What it is
This review covers the consumer Microsoft Copilot app: the free assistant at copilot.microsoft.com, in Windows and Edge, and on phones, used with a personal Microsoft account, plus the Copilot features in Microsoft 365 Personal, Family, Premium and Pro. The naming is genuinely confusing. In August 2026 Microsoft also renamed its paid work product, Microsoft 365 Copilot, to "Microsoft Copilot", and since September 2026 a single Copilot app serves both work and personal accounts. What you get depends on how you sign in: a work or school (Entra) account brings the business licence and data protections covered in our Microsoft 365 Copilot review; a personal account gets the consumer service described here.
The app was rebuilt in two steps. An updated version arrived on 18 August 2026, and on 25 September Microsoft unveiled the all-in-one design with a Home section that combines chat with the Cowork agent, a Code section that builds small apps from a description, and a model menu offering OpenAI's GPT, Anthropic's Opus or an Auto setting. Full Word, Excel and PowerPoint are rolling out inside the app.
The old standalone Copilot Pro subscription no longer appears on Microsoft's consumer pages. Paid Copilot for individuals now comes through Microsoft 365: Personal and Family give higher limits than free, while Premium and the new Microsoft 365 Pro add Cowork, the Researcher and Analyst agents and the highest usage. Copilot features in every plan are for the subscription owner only.
Our review
Copilot's best argument is the bundle, not the chatbot. Microsoft 365 Premium at $19.99 a month costs about the same as a standalone AI subscription but adds the desktop Office apps, 1 TB of OneDrive storage for each of up to six people, and Copilot inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote, including the Researcher and Analyst agents and Cowork. The catch is in a footnote: the AI features belong to the subscription owner only, and family members get the apps and storage without Copilot.
Privacy defaults differ by where you use it, and readers should know which side they are on. Microsoft's privacy FAQ for the Copilot app says it trains on signed-in adults' conversations, voice and uploaded files by default, after removing names, contact details and account IDs, unless they opt out; users under 18, people not signed in, Entra work accounts and users in Brazil, China, Israel, Nigeria, South Korea and Vietnam are excluded. Conversations are kept for 18 months by default. Copilot inside the Microsoft 365 apps for home is different: Microsoft says prompts, responses and file contents there are not used to train foundation models. The newer privacy pages for the August 2026 app do not restate the training default, which is a gap Microsoft should close.
The September rebuild is a real change in scope. A model menu with GPT and Anthropic's Opus puts Copilot closer to Poe than to the single-model chatbots, and Cowork moves it from answering to doing multi-step tasks. Pricing is not settled, though. GeekWire reports that Microsoft plans usage-based billing for Cowork, Code and other new consumer features later this year, and the new Microsoft 365 Pro tier at $99.99 a month, billed monthly only, exists mainly to sell the highest usage limits.
The naming is now Copilot's biggest weakness. "Microsoft Copilot" is both the free consumer app and, since August, the renamed business product, and Microsoft's own consumer page sends its Open Copilot button to the work domain, copilot.cloud.microsoft. A household buyer comparing plans, or an IT team trying to stop staff pasting work into a personal account, has to check which account is signed in before any of the privacy or licence promises apply.
Where it earns its place
A freelance consultant who writes proposals in Word and models fees in Excel
Draft documents and analyse spreadsheets without a separate AI subscription
Microsoft 365 Premium at $199.99 a year gives Copilot in the desktop apps plus Researcher for cited background reports. Excel's Copilot needs AutoSave on and the file in OneDrive. Content in the Office apps is not used to train foundation models.
A parent on Microsoft 365 Family with two teenagers
Give the household AI help for homework and admin
Family at $129.99 a year covers six people for apps and storage, but Copilot features stay with the owner. The teenagers can use the free Copilot app; Microsoft excludes signed-in under-18s from training and from personalised ads.
An IT manager at a 300-person firm on Microsoft 365 Business
Keep staff from using personal Copilot accounts for work files
Since the work product is also called Microsoft Copilot and uses the same app, publish which sign-in to use. Work (Entra) accounts get enterprise data protection and are excluded from training; personal accounts fall under the consumer terms, with training on by default.
Before you commit
- Setup
- Sign in to copilot.microsoft.com, the Windows app or the mobile app with a personal Microsoft account; Copilot in Office switches on with a Personal, Family, Premium or Pro subscription.
- Integrations
- Built into Windows, Edge, Bing and the Microsoft 365 apps for home; Office documents open inside the rebuilt app; Copilot can reach work files only if an employer enables multiple account access.
- Data and privacy
- The Copilot app trains on signed-in adults' conversations by default, with an opt-out and exclusions for under-18s, Entra accounts and six countries; history is kept 18 months by default. Copilot in Microsoft 365 home apps does not train foundation models.
- Cost at scale
- A household on Premium pays $199.99 a year for one Copilot user; a heavy individual user on Microsoft 365 Pro pays $1,199.88 a year, before any usage-based charges Microsoft adds for new agent features.
- Limits
- Usage limits are described only as "higher than free", "extensive" or "highest"; Microsoft does not publish the numbers. Cowork and Researcher are limited to Premium and Pro.
What's good
- Premium bundles Office desktop apps, 1 TB per person and Copilot for $19.99/month
- Model menu with OpenAI GPT and Anthropic Opus
- Cowork, Researcher and Analyst agents on Premium and Pro
- Copilot in Microsoft 365 home apps is not used to train foundation models
- Capable free app in Windows, Edge and on phones
What's not
- Free app trains on conversations by default unless you opt out
- Same name as the renamed business product; protections depend on the account
- Copilot features are for the subscription owner only
- Usage-based billing for new features is coming but not priced
- Microsoft 365 Pro costs $99.99/month with no annual option
Best for
Individuals and households already paying for Microsoft 365 who want AI inside Word, Excel, Outlook and Windows.
Alternatives
Microsoft Copilot: common questions
- Is Microsoft Copilot worth it?
- Copilot earns its keep as part of a Microsoft 365 subscription you would buy anyway; as a free chatbot it trades your conversations for training data unless you switch that off. We rate it 4.0 out of 5.
- How much does Microsoft Copilot cost?
- Free Copilot app. Microsoft 365 Personal $9.99/month ($99.99/year), Family $12.99 ($129.99/year), Premium $19.99 ($199.99/year), Microsoft 365 Pro $99.99/month (monthly only). Usage-based billing for Cowork, Code and other new features due on consumer plans later in 2026.
- What are the downsides of Microsoft Copilot?
- Free app trains on conversations by default unless you opt out; same name as the renamed business product; protections depend on the account; copilot features are for the subscription owner only; usage-based billing for new features is coming but not priced; microsoft 365 Pro costs $99.99/month with no annual option.
- Who is Microsoft Copilot best for?
- Individuals and households already paying for Microsoft 365 who want AI inside Word, Excel, Outlook and Windows.
- How much does Microsoft Copilot cost for a team or in production?
- A household on Premium pays $199.99 a year for one Copilot user; a heavy individual user on Microsoft 365 Pro pays $1,199.88 a year, before any usage-based charges Microsoft adds for new agent features.
- Is Microsoft Copilot safe for company data?
- The Copilot app trains on signed-in adults' conversations by default, with an opt-out and exclusions for under-18s, Entra accounts and six countries; history is kept 18 months by default. Copilot in Microsoft 365 home apps does not train foundation models.
- What are the best Microsoft Copilot alternatives?
- The closest alternatives we have reviewed are ChatGPT, Google Gemini and Claude.
Answers checked Oct 22, 2026.
Make Microsoft Copilot? Show this rating on your site
