Microsoft Copilot
Microsoft Copilot is Microsoft's AI assistant, available as a free web tool and as an add-on within Microsoft 365 that uses organizational data through Work IQ to work across Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams, and enterprise systems.
What is Microsoft Copilot?
Microsoft Copilot is the company's AI assistant, delivered in several distinct forms. The free version at copilot.microsoft.com is a general-purpose web chat tool grounded in public data. Paid consumer access is now delivered through Microsoft 365 Premium, which bundles Copilot into desktop Office apps alongside the Microsoft 365 subscription. For organizations, Microsoft 365 Copilot is an add-on license that embeds Copilot directly into Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams, using the organization's own Microsoft 365 data.
The enterprise product is built on Work IQ, an intelligence layer that captures signals from emails, meetings, files, chats, and business systems, and applies semantic understanding so Copilot and agents can reason over how work actually happens inside an organization. This is the core distinction between Copilot and standalone AI assistants: Copilot's value in the Microsoft ecosystem is not only model access, but grounding in organizational context that public-web tools cannot see.
Use Cases
- General web-grounded Q&A, writing assistance, and image creation on the free tier
- Drafting, summarizing, and editing inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook with Microsoft 365 Premium or a business Copilot license
- Grounding answers in organizational emails, meetings, files, and chats through Work IQ on enterprise licenses
- Building and using agents that reason over business data from Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, and Power Platform
- Summarizing meetings and Teams conversations where Copilot is enabled
- Working with enterprise data under IT controls and data protection policies
Pricing
Pricing model: Freemium
| Plan | Price | Billing | Included usage | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Copilot (Free) | Free | — | AI chat grounded in public web data, writing and brainstorming assistance, image creation, and file uploads, subject to service capacity and feature-specific daily limits. | — |
| Microsoft 365 Premium (formerly Copilot Pro) | $19.99 | per month | Copilot in desktop Office apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote), AI credits for advanced tasks, and higher usage limits. Copilot Pro is no longer sold to new buyers; Microsoft 365 Premium is the current consumer plan that includes Copilot Pro-level benefits. | — |
| Microsoft 365 Copilot Business (SMB) | $21 | per user per month | Full Copilot embedded in Microsoft 365 apps using organizational data, for businesses with up to 300 users. Requires a qualifying Microsoft 365 Business base license. | — |
| Microsoft 365 Copilot (Enterprise) | $30 | per user per month | Full Copilot across Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams, grounded in the organization's Microsoft 365 data through Work IQ. Requires a qualifying base license such as M365 E3 or E5. | — |
Common Limitations
- Free tier data grounding · Microsoft Copilot (free) responses are based solely on public web data. It cannot access personal files, emails, or organizational content, which distinguishes it from Copilot embedded in eligible Microsoft 365 subscriptions.
- Consumer usage credits and image generation · Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscriptions include 60 AI credits per month for tasks such as drawing and image generation. Free accounts and non-licensed M365 accounts are limited to approximately 1–15 image generations per day, with speed throttled after boosts are exhausted.
- Enterprise licensing dependency · Microsoft 365 Copilot for Business and Enterprise is an add-on license ($21–$30 per user per month) that requires an existing qualifying Microsoft 365 base license. It is not a standalone product and is not available for Microsoft 365 Personal or Family accounts.
- Transition from Copilot Pro · Microsoft stopped selling the standalone $20/month Copilot Pro consumer plan to new buyers. Microsoft 365 Premium ($19.99/month) is the current plan that includes Copilot Pro-level benefits alongside a Microsoft 365 subscription. Existing Copilot Pro subscribers can continue or switch.
Key Features
- Free web-grounded AI chat and image creation
- Copilot in desktop Office apps with Microsoft 365 Premium
- Microsoft 365 Copilot add-on for business and enterprise
- Work IQ organizational data grounding (emails, meetings, files, chats, business systems)
- Agents and Copilot Studio for custom workflows
Microsoft Copilot vs. ChatGPT Enterprise, Gemini Enterprise and Claude Enterprise
Microsoft positions Copilot primarily as an enterprise productivity assistant grounded in organizational data through Work IQ. This comparison uses Microsoft's own enterprise comparison pages and current public pricing information. Consumer-tier comparisons are complicated by Microsoft's shift from Copilot Pro to Microsoft 365 Premium and are not the focus here.
