Last updated: 2026-09-30
What changed
Copilot is Microsoft's AI assistant for Windows, Edge and its Office apps, offered in eight tiers that run from a free chat tier up to a full enterprise suite. Work plans ground answers in company data through Work IQ, and Copilot Chat comes bundled for Entra ID accounts.
About Microsoft Copilot
Microsoft Copilot launched as Bing Chat in February 2023 and grew into Microsoft's assistant across Windows, Edge and the Office apps. It runs on OpenAI models, and Microsoft's own pricing page now describes the line-up as the latest OpenAI GPT-5 family with model choice on paid work plans. Microsoft sells it in eight tiers, from a free chat tier through consumer subscriptions to a full enterprise suite, which is why "what does Copilot cost" has no single answer.
A new Copilot arrived on 25 September 2026, adding Home, Code and Autopilot. Home combines Chat and Cowork in one starting point, Code builds small apps and workflows from a description using the same technology as GitHub Copilot (see the best AI coding assistants for the developer side), and Autopilot is a persistent agent that keeps working in the background. Microsoft is releasing Home and Code to Frontier program members first, and Autopilot is in private preview, so treat them as announced rather than generally available.
What separates Copilot from a standalone chatbot such as ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini is grounding. On Business and Enterprise plans it draws on Work IQ, Microsoft's layer over a user's mail, files and meetings, and it works inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams instead of a separate tab. Copilot Chat itself comes bundled for Entra ID accounts on an eligible subscription, so many organisations already hold a version of it before buying a paid seat.
The other side of that argument is real. The paid seat is an add-on: it needs a separate qualifying work licence, agents are metered and need an Azure subscription, and Cowork, Code and Autopilot run on usage-based billing, so the headline per-user price understates the bill for heavy agent use. Teams that live in Google Workspace get little from it, and anyone who wants one model-agnostic chat window across every app is better served by a standalone tool. The guide on what Copilot is actually for untangles the overlapping product names, and best AI chatbots in 2026 compares it with the standalone options. If you only need one Copilot job done, the cheaper single-feature alternatives may cost less, and small teams can start with the small business assistant roundup. Browse the wider AI chatbots category for more options, and see Notion if your documents live outside Office.
Pricing
Free tier via the web and Edge with usage limits. 99/month, billed monthly only, with the highest usage limits. 50 and Business Premium with Copilot is $32 per user per month, paid yearly.
Enterprise: Microsoft 365 Copilot is $30/user/month paid yearly on top of a qualifying Microsoft 365 licence, Copilot Chat is included for Entra ID users, and Microsoft 365 E7 (E5, Copilot, Agent 365 and Entra Suite) is $99/user/month with an annual commitment. Copilot Studio is now sold on Copilot Credits, either a pre-purchase plan or pay-as-you-go, and needs an Azure subscription for agents. Compare it with ChatGPT and Gemini before you commit.
| Tier | Monthly price | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Copilot (Free) | Free | Copilot chat on the web and in Edge, Usage limits apply |
| Microsoft 365 Personal | $9.99/mo | 1 person, 1 TB OneDrive, Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook with higher usage than free |
| Microsoft 365 Family | $12.99/mo | Up to 6 people, AI for the subscription owner only, 6 TB OneDrive (1 TB per person) |
| Microsoft 365 Copilot Business | $18/mo | Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams, Work IQ chat, Researcher, Analyst and Facilitator agents, Model choice |
| Microsoft 365 Premium | $19.99/mo | Extensive Copilot usage, Limited agentic AI, 6 TB OneDrive |
| Microsoft 365 Copilot (Enterprise) | $30/mo | Chat grounded in business data, Copilot in Office apps and Teams, Copilot Studio Standard harness, Enterprise Data Protection |
| Microsoft 365 E7 | $99/mo | E5, Microsoft 365 Copilot, Agent 365 and Entra Suite in one suite |
| Microsoft 365 Pro | $99.99/mo | Highest Copilot usage limits, Highest agentic AI usage, Everything in Premium |
Feature Comparison by Tier
| Feature | Copilot (Free) | Microsoft 365 Premium | Microsoft 365 Pro | Microsoft 365 Copilot Business | Microsoft 365 Copilot (Enterprise) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price per month | $0 | $19.99 | $99.99 | $18 (promo), $21 list | $30 |
| Aimed at | Trying Copilot | Individuals | Heavy individual use | Businesses up to 300 users | Large organisations |
| Copilot usage level | Limited | Extensive | Highest | Per-user licence | Per-user licence |
| Agentic AI | No | Limited | Highest | Pre-built agents, agent usage metered | Agents metered |
| Work IQ grounding in work data | No | No | No | ✓ | ✓ |
| Needs separate Microsoft 365 licence | No | No, includes apps | No, includes apps | Yes | Yes |
Key Features
- Copilot Chat Included for Entra Users: Microsoft bundles Copilot Chat with eligible subscriptions for Entra ID accounts, while agents are billed by use and need an Azure subscription.
- Office App Integration: Works in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote and Teams on paid plans, with the Teams features requiring a Teams licence.
- Work IQ Grounding: Business and Enterprise plans ground chat in work data through Work IQ, Microsoft's intelligence layer over mail, files and meetings.
