Only ChatGPT13
- General chat/reasoning
- file uploads
- multimodal text/image/audio/video/data
- voice/video
- Deep Research
- ChatGPT Agent
- Codex
- Projects
- GPTs
- apps/connectors
- Excel/Sheets extensions
- Business admin controls
- separate OpenAI API
VerdictPal · editorial desk · updated 16 Oct 2026VerdictPal
Compare · Head-to-head
ChatGPT vs Microsoft Copilot: pricing, privacy & capabilities
Put two dossiers side by side: fit, cost, privacy, and the failure modes that actually change the choice.
Compare · Tool A / Tool B·Head-to-head
ChatGPTvsMicrosoft Copilot
In the General AI assistant set, ChatGPT edges ahead overall (editorial fit 68 vs 42). ChatGPT wins on value for money; Microsoft Copilot wins on speed. Both pass our quality gate. The right pick is the one whose strengths match the job you're trying to do.
- ChatGPT · avg
- 66
- wins 8 of 16
- Microsoft Copilot · avg
- 55
- wins 4 of 16
- Fields differ
- 11
- of 16 dossier rows
- Receipts
- 20
- sources + bench notes
Dossier fields
Sixteen fields, side by side.
16 metrics
Sixteen numbers, one shared midline.
ChatGPTvsMicrosoft Copilot
In the General AI assistant set, ChatGPT edges ahead overall (editorial fit 68 vs 42). ChatGPT wins on value for money; Microsoft Copilot wins on speed. Both pass our quality gate. The right pick is the one whose strengths match the job you're trying to do.
- Editorial fitChatGPT68Microsoft Copilot42
- Source qualityChatGPT55Microsoft Copilot58
- Citation honestyChatGPT52Microsoft Copilot52
- Privacy controlsChatGPT40Microsoft Copilot40
- Value for moneyChatGPT70Microsoft Copilot18
- SpeedChatGPT58Microsoft Copilot74
- IntegrationChatGPT80Microsoft Copilot62
- OnboardingChatGPT58Microsoft Copilot74
- ReliabilityChatGPT70Microsoft Copilot48
- Feature depthChatGPT100Microsoft Copilot58
- Data portabilityChatGPT65Microsoft Copilot59
- TransparencyChatGPT98Microsoft Copilot98
- Ecosystem reachChatGPT80Microsoft Copilot62
- DocumentationChatGPT55Microsoft Copilot58
- IndependenceChatGPT40Microsoft Copilot40
- AffordabilityChatGPT71Microsoft Copilot38
ChatGPT · avg 66 · wins 8 of 160avg 55 · wins 4 of 16 · Microsoft Copilot
- 01Editorial fit6842
- 02Source quality5558
- 03Citation honesty5252
- 04Privacy controls4040
- 05Value for money7018
- 06Speed5874
- 07Integration8062
- 08Onboarding5874
- 09Reliability7048
- 10Feature depth10058
- 11Data portability6559
- 12Transparency9898
- 13Ecosystem reach8062
- 14Documentation5558
- 15Independence4040
- 16Affordability7138
TOOL A · ChatGPT
General AI assistant
ChatGPT
68/100
ROLEGeneral-purpose assistant baseline and multimodal draft critic
Editorial fit
68
Source quality
55
Citation honesty
52
Privacy controls
40
Value for money
70
Speed
58
FREE
$8/MOGo
$20/MOPlus
General-purpose assistant baseline and multimodal draft critic — OpenAI’s general-purpose assistant for drafting, analysis, multimodal exploration, file work, coding, agents, and baseline AI comparison, with separate consumer, Business/Enterprise, and API trust boundaries.
TOOL B · Microsoft Copilot
General AI assistant
Microsoft Copilot
42/100
ROLEMicrosoft ecosystem assistant and Office-integrated AI layer
Editorial fit
42
Source quality
58
Citation honesty
52
Privacy controls
40
Value for money
18
Speed
74
FREECopilot Chat
$9.99/MOMicrosoft 365 Personal
$30/MOper seat
Microsoft ecosystem assistant and Office-integrated AI layer — Microsoft’s Copilot family across consumer Copilot, Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat, Microsoft 365 Copilot in Office apps, agents, Edge/Windows surfaces, and Azure/OpenAI-adjacent developer workflows.
Privacy facets
Where each tool is actually private.
ChatGPTMicrosoft Copilot
Training on your dataPartialPartial: OpenAI may use your content from ChatGPT Free, Go, Plus and Pro to train its models by default. To opt out, turn off “Improve the model for everyone” in Settings > Data controls, or select “Do not train on my content” in OpenAI's Privacy Portal. ChatGPT Business, Enterprise, Edu and the API do not use inputs or outputs for training by default. If you send feedback, the entire conversation linked to it may still be used for training. Source: OpenAI, Data use for model training (linked in Sources)UnknownUnknown: Not recorded as a plan-wide guarantee. Check the dossier's privacy notes and sources.
