Microsoft Copilot is Microsoft's AI assistant, free on the web and in Windows, Mac, iOS and Android apps, with deeper features for Microsoft 365 subscribers. In 2026 the consumer and work apps merged into one Copilot app, and Cowork replaced Copilot Tasks on the Premium and Pro plans. It fits people who work in Word, Excel, Outlook and Teams.
Drafts, edits and summarizes in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote and Teams, for the subscription owner only.
The renamed Microsoft Copilot app takes a personal or a work account, and keeps the two experiences and their data separate.
Describe a job and Cowork creates files, drafts email, manages calendar and OneDrive items and runs prompts on a schedule.
Copilot runs in Windows and Mac apps, on the web at copilot.com and in the iOS and Android apps with one sign-in.
Personal and Family include AI credits and feature limits; remaining credits appear in your Microsoft account under Services & subscriptions.
Copilot can click, scroll and type on websites using the local browser in Microsoft Edge while you stay in control.
Microsoft Copilot is Microsoft’s assistant for chat, images, files and work tasks. It runs at copilot.com, in desktop apps for Windows and Mac, and in iOS and Android apps. Sign in with a work account and it switches to your organization’s Copilot; personal and work data stay apart.
AI features belong to the subscription owner and can’t be shared, and Microsoft 365 Basic has none. Every plan has usage limits and AI credits that pause features until they reset. Pro bills monthly only, and Cowork’s remote browser isn’t ready — web actions run through Microsoft Edge on your own device.
OpenAI's general-purpose AI assistant for chat, search, images, voice and agents.
Google's AI assistant, built into Search, Android and Google Workspace.
Anthropic's AI assistant for writing, analysis and coding, plus Claude Code and Cowork.
AI answer engine that searches the web and cites its sources.
xAI's assistant with real-time access to X, image generation and voice mode.
To save money on AI subscriptions, keep one main assistant, pay yearly where the vendor offers it (Claude Pro is $200/year, about $17/month instead of $20), use free tiers for light tasks, and claim student, device and trial offers before they renew. As of October 2026, ChatGPT has no yearly plan, but ChatGPT Go costs $8/month.
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ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini all have free plans, and their main paid tiers cost $20, $20 and $19.99 a month. Pick ChatGPT for an all-rounder with Codex on every plan, Claude for long documents and Claude Code, and Gemini for Google apps, video and 5 TB of storage. US students can get ChatGPT Plus or Google AI Pro free for months.
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