Is Microsoft Copilot Free? The Complete Guide to Copilot Pricing

Is Microsoft Copilot free? How much does it cost? And is it worth the price?

When Microsoft announced its generative AI solution, “Copilot,” in March 2023, the tech company didn’t reveal any pricing information. Initially introduced in “test mode,” Copilot appeared to be an exciting new addition to the Microsoft portfolio.

Some businesses even thought they might be able to access all of Microsoft’s innovative LLM-powered features for free. Unfortunately, that’s not the case.

Developing a multifunctional AI assistant takes significant investment, even with the help of Open AI. If you want to access Copilot (in its many forms), you will have to pay for the privilege. Here’s everything you need to know about Copilot pricing.

Unfortunately, Copilot pricing can be difficult to understand. That’s why we’ve created this comprehensive guide to all the costs of Copilot.

Is Microsoft Copilot Free? Understanding Copilot

The answer to “Is Microsoft Copilot free?” is a little more complex than it appears.

After all, there isn’t just one Copilot in Microsoft’s roster. The tech giant offers various unique AI companions for different use cases. At this year’s Ignite event, the firm further established itself as the “Copilot company,” introducing a variety of new updates to its AI roadmap.

At a general level, all of Microsoft’s Copilots function in a similar way. They’re all powered by “large language model” (or LLM) technology and feature conversational interfaces, integrations with Microsoft tools, and links to Microsoft Graph.

However, while competitors like Google Duet only focus on one thing, Microsoft’s copilots can serve specific purposes. There’s a copilot for Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Loop, Office apps, Microsoft Dynamics, Viva, and more.

According to Microsoft, Copilot will streamline modern workflows, improve efficiency, and boost productivity throughout all business environments. Chairman and CEO of Microsoft, Satya Nadella, even described the tool as the next major step in computing productivity.

Some tools, like Bing Chat (now just Microsoft Copilot), are simple solutions designed to improve online search experiences. Others are comprehensive toolkits that empower teams in specific roles, such as sales or customer service. Different types of “Copilot” incur different costs.

Microsoft Copilot Pricing: All the Pricing Info

Copilot allows users to interact with their crucial tools, from Microsoft Word to PowerPoint, using everyday language “prompts” or inputs. While the exact functionality of Copilot and its benefits vary from one app to the next, its fundamental purpose is to act as a digital assistant.

When users type queries into the chatbot input field, the data is routed through the Microsoft Graph system for analysis and interpretation. Then, prompts are forwarded to the GPT language model for a response. The exact things you can do with Copilot depend on your chosen version.

The answer to “Is Microsoft Copilot free?” varies too.

Is Microsoft Copilot Free? Bing Chat and Bing Chat Enterprise

Technically, the answer to “Is Microsoft Copilot Free?” is “yes” – if you’re looking at the basic “Microsoft Copilot” experience – formerly known as Bing Chat. When Microsoft introduced its Copilot ecosystem, it launched Bing Chat and Bing Chat Enterprise as separate tools.

The standard service, designed to help improve search experiences and give every user a personal AI assistant, was available for free. Additionally, Bing Chat Enterprise was included in standard Microsoft 365 packages at no extra cost to users.

At Ignite this year, Microsoft announced that “Bing Chat” and “Bing Chat Enterprise” would now be rebranded to just “Microsoft Copilot.” While the name has changed, the functionality and pricing structure remain unchanged. The new Copilot can still answer questions, assess data, and create content. It also has web grounding for access to the latest information.

Plus, when users are signed into Copilot with their Entra ID, commercial data protection is included for free. Microsoft Copilot is still free with all Microsoft 365 E3 and E5, as well as Business Premium and Business Standard packages. It’s also free for A3 and A5 licenses and will be rolled out to more users in the future.

Is Microsoft 365 Copilot Free?

Now, here’s where things get tricky. The answer to “Is Microsoft Copilot Free?” is technically yes – but not if you want to access Copilot features for Microsoft 365 tools.

A few months after announcing Copilot, Microsoft shared that Copilot for Microsoft 365 would cost $30 per user per month. Notably, that’s an add-on cost to your existing Microsoft 365 subscription.

