Microsoft Copilot Review
Reviewed by Carlos Gil · Founder & Editor, The Best Network
Updated 8 min readEditorially reviewed
Quick facts
- Starting price
- Free; Microsoft 365 Personal $9.99/mo; Copilot Business from $21/user/mo
- Free plan
- Yes
- Best for
- Organizations already on Microsoft 365 that want an assistant inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams, grounded in their own work data
- Platforms
- Web, Windows, macOS, iOS and Android apps; inside Microsoft 365 apps, Teams and Edge
BestStacked Score
Weighted average of 5 categories. Methodology below.
Quick answer
What is Microsoft Copilot, and is it worth paying for?
Microsoft Copilot is Microsoft's AI assistant. Anyone can use a limited free version; Microsoft 365 Personal ($9.99 a month), Family and Premium add it to Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook; and businesses can add a work license that grounds answers in their email, files, chats and meetings through Microsoft Graph. For work, it's worth paying for if your company already runs on Microsoft 365 and people spend their day in Outlook, Teams and Office files. It's harder to justify for teams outside Microsoft's apps, because the license is an add-on to a Microsoft 365 plan. Microsoft lists Copilot Business at $21 per user a month ($18 on a promotion through December 31, 2026) and the enterprise license at $30, paid yearly, checked October 13, 2026.
- Best for
- Companies standardized on Microsoft 365 that want meeting recaps, email drafting and document help grounded in their own tenant data.
- Skip it if
- Your team works mainly in Google Workspace or outside Office apps, or you only need a general chatbot; the free tiers of ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude cover that.
- Strongest capability
- Work grounding: with a paid license, Copilot answers from your mailbox, calendar, Teams meetings and SharePoint files, limited to what each user can already open.
- Biggest limitation
- Licensing complexity. Names changed in 2026, the paid license needs a qualifying Microsoft 365 plan, agents beyond the included ones are metered in Copilot Credits, and consumer usage limits aren't published as numbers.
The Verdict
Microsoft Copilot's advantage is location. For a company on Microsoft 365, it sits inside the apps people already use, and with a paid license it answers from their own email, files and Teams meetings while respecting existing permissions. Microsoft says prompts and responses aren't used to train its foundation models. The work license adds Researcher and Analyst agents, Copilot Search and Copilot Studio for building internal agents. The drawbacks are cost and complexity. The license is an add-on, $21 a user on Copilot Business or $30 on the enterprise plan, both paid yearly; extra agents run on metered Copilot Credits; and Microsoft renamed Microsoft 365 Copilot to Microsoft Copilot in its documentation while its pricing pages still use the old names. Consumers get Copilot in Office apps through Microsoft 365 Personal, Family or Premium, with usage tiers rather than published limits. We score Microsoft Copilot 8.5/10.
Best for
Companies already on Microsoft 365 that want an assistant grounded in their own mail, files and meetings, with Microsoft's admin and data-protection controls.
Skip if
You work mainly in Google Workspace, need one assistant across many non-Microsoft tools, or want the simplest pricing.
The Background
What Is Microsoft Copilot?
Microsoft Copilot is the name for Microsoft's AI assistant across consumer and work products, and in 2026 the names changed. Microsoft's Learn documentation, updated in October 2026, says Microsoft 365 Copilot is now named Microsoft Copilot and Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat is now Microsoft Copilot Chat, while noting that some licenses and experiences will keep the old names during the transition. Microsoft's pricing pages still sell Microsoft 365 Copilot and Microsoft 365 Copilot Business. In practice there are four ways to get it. The free Copilot app (copilot.microsoft.com and the mobile and Windows apps) is a general assistant with capacity limits. Microsoft 365 Personal, Family and Premium add Copilot to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote for the subscription owner. Copilot Chat is free for work and school accounts on eligible Microsoft 365 plans and is grounded in the web. The paid work license (Copilot Business for up to 300 users, or the enterprise Microsoft 365 Copilot license) grounds Copilot in Microsoft Graph data and adds agents. GitHub Copilot, the coding assistant, is a different product with its own review.
The Product
Microsoft Copilot Features: What You Actually Get
Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook
Copilot drafts, rewrites and summarizes in Word; analyzes data, writes formulas and builds charts in Excel; creates decks from a prompt or a file and edits formatting in PowerPoint; and drafts replies, summarizes threads and coaches tone in Outlook. Users without the paid work license still get standard (not priority) access in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote on eligible plans, subject to capacity, according to Microsoft's overview.
An account manager turns a Word proposal into a ten-slide PowerPoint draft, then asks Copilot in Excel to chart last quarter's renewals for the appendix.
