Automate Basics

Microsoft Copilot vs ChatGPT vs Claude

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
Microsoft Copilot

Free plan · from $9.99/mo

ChatGPT

Free plan · from $8/mo

Claude

Free plan · from $17/mo

What it isMicrosoft's free consumer AI assistant, with more use in Microsoft 365 plansOpenAI's AI chat assistant for writing, research, images, voice and codingAnthropic's AI assistant for writing, analysis, research and coding
Free planLimited free version subject to available capacity and usage limits; signing in with a personal Microsoft account adds chat history, image creation, longer conversations and voiceUnlimited text chats with GPT-5.6 Luna (subject to abuse guardrails); limited uploads, image generation, voice chats, deep research, memory and Codex accessChat 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 projects
Cheapest paid plan$9.99/mo (Microsoft 365 Personal)Microsoft Copilot pricing$8/mo (Go)ChatGPT pricing$17/mo billed annually (Pro)Claude pricing
What it coversOr $99.99/year. Copilot chat with higher usage than free, plus Copilot in Microsoft 365 apps; AI features are for the subscription owner only.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.Annual billing is $200 paid up front. Includes Claude Code.
Free trial1-month free trial of Microsoft 365 Personal, Family or PremiumNone statedNone stated
PlatformsWeb, Windows, macOS, iOS, AndroidWeb, iOS, Android, macOSWeb, iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, Chrome extension, API
Integrations (vendor's figure)Not statedNot statedNot stated
Open sourceNoNoNo
Good for
  • 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
  • Drafting and editing emails, reports and posts
  • Researching a topic with web search and deep research
  • Analysing a spreadsheet or document you upload
  • Drafting and editing long documents and emails
  • Summarising and analysing uploaded files
  • Researching a topic with web search
Watch out for
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
Made byMicrosoftOpenAIAnthropic

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.