Microsoft Copilot Pricing 2026: Free, Personal, Family and Premium

Microsoft Copilot is free with a Microsoft account, with limited usage. Paid Copilot now comes inside Microsoft 365: Personal at $9.99/mo or $99.99/yr, Family at $12.99/mo or $129.99/yr, Premium at $19.99/mo or $199.99/yr, and a new Pro tier at $99.99/mo. Copilot Pro is no longer sold. Prices read on Microsoft's US pages, October 2026.

That is the short answer, and the trap sits inside it. On every shared plan, the AI belongs to the subscription owner only. Family covers up to six people for Word, Excel and 2 TB of storage, yet only the person who pays gets Copilot in those apps. Most households pricing "Copilot for the family" discover this after checkout.

Toolradar data: the software directory we run lists 1,559 tools in its AI assistants ranking as of October 2026, and Microsoft Copilot is one of them. Unlike most of the paid assistants a buyer compares it with, its paid tiers are sold only inside an office suite, which is why the price questions below are about bundles.

Plan	Monthly billing	Yearly billing	People	Copilot usage Microsoft lists
Free Copilot	$0	$0	1	Limited usage with a free Microsoft account
Microsoft 365 Basic	$1.99/mo	$19.99/yr	1	No AI features
Microsoft 365 Personal	$9.99/mo	$99.99/yr	1	Higher than free
Microsoft 365 Family	$12.99/mo	$129.99/yr	Up to 6	Higher than free, owner only
Microsoft 365 Premium	$19.99/mo	$199.99/yr	Up to 6	Extensive, owner only, plus Researcher and Analyst
Microsoft 365 Pro	$99.99/mo	Not offered	Up to 6	Highest, owner only, monthly billing only

Prices are from Microsoft's compare all Microsoft 365 plans page, its Copilot plans for individuals page and the Microsoft 365 Basic page, read October 19, 2026.

What happened to Copilot Pro?

Copilot Pro was the old standalone add-on for Copilot in Office apps, and Microsoft stopped selling it when it launched Premium. Microsoft's October 1, 2025 announcement says Premium "combines everything in our Microsoft 365 Family and Copilot Pro subscriptions" and that the company would no longer sell Copilot Pro.

The About Microsoft Copilot Pro support page now opens with the same notice: Copilot Pro is no longer available for purchase, and existing subscribers could keep it until they cancelled or until support ended on August 1, 2026. Microsoft points former subscribers to Premium. Even the old Copilot Pro address on the Microsoft Store now opens the Premium product page.

What this means for a buyer in late 2026: there is no AI-only Copilot subscription for individuals any more. You pay for the suite (apps, storage, Defender) whether you want it or not. If all you want is a chatbot, that bundle is the reason a rival can be the better buy, which we cover below.

Do not confuse Copilot Pro with Microsoft 365 Pro. They share a word and nothing else. Microsoft 365 Pro is a new top tier for households and heavy users, priced at roughly five times Premium, and it is covered in its own section below.

Is Microsoft Copilot free?

Yes, with limits that make it a sampler rather than a work tool. Microsoft's pricing FAQ says it offers "a limited free version of Copilot subject to available capacity and limits", and that when you hit a limit you can upgrade or come back later. The compare table lists the free tier's chat and image generation as "limited usage with a free Microsoft account".

The free tier is a chatbot, not Copilot inside your documents, so anyone who wants help drafting in Word or building formulas in Excel has to pay. Desktop apps with Copilot built in start at the Personal plan, and Researcher and Analyst, Microsoft's agent features, start at Premium.

Microsoft 365 Basic is the plan that catches people out. It is the cheapest paid plan, adds 100 GB of storage and ad-free Outlook, and Microsoft's own footnote says "AI features are not available in Microsoft 365 Basic". Paying for Basic does not raise your Copilot limits at all. If AI is the reason you are shopping, skip it.

For the wider field of zero-cost assistants, see our best free AI chatbots ranking, and Gemini vs ChatGPT for how the two biggest free tiers differ.

Microsoft 365 Personal: the cheapest way to get Copilot in Office

Personal is the entry point for Copilot inside the Office desktop apps. It covers one person on up to five devices at once, with 1 TB of OneDrive storage, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and OneNote with Copilot, and Copilot chat with higher usage than the free tier.