Grounding in work data (Microsoft Graph)
With the paid license, Copilot answers from the user's email, calendar, chats, meetings and files, through Microsoft Graph and what Microsoft now calls Work IQ, and it only surfaces content the user can already view. Copilot Search and a semantic index help it find documents across SharePoint and OneDrive. Copilot Chat without the license is grounded in the web and uses work content only when you upload it or have it open.
A manager asks, 'What did we agree with the supplier about delivery dates?' and gets an answer citing last week's email thread and the Teams meeting recap.
Teams meeting recaps
Copilot in Teams summarizes meetings, lists action items and answers questions about what was said. Microsoft says it works during a meeting without transcription but needs transcription turned on for use afterwards. Intelligent recap is available with a Copilot license or through Teams Premium, a separate add-on; some Teams Premium features moved into Teams Enterprise on April 1, 2026.
Someone who missed a project call reads the recap, jumps to the part where their name was mentioned, and asks Copilot which tasks were assigned to them.
Researcher, Analyst and agents
The work license includes Researcher (multi-step research across work data and the web), Analyst (data analysis) and Facilitator agents, plus Agent Builder and Copilot Studio for building internal agents. Microsoft says licensed users can build and use internal agents at no extra cost, while other agent use is metered in Copilot Credits at $0.01 each or in packs of 25,000 credits for $200 a month. Consumers get Researcher and Analyst only on Microsoft 365 Premium.
An operations lead asks Researcher to compile everything the company has discussed about a new warehouse site into a briefing with sources.
Data protection and admin controls
Microsoft states that prompts, responses and data accessed through Microsoft Graph aren't used to train foundation models, that Copilot respects existing permissions, and that it falls under the EU Data Boundary and Microsoft's Customer Copyright Commitment. Admins can control pinning, image generation, agent creation and web search, or block Copilot Chat. Anthropic models run inside Copilot as a Microsoft subprocessor; they're on by default in most commercial tenants but off by default in the EU, EFTA and UK.
An IT admin pilots Copilot with 25 users, limits which agents are allowed, and keeps Anthropic models off for EU staff.
Feature recap
- Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote and Teams
- Paid work license grounds answers in email, files, chats and meetings via Microsoft Graph
- Teams meeting summaries, action items and intelligent recap
- Researcher, Analyst and Facilitator agents; Copilot Studio for internal agents
- Copilot Chat free for eligible work and school accounts (web-grounded)
- Consumer access through Microsoft 365 Personal, Family and Premium
- Enterprise data protection: not used to train foundation models, respects permissions
The Numbers
Microsoft Copilot Pricing: Every Plan Explained
Copilot is priced differently for people and for organizations. Prices below are in USD from Microsoft's consumer comparison page, its Microsoft 365 Copilot business and enterprise pricing pages, and the Copilot Credits licensing guide, checked October 13, 2026, before tax. Business prices are per user per month; the work licenses are add-ons to a qualifying Microsoft 365 plan.
| Plan | Monthly | Annual | Included Features | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Copilot (free) | $0 | $0 | Limited free version in the Copilot app, subject to capacity and limits; work and school users on eligible plans get Copilot Chat (web-grounded) free | Trying Copilot; general questions |
| Microsoft 365 Personal / Family | $9.99 / $12.99 | $99.99 / $129.99 a year | Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote with higher-than-free usage; AI benefits for the subscription owner only; no Researcher or Analyst | Individuals and households |
| Microsoft 365 Premium | $19.99 | $199.99 a year | Up to 6 people, extensive Copilot usage, Researcher and Analyst agents; replaced Copilot Pro, which stopped being sold on October 1, 2025 | Heavy individual users |
| Microsoft 365 Copilot BusinessBest value | $25.20/user (paid monthly) | $21/user/mo paid yearly; $18 promo to Dec 31, 2026 | Add-on for Business Basic, Standard, Premium and other qualifying plans (up to 300 users): Copilot in Office apps and Teams, work-grounded chat, Researcher, Analyst, Facilitator. Bundles: Business Standard with Copilot $23.50, Business Premium with Copilot $32 (paid yearly) | Small and midsize businesses |
| Microsoft 365 Copilot (enterprise) | Pay-monthly option listed; rate not shown | $30/user/mo paid yearly | Add-on to E3, E5 and other qualifying enterprise plans: priority access, Graph grounding, agents, Copilot Studio internal agents, usage analytics. Extra agent use metered in Copilot Credits ($0.01 each; $200 for 25,000 a month) | Enterprises |
For a business, the Copilot license sits on top of a Microsoft 365 plan, so the real cost is the base plan plus $21 (Copilot Business, paid yearly) or $30 (enterprise) per user a month. Microsoft's $18 Copilot Business price is a first-year promotion from July 1 to December 31, 2026 for existing customers on an eligible Business plan, with an annual commitment. Paying monthly costs more: $25.20 a user for Copilot Business. For 20 people on Copilot Business at the $21 list price, that's $5,040 a year on top of their Microsoft 365 licenses (our arithmetic). Most companies pilot with a subset of heavy Outlook and Teams users before buying for everyone, since Copilot Chat is already free for eligible accounts. Consumers pay nothing extra beyond Microsoft 365: Personal at $99.99 a year includes Copilot in the Office apps, and Premium at $199.99 adds Researcher and Analyst and higher usage. Microsoft describes consumer usage only in tiers (standard, higher than free, extensive, highest) and says limits may change.
