Copilot in Microsoft 365: What Freelancers Should Know
Copilot is Microsoft's AI assistant. Depending on your plan, it sits right inside Word, Outlook, Excel and PowerPoint, runs as a chat in the browser, or comes as an add-on to a business plan. Which Copilot comes with which plan, what it costs, how to turn it off and what Microsoft says about your data, all from Microsoft's own pages.
The short version
- Plans for individuals: Microsoft 365 Personal, Family, Premium and Pro include Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote, from $9.99 a month in the US. Microsoft 365 Basic has no AI features.
- Business plans: Copilot Chat is included at no extra cost. The full Copilot in Word, Excel and PowerPoint comes with the Copilot Business add-on, currently from $18 per user and month, paid yearly.
- You can turn it off with a personal account: in Word, Excel and PowerPoint with the “Enable Copilot” checkbox, in Outlook with a toggle. The web and mobile versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint have no checkbox, and classic Outlook doesn't have the toggle yet.
Which Copilot is which?
Four offers run under the name Copilot, depending on your account and plan. According to Microsoft's pricing pages and Microsoft Learn, as of October 27, 2026:
| Offer | Where and for whom |
|---|---|
| Copilot app | A standalone assistant in the browser and as an app, with a personal Microsoft account. A limited free version is available, subject to capacity and limits; without a paid Microsoft 365 subscription, Copilot may include advertising. |
| Copilot in Microsoft 365 for individuals | Built into Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote, in the Personal, Family, Premium and Pro plans. |
| Copilot Chat | Chat for work accounts with an eligible business plan, at no additional cost. It uses the web, the content you provide and, in Outlook, your inbox and calendar. Copilot in Word, Excel and PowerPoint is among what the Copilot Business add-on unlocks. |
| Copilot Business | Add-on for business plans with up to 300 users. Adds Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Teams, and access to your work data. |
The names are changing right now. According to Microsoft Learn, Microsoft 365 Copilot is now named Microsoft Copilot, and Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat is now named Microsoft Copilot Chat; the pricing pages still use the old names. Personal and work accounts stay separate: chats, files, permissions and protections depend on the account you sign in with.
What does Copilot cost?
For individuals: Copilot comes with the subscription
US prices according to Microsoft's comparison page and the Copilot pricing page, as of October 27, 2026:
| Plan | Price | Copilot |
|---|---|---|
| Personal | $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year | In Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote |
| Family | $12.99 a month or $129.99 a year | Same as Personal; AI features are only available to the subscription owner |
| Premium | $19.99 a month or $199.99 a year | Same as Personal, plus the Researcher and Analyst agents |
| Pro | $99.99 a month, monthly billing only | Copilot in the apps, plus 5 TB of storage |
Prices differ by country. In Germany, for example, Personal is called Single and costs €10 a month or €99 a year, according to Microsoft's German comparison page. Some AI features are limited by the number of uses, others use monthly “AI credits”; Microsoft does not say how many a plan includes. If you reach a limit or use up your credits, the feature may be unavailable until your allowance resets, according to Microsoft. Personal, Family and Premium come with a free month to try.
Business: Copilot Chat included, Copilot in the apps as an add-on
US prices according to Microsoft's business pricing page, as of October 27, 2026:
| Offer | Price per user and month |
|---|---|
| Copilot Chat | No additional cost with eligible Microsoft 365 plans |
| Copilot Business add-on | $18 paid yearly instead of $21 (discount between July 1 and December 31, 2026, first year only) |
| Business Standard with Copilot Business | $23.50 paid yearly, $28.20 on a monthly subscription |
| Business Premium with Copilot Business | $32.00 paid yearly, $38.40 on a monthly subscription |
Microsoft sells the add-on only to existing customers with an eligible business plan, such as Business Basic, Standard or Premium according to Microsoft Learn. A free trial is available, and a credit card is required to sign up. More advanced features such as Copilot Cowork are billed by usage.
A plan for individuals as a freelancer?
On its comparison page, Microsoft writes: “For most freelancers, solopreneurs, and side business owners looking to maximize productivity and protect their work, Microsoft 365 Premium is the recommended choice.” The Copilot terms, which Microsoft says apply to the Copilot app and to Copilot Chat in Microsoft 365 apps, state: “You can only use Copilot for your own personal use.” If it matters to you, ask Microsoft before you commit.
What Copilot does in Outlook, Word and Excel
The features that take the most work off freelancers, according to Microsoft's help pages:
- Outlook: summarize an email thread, draft replies, and get coaching on tone, clarity and reader sentiment before you hit send.
- Word: create a first draft from a simple request, an outline, notes or reference files; type “/” to point Copilot to a specific file. Depending on your subscription and availability, you can choose models such as Claude Sonnet or Claude Opus.
- Excel: get insights, generate formulas, create charts and PivotTables. Copilot needs AutoSave, so the file must be saved to OneDrive.
- PowerPoint: generate a presentation from a Word document, one file at a time.
- Teams: meeting recaps require a Teams Premium or Microsoft Copilot license, according to Microsoft.
There are also Copilot Notebooks, available according to Microsoft for Personal, Family and Premium subscribers too. How to build a briefing that works in any tool is in the guide Create your own AI assistant.
