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Microsoft Copilot: plans, prices, strengths and limits
Microsoft Copilot is Microsoft's AI assistant, free with a Microsoft account and built into Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote on the paid Microsoft 365 plans. It suits people whose documents, email and files already live in Office and OneDrive.
Prices for United States, before sales tax Data release 2026.10.16-3, Oct 16, 2026 Rules 2.1.0
- Made by
- Microsoft
- Individual plans
- 5, one free
- Paid plans
- $9.99 to $99.99 a month
- Facts checked
- Oct 16, 2026
Quick verdict
Copilot is a fit if you already work in Word, Excel and Outlook. Microsoft Copilot (free) needs only a Microsoft account and covers chat, web search with citations, image creation and file uploads, subject to available capacity and limits, and it may show ads. Microsoft 365 Personal, at $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year paid up front, before tax, adds Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote, higher usage than free and 1 TB of OneDrive storage. Family ($12.99 a month or $129.99 a year) is bought by one person for a household of up to 6 people, but only the subscription owner gets the AI features. Premium ($19.99 a month or $199.99 a year) adds the Researcher, Analyst and Cowork agents, and Pro ($99.99 a month, monthly billing only) has the highest usage and 5 TB of shared storage.
The app changed on August 18, 2026: Deep Research became Researcher, which with Cowork (a preview) is for Premium and Pro only, and Copilot Labs closed on September 29, 2026. Personal and Family subscribers lose access to Cowork. Microsoft describes most limits as standard, more, extensive or highest usage, metered by per-feature limits and monthly AI credits, without counts, and its consumer pages do not name the models each plan gets.
Commercial use is the point to settle first. On the free plan, Copilot's Terms of Use say "You can only use Copilot for your own personal use." On the paid plans, Microsoft's pages disagree: the same terms say personal use only, while the Microsoft 365 Premium store page answers yes to freelancers creating client deliverables, and plan pages recommend Personal and Premium for freelancers and one-person businesses. Microsoft does not claim ownership of your content, but that is not a commercial permission. This verdict rests on what Microsoft documents, not on our tests, which we have not run yet.
Strengths and limits
Strengths
- Copilot inside OfficePersonal, Family, Premium and Pro put Copilot in the Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote desktop apps: draft and summarize in Word, draft email and summarize threads in Outlook, outline a presentation in PowerPoint. Copilot in Excel needs AutoSave on, with the file saved to OneDrive. On every plan, only the subscription owner gets Copilot.
- A free tier with cited web answersWith a free Microsoft account you get chat, web search whose summaries include citations to webpages, image creation, memory and file uploads: PDF, DOCX, XLSX, PPTX, images and text, up to 20 files per conversation and 50 MB per file. Copilot can also run code for calculations and graphs. All of it is subject to available capacity and limits.
- Storage is part of the planMicrosoft lists 5 GB of OneDrive with a free account, 1 TB on Personal, 2 TB pooled for up to 6 people on Family and Premium (for new subscribers from October 8, 2026, and for existing ones at renewal from May 2, 2027) and 5 TB on Pro. Family, Premium and Pro can be extended up to 10 TB.
- Chats not used for trainingMicrosoft says that in the updated Copilot app, prompts, responses and file contents of personal-account users are not used to train foundation models, so there is no setting to change. You can export all activity history as a CSV file from the privacy dashboard.
- Free Microsoft apps for images and videoMicrosoft Clipchamp and Microsoft Designer are separate apps, free with a Microsoft account. Clipchamp's free plan lists trimming and combining clips, automatic captions with SRT download, text to speech, and exports with no watermark up to 1080p. Designer lists AI brand kits with a logo, background removal and upscaling up to 4K, though its FAQ still mentions the retired Copilot Pro.
Limits
- Commercial use is unclearConflict. The free plan is personal use only under Copilot's Terms of Use. On the paid plans, Microsoft's pages disagree: the terms say "You can only use Copilot for your own personal use", while the Microsoft 365 Premium store page answers yes to freelancers creating client deliverables. Ask Microsoft before you sell work made with Copilot.
- Research and agents start at $19.99Plan limit. Researcher, Analyst and Cowork are listed as not available on Personal and Family. Cowork, which clicks, scrolls and types on websites in Edge, is a preview for the US and Canada only, and Browse with Copilot is rolling out to Premium in the US. Microsoft's pages also disagree on Premium: extensive usage in one table, limited usage for agentic AI on a plans card.
- Limits and models without specificsUnverified point. Usage is described as standard, more, extensive or highest, with no counts. The context window is not verified. Smart mode is described as powered by GPT-5, but that article predates the August 2026 changes, and no consumer page names the models per plan or says which plan gets a model picker.