Product names
Microsoft Copilot vs Microsoft 365 Copilot vs Copilot Chat vs GitHub Copilot
Copilot (the app at copilot.microsoft.com and on Windows, iOS and Android) is Microsoft's consumer assistant, free with limits and expanded through Microsoft 365 Personal, Family and Premium.
Microsoft 365 Copilot is the paid work license that grounds Copilot in company data. Microsoft's Learn documentation now calls it Microsoft Copilot, and calls Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat simply Microsoft Copilot Chat, but its pricing pages still use the older names, and Microsoft says some licenses will keep them during the transition. Copilot Business is the version for organizations with up to 300 users.
Copilot Chat is free for work and school accounts on eligible Microsoft 365 plans. It's grounded in the web, not in your mailbox or files, unless you upload a file or use it on content open in Outlook or Teams.
Copilot Studio is Microsoft's tool for building agents, billed through the work license and Copilot Credits. GitHub Copilot, the AI coding assistant, is a separate product; see our GitHub Copilot review.
Read before you buy
Where Microsoft's own pages differ
Product name: Learn says Microsoft 365 Copilot is now named Microsoft Copilot, while the business and enterprise pricing pages still sell Microsoft 365 Copilot and Microsoft 365 Copilot Business, and the Learn licensing page calls the SMB product Microsoft Copilot Business.
Top consumer tier: Microsoft's individuals pricing page and its AI-limits support page list a Microsoft 365 Pro plan at $99.99 a month, while the compare-all-plans page lists only Personal, Family and Premium.
Consumer usage: the compare page describes Personal and Family usage as 'higher than free', while the AI-limits support page describes chat on those plans as 'extensive usage'. Neither gives numbers.
Copilot Business promotion: Microsoft's December 2025 launch post said discounted bundle pricing ran until June 30, 2026, while the pricing page on October 13, 2026 showed a separate $18 add-on promotion from July 1 to December 31, 2026.
The Tradeoffs
Microsoft Copilot Pros and Cons
What we love
- Works inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams
- Paid license grounds answers in your own email, files and meetings
- Respects existing permissions; Microsoft says prompts aren't used to train foundation models
- Copilot Chat is free for eligible work and school accounts
- Researcher and Analyst agents included with the work license
- Consumers get Copilot in Office apps with Microsoft 365 Personal from $9.99 a month
What could be better
- Work license is an add-on to a qualifying Microsoft 365 plan
- $21 to $30 per user a month, paid yearly, before the base plan
- Extra agent use is metered in Copilot Credits
- Confusing 2026 renaming; pricing pages and docs use different names
- Consumer usage limits are described in tiers, not numbers
- Less useful for teams that work mainly outside Microsoft apps
The Audience
Who Should Use Microsoft Copilot?
Best for: Microsoft 365 organizations
If your company lives in Outlook, Teams, SharePoint and Office files, a Copilot license puts an assistant where the work already is, grounded in that work and governed by your existing admin controls.
Best for: meeting-heavy roles
Managers and account teams who spend hours in Teams get recaps, action items and the ability to ask what was decided, without adding a separate notetaker bot.
Skip if: you're on Google Workspace or want one tool everywhere
Gemini is included in Google Workspace Business Standard, and ChatGPT or Claude work across tools without a Microsoft 365 dependency. Copilot's value drops sharply outside Microsoft's apps.
The Methodology
How We Reviewed Microsoft Copilot
This is an editorial review, not a documented hands-on test. We didn't use a Microsoft Copilot license for this review. It's based on Microsoft's Learn documentation (Copilot management, overview, privacy, licensing and the Anthropic subprocessor page), its consumer comparison and individuals pricing pages, its Microsoft 365 Copilot business, enterprise and Copilot Studio pricing pages, the Copilot Credits licensing guide, the Microsoft 365 Premium and Copilot Business launch posts, and support articles on AI limits, Copilot Pro and Copilot in Teams meetings, all checked on October 13, 2026. Where Microsoft's pages differ, we report both statements. No productivity or time-saving results are claimed.