| Tool | Positioning | Key differences | Best fit | Pricing note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Copilot (Enterprise) Compare Copilot to other AI tools (Microsoft) Work IQ overview (Microsoft Learn, preview) Microsoft 365 Copilot licensing | An enterprise AI assistant embedded in Microsoft 365 apps, grounded in organizational data through Work IQ. | Copilot's distinguishing claim is Work IQ, which captures signals from emails, meetings, files, chats, and business systems to ground reasoning in how a specific organization works. It is delivered as an add-on to existing Microsoft 365 licenses rather than a standalone assistant, and agent management and IT controls are built into the Microsoft 365 admin surface. | Organizations already standardized on Microsoft 365 that want AI grounded in their own productivity and business data, with IT governance and agent management inside the Microsoft ecosystem. | $21/user/month for Business (up to 300 users) or $30/user/month for Enterprise, both requiring a qualifying Microsoft 365 base license. Not available for Microsoft 365 Personal or Family. |
| ChatGPT Enterprise ChatGPT Enterprise (OpenAI) | OpenAI's enterprise AI assistant with advanced models, admin controls, and data privacy commitments. | ChatGPT Enterprise is a standalone assistant offering from OpenAI, not an add-on to a productivity suite. Its grounding in organizational data depends on connectors and uploaded knowledge rather than a native intelligence layer built from an organization's existing email, meeting, and file signals. | Organizations that want a standalone enterprise assistant with strong general-purpose model access and are prepared to connect or supply their own organizational context. | Custom enterprise pricing; contact OpenAI sales. Not directly comparable to Copilot's per-user add-on model on a public price list. |
| Gemini Enterprise Gemini Enterprise (Google Cloud) | Google Cloud's enterprise AI platform, integrated with Google Workspace and Google Cloud data services. | Gemini Enterprise is positioned around Google's ecosystem and Google Cloud data and AI infrastructure. Its organizational grounding depends on Google Workspace and Google Cloud integrations, whereas Copilot's Work IQ is native to the Microsoft 365 graph of email, meetings, files, and chats. | Organizations standardized on Google Workspace and Google Cloud that want enterprise AI grounded in Google's productivity and data ecosystem. | Google Cloud enterprise pricing; varies by configuration and commitment. |
| Claude Enterprise Claude Enterprise (Anthropic) | Anthropic's enterprise AI assistant with a focus on safety, long-context analysis, and coding. | Claude Enterprise is a standalone assistant offering from Anthropic. It is not embedded in a productivity suite by default, and its organizational grounding relies on integrations and supplied context rather than a native layer built from Microsoft 365 signals. | Organizations that prioritize Anthropic's model characteristics and want a standalone enterprise assistant rather than an add-on to an existing productivity suite. | Custom enterprise pricing; contact Anthropic sales. |
Comparison checked against official product information on 2026-11-08. Features and pricing may change.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between free Microsoft Copilot and Copilot in Microsoft 365?
Free Microsoft Copilot is grounded only in public web data and cannot access personal files, emails, or organizational content. Copilot in Microsoft 365 is available through eligible subscriptions and can work inside desktop apps and, for business licenses, use organizational data through Work IQ.
Is Copilot Pro still available?
Microsoft stopped selling the standalone $20/month Copilot Pro plan to new buyers. Microsoft 365 Premium ($19.99/month) is the current consumer plan that includes Copilot Pro-level benefits alongside a Microsoft 365 subscription. Existing Copilot Pro subscribers can continue or switch.
How much does Microsoft 365 Copilot cost for business?
Microsoft 365 Copilot Business is listed at $21 per user per month for SMBs (up to 300 users), while the Enterprise add-on is $30 per user per month. Both require a qualifying Microsoft 365 base license and are not standalone products.
What is Work IQ?
Work IQ is the intelligence layer that grounds Microsoft Copilot and agents in real-time, shared context across an organization. It captures signals from emails, meetings, files, chats, and business systems, and applies semantic understanding so Copilot can reason over work data and take action.
Can free Copilot generate images?
Yes, free Copilot can create images, but usage is subject to daily limits. Free and non-licensed accounts are typically limited to approximately 1–15 image generations per day, with speeds throttled after boosts are exhausted. Microsoft 365 Premium and Copilot licenses provide higher or unlimited image generation depending on the plan.
Alternative Tools
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ChatGPT ChatGPT is a general-purpose AI assistant for writing, file and data analysis, web research, image generation, coding, and voice conversations. -
Claude Claude is Anthropic's AI assistant for writing, analysis, coding, web search, and delegating tasks that return finished documents, slides, spreadsheets, and designs. -
DeepSeek DeepSeek is an open-weight AI assistant with a free consumer chat app, a 1M-token context window, and a low-cost API supporting thinking mode and agent workflows. -
Google Gemini Google Gemini is Google's multimodal AI assistant, offering up to a 1M-token context window on paid plans, Deep Research, and deep integration with Google apps and services, with a Free tier now limited to the Flash-Lite model. -
Grok Grok is xAI's AI assistant for chat, real-time search, image and video generation with Grok Imagine, voice conversations, file analysis, and coding and agentic tasks through Grok 4.5. -
Vibe (formerly Le Chat) Vibe (formerly Le Chat) is Mistral AI's unified assistant for chat, multi-step work tasks with connected apps, and agentic coding across web, IDE, and terminal, with a Free tier and paid Pro and Team plans.