As chatbots they are close enough that the suite decides. Copilot is sold inside Microsoft 365 and works in Word, Excel and Outlook. Gemini is sold inside Google's AI plans and Workspace and works in Gmail and Docs, so you are picking the place your files already live.
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Pick Microsoft Copilot if your documents live in Word, Excel and Outlook, because Microsoft 365 Personal at $9.99 a month puts Copilot in all of them, and Microsoft says what you type there is not used to train its foundation models.
Pick Gemini if you live in Gmail and Google Docs or paste in long files, because Google AI Pro at $19.99 puts Gemini in both with a 1 million token context window, and on Workspace Business Standard it comes in the plan price.
Pick neither if you mostly write code, because the Copilot that matters there is GitHub Copilot, a separate subscription from $10 a month that can itself run Google's Gemini models.
prices checked 2026-10-13 · by dan scutaru
| Microsoft Copilot | Gemini | |
|---|---|---|
| price | free tier · from $9.99/mo | free tier · from $4.99/mo |
| free tier | Chat with web search, image creation and file uploads, "subject to available capacity and limits". Microsoft publishes no counts. No sign-in needed for basic chat; users without a Microsoft 365 subscription may see ads. | Free with a Google account: Gemini Flash, varying access to the Pro model, image generation and editing, Deep Research, Gemini Live, Canvas and Gems. 32K token context window, compute-based limits that refresh every 5 hours until a weekly limit is reached. No video generation on the free plan. |
| runs on | web, ios, android, mac, windows | web, ios, android, mac, windows |
| Inside your apps (personal) | Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook from Microsoft 365 Personal, $9.99/mo | Gmail from Google AI Plus, $4.99/mo. Gmail and Docs from Google AI Pro, $19.99/mo |
| At work | Copilot Chat included with eligible business plans. Copilot in the apps is an add-on: $21/user/mo yearly for up to 300 users ($30 above that), $25.20 monthly | Included in Workspace: Gmail on Business Starter, Gmail, Docs, Sheets and Meet from Business Standard |
| The $20 plan | Microsoft 365 Premium, $19.99/mo: extensive usage, Researcher, Analyst, Cowork (preview) | Google AI Pro, $19.99/mo: 4x free limits, 1M context, 5 TB storage |
| Family plans | Family, $12.99/mo: apps for 6 people, AI for the subscription owner only | Google AI Pro: family members get "select AI benefits" at no extra cost |
| Context window | Not published | 32K tokens free, 128K on Plus, 1 million on Pro and Ultra |
| Training on your content | Prompts and files in Word, Excel and Outlook on home plans are not used to train foundation models | Personal accounts: chats used for training by default, human-reviewed ones kept up to 3 years. Workspace: not without permission |
Neither assistant is sold on its own. Copilot Pro was withdrawn, so the paid step is Microsoft 365 Personal at $9.99 a month: Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, higher chat limits than free, 1 TB of storage.
Google starts lower and climbs. Google AI Plus at $4.99 adds Gemini in Gmail. Gemini in Docs starts at Google AI Pro, $19.99. If your files live in Office, Microsoft is the cheaper way to get an assistant into them. If you mostly live in your inbox, Google is.
The two companies charge in opposite ways. Google puts Gemini in the Workspace plan: Business Starter gets it in Gmail, and Business Standard and up get it in Gmail, Docs, Sheets and Meet at no extra line on the bill.
Microsoft includes Copilot Chat, a web-grounded assistant, with eligible business plans. Copilot inside Word, Excel and Outlook is an add-on at $21 a user a month on a yearly plan for businesses up to 300 users, $30 for larger ones ($18 on a first-year promotion ending December 31, 2026) or $25.20 monthly. Neither in-app assistant is magic. A Hacker News user, after calling Copilot in Excel awful, added that "the Gemini integration in Google Sheets is also bad".
Both cost $19.99 a month and both replaced an older name: Copilot Pro is no longer sold, and Gemini Advanced became Google AI Pro. Microsoft 365 Premium buys what Microsoft calls extensive Copilot usage, plus Researcher, Analyst and Cowork in preview, with the AI for the owner only.
Google AI Pro buys 4x the free limits, a 1 million token context window, 5 TB of storage and Gemini in Gmail and Docs. Either is worth it only if you hit the free limits every week, and neither company publishes what those are.
First check which Copilot you mean. Microsoft Copilot, the one on this page, explains an error or writes a snippet like any chatbot. The coding tool is GitHub Copilot, a separate product with a free plan and Pro at $10 a month. It lists Google's Gemini models among the ones it runs, so for coding the two are not really rivals.
On Google's side, Antigravity is free to start, and Google AI Pro raises the limits on it and on Jules. Microsoft 365 plans do not include GitHub Copilot.
Not in any way you can check, and Microsoft does not even name its models. Copilot is better if your work is in Word, Excel and Outlook. Gemini is better if it is in Gmail and Docs, or if you paste in very long files.
Yes. Chat, image creation and file uploads are free on the web, Windows, Mac and phones, "subject to available capacity and limits", and you may see ads. Copilot inside Word, Excel and Outlook needs Microsoft 365, from $9.99 a month. The full answer →
Yes, with a Google account. The free plan includes image generation, Deep Research, Gemini Live and a 32K token context window. Limits are compute-based, refresh every 5 hours up to a weekly cap, and Google publishes no message count. The full answer →