EU data residencyUnknownUnknown: Not recorded as a plan-wide guarantee. Check the dossier's privacy notes and sources.UnknownUnknown: Not recorded as a plan-wide guarantee. Check the dossier's privacy notes and sources.
SOC 2 attestationUnknownUnknown: Not recorded as a plan-wide guarantee. Check the dossier's privacy notes and sources.UnknownUnknown: Not recorded as a plan-wide guarantee. Check the dossier's privacy notes and sources.
Local-first by defaultUnknownUnknown: Not recorded as a plan-wide guarantee. Check the dossier's privacy notes and sources.UnknownUnknown: Not recorded as a plan-wide guarantee. Check the dossier's privacy notes and sources.
Capability split
What each tool does uniquely.
Shared0
No overlap detected.
Only Microsoft Copilot9
- Consumer Copilot
- M365 Copilot Chat with EDP
- Copilot in Word/Excel/PowerPoint/Outlook/Teams
- Graph grounding
- activity history
- Purview retention/eDiscovery
- Bing web grounding
- agents/connectors
- Entra/Purview/sensitivity labels
Failure modes
Where each tool breaks.
ChatGPT
- Breadth can hide weak methodology
- Consumer content can train models unless controls are changed
- Business admins may access workspace content
- Subscription and API economics are separate
- Usage caps/guardrails/flexible pricing can interrupt workflows
- Citations and browsing need independent verification
Microsoft Copilot
- Copilot products have different data boundaries
- Messy tenant permissions can expose content
- Bing web grounding has different data handling
- Agents/connectors add third-party terms and scopes
- Generated content still needs verification
Pricing
Pulled straight from each dossier.
ChatGPT
General AI assistant- FREE
- $8/MOGo
- $20/MOPlus
raw · Free $0 · Go $8/mo (US; ads may apply) · Plus $20/mo · Pro $100/mo · Pro $200/mo (new $200 sign-ups paused as of 2026-09-10) · Business Standard $25/user/mo monthly or $20 annual (2-seat min) · Business Premium $125/$100 annual · Enterprise custom · OpenAI API separate per-token pricing.
Microsoft Copilot
General AI assistant- FREECopilot Chat
- $9.99/MOMicrosoft 365 Personal
- $30/MOper seat
raw · Live 2026-09-14: Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat is included at no extra cost for eligible Entra users with an eligible Microsoft 365 subscription; agents need Azure or Copilot Studio capacity. Enterprise Microsoft 365 Copilot add-on is $30/user/month paid yearly (qualifying M365 license required). Business bundles: Business Standard with Copilot $23.50/user/month yearly; Business Premium with Copilot $32.00/user/month yearly. Consumer individuals page (no Copilot Pro SKU): Microsoft 365 Personal $9.99/month or $99.99/year; Family $12.99/month or $129.99/year; Premium $19.99/month or $199.99/year, with Copilot bundled and usage limits by plan.
Verdict
Which tool to actually pick.
In the General AI assistant set, ChatGPT edges ahead overall (editorial fit 68 vs 42). ChatGPT wins on value for money; Microsoft Copilot wins on speed. Both pass our quality gate. The right pick is the one whose strengths match the job you're trying to do.
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Questions this comparison answers
Every answer below is assembled from the dated fields on this page. Nothing is written separately for search.
Should you use ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot?
In the General AI assistant set, ChatGPT edges ahead overall (editorial fit 68 vs 42). ChatGPT wins on value for money; Microsoft Copilot wins on speed. Both pass our quality gate. The right pick is the one whose strengths match the job you're trying to do.
What can ChatGPT do that Microsoft Copilot cannot?
Capabilities documented on the ChatGPT tool but not the Microsoft Copilot tool:
- General chat/reasoning
- file uploads
- multimodal text/image/audio/video/data
- voice/video
- Deep Research
- ChatGPT Agent
- Codex
- Projects
- GPTs
- apps/connectors
- Excel/Sheets extensions
- Business admin controls
- separate OpenAI API
What can Microsoft Copilot do that ChatGPT cannot?
Capabilities documented on the Microsoft Copilot tool but not the ChatGPT tool:
- Consumer Copilot
- M365 Copilot Chat with EDP
- Copilot in Word/Excel/PowerPoint/Outlook/Teams
- Graph grounding
- activity history
- Purview retention/eDiscovery
- Bing web grounding
- agents/connectors
- Entra/Purview/sensitivity labels
Is ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot cheaper?
ChatGPT: Free Free · Go $8/mo · Plus $20/mo · Pro $100/mo · Pro $200 $200/mo · Business Standard $25/mo · Business Premium $125/mo · Enterprise Custom. Microsoft Copilot: Copilot Chat Free · Microsoft 365 Personal $9.99/mo · Microsoft 365 Copilot $30/mo.
How do ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot score against each other?
On editorial fit, ChatGPT scores 68 out of 100 and Microsoft Copilot scores 42 out of 100. The score is a fit judgement for source-heavy research work, not a quality ranking — read both dossiers before you pick.