Verdict
Copilot is free with a Microsoft account and comes bundled with Microsoft 365 Personal at £8.49 a month, so many people already have it. In August 2026 Microsoft merged the personal Copilot app into the Microsoft 365 app, dropped group chats, podcasts and Deep Research, and users in user reviews report losing saved projects. The UK competition regulator opened a case in July 2026 over how Microsoft moved subscribers onto the pricier Copilot plans.
Best for
Windows and Microsoft 365 users who want a free assistant already on their PC
Skip if
Anyone who wants a settled app that keeps its features from one month to the next
Key facts
- Category
- Everyday AI assistants
- Made by
- Microsoft
- Based in
- United States
- Launched
- 2023
- Works on
- iPhone, Android, Web, Windows, Mac
- In the UK
- Yes
- Price from
- £8.49 a month
- Free plan
- Free Copilot on web, Windows, Mac and mobile with a Microsoft account; lower usage limits than paid plans (Microsoft does not state the numbers)
Pricing
| Plan | Price | Billed |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft 365 Personal | £8.49 | month |
| Microsoft 365 Personal | £84.99 | year |
| Microsoft 365 Family | £10.49 | month |
| Microsoft 365 Family | £104.99 | year |
| Microsoft 365 Premium | £18.99 | month |
| Microsoft 365 Premium | £189.99 | year |
What it does
- chats and answers questions with AI
- helps from the screen or camera with visual AI assistance
- creates AI images and AI-generated audio
- drafts documents in Word, analyses data in Excel and builds slides in PowerPoint
- summarises email in Outlook
- runs in-depth research and data analysis with Researcher and Analyst (Premium)
Ratings
What people say
user reviews reaction to the 2026 merger is mostly confusion and anger over renames and lost features, and some users say answers trail ChatGPT even on the same models; praise is narrow, such as meeting recording. Store stars (4.63 iOS, 4.48 Play) mostly belong to the old Office app listing and sit far above Trustpilot's 1.6.
“Did you know the Copilot app can record your in-person meetings? … A seriously useful feature…”
Post on X, 23 August 2026 · source
“I've had both apps on my Win11 PC for months and I still don't understand what the difference is. I use Copilot all the time but I couldn't tell you which of these two apps I've been using. It's good that they're unifying it, I guess.”
Individual user review, 13 August 2026 · source
“the most important problem is that it is not as good as the others. even when the newest models from OpenAI are selected the result is very poor.”
Individual user review, 13 August 2026 · source
“Microsoft replaced Projects with Notebooks and now most of my old agent chats are gone 💀”
Individual user review, 5 October 2026 · source
“Windows 11 AI now tells you what’s slowing down your PC, while Copilot itself uses 1 GB of RAM doing nothing.”
Post on X, 12 July 2026 · source
Press reviews
- TechRadar 2025-04-02
The iPhone app is calm and unfussy, with natural-sounding voices; it has the same flaws as other assistants.
- Tom's Guide 2025-04-04
Hands-on with the relaunched Copilot; picks out three features as the most useful additions.
- TechRadar 2026-04-07
The rebuilt Windows app is an Edge-based web shell that uses about 500MB of RAM in the background and up to around 1GB in use.
- Windows Central 2026-08-13
News: the personal and Microsoft 365 Copilot apps merge; group chat, podcasts and Deep Research are dropped.
Privacy
- Trains on your data
- yes by default for signed-in adults (text and voice conversations); not for signed-out users, under-18s, work accounts, or Microsoft 365 app content
- Opt-out
- yes: profile > Privacy (web, Windows, Mac) or Account > Privacy (mobile), turn off 'Training on conversation activity' and 'Training on voice conversations'; applies to future conversations
- Retention
- conversation history stored for 18 months by default; deletable individually or all at once
- Incidents
- No consumer data breach or privacy fine found in searches of news. Consumer-protection actions on Copilot bundling: UK CMA case opened 27 Jul 2026 (open, no finding); Australia's ACCC sued Microsoft (Oct 2025); Italy's competition authority opened a probe (26 Jun 2026, secondary source). Copilot conversation history can be used to personalise ads when ads personalisation and Copilot personalisation are both on.
- Age limit
- 13+ or older where local law requires; under-18s get some features limited and no personalised ads (terms effective 18 Aug 2026)
In court
Lawsuits and regulator actions involving Microsoft. Claims are the claimant's allegations unless a court or regulator has ruled. The privacy score above was reviewed against this record. Who runs Microsoft: Satya Nadella.
The Times alleges Microsoft and OpenAI used its journalism without permission to train and operate generative-AI products.
S.D.N.Y. (coordinated in In re OpenAI, Inc. Copyright Infringement Litigation) · 1:23-cv-11195-SHS-OTW (MDL 1:25-md-03143) · 4 Sep 2026: parties filed summary-judgment motions in the MDL.
- Doe v. GitHub, Inc.Pending
Programmers allege Copilot reproduced their open-source code without required attribution or licence information.
N.D. Cal.; U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · 4:22-cv-06823-JST; 9th Cir. 24-7700 · 16 Sep 2026: Ninth Circuit affirmed DMCA dismissal; contract claims remain pending.
The ACCC alleges Microsoft hid a lower-priced no-Copilot option when telling subscribers about higher-priced plans.
Federal Court of Australia, New South Wales Registry · No. NSD of 2025 · 27 Oct 2025: ACCC commenced Federal Court proceedings; no outcome found.
The CMA is investigating whether Microsoft clearly explained subscription options and price differences when adding Copilot.
UK Competition and Markets Authority · Consumer enforcement case · 27 Jul 2026: CMA opened its investigation; it says no finding has been made.
- Microsoft Teams IISettled
The Commission raised competition concerns about Microsoft bundling Teams with Office and Microsoft 365 business suites.
European Commission · AT.40873 · 12 Sep 2025: Commission made Microsoft's Teams commitments legally binding.
The CMA examined Microsoft's hiring of Inflection staff and associated arrangements for possible competition effects.
UK Competition and Markets Authority · Microsoft / Inflection merger inquiry · 4 Sep 2024: CMA cleared the arrangements; full decision published 24 Oct.
Official videos
FAQ
Is Microsoft Copilot free?
Yes, the basic Copilot is free with a Microsoft account. Higher limits come with Microsoft 365 Personal (£8.49 a month), Family (£10.49) or Premium (£18.99). Copilot Pro was discontinued in October 2025.
Why did my Microsoft 365 price go up?
Microsoft added Copilot to Personal and Family plans in January 2025 and moved renewing customers onto the higher Copilot price unless they picked a Classic plan. The UK CMA opened an investigation into this in July 2026 and has made no finding yet.
What happened to the Copilot app?
In August 2026 Microsoft merged the personal Copilot app with the Microsoft 365 Copilot app. Group chats, podcasts and Deep Research were dropped in the change.
Does Copilot use my chats to train AI?
Yes by default for signed-in adults. It can be switched off under Privacy in settings, and conversations are kept for 18 months unless deleted.
Copilot vs ChatGPT?
Copilot is built into Windows and Office and is free, but individual reviewers often say its answers are weaker even when it uses OpenAI models. ChatGPT has far more users and a steadier app.
Scores are based on published evidence, not lab tests. How we score.
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