Microsoft Copilot Review (2026): Free Chat, Paid Office Powers

This Microsoft Copilot review starts with a rename. Microsoft now ships one Copilot app for work and life. In addition, several features got new names along the way.

Interest is high as well. In our Google Trends export for the United States, the brand averaged 63 out of 100 over the past 30 days. Then, on October 7, Microsoft showed Copilot running tasks on local files.

Therefore we checked three things. First, what does the free app include today? Second, what do the paid plans add? Finally, what happens to your chats?

So, what is Microsoft Copilot? It is an AI assistant from Microsoft. You type or speak a request, and it answers, searches the web, drafts text or creates images. Many people also search for it as copilot ai.

The history explains the confusion. According to Microsoft, Bing AI and Bing Chat evolved into Copilot. As a result, older guides often describe a product that has since changed.

Today the official site promises one experience across work and life. It runs on the web, on Windows, on Mac, in Microsoft Edge and on phones. Meanwhile, work and personal chats stay separate by account.

Copilot suits people who already live in Microsoft 365. For example, it drafts in Word, builds formulas in Excel and recaps meetings in Teams. Similarly, Windows users get it without an extra install.

On the other hand, it is a weaker pick for developers. Reviewers such as SkillScouter rate its coding below ChatGPT and Claude. It also suits Google Workspace users less, because the deep integration is tied to Microsoft apps.

How does Copilot work? First, you sign in with a Microsoft account on the web or in the app. Then you ask in plain language. Below are the four parts that shape daily use.

The Microsoft Copilot app opens with three jobs: chat, search and create. Chat handles questions and drafts. Search returns grounded answers from the web. Create turns a description into an image.

In addition, Microsoft renamed four features in the updated app. Project became Notebook. Tasks became Cowork. Deep Research became Researcher. Finally, Study and Learn mode became Guided Learning.

The update needs no reinstall. According to the official site, existing chats, history and files carry over automatically.

Cowork is the agent side of Copilot. Microsoft describes it as a collaborator for planning and completing multi-step tasks. Researcher finds and explains information. Analyst, in contrast, works through data.

However, access depends on your plan. Microsoft lists agentic features, including advanced research and analytics, under Microsoft 365 Premium. Therefore the free tier shows only a limited version of this side.

Yes, for paid consumer plans. Microsoft 365 Personal, Family and Premium include Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote. Teams calls include it as well.

There are two catches, though. First, the AI features belong to the subscription owner only, even on Family. Second, Copilot in Excel needs the file saved to OneDrive with AutoSave on.

No. Copilot is a Microsoft product with its own apps, limits and privacy terms. Historically it ran on OpenAI models, so the answers often felt similar.

Today the picture is broader. Microsoft says Copilot brings several leading AI models into one experience. Moreover, an Auto setting picks the model and effort level for each request.

In daily use, Copilot is strongest inside documents. Drafting in Word and recapping Teams meetings save real time. SkillScouter gave both areas its top score in a June 2026 test.

However, three weak spots stand out. First, coding help trails ChatGPT and Claude in that same test. Second, free image creation runs into usage limits. Third, the product keeps changing names, so tutorials age fast.

There is also a timing gap. On October 7, Microsoft showed Copilot sorting local tax files and drafting an email. Our Windows event recap has the details. Yet those hybrid features arrive over the next couple of months, not today. This Microsoft Copilot review counts them as a promise.

Every price in this Microsoft Copilot review comes from Microsoft’s own plan pages, checked on October 13, 2026. The chat is free with a Microsoft account. Paid access comes through Microsoft 365 plans.

So how much is Microsoft Copilot? For most people, nothing. The free tier covers chat, search and some image creation. However, Microsoft publishes no exact message caps. It only says limited usage. Copilot free vs paid comes down to three things: higher limits, Copilot inside the Office apps and the agent features. In addition, the old Copilot Pro plan is gone. Microsoft stopped selling it in late 2025, and Premium replaced it. Personal, Family and Premium list a one-month free trial. Prices can change, so check the plan page before you subscribe.

The names cause real confusion. GitHub Copilot is a coding assistant that works inside code editors. Microsoft Copilot, in contrast, is the general assistant for chat, documents and Windows.

They are separate products with separate billing. Therefore a Microsoft 365 plan does not include GitHub Copilot. Likewise, a GitHub subscription adds nothing to Word or Excel.

A third name appears in search data too. Copilot Money is a budgeting app from another company. It has no link to Microsoft at all.

Yes, Copilot is legitimate. Microsoft builds it, sells it and supports it. The harder question is privacy, so we read the official privacy FAQ.

First, training. The FAQ says Microsoft uses data from Bing, MSN and Copilot for AI training. However, signed-in users can opt out in the privacy controls. Users under 18 are excluded.

Second, storage. Conversations are kept for 18 months by default. You can delete single chats or the full history at any time. Uploaded files follow the same 18-month limit.

Third, a caveat. The FAQ notes that an updated app arrived on August 18, 2026. It adds that its training details apply to the older version. So check the privacy settings inside the new app yourself.

Finally, the plan structure is easy to misread. An independent guide to the Microsoft Copilot pricing tiers confirms the retired Pro plan and the work add-on at about 30 dollars per user.

Most people search for Copilot vs ChatGPT first. ChatGPT is the stronger general chatbot for coding and long creative work. It also ships new features early.

However, it does not live inside Word or Excel. Therefore Copilot wins when your files already sit in Microsoft 365.

Gemini vs Copilot is mostly a question of ecosystem. Gemini works inside Gmail, Docs and Android. Copilot, in contrast, works inside Outlook, Word and Windows.

So pick the assistant that matches your inbox. Switching suites for an AI feature rarely pays off.

Claude vs Copilot comes up often among writers and developers. Claude handles long documents and code very well. For example, SkillScouter rates it above Copilot for both.

On the other hand, Claude has no native Office integration. As a result, it suits focused writing more than daily office work.

Notion AI is the alternative for teams outside Microsoft 365. It adds an assistant, search and meeting notes to a shared workspace.

Unlike Copilot, it keeps notes, tasks and documents in one tool. Our Notion AI review covers the tested plans.

Pros

• Free chat, web search and image creation with a Microsoft account
• Works inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams on paid plans
• One app across web, Windows, Mac, Edge and mobile
• Cowork, Researcher and Analyst handle multi-step tasks on Premium
• Paid consumer plans start at 9.99 dollars a month and include 1 TB of storage
• Chat history can be deleted, and signed-in users can opt out of training

Cons

• Microsoft publishes no exact usage limits for the free tier
• AI features belong to the subscription owner only, even on Family
• Coding help trails ChatGPT and Claude in independent tests
• Frequent renames make the product hard to follow
• Consumer conversations are stored for 18 months by default
• The hybrid Windows features shown on October 7 are not available yet

Is Copilot good? For Microsoft 365 users, yes. Nothing else reaches as deep into Word, Excel and Outlook. In addition, the free chat is a fair daily assistant.

However, here is the short answer from this Microsoft Copilot review. Start free. Then pay only if you draft in Office every week. Premium makes sense for the agents, while Pro at 99.99 dollars targets very heavy users.

Ultimately, Copilot is less a chatbot than a layer over software you already own. If that software is not Microsoft’s, the layer has little to stand on.

We compare the leading assistants side by side in the best AI writing tools collection. If research with sources is your main job, our Perplexity AI review looks at a search-first rival.