Our editorial evaluation considers product information, official documentation, pricing, features and professional experience. It is not a claim of documented hands-on testing.
Our review methodology →What changed
- : First published. Editorial review based on Microsoft's Learn documentation (management, overview, privacy, licensing, Anthropic subprocessor), consumer and business pricing pages, Copilot Studio pricing, the Copilot Credits guide, the Microsoft 365 Premium and Copilot Business launch posts, and support articles on AI limits, Copilot Pro and Teams meetings, all checked October 13, 2026. Sub-scores are provisional pending editorial approval.
The Field
Microsoft Copilot vs The Competition
Copilot competes with general AI assistants that also sell team plans. Claude and Google Workspace prices were checked on their vendors' pricing pages on October 13, 2026; ChatGPT's pricing page couldn't be loaded that day, so its row uses the prices in our ChatGPT review.
| Tool | Starting Price | Free plan | Best Feature | BS Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Copilot | Free; Microsoft 365 Personal $9.99/mo; Copilot Business from $21/user/mo | Yes | Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook | 8.5/10 |
| ChatGPT | Free; Go $8/mo; Plus $20/mo | Yes | General assistant that works across tools | 9.1/10 |
| Gemini | Free; Workspace Business Standard $14/user/mo | Yes | Built into Gmail, Docs, Meet and Drive | 8.9/10 |
| Claude | Free; Team $20/seat/mo billed annually ($25 monthly) | Yes | Long-form writing and analysis | 9/10 |
ChatGPT: ChatGPT is the stronger general-purpose assistant and doesn't depend on Microsoft 365. Copilot wins when the job is inside Outlook, Teams and Office files and needs to see your company's data.Read our ChatGPT review →
Gemini: Gemini is Google Workspace's equivalent: included in Business Standard and up rather than sold as an add-on. For a Google Workspace company it's the natural choice; for a Microsoft 365 company, Copilot is.Read our Gemini review →
Claude: Claude Team starts at $20 a seat billed annually. Pick Claude for writing, analysis and coding work that doesn't need to live inside Office apps; Microsoft also offers Anthropic models inside Copilot itself.Read our Claude review →
In The Wild
How People Actually Use Microsoft Copilot
A 40-person firm on Microsoft 365 Business Standard
Start with free Copilot Chat for everyone, then buy Copilot Business ($21 a user, paid yearly) for the 10 to 15 people who live in Outlook and Teams. Check meeting recaps and email drafting before expanding.
A freelancer using Word and Excel
Microsoft 365 Personal at $9.99 a month already includes Copilot in the Office apps. Move to Premium only if you need Researcher, Analyst or more usage.
An enterprise IT team
Pilot the $30 enterprise license with a group, set agent and web-search policies in the admin center, and budget Copilot Credits for agents that go beyond what the license includes.
The Ecosystem
Microsoft Copilot Integrations
Copilot's integrations are Microsoft's own apps and data, extended by agents and connectors.
- →Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote
- →Teams meetings and chats
- →SharePoint and OneDrive (Copilot Search, semantic index)
- →Microsoft Graph and Work IQ grounding
- →Copilot Studio agents and connectors
- →Edge (Copilot Mode)
- →Anthropic models as a Microsoft subprocessor
Outside Microsoft's own apps, Copilot reaches other systems mainly through agents and connectors built in Copilot Studio, which may consume Copilot Credits. Teams that keep most of their work in non-Microsoft tools get less from it.
Common Questions
Microsoft Copilot FAQ
The Final Word
Should You Use Microsoft Copilot?
For organizations on Microsoft 365, Copilot is the most direct way to put an AI assistant into the tools people already use, with answers grounded in their own email, files and meetings and with Microsoft's permission and data-protection model behind it. Start with free Copilot Chat, then license the people who spend the most time in Outlook and Teams. The costs to watch are the per-user add-on price on top of Microsoft 365, metered agent use and the confusion caused by 2026's renaming. Individuals already paying for Microsoft 365 Personal get Copilot in the Office apps at no extra cost. We score Microsoft Copilot 8.5/10.
Yes, if
Your company runs on Microsoft 365 and wants an assistant inside Outlook, Teams and Office files that answers from your own data.
No, if
You work mainly in Google Workspace or non-Microsoft tools, or only need a general-purpose chatbot.
About the reviewer
Carlos Gil
Founder & Editor, The Best Network
Carlos Gil is the bestselling author of The End of Marketing, a LinkedIn Top Voice, and founder of The Best Network. He brings 15+ years in marketing to practical reviews of AI, SaaS, email marketing, creator, and ecommerce software.
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