Perplexity 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 16 October 2026.

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

Compared on	Perplexity Free plan · from $17/mo Visit Remove	ChatGPT Free plan · from $8/mo Visit Remove	Microsoft Copilot Free plan · from $9.99/mo Visit Remove
What it is	AI answer engine that replies with cited sources from the web	OpenAI's AI chat assistant for writing, research, images, voice and coding	Microsoft's free consumer AI assistant, with more use in Microsoft 365 plans
Free plan	Limited daily usage, basic AI models and citations in every answer; limited web answers, file uploads and asset generation; no video generation, app connectors or Computer credits	Unlimited text chats with GPT-5.6 Luna (subject to abuse guardrails); limited uploads, image generation, voice chats, deep research, memory and Codex access	Limited 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)Perplexity pricing	$8/mo (Go)ChatGPT pricing	$9.99/mo (Microsoft 365 Personal)Microsoft Copilot pricing
What it covers	$200 a year on annual billing; the developer API is billed separately, per token and per request.	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 trial	None stated	None stated	1-month free trial of Microsoft 365 Personal, Family or Premium
Platforms	Web, API	Web, iOS, Android, macOS	Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android
Integrations (vendor's figure)	400+ app connectors	Not stated	Not stated
Open source	No	No	No
Good for	Getting a sourced answer to a factual question Researching a market or competitor with cited sources Comparing products or prices across the web	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	The Free plan has limited daily usage and basic models Among individual plans, monthly Computer credits (10,000) are included only in Max Individual plans are for personal use only	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 by	Perplexity AI	OpenAI	Microsoft

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.

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