This guide reflects what Microsoft published on 31 October 2026. Microsoft changes Copilot's features, names and licences often, so check this article's published date before you rely on it. Contact Softwired for current training and materials.
The short answer
Microsoft offers Copilot at work on two levels. Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat comes with Microsoft 365 business plans at no extra licence cost. It answers from the web and from files you upload, and it runs a limited set of agents.
A Microsoft 365 Copilot licence adds four things. Copilot reads your work data (emails, files, meetings and chats), runs the Researcher and Analyst agents, takes on multi-step jobs through Copilot Cowork, and works inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams. At home, Microsoft 365 Personal, Family, Premium and Pro plans include Copilot features.
Which Copilot do I have?
Go to copilot.cloud.microsoft. Microsoft shows one of three labels for your access: Copilot Chat (Basic), M365 Copilot (Basic) or M365 Copilot (Premium). Your IT team can tell you what your label means for your organisation.
Copilot Chat vs Microsoft 365 Copilot
| Feature | Copilot Chat (no Copilot licence) | Microsoft 365 Copilot (licence) |
|---|---|---|
| Web-grounded chat | Yes | Yes |
| Your work data | Files you upload only | Emails, files, meetings and chats (Microsoft calls this Work IQ) |
| Agents | Limited. Pay-as-you-go agents through Copilot Studio where your organisation enables them | Researcher, Analyst and custom agents |
| Copilot Cowork | No | Yes (generally available since June 2026) |
| Copilot Studio | Pay-as-you-go | Included |
| Priority access | No | Yes |
We checked this table on 31 October 2026. Your organisation's settings decide what's switched on for you.
Key Copilot features
Copilot Cowork. Switch from chat to Cowork and hand Copilot an outcome. Copilot plans the steps across your Microsoft 365 data, skills and apps, checks with you at each approval point and hands back finished files.
Researcher. Researcher writes detailed, cited reports from the web and from the work content you can access.
Analyst. Analyst works through data such as spreadsheets to find patterns and answer questions.
Copilot Pages. Pages hold Copilot's output as documents you can edit and share.
Memory and personalisation. Copilot saves memories, personalises answers from your chat history and follows your custom instructions. You manage all three in Settings, then Personalization.
Custom agents. You build agents in Copilot Chat or Copilot Studio for specific jobs, such as answering staff questions from your policy library.
How you'd actually use it
Catch up after leave (licence). "Summarise what I missed in email and Teams while I was away last week, and list anything waiting on me."
Prepare for a meeting (licence). "Prepare me for tomorrow's 10am meeting: who's attending, the last email threads with them and open actions."
Review an upload (Copilot Chat). Upload a supplier contract and ask, "List the key dates, obligations and termination terms."
Research (licence). Ask Researcher, "Summarise how our three main competitors describe their service offering, using their websites and our internal sales notes."
Copilot on personal and family plans
Microsoft 365 Personal, Family, Premium and Pro include Copilot features at different usage levels. Researcher and Analyst come with Premium and Pro only. Cowork is in preview on Premium and Pro in the US and Canada, so Australian subscribers don't have it yet. Only the subscription owner can use the AI features, and family members on the plan can't share them.
Watch-outs
- Keep work data in your work account. A personal Microsoft 365 plan sits outside your organisation's security and data controls.
- Copilot sees everything you have permission to see, so fix oversharing in SharePoint and OneDrive before a rollout.
- Check what Copilot produces before you send it, especially summaries of meetings and email.
Frequently asked questions
Is Copilot Chat free for business?
Copilot Chat comes with Microsoft 365 business plans at no extra Copilot licence cost, with the limits in the table above. Some agent use is charged pay-as-you-go.
Do I need a licence to use Copilot in Word and Excel?
Yes, for Copilot that works across your emails, files and meetings inside Word, Excel and the other Microsoft 365 apps. That version needs a Microsoft 365 Copilot licence. Your IT team can tell you what your organisation has.
Can my family use my Copilot features?
Only the subscription owner can use Copilot's AI features on a personal or family plan.
Related guides
- AI tool features explained: a plain-English guide for 2026
- What is an AI agent? Cowork, Work and Task explained
- What is deep research in AI tools?
Put it to work with AI On Ramp
Copilot earns its licence cost when people use it on the documents, meetings and email they already have.
AI On Ramp gets your team using AI with confidence, on their own work and across teams, while you keep its cost and risk under control. We set up the tools, then our consultants sit beside your most advanced AI users and build real in-house workflows with them. Your nominated AI Lead gets the governance tools and our ongoing support to keep the business current as the tools change. We bring deep technical expertise and decades of business change management, and we work face to face from Brisbane and along Australia's east coast. See how AI On Ramp works.
Want to talk through how this applies to your team? Book a call with Softwired.
