Overview
Microsoft Copilot is available in more places than any other AI assistant: Windows, Edge, Microsoft 365 apps, Teams, Outlook, and as a standalone mobile app. It’s powered by models from OpenAI (Microsoft is a major investor) and integrated with Bing for real-time web access.
Microsoft 365 Integration
This is Copilot’s decisive advantage. In Word, it drafts documents, rewrites sections, and summarises long texts. In Excel, it analyses data and writes formulas from natural language descriptions. In Teams, it summarises missed meetings, drafts messages, and identifies action items. In Outlook, it summarises threads and drafts replies. For Microsoft 365 users, this integration is transformative.
Standalone Assistant
As a standalone AI assistant, Copilot is competitive with ChatGPT and Gemini. Real-time web search (via Bing) is built in. Image generation (DALL·E 3) is available on all tiers. Voice interaction is smooth and natural. The free tier is generous — full GPT-4o access with fewer limitations than many competitors.
Pricing
The free tier is strong. Copilot Pro at $20/month adds priority access and deeper Microsoft 365 integration. Microsoft 365 Copilot at $30/month (requires a Microsoft 365 Business subscription) unlocks full enterprise features including meeting intelligence and document automation.
Verdict
Microsoft Copilot in 2026 is the best AI assistant for users embedded in the Microsoft ecosystem. The Office integration alone justifies the subscription. For general use outside Microsoft apps, ChatGPT and Gemini offer more flexibility.