Microsoft Copilot Copilot (free) vs Microsoft 365 Personal
Microsoft 365 Personal costs $9.99 more a month ($119.88 a year) than Copilot (free). Here is exactly what that extra money buys.
Copilot (free)
$0 a month
Best for: Trying the assistant out without paying anything.
Microsoft 365 Personal
$9.99 a month
Best for: One person who wants Word and Excel plus a decent amount of assistant use.
What you get by choosing Microsoft 365 Personal
- How much you can use the assistant before it stops you: More than the free version (instead of A small amount, and only when there is room)Microsoft says the free version works "subject to available capacity and limits", so at busy times it may simply stop until later.
- Making pictures: More than free (instead of A few)You describe a picture in words and it draws it for you.
- Online storage for your files and photos: 1.0 TB (instead of 0 GB)A thousand gigabytes is one terabyte. The family plans give one terabyte to each person.
- Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook on your computer: Included (instead of Not included)The free assistant does not include these. Every paid Microsoft 365 plan does.
- The assistant built into Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook: Included (instead of Not included)On the family plans this only works for the person who pays for the subscription.
Same on both
people who can share the subscription (1).
Which one should you pick?
It depends on what you actually use. If you don't need how much you can use the assistant before it stops you or making pictures or online storage for your files and photos or word, excel, powerpoint and outlook on your computer or the assistant built into word, excel, powerpoint and outlook, Copilot (free) does the same job for less. Answer a few questions and we'll tell you which plan fits.
Prices and features verified September 21, 2026 from Microsoft Copilot's official pages (source ↗). Prices are before tax and can change. See all Microsoft Copilot plans.