- No video generation or coding toolsDocumented as not offered: Microsoft's Create table lists Create a video as No for Personal, Family, Premium and Pro, and Create itself needs a subscription. A coding agent, editor integration and code completions are not verified on any plan; GitHub Copilot is a separate product and is not listed as included.
- The free plan shows ads and leaves out OfficeDocumented. Without a paid Microsoft 365 subscription, Copilot may include advertising; personalized ads can be turned off. Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook needs a qualifying subscription. Researcher and Copilot Pages are documented as not offered on the free plan, and Notebooks are not verified there.
Based on what Microsoft documents for each plan, not on our tests.
Who it suits
A good fit if you
- People who write, calculate and email in Word, Excel and Outlook
- Households already paying for Microsoft 365 and OneDrive storage
- Trying an assistant with cited web answers at no cost
- Source-cited research reports with Researcher (Premium and Pro)
- Simple video edits and captions in Clipchamp, free with a Microsoft account
Look elsewhere if you
- Generating video: documented as not offered on any consumer plan
- Coding in an editor: not listed on any plan, so not verified
- Client work on the free plan: the terms say personal use only
- Sharing AI with your household: only the subscription owner gets it
- Picking your model: models are not named per plan
Plans and prices
| Plan | Monthly | Yearly | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Copilot (free) | Free | Oct 16, 2026 | |
| Microsoft 365 PersonalYearly option is $99.99/year (save $19.89 vs monthly). | $9.99 a month | $99.99 a year | Oct 16, 2026 Source |
| Microsoft 365 FamilyYearly option is $129.99/year (save $25.89 vs monthly). | $12.99 a month | $129.99 a year | Oct 16, 2026 Source |
| Microsoft 365 PremiumYearly option is $199.99/year (save $39.89 vs monthly). | $19.99 a month | $199.99 a year | Oct 16, 2026 Source |
| Microsoft 365 Pro | $99.99 a month | Not listed | Oct 16, 2026 Source |
Prices for United States, before sales tax unless a plan says otherwise. A yearly plan is paid up front and is not cancel-any-time.
Features by plan
What Microsoft documents for each plan. A hatched mark means we could not verify it, which is not the same as "not offered".
| Feature | Microsoft Copilot (free) | Microsoft 365 Personal | Microsoft 365 Family | Microsoft 365 Premium | Microsoft 365 Pro |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Models and limits | |||||
| Top models included | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Context window | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Models from several companies | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| General-purpose assistant | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Research and sources | |||||
| Web search with sources | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Deep research reports | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Files and data | |||||
| File and document uploads | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Spreadsheet and data analysis | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Coding | |||||
| Coding agent | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Works in your code editor | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Code completions as you type | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Background coding agent | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Pull request review | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Images, video and voice | |||||
| Image generation | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Video generation | No | No | No | No | No |
| Real-time voice | Not verified | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Image editing and design | |||||
| Photo editing | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Background removal | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Text inside images | Unclear | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Logo maker | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Vector (SVG) files | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Upscaling | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Video editing and presenters | |||||
| Photo to video | No | No | No | No | No |
| Footage editing | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Avatar presenters | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Lip sync | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Automatic captions | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Clips from long videos | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Exports without a watermark | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| App building and hosting | |||||
| Apps from a description | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Hosting and publishing | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Custom domain | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Database and sign-in | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Code export | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Music, voice and transcription | |||||
| Songs with vocals | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Instrumental music | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Separate stems | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Voiceover from text | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Voice cloning | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Dubbing into other languages | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Sound effects | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Transcription | Unclear | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Meeting notes | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Dictation into any app | Unclear | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Projects and memory | |||||
| Projects | Unclear | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Custom assistants | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Memory across chats | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Integrations and agents | |||||
| Connectors to other apps | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Inside Gmail | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Inside Google Docs | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Inside Google Sheets | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear | Unclear |
| Inside Word | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Inside Excel | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Inside PowerPoint | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Inside Outlook | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Browser agent | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Privacy and control | |||||
| Opt out of model training | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Export your data | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Shows ads | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Rights and licensing | |||||
| Commercial use of outputs | No | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified | Not verified |
| Apps and extras | |||||
| Cloud storage included | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Apps | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
The details and sources of every row are in Compare two AIs and the data release.
