Orca vs Claude and ChatGPT
Already connected Claude or ChatGPT to your email? Good. Orca does a different job.
Claude and ChatGPT are brilliant general assistants, and they’re adding email features fast. Both now read and search your mail, draft and send replies, and manage your calendar. Orca runs on Claude, so this isn’t a feature race. Orca is a chief of staff built around the meeting and the relationship: it books the meeting, joins it, remembers it and follows it up, for you and for everyone you deal with. This page sets out where each one fits, including when you don’t need Orca at all.
The generalist you drive, and the specialist set up around you.
Claude and ChatGPT will help with almost anything: a contract, a spreadsheet, a tricky reply, a question about last week’s emails. You decide what to point them at, and they’re very good at it. Their newest agent features go further, with morning briefings and drafts waiting for review, and they will keep improving.
Orca does one thing. It runs the meetings you have and the people you have them with. It offers times and books the call, briefs you before it, sends a notetaker into it, and drafts the follow-up when the transcript lands. Underneath sits a record of every person: what you said, what you promised, who owes whom a reply. That’s the job a chief of staff does, and it’s the job Orca is built for.
What Orca adds
A notetaker that joins the call
Orca Meet joins Teams, Zoom and Google Meet calls from the cloud, under a name you choose, whether or not your computer is on. Everyone on the call can see it and that it’s recording. Neither Claude nor ChatGPT has a bot of its own: ChatGPT records your own Mac’s microphone and system audio, and Claude brings meeting notes in through third-party connectors. Joining automatically from your diary needs Microsoft 365; on Google you send it the link.
A record of every person
Beside every email, Orca People shows when you last spoke, who owes whom a reply, the promises open both ways, and the facts it knows, each with the source it came from. Claude and ChatGPT both have good general memory. Neither documents a record like this for each contact.
The whole meeting loop, tied together
Thirty minutes before each external meeting you get a brief built from your last five transcripts and five emails with those people, their record, your notes and their LinkedIn activity. When the call ends and the transcript lands, the follow-up is drafted in your voice, in the real thread. Both Claude and ChatGPT can run a daily briefing; a brief timed to each meeting isn’t documented for either.
Set up around you, on a database of your own
Orca sets itself up around your mail and diary, and a person is there if you want one. One price covers the Claude usage, with a fair-use ceiling. Your data sits in a database of your own, hosted by us in London and walled off from every other customer.
Nothing goes without your yes
Every email Orca writes waits in one queue, across up to five Microsoft 365 and Google mailboxes. There is no “allow all” switch. The one exception is out-of-office mode, which you turn on yourself, and every reply it sends is listed for you when you’re back. Claude and ChatGPT ask before sending too, and both also offer settings that let some actions run without asking.
Microsoft 365, in the UK, today
As of October 2026, Claude’s always-on agent is a US-only preview with no Microsoft 365 yet, ChatGPT’s isn’t offered on its Pro plan in the UK, and ChatGPT’s new-mail trigger works with Gmail only. Orca drafts replies to new mail on Microsoft 365 and Google for UK users now. Those limits are temporary, and if you’re handy you can build something similar with Claude’s scheduled tasks and its Microsoft 365 connector.
Side by side, as of 25 October 2026
| What you need | Claude | ChatGPT | Orca |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mail and calendar | |||
| Read, search and draft email | YesGmail; Outlook on Microsoft 365 work or school accounts, after admin consent | YesGmail; Outlook, including shared and delegated mailboxes, once a workspace admin enables it | YesUp to five Microsoft 365 or Google mailboxes; drafts sit inside the real thread |
| Send email | YesGmail asks before each send by default; Outlook once an admin turns on write actions | YesGmail from the chat, on the web; Outlook once a workspace admin enables it | YesAfter you approve each one |
| Calendar | YesCreate, change and delete events and find times, in Google Calendar and Outlook | YesCreate Google Calendar events; create, update and cancel Outlook events when enabled | YesUp to five accounts in one calendar; offers times and books them; double bookings flagged; group polls that book themselves |
| Meetings | |||
| A notetaker that joins the call | No bot of its ownMeeting notes come in through connectors such as Zoom, tl;dv, Fathom and Granola | Records on your MacCaptures your Mac’s microphone and system audio, “without a bot joining the call”; Mac only; can also transcribe uploaded audio | YesJoins Teams, Zoom and Google Meet from the cloud, even with your computer off. Auto-join from your diary needs Microsoft 365; on Google you send it the link |
| A brief before each meeting | PartlyDaily briefings through scheduled tasks; its newest agent prepares briefs before meetings (US preview). Per-meeting timing not documented | PartlyDaily briefings through scheduled tasks. Per-meeting timing not documented | Yes30 minutes before each external meeting, from your last five transcripts and five emails with them, their record, your notes and their LinkedIn activity |
| People and memory | |||
| Memory | YesEditable memory across chats and Cowork; admin-controlled on Team and Enterprise | YesSaved memories and chat history; can draw on connected Gmail | YesOrca Notes searches your mail, meetings and notes by meaning |
| A record for each person | Not documented | Not documented | YesWho owes whom a reply, open promises both ways, facts with their sources, a warmth score |
| Working while you’re elsewhere | |||