Yearly billing saves real money here. Microsoft prints the saving on its compare page: $19.89 a year against paying monthly for twelve months. Monthly billing is the right call only if you plan to cancel within ten months.

The limits are the weak point. Microsoft's AI credits and limits page lists chat, deep reasoning and Pages as "extensive usage" on every paid plan, but voice, vision and image generation sit at "standard usage" on Personal. Researcher, Analyst and Cowork are not available at all. Copilot in Excel also needs AutoSave on, which means the workbook must live in OneDrive.

Students get a better price. Microsoft's college student page offers Personal for $4.99/mo, half the regular monthly rate, after you verify student status. When you stop qualifying, the price moves to the then-current full monthly rate.

Microsoft 365 Family: cheap per person, but the AI is not shared

Family costs $3 a month more than Personal on monthly billing and covers up to six people, each on up to five devices, with 2 TB of storage shared across the household. For Office apps and storage, it is the cheapest per-person deal in the lineup.

For Copilot, it is a one-seat plan. Microsoft's pricing FAQ answers the question directly: Copilot features in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook are available only to the subscription owner and cannot be shared with other family members. Family members who want Copilot need their own eligible subscription.

Copilot limits on Family match Personal line for line on Microsoft's credits table, so the extra money buys seats and storage for other people, not more AI for you. Pick Family when the household needs Office; pick Personal when only you do.

Microsoft 365 Premium: the real Copilot Pro replacement

Premium is the plan Microsoft positions for AI. It includes everything in Family, plus "extensive usage" on Copilot chat, image creation, voice and vision, and access to Copilot features Microsoft says are exclusive to Premium and Pro.

The concrete difference is on the AI credits and limits page. Researcher, Analyst and Cowork (a preview available only in the US and Canada) are "not available" on Personal and Family, and "extensive usage" on Premium. Image generation and Audio Overview move from standard to extensive. Voice and vision move to "more usage".

Annual billing on Premium works out to a $39.89 saving against twelve monthly payments, a figure Microsoft prints on its compare page. The one-month free trial covers Personal, Family and Premium, and every plan renews automatically at the regular price unless you cancel in your Microsoft account.

The same owner-only rule applies: Premium covers up to six people for apps and storage, and only the payer gets the extensive AI. A couple who both want Researcher still needs two AI-bearing subscriptions.

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Microsoft 365 Pro: who needs the top tier?

Microsoft 365 Pro is billed monthly only, with no yearly price on Microsoft's page and no free trial button. It covers up to six people with 5 TB of shared storage, and Microsoft describes its AI usage as the "highest" in the lineup.

Here is the part worth reading twice. On Microsoft's own credits table, Premium and Pro have identical entries for chat, deep reasoning, Pages, Audio Overview, image generation, Researcher, Analyst and Cowork. The only rows where Pro is listed higher are voice and vision, where Premium says "more usage" and Pro says "highest usage". The other difference is storage: 5 TB instead of 2 TB.

That makes Pro a niche plan. It fits someone who hits Premium's voice or vision ceiling every week, or a household that has outgrown 2 TB. For anyone else, it is five times the monthly price for limits that read the same on paper.

What does Copilot cost a household? A worked example

Because the AI never travels with a shared seat, the plan price is not the household price. We built three cases from Microsoft's printed yearly prices (our arithmetic, not Microsoft's):

Household need	Cheapest setup on Microsoft's price list	Yearly cost
One adult wants Copilot, four others need Office and storage	Family, yearly	$129.99
Two adults want Copilot in Office, kids need Office	Family yearly for one adult, plus Personal yearly for the other	$229.98
One adult wants Researcher and Analyst, family shares apps	Premium, yearly	$199.99

The middle row is where most households overspend. Moving the Family owner to Premium does not give the second adult any Copilot, so the cheapest fix is a second Personal subscription on that adult's own Microsoft account, and the kids stay on the Family plan.

The last row shows Premium's real value: it is the cheapest way to get Researcher and Analyst at all. If nobody in the house needs those agents, Premium costs $70 a year more than Family for usage upgrades on voice, vision and images.