Turn Copilot off or on
Where you turn Copilot off depends on the app and the device. These are the ways Microsoft describes for personal accounts; the settings are not available if you are signed in with a work or school account.
| App and device | How to |
|---|---|
| Word, Excel, PowerPoint on Windows | File > Options > Copilot, clear the “Enable Copilot” checkbox, select OK, then close and restart the app. It applies only to that app on that device, so Word and Excel each need their own change. |
| Word, Excel, PowerPoint on a Mac | App menu > Preferences > Authoring and Proofing Tools > Copilot, clear the “Enable Copilot” checkbox, then close and restart the app. |
| New Outlook for Windows, Outlook on the web | Settings > Copilot, use the “Turn on Copilot” toggle. The choice applies to Outlook on all your devices signed in with the same account. |
| Outlook on Mac, iOS and Android | Quick Settings > Copilot, use the “Turn on Copilot” toggle. |
| Classic Outlook for Windows | Not available yet; according to Microsoft, there is currently no estimated date. |
| Word, Excel, PowerPoint on the web, iOS and Android | No setting of their own. Microsoft points to your account's privacy settings: clearing “Turn on experiences that analyze your content” turns off Copilot, but also other features such as text predictions in Word. |
To turn it back on, select the checkbox or toggle again. According to Microsoft's FAQ, Copilot features in Designer, Notepad and Paint can't be turned off.
What Microsoft says about your data
Different rules apply depending on the account. Only Microsoft's own statements here:
- Personal account, Copilot in Microsoft 365 apps: “Prompts, responses, and your file contents when using Copilot in Microsoft 365 apps aren't used to train foundation models.” (Microsoft)
- Personal account, Copilot app: “Microsoft Copilot also uses prompts and related data to provide and improve services, including relevant advertising.” (Microsoft Privacy Statement)
- Work account: Microsoft calls this “enterprise data protection” and acts as a data processor. Microsoft Learn states: “Your data isn't used to train foundation models.” On the EU Data Boundary: “The EU Data Boundary doesn't apply to web search queries. In addition, Anthropic models are currently excluded from the EU Data Boundary and when applicable, in-country processing commitments.”
What you may do with client data is something to settle with your data protection officer or a lawyer.
Copilot or ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini?
If you already work in Word and Outlook, Copilot sits where your files and emails already are. Which model does the work is blurring anyway: in Word you can choose Claude models depending on your subscription. Which tool fits which task is still decided by the task, not the name. How to weigh that is in the guide ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini? The task decides.
Frequently asked questions
Partly. A limited free version of the Copilot app is available. Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook comes with Microsoft 365 Personal and up, from $9.99 a month in the US. Business plans include Copilot Chat at no additional cost; the full Copilot in Word, Excel and PowerPoint comes with the Copilot Business add-on there.
On Windows, go to File > Options > Copilot and clear “Enable Copilot”; on a Mac, go to Preferences > Authoring and Proofing Tools > Copilot. Then restart Word. According to Microsoft, this works for personal accounts and only for the app on that device.
Copilot Chat is the chat for work accounts, included at no additional cost with eligible business plans; it uses the web, the content you provide and, in Outlook, your inbox and calendar. The Copilot Business add-on adds the full Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Teams, with access to your work data.
For Copilot in Microsoft 365 apps with a personal account and for work accounts, Microsoft says prompts and responses aren't used to train foundation models. For the Copilot app, Microsoft's Privacy Statement says it uses prompts and related data to provide and improve services, including relevant advertising.
No. According to Microsoft, AI features are only available to the subscription owner and cannot be shared.
Sources
Retrieved on October 27, 2026.
- Microsoft: “Flexible Copilot plans for every individual”
- Microsoft Learn: “Overview of Microsoft Copilot Chat”
- Microsoft: “Flexible Copilot plans for every organization”
- Microsoft Learn: “Manage Copilot Chat”
- Microsoft: “Compare Microsoft 365 Plans & Pricing (Formerly Office 365)”
- Microsoft (Germany): “Alle Microsoft 365-Pläne und -Preise vergleichen (bisher Office 365)”
- Microsoft: “How AI usage works across Microsoft 365 subscriptions for individuals”
- Microsoft Learn: “License options for Microsoft Copilot”
- Microsoft: “Microsoft Copilot Supplemental Terms of Use”
- Microsoft: “Summarize an email thread with Copilot in Outlook”
- Microsoft: “Draft an email message with Copilot in Outlook”
- Microsoft: “Get email coaching with Copilot in Outlook”
- Microsoft: “Draft and add content with Copilot in Word”
- Microsoft: “Frequently asked questions about Copilot in Excel”
- Microsoft: “Frequently asked questions about Copilot in PowerPoint”
- Microsoft Learn: “Intelligent recap for Teams calls, meetings, and events”
- Microsoft: “Frequently asked questions about Microsoft Copilot Notebooks”
- Microsoft: “Turn off Copilot in Microsoft 365 apps”
- Microsoft: “Frequently asked questions about Copilot in Microsoft 365 subscriptions”
- Microsoft: “Copilot in Microsoft 365 apps for home: your data and privacy”
- Microsoft: “Microsoft Privacy Statement”
- Microsoft Learn: “Enterprise data protection in Microsoft Copilot and Microsoft Copilot Chat”
Related
You work in Microsoft 365 and want to know what Copilot can do for your tasks?
I work 1:1 with freelancers, consultants, coaches and small teams on their real tasks. The intro call is free, takes 15 minutes and is not a sales pitch.
Book Free Consultation