| Scheduled and always-on work | YesScheduled tasks in the cloud on paid plans; an always-on agent in US preview on Pro and Max | YesScheduled tasks on every plan; tasks triggered by new Gmail messages; an always-on agent on Pro outside the UK, EEA and Switzerland, and on Business Premium in supported regions | YesWorks your connected mailboxes every three minutes while the desktop app runs; a plan at 06:15 and a brief at 07:00 on weekdays |
| Drafts replies to new mail on its own | PartlyIn the US preview agent, for Gmail; no Microsoft 365 there yet | PartlyA task can run on each new Gmail message; no Outlook trigger documented | YesOn Microsoft 365 and Google, threaded in your mailbox, while the desktop app runs |
| Control and data | |||
| Approval before sending | By defaultAsks before Gmail sends; on Team and Enterprise, owners can let members skip the prompt | You choosePer-app settings from “Always ask” to “Allow all actions” | AlwaysNo “allow all” switch for email. Out-of-office mode, which you turn on, is the one exception, and it lists what it sent |
| Training on your data | Not usedGmail, Drive and Calendar connector data is never used for training; Team, Enterprise and the API are excluded by default | Not usedGoogle app data isn’t used to train its general models, beyond feedback you choose to give; on Business and Enterprise, app data is excluded by default | Not usedNever used to train AI models; runs on Anthropic’s commercial API |
| Where it runs | In the cloud, through the web, desktop and mobile apps; scheduled tasks and the newest agent run in the cloud too | In the cloud; its always-on agent has a cloud computer of its own | A desktop app on Mac and Windows does the triage and drafts; the notetaker runs in the cloud; Android companion app, no iPhone app; your data in a database of your own, in London |
| Buying it | |||
| Setup | Self-serve; the Microsoft 365 connector needs an admin’s consent | Self-serve; Outlook actions need an admin to enable them | Set up around you, with a person if you want one |
| Reach beyond mail and calendar | WideA large directory of connectors | WideA large directory of connected apps | FocusedMicrosoft 365 or Google, Teams, LinkedIn, ClickUp or Trello, WhatsApp, Companies House and a few more |
| Price | Free and paid plans; see Anthropic’s pricing | Free and paid plans; see OpenAI’s pricing | £149 a month, Claude usage included with a fair-use ceiling; Orca for Teams £250 a seat |
Sources: Anthropic’s help centre and connector docs, and OpenAI’s help centre and release notes, read on 25 October 2026. The key pages: Claude’s Google Workspace connectors, Claude’s Microsoft 365 connector, Claude Duet, ChatGPT’s Meetings plugin, ChatGPT dots, ChatGPT’s Outlook apps and ChatGPT connected apps. Both products change quickly. If something here is out of date, tell us at chris@simmance.ai and we’ll fix it.
Where Orca is weaker
Orca’s drafts and briefs are prepared by the desktop app on your Mac or PC, so the queue is only as fresh as the desk. Claude’s and ChatGPT’s scheduled tasks and newest agents run in the cloud. There’s no iPhone app: Orca Mobile is Android only, and on an iPhone you approve through Telegram or the desktop. On Google, you send the notetaker to a meeting link yourself. And Orca works with Microsoft 365 or Google mail and calendar plus a handful of other tools, where Claude and ChatGPT reach far more apps.
When Claude or ChatGPT on its own is the right buy
Often, and it would be dishonest to pretend otherwise. If the list below describes you, keep what you have.
You want one assistant for research, writing, analysis and code, with email as one job among many
You don’t run many external meetings, so a notetaker and a brief before each one wouldn’t earn their keep
You need to connect lots of apps beyond mail and calendar
Your company has already rolled out Claude or ChatGPT on a business plan, and it covers what you need
You’d rather build your own scheduled tasks and workflows than have them set up around you
You work mostly from an iPhone, away from a desk
Use both
Plenty of desks have room for both. Keep Claude or ChatGPT for the thinking work: the research, the first draft of a proposal, the question you want answered right now. Let Orca run the meetings and the people: the booking, the brief, the notes, the follow-up and the record of who owes whom.
They don’t pull against each other. Orca runs on Claude, so you aren’t picking a side. You’re deciding who looks after your meetings.
What Orca costs
Orca is £149 a month for one person, with Claude usage included (with a fair-use ceiling), no setup fee and cancel any time. You don’t need an Anthropic account. Orca for Teams is £250 a seat a month, £200 a seat from six seats, with your team’s own database and hands-on onboarding.
Get started, or see pricing for the detail and what fair use means. We’ll be in touch within one working day with your licence and next steps.
Questions people ask
Can’t Claude or ChatGPT already do this?
A lot of it, yes. Both read and search your mail, draft and send replies, and manage your calendar, and both are adding more. What neither has is a notetaker that joins your calls, a record of each person you deal with, or a meeting loop set up around you. That’s the part Orca is built for.
Does Orca use Claude?
Yes. Orca runs on Claude through Anthropic’s API, and the usage is included in the price, with a fair-use ceiling. You don’t need an Anthropic account or a key of your own.
Do I have to give up Claude or ChatGPT?
No. Keep them for research, writing and analysis. Orca looks after your meetings and the people in them. Plenty of desks have both.
Is my data safer with Orca?
On training, it’s level. Anthropic and OpenAI both say they don’t train on the Google mail and calendar data you connect, and both keep business plans out of training by default. Orca never uses your data to train anything. The difference is where it sits: with Orca, in a database of your own, hosted by us in London.
Does Orca work with Google?
Yes, for mail and calendar. On Google you send the notetaker to a meeting link yourself; joining automatically from your diary needs Microsoft 365.
Keep the generalist. Add the chief of staff.
£149 a month, cancel any time. We’ll be in touch within one working day with your licence and next steps.
Or pick a time straight from cal.simmance.ai/chris-simmance.