Automate Basics

Claude vs ChatGPT vs Microsoft Copilot

Pick up to 4 tools and see their free plans, entry prices, platforms and limits in one table. Every fact comes from each vendor's own pages, checked 23 September 2026.

Written head to head: ChatGPT vs Claude · Microsoft Copilot vs ChatGPT, with when to choose each side.

Compared on
Claude

Free plan · from $17/mo

ChatGPT

Free plan · from $8/mo

Microsoft Copilot

Free plan · from $9.99/mo

What it isAnthropic's AI assistant for writing, analysis, research and codingOpenAI's AI chat assistant for writing, research, images, voice and codingMicrosoft's free consumer AI assistant, with more use in Microsoft 365 plans
Free planChat on web, desktop and mobile with web search, file creation, code execution, memory, app connections and artifacts; less usage than Pro; no Claude Code or projectsUnlimited text chats with GPT-5.6 Luna (subject to abuse guardrails); limited uploads, image generation, voice chats, deep research, memory and Codex accessLimited free version subject to available capacity and usage limits; signing in with a personal Microsoft account adds chat history, image creation, longer conversations and voice
Cheapest paid plan$17/mo billed annually (Pro)Claude pricing$8/mo (Go)ChatGPT pricing$9.99/mo (Microsoft 365 Personal)Microsoft Copilot pricing
What it coversAnnual billing is $200 paid up front. Includes Claude Code.Go may include ads. Plus is $20/month. OpenAI's FAQ says Go and Plus are sold as monthly plans; annual plans are for Business and Enterprise.Or $99.99/year. Copilot chat with higher usage than free, plus Copilot in Microsoft 365 apps; AI features are for the subscription owner only.
Free trialNone statedNone stated1-month free trial of Microsoft 365 Personal, Family or Premium
PlatformsWeb, iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, Chrome extension, APIWeb, iOS, Android, macOSWeb, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android
Integrations (vendor's figure)Not statedNot statedNot stated
Open sourceNoNoNo
Good for
  • Drafting and editing long documents and emails
  • Summarising and analysing uploaded files
  • Researching a topic with web search
  • Drafting and editing emails, reports and posts
  • Researching a topic with web search and deep research
  • Analysing a spreadsheet or document you upload
  • Asking quick questions and getting answers from the web
  • Summarising a long web page in Edge
  • Drafting documents in Word with a Microsoft 365 subscription
Watch out for
  • Claude Code, projects and task scheduling are not in the Free plan
  • Usage limits apply on Free and Pro; Max raises them 5x or 20x
  • Enterprise adds usage billed at API rates on top of the seat price
  • Free and Go have limited uploads, image generation, voice, deep research and Codex access
  • The Go plan may include ads
  • Business plans start at 2 users; Enterprise and Edu pricing requires contacting sales
  • Free use depends on available capacity and usage limits
  • In Microsoft 365 Family, Copilot features are for the subscription owner only and cannot be shared
  • Copilot Pro is no longer sold; Microsoft points buyers to Microsoft 365 Premium
Made byAnthropicOpenAIMicrosoft

Entry prices are the cheapest paid plan, as each vendor publishes it; “What it covers” says what that price is per (a user, a channel, a brand, a number of contacts). The sources are listed on each tool's page.

Every tool in AI assistants and chatbots is on its category page, with the written head-to-heads on Compare.