With Microsoft 365 Copilot, you get access to enterprise-grade data protection and Copilot Studio (we’ll come back to that in a moment). This plan also adds Copilot features to all of your Microsoft 365 apps, such as:

  • Microsoft Word: In Microsoft Word, Copilot can write content, edit pre-written pieces, and summarise important statements using artificial intelligence.
  • PowerPoint: With Copilot in PowerPoint, users can automatically transform simple ideas into a step-by-step presentation with speaker notes and citations.
  • Excel: In Microsoft Excel, users can leverage Copilot to access new insights from data, spot patterns, and create more effective spreadsheets.
  • Teams: For users of Microsoft Teams, Copilot can create real-time summaries and display action items for follow-up conversations, all while considering the context of a conversation.
  • Teams Phone: Copilot can generate summaries of phone conversations and capture action items. It can highlight critical points in calls, recommend next-best action steps, and more.
  • Outlook: Copilot can assist with organizing and consolidating Outlook inboxes. The solution can help suggest email responses and even provide summaries
  • Power Platform: In Microsoft Power Platform, Copilot will assist developers with varying skills to prototype and develop low-code applications.
  • Business Chat: Copilot will curate data from documents, calendars, notes, presentations, and contact profiles to summarise chats, find critical dates, and write business plans and emails.
  • Microsoft Loop: Copilot enhances the co-creation experience in Microsoft Loop, aligning data, summarizing content, and delivering guidance to team members.

Is Microsoft Copilot for Sales and Service Free?

Microsoft has been embedding Copilot functionality into its tools for customer-facing companies for a while. For instance, Copilot in Microsoft Dynamics 365 combines customer data platform and customer journey orchestration tools.

The Copilot capabilities for Dynamics 365 are included in the new “Dynamics 365 Customer Insights subscription”. The prices start at $1,397.30 per tenant per month. Copilot capabilities, like automatic summarization and content generation, are also free in some other Dynamics subscription packages, so it’s worth checking out your options with Microsoft.

Accompanying the upgraded Dynamics experience, Microsoft also introduced “Copilot for Sales” and “Copilot for Service” at Ignite 2023.

Copilot for Sales is an evolution of “Sales Copilot,” offering access to auto-generated opportunity summaries, contextual email creation, meeting prep, and summary tools. It can also share real-time tips and guidance for sellers as they work.

You can buy Copilot for Sales as an add-on for $50 per user per month. Alternatively, it’s included with Dynamics 365 Sales Enterprise and Sales Premium packages at no extra cost.

Microsoft Copilot for Service focuses on supporting contact center teams with tools for aligning customer data from CRMs and other tools. It helps agents in the flow of work with content creation and summarization tools and can be customized with Copilot Studio. This solution is only available as an add-on for $50 per user per month.

Is Microsoft Security Copilot Free?

Security Copilot, the new generative AI solution introduced by Microsoft for security professionals, also has a unique pricing structure.

Currently available in Early Access, Security Copilot helps companies hunt for cyber threats, train new security experts, and discover resolutions to problems. The technology can also help predict potential threats and minimize risks in the modern business.

Microsoft Defender Threat Intelligence and access to the API are also available to every user of Security Copilot with no additional fee. This gives companies a threat intelligence workbench with integrations to all of Microsoft’s security products.

Microsoft hasn’t released a price for Security Copilot but says pricing will be revealed when the solution becomes “Generally Available.”

Is Microsoft Copilot Free for Windows?

Like Microsoft Copilot (formerly Bing Chat), Copilot for Windows is free for all users. Microsoft began rolling Copilot features out as part of a free update to Windows 11 on September 26th, 2023. If you already have the latest version of Windows, you should be able to access the features.

Copilot in Windows makes it easier for users to manage their computer ecosystem. You can drag and drop images into chat boxes to learn more about them. You can also interact with a chatbot using natural language (or even your voice) via your computer.

Copilot for Windows can do everything from adjusting your PC’s settings to helping you write an essay or shop for new products.

Is Microsoft Copilot Studio Free?

Copilot Studio, announced at Microsoft Ignite 2023, is a low-code tool users can access to customize their Microsoft 365 copilots and build generative AI apps. It combines powerful conversational capabilities into a comprehensive toolkit for AI innovation.