- Pre-Built Agents: Researcher, Analyst and Facilitator ship as pre-built Microsoft agents on the Business and Enterprise plans.
- Copilot Cowork: Cowork runs delegated, multi-step tasks end to end and is billed on a metered, usage-based basis rather than by the seat.
- Home, Code and Autopilot: Home joins Chat and Cowork, Code builds small apps from a description, and Autopilot is a persistent agent now in private preview.
- Copilot Studio Agents: Build agents on Copilot Credits with a pre-purchase plan or pay-as-you-go, and publish to external channels on a standalone Studio plan.
- Model Choice: Paid work plans list model choice, with the newest OpenAI GPT-5 family models named on Microsoft's pricing pages.
Pros
- Sits inside Word, Excel, Outlook and Teams, so nothing needs a separate chatbot tab.
- Copilot Chat costs nothing extra for Entra ID users on an eligible subscription.
- Work IQ grounds answers in a user's own mail, files and meetings on Business and Enterprise plans.
- A free tier and modest consumer plans give individuals a low-cost way in.
- Enterprise Data Protection, management and compliance controls come with the work plans.
Cons
- The work seat is an add-on and needs a separate qualifying licence.
- Agents, Cowork and Autopilot are metered, so heavy agent use can exceed the per-user price.
- The lower Business price is a first-year promotion that ends this year, so plan for the list price.
- Product names overlap across Copilot, Premium, Pro, the work seat and Studio, which makes plan choice slow.
- Value drops for teams on Google Workspace or those wanting one model-agnostic assistant.
Product Information
- Cloud
- Yes
- Self-Hosted
- No
- On-Premise
- No
- Languages
- English, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Dutch, French, German, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Vietnamese
- Training
- Official Documentation, Microsoft Learn Paths, Copilot Studio Academy, Video Tutorials, Community Forums
Data Handling
- Compliance
- SOC 2 Type II · HIPAA (with BAA for Microsoft 365 Copilot) · ISO 27001 · ISO 27018 · ISO 27017 · ISO 20000-1 · GDPR · FedRAMP · HITRUST CSF · CSA STAR
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does Microsoft Copilot cost in 2026?
Copilot has a free tier, consumer Microsoft 365 plans at $9.99, $12.99, $19.99 and $99.99 a month, and work plans priced per user: Copilot Business at $18 on promotion (list $21), the work seat at $30 and the E7 suite at $99. Agents are metered on top.
Is Microsoft Copilot free to use?
Yes. A free tier exists with usage limits, and Entra ID accounts on an eligible subscription get Copilot Chat bundled at no charge. Paid plans add higher usage, the Office app features and Work IQ grounding in work data.
Does the Copilot Business price of $18 last?
No. The $18 seat price is a first-year promotion that Microsoft runs until the end of December 2026, and $21 is the list price. It also needs an eligible Business plan and a yearly commitment.
What is the new Copilot Microsoft announced in September 2026?
Microsoft introduced Home, which merges Chat and Cowork, Code for building small apps from a description, and Autopilot, a persistent background agent. Frontier members get Home and Code first, and Autopilot is in private preview.
How do you compare Microsoft Copilot with ChatGPT?
Copilot lives inside Word, Excel, Outlook and Teams and grounds work-plan answers in company data through Work IQ. ChatGPT is a standalone assistant that is not tied to one office suite. Choose Copilot if your team already runs Microsoft 365.
Top Alternatives
- Claude: Pick Claude for cutting-edge reasoning and standalone use; pick Copilot if your team is deeply integrated with Microsoft 365.
- ChatGPT: Choose ChatGPT for the broadest third-party plugin ecosystem; choose Copilot if you want AI native to Word, Excel, and Outlook.
- Gemini: Pick Gemini if you are on Google Workspace; pick Copilot if Microsoft 365 is your productivity hub.
HokAI guides covering Microsoft Copilot
- The AI Tools That Do One Microsoft Copilot Job, Cheaper: Microsoft 365 Copilot bundles five jobs into one $30 seat. See which single-purpose AI tools beat that price per job, and when stacking them costs more.
- Is Microsoft Copilot Worth It? It Depends Which One You Mean: Microsoft sells four unrelated products called Copilot at four prices. Here's what changed in 2026, who it helps, who it hurts, and the real promo deadline.
- Best AI Tools for Writing Excel Formulas and Data Analysis in 2026: Copilot and Gemini already write most Excel formulas free. This guide covers when Better Analyst, Rows AI, and Aleph are worth paying extra for in 2026.
- Best AI Assistant for Small Business in 2026: Six AI assistants worth paying for in 2026: Microsoft Copilot, Lindy, Timeless, MagicForm, HyperWrite and Grammarly, priced from each vendor's own pricing page.
- How to Choose an AI Assistant: ChatGPT vs Claude vs Copilot vs Grok vs Poe: Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT, Claude, Grok or Poe? Plans and prices read from vendor pages on 2 October 2026, plus a three-question framework to choose.
- ChatGPT Ads Explained (2026): Which Plans Show Them and How to Avoid Them: ChatGPT ads show on Free and Go, not Plus or Pro. See what they look like, what data they use, the image-ad test and five ways to avoid them (Oct 2026).