What Is Microsoft Copilot? Free vs Pro vs Microsoft 365 Copilot Explained (2026)

Microsoft Copilot is Microsoft's AI assistant — a chat assistant free for everyone, and a paid engine inside Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, and Teams for businesses. The name covers three very different products, and Microsoft does not make the differences obvious. This is the un-fogged version.

The three Copilots — one table

What Microsoft 365 Copilot actually does (the $30 one)

• Outlook: summarize long threads, draft replies in your tone, "what did I miss this week".
• Teams: live meeting summaries, action items, "what was decided" — for meetings you skipped. The single most-used feature in practice.
• Word: first drafts from a prompt + reference files; rewrite/tighten sections.
• Excel: natural-language analysis of tables, formula suggestions, chart generation. (Still the weakest of the four — treat demos skeptically.)
• Copilot Chat (work): "find the contract clause about renewal in files shared with me" — cross-company search that respects permissions.

Requirements for Microsoft 365 Copilot

• A qualifying Microsoft 365 business plan (Business Basic/Standard/Premium, E3/E5) — then the $30 Copilot add-on per user.
• Your data in Microsoft 365 (OneDrive/SharePoint/Exchange) — Copilot can't read the file server it can't see. Companies still on local file servers or Google get value only after migrating; that's our day job: Microsoft 365 migration from $15/user.
• Sensible permissions — Copilot surfaces anything a user CAN access. Over-shared SharePoint = over-shared AI answers. Do the permissions pass first.

FAQ

Is Microsoft Copilot free?

The chat assistant: yes — copilot.microsoft.com, the Windows Copilot key, and mobile apps, free with a Microsoft account. Copilot inside Office apps: paid (Pro for individuals, Microsoft 365 Copilot for businesses).

What's the difference between Copilot and ChatGPT?

Free Copilot uses OpenAI-class models with web grounding — comparable chat. The differentiator is Microsoft 365 Copilot's access to your company's email, files, and meetings, permission-aware. ChatGPT doesn't sit inside your tenant.

How do I get Microsoft 365 Copilot?

Qualifying Microsoft 365 plan + $30/user/month add-on license, annual commitment. Partners (like us) can license it and right-size which users actually need it.

Does Copilot train on my company data?

Microsoft's commercial data protection terms: prompts and responses inside Microsoft 365 Copilot are not used to train foundation models. Data stays within your tenant boundary under your existing M365 compliance terms.