so read those figures as a guide.

What it will not do

The plugin can't sign you up for anything or send a quote request. Quotes are requested on our website.

Your name, email address and phone number never reach us through it. It sees the country, the category, the business figures you give the assistant and any provider you name, and what you type into the assistant itself is covered by that company's privacy policy.

How we compare providers explains the method. And because the assistant writes its own answer around our numbers, check the linked comparison page before you decide.

We may earn a commission when you sign up through some links on this site. This never affects our rankings or the data shown. Read our terms.