Microsoft · Chatbot app

Microsoft Copilot

Microsoft's AI assistant, free on its own and built into Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook through Microsoft 365 plans.

AI Chatbots & Assistants

Provider: Microsoft
Latest confirmed model: Not applicable / not verified
Pricing: Free plan + paid
Free plan: Yes
API: No
Status: Generally available
Last verified: Oct 19, 2026

Visit official website Pricing page

What is Microsoft Copilot?

Copilot is Microsoft's AI assistant. Anyone with a Microsoft account can use the free Copilot app with limited usage. Microsoft 365 Personal, Family and Premium subscriptions add Copilot inside Office apps with higher limits, and businesses buy Microsoft 365 Copilot per user. Copilot Pro is no longer sold; Microsoft 365 Premium replaced it.

Brings AI help into the Office apps people already use for documents, spreadsheets, slides and email.

Why use Microsoft Copilot?

Practical benefits

Works inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook
Bundled with Office apps and OneDrive storage
Copilot Chat included with eligible business plans

Who it suits

Microsoft 365 households
Office-centric businesses
Windows users

When another tool may fit better

Users who want a published model list per plan
Developers needing a direct Copilot API

Learning curve: Beginner-friendly
Skills needed: None

Example workflows

Ask Copilot in PowerPoint to build slides from a Word document
Summarise an Outlook thread with Copilot

What can it do?

Copilot in Office apps Depends on planWord, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook on Personal, Family and Premium.
Advanced Copilot chat Depends on planIncluded with Personal, Family and Premium with higher limits than free.
Agentic research and analytics Depends on planListed for Microsoft 365 Premium.
Copilot Chat for workIncluded at no extra cost with eligible Microsoft 365 business plans.

Good for

Drafting Word documents
Excel analysis
Slide creation
Email summaries

Where it runs

WebWindowsiOSAndroidMicrosoft 365 apps

Pricing and plans

Free plan + paid The Copilot app is free with limited usage. Microsoft 365 Personal ($9.99/month), Family ($12.99/month) and Premium ($19.99/month) add Copilot in Office apps. Businesses can buy bundles with Copilot or a Copilot Business add-on per user.

Plan	Price	Billing	Free trial / tier	Usage limits	Main inclusions	Model access	API access	Restrictions
Free (Microsoft account)	Free	per month	Free tier	Limited Copilot usage	Copilot chat app	—	No	No Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook or OneNote
Microsoft 365 Personal	$9.99/mo $8.33/mo billed annually $99.99 per year	per month	—	Higher than free	Advanced Copilot chat Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook 1 TB storage	—	No	One person
Microsoft 365 Family	$12.99/mo $10.83/mo billed annually $129.99 per year	per month	—	Higher than free	Same Copilot features as Personal 2 TB shared storage	—	No	AI features for the subscription owner only
Microsoft 365 Premium	$19.99/mo $16.66/mo billed annually $199.99 per year; replaced Copilot Pro	per month	—	Extensive usage	Agentic research and analytics features Copilot in Office apps 2 TB shared storage	Priority access to advanced models (not named)	No	—
Microsoft 365 Business Standard with Copilot	$28.20/mo $23.50/mo billed annually Per user	per month	—	—	Microsoft 365 Business Standard Microsoft 365 Copilot	—	—	—
Microsoft 365 Business Premium with Copilot	$38.40/mo $32/mo billed annually Per user	per month	—	—	Microsoft 365 Business Premium Microsoft 365 Copilot	—	—	—
Microsoft 365 Copilot Business (add-on)	$25.20/mo $18/mo billed annually Per user; $18 annual is a promo for 1 Jul-31 Dec 2026, first year only (normally $21)	per month	—	—	Copilot in Microsoft 365 apps for business users	—	—	Only for existing Microsoft 365 Business plan customers

Prices in USD · US list price · Taxes may apply · Verified Oct 19, 2026

Official pricing page (opens in a new tab)

API and developer access

Official API: No public API
Documentation: Not documented
Authentication: Not documented
Pricing model: Not documented
Free API quota: None documented — the free plan above (if any) is for the app, not the API
Rate limits: Not documented
Context / input limits: Not documented
SDKs: Not documented
Streaming: Not documented
Batch processing: Not documented
Structured output: Not documented
Tool / function calling: Not documented
Commercial use: See the provider terms
Data retention & privacy: See the provider privacy terms

A free Microsoft Copilot account is not the same thing as free API access. Unless a free API quota is listed above, API calls are billed separately.

Verified Oct 19, 2026

Advantages and disadvantages

Advantages

Deep Office integration
Bundles storage and Office apps
Business add-on priced per user

Disadvantages

Models used per plan are not named on pricing pages
Family plan AI features are owner-only
No AI features in Microsoft 365 Basic

Privacy: Business plans run under Microsoft 365 work-account terms; consumer Copilot follows Microsoft's consumer privacy statement.

Real-world examples

A home user asking quick questions

Open copilot.microsoft.com
Sign in with a Microsoft account
Ask questions or generate an image

free plan works

A parent drafting a newsletter in Word

Subscribe to Microsoft 365 Family
Open Word and launch Copilot
Ask for a draft from bullet notes

needs paid plan

A small business adding Copilot to staff

Have Microsoft 365 Business Standard or Premium
Buy the Microsoft 365 Copilot Business add-on per user
Assign licences in the admin centre

needs paid plan

Microsoft Copilot alternatives

ChatGPT

OpenAI's general-purpose AI assistant for chat, writing, coding, research and file work, built on OpenAI's GPT models.

has a free plan · offers an API

Microsoft Copilot vs ChatGPT

Google Gemini

Google's AI assistant, bundled with Google One storage and Workspace apps on paid Google AI plans.

has a free plan · offers an API

Microsoft Copilot vs Google Gemini

Claude

Anthropic's AI assistant for writing, analysis, coding and research, available on web, desktop and mobile.

has a free plan · offers an API

Microsoft Copilot vs Claude

Perplexity

An AI answer engine that searches the web and cites sources, with access to models from several providers on paid plans.

has a free plan · offers an API

Microsoft Copilot vs Perplexity

Compare Microsoft Copilot with these side by side

Frequently asked questions

Is Microsoft Copilot free?

Yes, with a Microsoft account, but usage is limited and Copilot in Office apps needs a Microsoft 365 subscription.

What happened to Copilot Pro?

Microsoft stopped selling it and points subscribers to Microsoft 365 Premium at $19.99/month.

Does Microsoft 365 Basic include Copilot?

No. Microsoft says AI features are not available in Basic.

Can my family share Copilot on Microsoft 365 Family?

No. AI features are for the subscription owner only.

How much does Copilot cost for a business?

The Copilot Business add-on is $25.20/user monthly, or $18 annually under a promotion running to 31 December 2026 (normally $21).

Which AI model does Copilot use?

Microsoft's pricing pages do not name the models per plan, so we do not list one.