What it documents for each use
- Research & Search Research a question with sources that hold up · Check claims against reliable sources · Get a research report from many sources · Summarize a report with traceable facts
- Writing & Content Edit an email without losing a detail · Edit an article without changing its facts · Draft long pieces that stay consistent · Write ads, posts and short copy
- Images & Design Create images from a description · Make graphics for posts and slides · Edit my own photos · Remove a background · Make images with exact text · Design a logo
- Coding & Development Build an app without writing code
- Video & Animation Edit my own video footage · Add captions to a video
- Business & Productivity Connect AI to the apps I already use · Use AI inside Word · Use AI inside Excel · Use AI inside PowerPoint · Use AI inside Outlook
- Data & Analytics Analyze a spreadsheet and get the numbers right · Turn data into charts and tables
- Agents & Automation Let an agent do tasks in a browser
- Audio & Voice Talk it through by voice · Turn a script into a voiceover · Transcribe recordings and files · Dictate text into any app
A use is listed when at least one plan documents every feature a task needs. Answer quality is a separate question: see below.
Using it day to day
Copilot runs on the web at copilot.com, in Windows and Mac desktop apps, in iOS and Android apps, and in Microsoft Edge. You need a Microsoft account and must be at least 13, higher in some countries. The paid plans add Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote on PC, Mac, phones and tablets. Connectors let Copilot read OneDrive, Outlook.com, Gmail, Google Calendar and Contacts, and Google Drive, but no Microsoft page documents Copilot working inside Gmail, Docs or Sheets.
On the paid plans, Copilot Notebooks (formerly Projects) hold reference files and custom instructions, and Copilot Pages can create and preview runnable code for lightweight apps, though Microsoft's steps are written for work accounts and publishing, custom domains, databases and code export are not verified. Word can transcribe up to 300 minutes of uploaded audio a month with a subscription, and the desktop apps include Dictate. Copilot Voice is listed as standard usage on Personal and Family, more on Premium and highest on Pro; for free accounts Microsoft's pages disagree on whether voice is included.
Microsoft 365 Basic has no AI features, so it is not covered here. US prices are shown before sales tax, which is added at checkout. Personal, Family and Premium can be paid monthly or yearly; Pro is monthly only.
Privacy, data and ads
Microsoft says that in the updated Copilot app, from August 18, 2026, prompts, responses and file contents of personal-account users are not used to train foundation models; older app versions had an opt-out toggle instead. Copilot remembers details from your conversations, and you can view, delete or turn off those memories in Settings, Personalization. Web search can be turned off in Settings. To get a copy of your data, use Export all activity history in the privacy dashboard, which downloads a CSV file covering the Copilot app and Copilot in Microsoft 365 apps.
Without a paid Microsoft 365 subscription, Copilot may include advertising, and personalized ads can be turned off. Microsoft says ads in Copilot apply to users without a subscription, and Outlook is ad-free on the paid plans. If your work is confidential, read Microsoft's privacy statement before you upload files.
Read the vendor's own page: Microsoft Copilot privacy and data controls. We make no legal or compliance claim.
Test results
We have not tested Microsoft Copilot yet, so this page makes no claim about answer quality, and we show no example outputs. Run the same kit in it and in the alternatives, in your own account:
- Summarize a report with traceable facts
- Analyze a spreadsheet and get the numbers right
- Edit an email without losing a detail
- Diagnose and repair a small program
- Research a question with sources that support the answer
- Make sense of documents that disagree
- Research a current question within a date window
- Edit an article without changing its facts
- Turn project notes into a report that agrees with itself
- Implement a small specification
- Refactor code without changing what it does
- Make a picture that follows a detailed brief
- Put exact text into a graphic
- Change one thing in a picture and nothing else
- Make a short clip that follows a brief
- Make a song that sings your lyrics exactly
- Read a script with names, numbers and abbreviations
- Design a logo with an exact name
Getting started
- Sign in at copilot.com or in the Copilot app with a Microsoft account. The free plan may show ads; you can turn off personalized ads.
- Try a real task: upload a PDF or a spreadsheet (up to 20 files per conversation, 50 MB each) and check the cited webpages in a search answer.
- If you want Copilot inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, Personal costs $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year paid up front, before tax. Save Excel files to OneDrive with AutoSave on, or Copilot in Excel will not work.
- Choose Premium at $19.99 a month only if you need Researcher, Analyst or Cowork, keeping in mind that Cowork is a preview for the US and Canada.
- If you plan to use Copilot for client work, read Copilot's Terms of Use first, since Microsoft's pages disagree. Then compare it on our tools page and read how we check vendor claims.
Your fit
Tell Find my AI what you do and what matters; it checks every plan of Microsoft Copilot against your priorities, next to the alternatives.