Microsoft Copilot vs ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude on price

Compared month to month, Copilot's paid AI tier lands in the same band as its rivals. On monthly billing, ChatGPT Plus is $20/month, Google AI Pro matches Premium to the cent and Claude Pro is $20 billed monthly. Premium sits in the same band.

On yearly billing, Premium is $199.99 and Claude Pro is $200 billed up front, which Anthropic shows as $17 a month. OpenAI's help page lists Plus as billed monthly.

The prices match, so the bundle decides. Premium carries Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, 2 TB and Defender for six people. ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude subscriptions carry none of the Office apps. If your household already pays for Microsoft 365 Family, the step up to Premium is a $70 a year AI upgrade, less than four months of any rival's monthly plan, and the rest of the household keeps its apps.

If you do not use Office, the bundle is dead weight, and a standalone chatbot gives you more AI per dollar. Our ChatGPT pricing, Gemini pricing and Claude pricing breakdowns list each plan, and the best AI chatbots ranking compares them on fit. For the same price question across dozens of tools, see AI subscription prices 2026.

What we do not cover here: Microsoft 365 Copilot for businesses is a separate product with per-user pricing and admin controls. Techpresso's Microsoft 365 Copilot pricing breakdown covers the work plans. For how Copilot performs as an assistant rather than what it costs, read our Microsoft Copilot review.

Which Copilot plan should you buy?

• You only want a chatbot now and then: stay on free Copilot, and expect capacity limits at busy times.
• You want Copilot inside Word and Excel for yourself: Personal, billed yearly.
• You share Office with a household, and only you use the AI: Family, billed yearly.
• You want Researcher, Analyst or extensive image and voice use: Premium.
• You max out voice and vision weekly or need 5 TB: Pro, and confirm the monthly-only billing fits your budget.
• You are a verified college student: the student price on Personal before anything else.

FAQ

How much does Microsoft Copilot cost in 2026?

Copilot itself is free with a Microsoft account, with limited usage. Paid Copilot comes with Microsoft 365 plans on monthly billing: Personal at $9.99/mo, Family at $12.99/mo and Premium at $19.99/mo, with yearly billing cheaper on all three. The new Pro tier costs five times Premium and has no yearly option. Prices read on Microsoft's US pricing pages in October 2026.

Can I still buy Copilot Pro?

No. Microsoft's support page says Copilot Pro is no longer available for purchase, and existing subscribers could keep it until they cancelled or until support ended on August 1, 2026. Microsoft names Premium as the replacement, and its launch post says Premium combines Family and Copilot Pro.

Does Microsoft 365 Family give Copilot to everyone on the plan?

No. Microsoft states that Copilot features in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook are available only to the subscription owner and cannot be shared. Family members who want Copilot need their own eligible subscription, such as a separate Personal plan.

Is Microsoft 365 Premium worth it over Personal?

Only if you need what Personal lacks. Premium adds Researcher, Analyst and Cowork, plus extensive image generation and Audio Overview, and covers six people for apps and 2 TB of storage. Chat and deep reasoning are listed as extensive usage on both plans, so a person who mostly chats with Copilot gains little.

Is Microsoft 365 Pro the same as Copilot Pro?

No. Copilot Pro was a standalone AI add-on that Microsoft stopped selling. Microsoft 365 Pro is a full suite plan at five times Premium's monthly price, with 5 TB of shared storage and the highest voice and vision limits. On Microsoft's own limits table, its other AI rows match Premium.

Does Microsoft 365 Basic include Copilot?

No. Microsoft's footnote on its plan pages says AI features are not available in Microsoft 365 Basic. Basic buys 100 GB of storage and ad-free Outlook for $1.99 a month, so your Copilot access stays at the free level.

Louis Corneloup, founder of Dupple and Toolradar, prepared this price breakdown for people choosing a consumer Copilot plan. We read Microsoft's compare all Microsoft 365 plans page, its Copilot plans for individuals page, the Microsoft 365 Pro product page, the AI credits and limits page, the Copilot Pro support page and the rival pricing pages linked above on October 19, 2026. Household totals are our arithmetic on Microsoft's printed prices. Publishing rules for this site are on the AIpresso about page. We recheck vendor prices monthly.

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Cite this: AIpresso, "Microsoft Copilot Pricing 2026: Free, Personal, Family and Premium", November 2026.

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