Copilot vs ChatGPT for work: which should your team use?
Quick answer
If your company already pays for Microsoft 365, start with Microsoft Copilot: Copilot Chat comes at no extra cost on eligible plans, it is covered by Microsoft's enterprise data protection when you sign in with your work account, and the paid add-on works inside Outlook, Word, Excel and Teams. Choose ChatGPT if you don't use Microsoft 365, or if you want the broader standalone assistant for images, research and varied writing. Copilot uses models from OpenAI, and now Anthropic too, so the writing quality is closer than the brands suggest.
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This comparison is for office managers, finance, HR and operations teams on Outlook and Teams. Copilot lessons on Stepthrough are still being built, but the core skill is the same in both: give the assistant your facts and check the result. Practice it free in Reply Faster: Customer Emails.
How do they compare at a glance?
| Microsoft Copilot | ChatGPT | |
|---|---|---|
| Made by | Microsoft, with models from OpenAI and Anthropic | OpenAI |
| Free for work | Copilot Chat at no additional cost with eligible Microsoft 365 plans | ChatGPT Free (a personal account, not a business plan) |
| Paid business plan | Copilot Business add-on: $21 per user a month paid yearly ($18 promotional price on annual plans through December 2026), $25.20 paid monthly; enterprise Copilot $30 per user a month paid yearly | ChatGPT Business: $25 per user a month, or $20 billed annually, 2 user minimum |
| Bundles | Microsoft 365 Business Standard with Copilot: $23.50 per user a month paid yearly | None; Enterprise is custom pricing |
| Personal plans | Microsoft 365 Personal $9.99, Family $12.99, Premium $19.99 a month | Go $8, Plus $20, Pro from $100 a month |
| Works inside | Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams and the Copilot app | Its own app, with Excel, Word and PowerPoint extensions and Microsoft 365 connectors |
| Business data and training | Enterprise data protection on work accounts: not used to train foundation models | Business and Enterprise: not used for training by default |
What do you get free with Microsoft 365?
Microsoft lists Copilot Chat at no additional cost with eligible Microsoft 365 business and enterprise subscriptions, as of October 2026. Microsoft also renamed its products this year: Microsoft 365 Copilot is now called Microsoft Copilot, and Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat is now Microsoft Copilot Chat. Copilot Chat is a web-grounded chat assistant you can use for drafting, summarizing and questions, and it can work with files you upload.
The paid Copilot license adds the part most people picture: Copilot inside Outlook to summarize threads, inside Word to draft from your files, inside Excel to analyze a table and inside Teams to recap meetings, all grounded in your company's email, calendar and documents. So the honest first step for any Microsoft 365 office is to try Copilot Chat before buying anything.
Is Copilot or ChatGPT better for writing emails?
They write emails of similar quality, partly because Copilot runs on OpenAI models among others. The difference is where you work. Copilot in Outlook drafts and summarizes inside the message you have open, with the paid license. ChatGPT works in its own window: you paste the thread in and copy the reply out, which takes a few seconds and works with any email system.
For a team that lives in Outlook all day, that convenience adds up. For a team that writes a lot of varied material, from proposals to social posts and images, ChatGPT's broader feature set may matter more. The free Summarize a Meeting Transcript lesson shows the paste-in routine for meeting notes.
Which is safer for company data?
Both have strong business terms. Microsoft's documentation says that with enterprise data protection, prompts and responses in Copilot on a work account get the same protections as Exchange email and SharePoint files and are not used to train foundation models. OpenAI says ChatGPT Business and Enterprise data are not used for training by default, with admin controls and SSO.
Two details are worth knowing. When Copilot uses Anthropic's Claude models, Microsoft shows that on screen, and its documentation notes that Claude is off by default for organizations in the EU, EFTA and UK. And a personal ChatGPT account is not a business plan: its chats can be used for training unless you change the setting. Use the account your company manages.
How much does each cost for a team?
On Microsoft's business pricing page as of October 2026, the Copilot Business add-on is $21 per user a month paid yearly, with a promotional $18 on annual plans through December 2026, or $25.20 paid monthly. It sits on top of a Microsoft 365 business plan, and bundles such as Microsoft 365 Business Standard with Copilot are $23.50 per user a month paid yearly. For larger organizations, Microsoft lists Copilot at $30 per user a month paid yearly.
ChatGPT Business is $25 per user a month, or $20 billed annually, with at least two users. If your company already pays for Microsoft 365, Copilot's add-on is often the cheaper way to give a team AI inside its existing tools.
Who is each one for?
Microsoft Copilot
Best for offices on Outlook, Word, Excel and Teams, especially when Copilot Chat is already included in the Microsoft 365 plan. The paid add-on brings Copilot into the apps and your work data. A free Stepthrough lesson for Copilot is coming.
ChatGPT
Best for teams on any email system who want one broad assistant for writing, research, images and analysis. Free Stepthrough lessons include Prompt Writing 101, Reply Faster and ChatGPT Work.
Which of these tools have a free Stepthrough lesson?
- Microsoft Copilot: a free Stepthrough lesson is coming.
- ChatGPT: free lesson: Reply Faster: Turn a Messy Customer Email Thread into a Clear, Friendly Reply
Practice it free, step by step
Reply Faster: Turn a Messy Customer Email Thread into a Clear, Friendly Reply. Turn a messy customer email thread into a clear, friendly reply: give ChatGPT the thread and your facts, check every promise, fix the tone, and send it from Gmail. You do every step yourself in a practice copy of ChatGPT, it checks your work as you go, and “Do it for me” finishes any step you get stuck on. Free, and nothing touches your real accounts.
Start the free lessonWatch it in a free lesson: Summarize a Meeting Transcript with ChatGPT
3:00A messy meeting in, clear next steps out with ChatGPT
Paste a long meeting transcript into ChatGPT and get the decisions, an action items table with owners and due dates, and a follow-up email ready to send.
Key takeaways
- On Microsoft 365, try Copilot Chat first: Microsoft lists it at no additional cost on eligible plans, as of October 2026.
- The paid Copilot add-on puts AI inside Outlook, Word, Excel and Teams; ChatGPT works in its own app with extensions.
- Both keep business-plan data out of model training by default; a personal ChatGPT account is not a business plan.
- Copilot uses models from OpenAI and Anthropic, so writing quality is close; the deciding factor is where your team works.
Frequently asked questions
Is Microsoft Copilot just ChatGPT?
No. Copilot is Microsoft's own product with its own apps, plans and data terms. It uses OpenAI models among others, and as of October 2026 can also use Anthropic's Claude models for some features.
Is Copilot Chat really free?
Microsoft lists Copilot Chat at no additional cost with eligible Microsoft 365 business and enterprise subscriptions. Some features, such as agents, are metered, and Copilot inside the Office apps needs the paid license.
Can I use ChatGPT if my company uses Copilot?
Only if your company allows it. Many firms approve one assistant for work data. If ChatGPT isn't approved, don't paste company information into a personal account.
Which is better for Excel?
If your spreadsheets live in Excel, the paid Copilot license works inside Excel itself. ChatGPT can analyze an uploaded spreadsheet and offers an Excel extension. Check the numbers either way.
Where do these prices and features come from?
Every price and feature on this page was checked against the vendor's own page, as of October 2026. No numbers here are estimates or third-party figures. The example businesses in the Stepthrough lessons are made up.
