Office / developer tools / enterprise

Microsoft Copilot

  • Microsoft Copilot annual $30/mo

    Per user in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams. Business is $21, promo $18 through 12/31/2026.

  • Models in M365 from 07/09/2026

    GPT‑5.6 Sol, Terra and Luna. Claude Opus 5 and Sonnet 5. Astra is in Cowork, Studio and Foundry.

  • GitHub Copilot per user $10-100

    Pro $10, Pro+ $39, Max $100. Astra from 09/04/2026. From 10/02/2026 Opus 5.5 replaces retired Opus 4.7.

From 10/02/2026 GitHub Copilot no longer includes Gemini 3.5 Flash, Gemini 3.6 Flash, Kimi K2.7 Code or Claude Opus 4.7. GPT-5.5 leaves on 10/19/2026. Anthropic models are off by default in the EU.

  • Verified2026-10-03
  • Models covered4
  • Sources10
  • Deployment channels5

Purchase decision (when to choose / when to avoid)

Choose if...

  • You're in Microsoft 365 and want quick 'license-based' deployment (Outlook/Excel/Teams); Copilot Chat is already in your plan.
  • You have a developer team - GitHub Copilot delivers quick wins in the IDE with OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and xAI models to choose from.
  • You want central management (SSO, SCIM, audit) and data governance inside the EU Data Boundary.

Avoid if...

  • You don't use M365 - then it's usually overkill.
  • You need full model and prompt control (direct API is a better fit).
  • You want Anthropic models in the EU without an extra admin decision - in EU/EFTA/UK they are off by default and outside the EU Data Boundary.

Cost in practice (scenarios)

Office team (M365)

$30/user/mo (Enterprise, annual) or Copilot Business $21, promo $18 through 12/31/2026; Copilot Chat at no extra cost.

  • Outlook/Excel/Teams
  • Cowork and agents billed by usage
Dev team

GitHub Copilot Business $19 or Enterprise $39 per seat; AI Credits since 06/01/2026 (Business 1,900, Enterprise 3,900 credits/mo).

  • VS Code/JetBrains
  • code review and agents
Agents (Copilot Studio)

$200 per pack of 25,000 Copilot Credits/mo or pay-as-you-go; licensed Copilot users get internal agents at no charge.

  • classic answer 1, generative 2, action 5, grounding 10 credits
These are estimates/scenarios (not an invoice). Actual cost depends on context length, number of users, limits and retention policies.

Deployment / data / enterprise

Deployment channels

  • Microsoft Copilot (M365: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams) and Copilot Chat
  • Copilot Cowork (multi-step agent, billed by usage)
  • GitHub Copilot (IDE, code review, agents)
  • Copilot Studio (agents, Copilot Credits)
  • Microsoft Foundry (custom deployments of OpenAI and Anthropic models)

Data policy

Training on data
Prompts, responses and Microsoft Graph data are not used to train models.
Retention
Depends on product and tenant policies; Fable 5 (preview) has Anthropic-side retention up to 30 days outside Microsoft's DPA.
Data residency
Microsoft Copilot is an EU Data Boundary service; Anthropic models are outside the EUDB (admin opt-in), and Flex routing in EU/EFTA allows peak-time inference in the US, Canada or Australia.
Greatest value when the company already lives in M365 - integrations are 'built-in'.

Enterprise readiness

Admin
Strong IT governance in M365/Azure; separate settings for Anthropic models and Flex routing.
SSO/SCIM
Yes (M365/Azure).
Audit
Yes (M365/Azure).
DPA
Yes (enterprise contracts).
Certifications
Broad certification portfolio in Microsoft ecosystem.
Best for companies wanting AI as part of their office suite and developer tooling.

Best use cases

  • organizations in the Microsoft 365 ecosystem (Outlook, Excel, Teams, PowerPoint, SharePoint)
  • developer teams (GitHub Copilot - autocomplete, code review, agents in the IDE)
  • companies deploying AI centrally via SaaS licenses with M365 governance (EU Data Boundary, no training on data).

Strengths

  • Native integration with Office 365, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive and Microsoft Graph - zero additional configuration.
  • Model choice in M365: GPT-5.6 Sol/Terra/Luna, Claude Opus 5, Claude Sonnet 5; Astra in Cowork/Studio/Foundry; GitHub Copilot adds GPT-6 Astra, Claude Opus 5.5, Fable 5/5.1, Gemini 3.8 Flash, Grok 4.6, Kimi K3.
  • Deploy 'like another license' - easy scaling, enterprise compliance (SSO, SCIM, audit log, EU Data Boundary).

Weaknesses / risks

  • Strong dependency on Microsoft / Azure ecosystem - harder migration.
  • Anthropic models sit outside the EU Data Boundary and are off by default in EU/EFTA/UK (admin opt-in); Fable 5 is a preview with Anthropic-side retention.
  • Less control over the base model than with a direct API; cost grows with user count, and Cowork and agents are billed by usage.

Current models (examples)

  • Microsoft Copilot (M365): GPT-5.6 Sol/Terra/Luna (preferred since 07/09/2026), GPT-6 Astra in Cowork, Studio and Foundry, GPT 5.5 in Azure AI Foundry, Claude Opus 5 (since 07/24/2026), Claude Sonnet 5; Fable 5 (preview, Anthropic retention) and Fable 5.1 once an admin enables them.
  • Anthropic models are off by default in EU/EFTA/UK and outside the EU Data Boundary; OpenAI-operated models are inside the EU Data Boundary.
  • GitHub Copilot: GPT-6 Astra (from 09/04/2026, Pro+/Max/Business/Enterprise), GPT-5.6, GPT-5.5 (through 10/19/2026), Claude Opus 5.5 (from 10/02/2026, the replacement for retired Opus 4.7), Fable 5/5.1, Opus 5, Sonnet 5, Haiku 4.5, Gemini 3.8 Flash, Grok 4.6, MAI-Code-1.1-Flash, Kimi K3.
  • Copilot Studio and Microsoft Foundry: agents on GPT or Claude, billed in Copilot Credits or pay-as-you-go.

Alternatives (if this model doesn't fit)

OP
OpenAI
more prompt and API flexibility without M365 dependency
CL
Claude
long documents and safety
GE
Gemini
alternative in Google ecosystem