What it is
Microsoft Copilot is Microsoft's AI assistant, sold as a consumer app and as Microsoft 365 Copilot for work. The consumer Copilot app is a chat assistant on the web and mobile apps. For work, Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat is included with eligible Microsoft 365 subscriptions and adds web-grounded chat, file upload and analysis, image creation and agents.
How the tiers differ
At work, Copilot Chat has standard access, which Microsoft says is subject to service capacity. A paid Microsoft 365 Copilot licence adds priority access and grounding in a user's emails, meetings, chats and documents through Work IQ and Microsoft Graph, plus advanced agents such as Researcher and Analyst.
For individuals, Microsoft 365 Personal and Family include Copilot with higher usage than the free tier, and only the subscription owner gets the AI features. Premium and Pro add higher limits, agentic features and research and analysis tools.
Who it suits
It suits people and organisations already on Microsoft 365, because the main value is Copilot inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams. Copilot Chat can pick a model automatically or let users choose Quick response or Think deeper.
Limits
The full work experience needs both a qualifying Microsoft 365 plan and a separate Copilot licence. Product names and plan labels have changed several times, so check which Copilot a given subscription includes before buying.
