ChatGPT shared projects vs Claude projects: what your team can actually see

The short answer

In a shared ChatGPT project, every member with chat access can see and use the project's chats, files and instructions, and the project has its own memory. Claude projects on Team and Enterprise plans have a visibility you choose at creation, and sharing a single chat creates a snapshot. Neither is built to hand a task to a person.

The difference matters most for privacy. In a shared ChatGPT project, a chat you start inside the project is a chat your colleagues can read. Below you will find how each product works, a side-by-side table, a checklist to run before you share anything, and what to do when you need to give a colleague a task rather than access.

How ChatGPT shared projects work

A ChatGPT project groups chats, files and instructions around one piece of work. When you share a project, each person you invite gets one of two levels of access:

• Chat access. The member can see and use the project's chats, files and instructions.
• Edit access. Everything above, plus changing the instructions and files, and inviting other people.

On Business, Enterprise and Edu plans, a project can hold up to 40 files. In a managed workspace, invitations can be limited to members of the workspace.

A shared project also has its own private memory, separate from your personal one. On business plans, projects can be shared only with members of your workspace.

What this means in practice

The project is a shared room. Every member sees every chat in it and can continue a colleague's thread.

That is useful when a small group works on the same thing and wants to build on each other's chats. It is a risk when people forget the room is shared. A quick question to the assistant about a colleague's performance, a draft email you would not send, or a client's personal details pasted in for a summary: if it happens inside the project, the other members can read it.

A simple rule helps. Treat a chat inside a shared project like a message in a team channel. If you would not post it there, start a personal chat outside the project instead.

How Claude projects work

Claude takes a different approach. On Team and Enterprise plans, you choose a project's visibility when you create it. A project set to "Everyone at your organization" appears for your colleagues in the Team section.

To show a colleague one particular conversation, you use Share. Share creates a snapshot of the chat at that moment. Messages you send afterwards stay private, attached files are not included, and tool call data stays private. On Team and Enterprise plans, a shared chat can be opened only inside your organisation.

So with Claude, showing a chat is a deliberate step you take for each conversation. We cover the steps, and what a snapshot leaves out, in how to share a Claude chat with a colleague.

Side by side

The table uses only what the vendors and the sources below state. Where a source does not say, we write "Not stated" rather than guess.

For a longer comparison of Claude projects and handoffs, see Colle vs Claude projects.

What neither does: hand a task to a person

Both products answer the question "who can see this?". Neither answers "who has to do this, and by when?". That is a different job.

When work changes hands, the person taking over needs four things: to know it is theirs, the deadline, the files, and a way to say "done" or "this isn't mine" that the sender can see. A shared project gives access to everything. A shared chat gives a snapshot of one conversation. Neither tells your colleague that a task is now theirs.

This is where Colle fits. Colle lets people hand off work between their AI assistants: you tell Claude or ChatGPT "send this to James", and James gets the summary, the facts and the files in his own assistant.

If the name is ambiguous, Claude asks first: "Which Tom — Tom Jenkins (Sales) or Tom Walker (Legal)?" Rachel and Tom each get a notification with who sent it, what it is and by when. The handoff shows its status: sent, accepted, returned, done or overdue.

Three details matter for privacy:

• A handoff to a person is seen only by the sender and the recipients. It does not land in a room where everyone can read it.
• You can send to a space instead. Every member except you is notified and one of them picks it up. Cases in open spaces are visible to the whole company; cases in closed spaces only to their members.
• It works across assistants. A handoff sent from Claude can be picked up in ChatGPT, and the other way round. Sending from ChatGPT needs ChatGPT Business or Enterprise. See Colle for ChatGPT.

Projects and handoffs work well together. Keep shared knowledge, such as instructions, reference documents and templates, in a project. Use a handoff when a specific task moves to a specific person.

Privacy checklist before sharing a project

Run through these five points before you invite anyone to a project, in either product:

If your team passes client data between assistants, the Colle security page explains how Colle stores it: in the EU (Frankfurt), with every company's data isolated on every query.

FAQ

Can other members of a shared ChatGPT project read my chats in it?

Yes. Members with chat access can see and use the project's chats, files and instructions. Start chats you want to keep to yourself outside the project.

Can I share a project with someone outside my company?

On ChatGPT business plans, projects are shared only with workspace members. On Claude Team and Enterprise plans, shared chats open only inside your organisation. For someone outside, send a summary and the files through your usual channels.

How many files can a shared ChatGPT project hold?

Up to 40 files on Business, Enterprise and Edu plans. For anything larger, keep the files in your usual storage and link to them from the project instructions.

Does Colle replace projects?

No. Projects are good for knowledge many people reuse. Colle is for the moment a task changes owner, with a named recipient, a deadline, the files and a status.