Alternatives
- ChatGPT Microsoft describes Copilot's Smart mode as powered by GPT-5 and Think Deeper as using OpenAI reasoning models, without naming the models per plan; ChatGPT is OpenAI's own assistant for those models. About ChatGPT
- Gemini Copilot reaches Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Drive only through connectors, and no Microsoft page documents Copilot inside Gmail, Docs or Sheets; Gemini is Google's assistant for those apps. About Gemini
- GitHub Copilot No consumer Copilot or Microsoft 365 plan lists a coding agent, editor integration or code completions, and GitHub Copilot, a separate product, is not listed as included in them. About GitHub Copilot
- Runway Microsoft lists Create a video as No for Personal, Family, Premium and Pro, so AI video from a prompt or an image needs a separate tool such as Runway. About Runway
Recent changes
- Microsoft 365 Pro added
- Microsoft 365 Premium added
- Microsoft 365 Family added
- Microsoft 365 Personal added
- Microsoft Copilot (free) added
Every change is in the change log.
Questions
How much does Microsoft Copilot cost?
Copilot is free with a Microsoft account. With Copilot in the Office apps, Microsoft 365 Personal is $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year, Family $12.99 or $129.99, Premium $19.99 or $199.99, and Pro $99.99 a month with monthly billing only. US prices are before sales tax. Microsoft 365 Basic has no AI features.
Can I use Copilot for client work?
Not on the free plan: Copilot's Terms of Use say it is for your own personal use. On the paid plans, Microsoft's pages disagree. The same terms say personal use only, while the Microsoft 365 Premium store page answers yes to freelancers creating client deliverables. Ask Microsoft before relying on either.
Does everyone on Microsoft 365 Family get Copilot?
No. One person buys Family for a household of up to 6 people, who share the apps and 2 TB of storage, but the Copilot AI features are for the subscription owner only. The same applies to Premium and Pro.
What happened to Deep Research and Copilot Labs?
On August 18, 2026, Deep Research became Researcher, which with Cowork (a preview) is for Premium and Pro only; Personal and Family lose access to Cowork. Copilot Labs closed on September 29, 2026. Personal and Family subscribers lose access to Cowork.
Can Copilot make or edit videos?
Copilot does not generate video: Create a video is listed as No on Personal, Family, Premium and Pro. For editing, Microsoft Clipchamp, a separate app free with a Microsoft account, lists trimming, automatic captions, text to speech and exports without a watermark, up to 1080p on its free plan.
Does Microsoft train on my Copilot chats?
Microsoft says that in the updated Copilot app, prompts, responses and file contents of personal-account users are not used to train foundation models. You can still delete saved memories and export your activity history as a CSV file.
Sources
30 official pages, checked Oct 16, 2026. This page was written by the What the tech desk with AI assistance from the facts in our data release; no company paid for or reviewed it.
- Conversation modes in Microsoft CopilotMicrosoft
- Transparency Note for Microsoft Copilot (for individuals)Microsoft
- What's the difference between Microsoft Copilot (free) and Copilot in Microsoft 365Microsoft
- Copilot app updates for personal, work, and school accountsMicrosoft
- File upload in Microsoft CopilotMicrosoft
- Compare Microsoft 365 Plans & PricingMicrosoft
- Get started with Create in the Microsoft Copilot appMicrosoft
- Using Image Generation in Microsoft CopilotMicrosoft
- Feature comparison between Clipchamp for work and personal versionsMicrosoft
- Frequently asked questions about Microsoft DesignerMicrosoft
- Build lightweight apps within Microsoft Copilot PagesMicrosoft
- Does Clipchamp add a watermark to videos?Microsoft
- Microsoft Copilot Supplemental Terms of Use (effective August 18, 2026)Microsoft
- Build your own agent with Microsoft CopilotMicrosoft
- Microsoft Copilot for individuals: your privacy controls and choicesMicrosoft
- What Copilot license do I haveMicrosoft
- Browse with Copilot in Microsoft EdgeMicrosoft
- Microsoft Copilot for individuals: your activity historyMicrosoft
- Manage your Copilot activity history in the privacy dashboardMicrosoft
- Get started with the Microsoft Copilot appMicrosoft
- Microsoft Copilot | Sign in (copilot.com)Microsoft
- How AI usage works across Microsoft 365 subscriptions for individualsMicrosoft
- Edit an image with the Microsoft Copilot appMicrosoft
- Transcribe your recordings (Word)Microsoft
- Dictate in Microsoft 365Microsoft
- Frequently asked questions about Microsoft Copilot NotebooksMicrosoft
- Connect Microsoft Copilot to other services with connectorsMicrosoft
- Introducing Microsoft 365 PremiumMicrosoft
- Buy Microsoft 365 Pro (Microsoft Store)Microsoft
- Copilot for individuals (Copilot in Microsoft 365 plans for individuals)Microsoft
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