You can use the Studio to customize Copilots for Word, Teams, and other apps with your business data. Plus, developers can build, test, and publish standalone copilots with the Studio kit. Studio also allows companies to connect Copilots to other data sources.

You can link your solution to your CRMs, business databases, and proprietary websites. Currently, users can access a trial of Copilot for free. After that, the solution will require you to pay for a Copilot for Microsoft 365 subscription ($30 per user, per month).

Is GitHub Copilot Free?

Technically, GitHub Copilot is separate from the new Copilot tools Microsoft is introducing right now. The cloud-based AI tool was introduced in 2021, long before we started seeing solutions like Copilot for Teams.

With GitHub Copilot, developers can receive recommendations when writing code and even automate the completion of coding tasks. The solution can analyze the context in the files you’re editing and related files to offer suggestions in your text editor.

Since Microsoft owns GitHub, it’s worth looking at the pricing for this feature too. GitHub Copilot is available through two different licenses. The first is “Copilot Individual” for personal users, available for $10 per month or $100 per year.

The second option is Copilot Business, which features more advanced tools and audit logs for $19 per month per user.

Is Microsoft Copilot Free for Viva users?

Microsoft Viva, the tech giant’s employee engagement toolkit, will also be getting its own Copilot features. This will infuse generative AI into all of the apps in the Viva toolkit, such as Viva Connections, Engage, Viva Pulse, and Goals.

Like Microsoft 365 Copilot, the AI in Viva will offer different benefits to users based on the apps they use. For instance, in Viva Engage, users can create compelling posts with simple prompts and analyze engagement metrics. In Viva Learning, Copilot will suggest personalized learning tools to users and summarize topics.

To access Copilot in Viva, you’ll need a subscription to the Viva platform and an additional subscription similar to the Microsoft 365 Copilot system. However, Microsoft hasn’t yet announced how much the Viva Copilot will cost.

Is Microsoft Copilot Expensive?

So, the answer to “Is Microsoft Copilot free?” is “It depends on which version you want.” Some parts of the Copilot experience are free, like the former Bing Chat and Windows Copilot. Others come built into certain Microsoft subscriptions or have their own unique pricing plans.

At a glance, the advanced Microsoft Copilot solutions are pretty expensive. For instance, if you want Microsoft 365 Copilot, you pay $30 per month on top of what you’re already paying for your 365 subscription.

The price of the add-on is more than what you’ll pay for the lower-end 365 plans, ranging from $12 to $23 per month per user.

It’s almost the same as Microsoft’s high-end plans, too, starting at $38 per month. This also doesn’t include any extra fees you might be paying for Microsoft Phone services or Teams Premium.

Specific Microsoft Copilot solutions, like Copilot for Sales and Service, are even more expensive, at $50 per month per user.

But as any business owner knows, when investing in new technology, it’s worth looking at the return on investment. Compared to other high-powered generative AI platforms, Copilot’s pricing is pretty reasonable.

Google Duet also charges users $30 per month per user. ChatGPT Plus costs $20 per person per month, and there’s an even higher fee if you want ChatGPT Enterprise.

These solutions focus on a single use case, while Microsoft’s Copilot collection features various tools for different requirements.

It can adapt to different work styles and personas and do everything from enhancing the quality of your meetings to summarizing calls.

Is Microsoft Copilot Worth It?

Now you know the answer to “Is Microsoft Copilot free?” your next question is probably, “Is it worth it?” A subscription can be pretty expensive unless you’re just using Microsoft Copilot (formerly Bing Chat) or Copilot for Windows.

However, the versatility of Microsoft’s Copilot ecosystem and its unique features means it delivers some fantastic value. Microsoft’s various copilots address virtually every business need, whether you want to boost business security or enhance sales and customer service.

It can make teams more productive, increase engagement, and align your workforce like never before. Microsoft plowed billions into its OpenAI partnership to create one of the most comprehensive intelligent assistants on the market.

You might pay a premium for access to generative AI tools from Microsoft. However, the value you get back regarding efficiency, productivity, and creativity could be worth the cost.

 

 



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