Microsoft Copilot: Free AI Built Into Windows, Edge, and Microsoft 365

# Microsoft Copilot: Free AI Built Into Windows, Edge, and Microsoft 365

If you use Windows or Microsoft Edge, you already have a powerful AI assistant — and you might not know it.

Microsoft Copilot is Microsoft’s AI, and the free version is essentially GPT-4 running in your browser or as a sidebar in Windows. You can ask it questions, write with it, generate images, and browse the web with AI help — all for free, without needing a separate ChatGPT account.

## What Microsoft Copilot Can Do

**Answer questions and help you write** — Like ChatGPT, Copilot can help you draft emails, summarize information, brainstorm ideas, explain complex topics in plain language, and much more. The underlying model is GPT-4, so the quality is on par with what you’d get from ChatGPT’s free tier.

**Search the web in real time** — This is a meaningful advantage over the base version of ChatGPT. Copilot has web search built in by default, which means it can answer questions about current events, look up recent information, and cite sources. It won’t confidently make up outdated facts.

**Generate images for free** — Copilot includes DALL-E 3 image generation at no cost. You describe what you want and it creates images. This is the same model that requires a paid ChatGPT Plus subscription to access through OpenAI.

**Work inside Edge browser** — If you use Microsoft Edge, Copilot lives in the sidebar. You can ask it to summarize the webpage you’re reading, help you compose a reply to an email you’re viewing in Outlook, or explain something you’ve highlighted on screen.

**Windows sidebar integration** — On Windows 11, Copilot can be pinned to your desktop. Press the Windows key + C to open it without switching windows.

## The Paid Version: Microsoft 365 Copilot

The free Copilot (copilot.microsoft.com) is separate from “Microsoft 365 Copilot” — these are two different things that share a name, which causes a lot of confusion.

**Free Copilot** — Available to anyone, runs on the web and in Windows/Edge, includes GPT-4 and image generation, no Microsoft 365 subscription needed.

**Microsoft 365 Copilot ($30/user/month)** — This is a business add-on to Microsoft 365 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams). It integrates AI directly inside those apps — summarizing long email threads in Outlook, drafting entire documents in Word, generating charts from data in Excel, and creating presentation slides in PowerPoint.

The Microsoft 365 Copilot features are genuinely powerful. But at $30 per user per month on top of an existing Microsoft 365 subscription, they’re priced for businesses, not individuals.

For most everyday users, the free version is all you need.

## Copilot vs. ChatGPT: Which Should You Use?

Both are powered by GPT-4, so the core capability is similar. The differences:

| | Copilot (free) | ChatGPT (free) |
|—|—|—|
| Model | GPT-4 | GPT-4o mini (GPT-4 requires Plus) |
| Web search | Yes, built in | Limited (requires Plus for consistent access) |
| Image generation | Yes, free (DALL-E 3) | Requires Plus ($20/month) |
| Where it runs | Browser, Windows sidebar, Edge | Browser, app |
| Microsoft 365 integration | Paid add-on | No |

For free users, Copilot currently offers more — especially GPT-4 access and free image generation. ChatGPT’s interface and ecosystem are more mature, with more tutorials and third-party resources available.

## Honest Limitations

**Fewer tutorials and examples than ChatGPT** — ChatGPT has been the dominant AI tool for longer, so there’s a much larger community, more YouTube tutorials, and more prompting guides built around it. If you get stuck with Copilot, finding help online is sometimes harder.

**The branding is confusing** — Microsoft uses “Copilot” for multiple products at different price points. The free web version, the Windows sidebar, the GitHub Copilot coding assistant, and the Microsoft 365 Copilot business add-on are all called “Copilot” but are different things. Just start at copilot.microsoft.com and ignore the rest until you know what you need.

**Deep Office integration requires the expensive business plan** — If you want AI drafting your Word documents or summarizing your Outlook emails automatically, that’s the Microsoft 365 Copilot add-on — and it’s $30/user/month, which is steep for individuals.

## Who Should Use Copilot?

Copilot is a great choice if you’re a Windows user who wants a capable free AI without signing up for a new service. It’s also worth using if you want free image generation — that alone makes it worth trying over ChatGPT’s free tier.

If you’re already comfortable with ChatGPT or another AI tool, there’s no urgent reason to switch. But if you’re just starting out, Copilot is one of the best free options available right now.

## FAQ

**Do I need a Microsoft account to use Copilot?**
You can use Copilot at copilot.microsoft.com without signing in, but signing in with a free Microsoft account unlocks longer conversations, conversation history, and more image generation credits. A Microsoft account is free to create if you don’t have one.

**Is Copilot the same as ChatGPT?**
They use the same underlying model (GPT-4), but they’re separate products built by different companies. Microsoft has a major investment in OpenAI and licenses the technology. The experience and interface are different — and Copilot includes features like web search and image generation that ChatGPT reserves for paid tiers.

**Can Copilot help me inside Word or Excel for free?**
Only in a limited way. You can paste content from Word into Copilot’s web interface and ask it to improve or summarize it. But the deep in-app features — like Copilot drafting an entire document inside Word as you work — require the Microsoft 365 Copilot add-on at $30/user/month. That’s a business product, not a free consumer feature.

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*Related: [ChatGPT vs Gemini vs Claude: Which AI Should You Use?](/chatgpt-vs-gemini-vs-claude-comparison/) · [Are Free AI Tools Good Enough or Will I Have to Pay?](/are-free-ai-tools-good-enough-or-will-i-have-to-pay/)*

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