What’s actually free with Copilot and what’s not (and why it matters)

Let’s get something out of the way right now: Copilot is not some magical AI genie that’s quietly been added to every Microsoft product you already use, and it’s certainly not free unless your org paid for it — and even then, it’s probably still confusing. The word “Copilot” is doing a lot of heavy lifting across Microsoft 365, GitHub, Dynamics, and the security stack, but that doesn’t mean you get a full AI assistant just because you saw a Copilot button somewhere.

What most people don’t realize — and I keep seeing this mistake in training sessions and conference hallways — is that there’s no single “Copilot.” There are different Copilots, and they come with different expectations, capabilities, and most importantly: different price tags. So if you’re wondering why yours doesn’t seem to do what everyone else is raving about online, chances are you’re missing some licensing (or just using the wrong kind of Copilot entirely).

Stop thinking of Copilot as ChatGPT

You’ve heard it before: “Copilot is just ChatGPT, right?” Wrong. Let’s clear this up once and for all. While the underlying models (like GPT-4) are part of the magic, Copilot is a productized experience built on Microsoft’s security and compliance stack. It has access to your files, but only the ones you can see. It uses Microsoft Graph to understand what’s relevant to you — and then it builds something useful inside the tools you already use.

What’s actually free?

Let’s start with the stuff that’s included at no additional cost — assuming your organization is already paying for Microsoft 365.

Most of the “free” Copilot features fall under Copilot experiences embedded inside Microsoft products — but with limitations. For example:

Copilot in Loop: Brainstorm, rewrite, and summarize inside Loop components.
Copilot in Whiteboard: Generate ideas and structure boards visually.
Copilot in Forms: Help writing better survey questions and summaries.
Copilot in Stream: Summarize videos — if they already have transcription enabled.

These are handy, but lightweight. They give you a taste — not the whole meal. Think of them as “Copilot Lite” or what Microsoft calls “Copilot value experiences.”

Copilot for individuals

Before I delve into the enterprise-grade stuff, let me say this: not everyone using Copilot is doing it through work. If you’ve seen the Copilot homepage or used the Copilot tab in Edge or Bing, then you’ve already used the consumer version of Microsoft Copilot. And yes — it’s free, but it’s also limited.

The free version of Copilot uses GPT-4 and can help with simple prompts like summarizing text, generating code, or answering general knowledge questions. It’s great for casual use, and you don’t need a Microsoft 365 subscription to try it.

Then there’s Copilot Pro — a paid upgrade for individuals. This version adds:

Priority access to GPT-4 Turbo (faster responses, even during peak times)
Enhanced performance in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint (but only if you also have a qualifying Microsoft 365 personal or family subscription). This will NOT access your company’s emails.
The ability to build your own Copilot GPTs (custom experiences for specific needs)

Sounds a lot like Microsoft 365 Copilot, right? Not quite. The big difference is data access.

Copilot Pro doesn’t connect to your Microsoft 365 organizational data — no Graph, no files, no meetings, no Outlook threads. It’s personal. If you want the AI to read your enterprise content, generate meeting summaries, or understand team context, you’ll need Copilot for Microsoft 365 (enterprise version).

Still confused? You’re not alone. Here’s a side-by-side view that clears things up:

Feature	Free Copilot	Copilot Pro	Copilot for Microsoft 365
GPT-4 access	✅ Yes (via Bing)	✅ Yes (Turbo access)	✅ Yes (embedded)
Use inside Office apps	❌ No	✅ Yes (Word, Excel, etc. — with a personal subscription)	✅ Yes (Word, Excel, etc. — in enterprise tenant)
Access your files, meetings, emails	❌ No	❌ No	✅ Yes (via Microsoft Graph)
Personal use	✅ Yes	✅ Yes	❌ No — work account required
License	Free	Paid (monthly)	Paid (enterprise license)

Table 1: Comparing the “main” Copilots.

What’s not free (and what that license actually gets you)

These are the features people usually associate with Copilot — the smart summaries, the instant PowerPoint decks, and the rewritten emails — but they require a specific license.

Word: Generate drafts, summarize long documents, rewrite with different tone.
Excel: Analyze, visualize, and ask questions about your data.
PowerPoint: Turn Word documents into slide decks, redesign layouts, summarize slides. If your organization uses Brand Center, Copilot will even use your official logos, fonts, and themes.
Outlook: Draft replies, summarize threads, clean up messy emails.
Teams: Summarize meetings, highlight key points, create action items.
OneNote: Restructure your notes, summarize info, draft next steps.

How does GitHub Copilot compare?

GitHub Copilot is not the same thing as Microsoft 365 Copilot. It’s built for developers, lives inside code editors like VS Code, and helps write and suggest code — but it doesn’t touch your emails, documents, or meeting notes.

What about all those other Copilots?

Microsoft has Copilots sprinkled everywhere now — Sales, Security, Power Platform, and more. Each serves a different audience and use case, with their own capabilities and licensing models. The list keeps growing, but the table below should give you an overview of all that is out there.

Copilot	Main Use	Where It Lives	Access to Org Data?	License Required
Microsoft 365 Copilot	Docs, email, meetings, files	Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Teams, OneNote	✅ Yes (via Microsoft Graph)	Copilot for M365 license (paid)
GitHub Copilot	Code completion, dev help	VS Code, GitHub.com, JetBrains	❌ No	GitHub Copilot license (paid)
Copilot in Loop	Brainstorming, drafting	Loop app and components	❌ No (uses local context only)	Included with Microsoft 365
Sales Copilot	CRM, sales productivity	Dynamics 365, Outlook, Teams	✅ Yes (CRM + Graph)	Sales Copilot license (paid)
Security Copilot	Threat analysis, incident response	Microsoft Defender, Sentinel	✅ Yes (Security data)	Security Copilot license (paid)
Power Platform Copilot	Build low-code apps and flows	Power Apps, Power Automate	❌ No	Included with some plans
Copilot Studio	Create custom AI assistants	Power Platform	✅ Yes (if configured)	Copilot Studio license (paid)

Table 2: Comparing the many other Copilots. Think multiverse, except it’s for AI.

Totally confusing? Where should you even start?

Check your license in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center. If you’re not an admin, it’s time you become best friends with them.
Experiment with the free Copilot experiences in Forms, Loop, and Stream.
Talk to IT about what’s needed to roll out premium Copilot features. This may be a much bigger conversation to be had with the leadership of your organization.
Set expectations — not everyone gets the same magic just by clicking the Copilot icon.

Helpful links to keep you sane

Final thoughts (a.k.a. the part where I rant a little)

Look, I get it. The word “Copilot” is doing way too much right now. It’s like Microsoft found one cool word, slapped it on everything with an AI pulse, and called it a day. But behind the branding chaos, there’s real power — if you know where to look, what to pay for, and how to manage expectations.

So please, for the love of licensing sanity, stop assuming that clicking the Copilot icon gives you the same experience as someone demoing it on stage at Ignite. Ask questions. Know what you’re licensed for. And don’t fall for the trap of treating Copilot like it’s just ChatGPT with a Teams background.

Because if you don’t — well, you might end up with a very expensive button that does absolutely nothing. And nobody wants that.