Best Microsoft Copilot Alternatives of 2026
Seven assistants that beat Copilot at something specific, from coding agents to named models, with prices as listed by each vendor in October 2026.
By , research by the BestBots team ยท Updated Oct 18, 2026
Fact checked against each company's published pricing, documentation and verified user ratings. How we score
ChatGPT is the best Microsoft Copilot alternative for most people in October 2026: GPT-6 on Plus at $20, Codex for coding, image creation and a Microsoft 365 connector. Claude is the better pick for Microsoft 365 users who write or code, since Pro works in Outlook and includes Claude Code. Gemini fits Google Workspace users.
Our top picks
Why people switch from Copilot
Copilot is the best AI for working inside Office, so people who leave usually want something Office integration does not solve:
- Vague limits. Microsoft describes usage as higher, extensive or highest, with no numbers.
- Model version. Microsoft lists "latest OpenAI models (GPT-5.X)" for business plans. ChatGPT Plus already runs GPT-6.
- No coding agent. Microsoft's coding agent, GitHub Copilot, is a separate subscription.
- License prerequisites. The Copilot Business add-on requires a qualifying Microsoft 365 Business plan, and the $18 promo ends December 31, 2026.
- Paying for Office you do not need. Personal, Premium and Pro bundle the apps and storage with the AI.
Our picks, in detail
- Starting price
- $8 per month
- Free plan
- Yes
- Top model on paid plan
- GPT-6 on Plus; GPT-6 Pro (GPT-6 Astra) on Pro
- Image generation
- Yes, on all plans with plan limits; higher quality on Plus
ChatGPT Plus at $20 runs GPT-6, newer than the GPT-5.X models Microsoft lists for Copilot business plans, and adds Codex, image creation and the Work agent. It connects to Microsoft 365 as a data source, so you keep access to your files.
Pros
- Widest feature set in one app: chat, images, voice, Work agent, Codex and connectors
- Five consumer price points from $0 to $500 per month, so you can pay for exactly the usage you need
- Business seats at $20 per month annually undercut most rivals' team plans
- Largest review base in the category: 4.8 on the App Store from over 11 million ratings
Cons
- Go plan at $8 carries ads and stays on the smaller GPT-5.6 Luna model
- GPT-6 Pro is capped by weekly allowances even on Pro, per OpenAI's help center
- Plan and model naming (Sol, Luna, Terra, Astra) is hard to follow
Skip it if you want AI inside the Word or Excel window itself, which only Copilot does across the full suite.
- Starting price
- $20 per month
- Free plan
- Yes
- Top model on paid plan
- Opus on Pro; Fable on Max (50% of weekly limits) or via usage credits on Pro
- Image generation
- No image model listed; Claude Design, Slides and Docs on all plans
Claude Pro at $20, or $200 per year, works in Microsoft 365 and Outlook and adds Claude Code on every paid plan plus up to 1M tokens of context. Claude Team is $20 per seat annually with no prerequisite license, against Copilot Business's $21 add-on that requires one.
Pros
- Claude Code included on Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise with one shared usage pool
- Context window up to 1M tokens depending on model
- Max plans add $100 to $200 per month in API credits
- Enterprise list price is published ($20 per seat plus usage), unlike most rivals
Cons
- No fixed message counts: limits reset on 5 hour windows with weekly caps on paid plans
- Top Fable model is only partly included, even on Max
- No image or video generator listed on the pricing page
Skip it if excel, PowerPoint and Teams integration matters most, since Claude does not list those apps.
- Starting price
- $4.99 per month
- Free plan
- Yes
- Top model on paid plan
- Gemini 4 Argon on AI Pro and Ultra
- Image generation
- Yes, on Free; video generation from AI Plus
Google AI Pro at the same $19.99 includes Gemini 4 Argon with a 1M token context, Gemini in Gmail and Docs, video generation, Jules for coding and 5 TB of storage. AI Plus at $4.99 is cheaper than any Microsoft 365 tier.
Pros
- AI Pro bundles 5 TB storage and YouTube Premium Lite at $19.99
- Free plan includes Deep Research, Gemini Live and image generation
- Built into Gmail, Docs, Chrome and Android
- Cheapest paid entry point at $4.99 per month
Cons
- Usage limits are compute based with weekly caps, so there is no fixed message count
- Top usage and Project Genie are Ultra only at $99.99 or more
- Business buyers face a separate Gemini Enterprise product line
Skip it if your company runs on Outlook, Word and Teams.
- Starting price
- $17 per month billed annually
- Free plan
- Yes
- Top model on paid plan
- Model choice incl. GPT-6.1 Sol, Claude Sonnet 5.5, Gemini 3.8 Flash, Grok 4.7
- Image generation
- Asset generation on Pro; video generation on Max
Perplexity cites sources on every answer and adds PitchBook, Statista and S&P Capital IQ data on Pro, which Copilot's Researcher does not list. Pro is $17 per month billed annually and lets you pick models from several labs.
Pros
- Inline citations on every answer make claims easy to verify
- Pro lets you pick between OpenAI, Google, Anthropic and xAI models
- Premium data sources (PitchBook, Statista, S&P Capital IQ) on paid plans
- Enterprise Pro lists SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA, GDPR and PCI DSS
Cons
- Pricing page shows annual prices only
- Max at $167 per month is a steep jump from Pro
- Weaker for long creative writing than chat first assistants
Skip it if you need help inside Office documents, which Perplexity does not provide.
- Starting price
- $14.99 per month
- Free plan
- Yes
- Top model on paid plan
- Not named per plan; Mistral recommends Mistral Medium for most tasks
- Image generation
- Yes, basic on Free, up to 40x more on Pro
Mistral Vibe Pro is $14.99 per month with image generation, a coding agent and $15 per month in API credits. Enterprise can run on premises or in a private cloud, an option Copilot does not offer.
Pros
- Lowest Pro price among major assistants at $14.99, $5.99 for students
- Enterprise can deploy on premises or in a private cloud
- Coding agent included in CLI, IDE and web
- Pro includes $15 per month in API credits
Cons
- Pricing page does not name the model behind each plan
- Small review base: 61 on G2 for Mistral AI overall
- Le Chat to Vibe rename may confuse buyers searching the old name
Skip it if you want the larger review base or Office integration.
- Starting price
- $8 per month
- Free plan
- Yes
- Top model on paid plan
- Latest Grok models on Premium; Grok 4.7 is xAI's current flagship
- Image generation
- Yes, Grok Imagine images up to 2K and 15 second video
Grok searches X and the web live and creates images up to 2K and 15 second videos. Copilot does not list video or live social search.
Pros
- Live search across X and the web
- Image and video generation in the same chat
- Paid plans include Grok API access
- Five price points from $8 to $200 per month
Cons
- Plans bundle X social features you may not want
- Usage pool is shared with Cursor and refreshes weekly
- Thin business review base: 4.1 on G2 from 58 reviews
Skip it if you want the cheapest option, since Premium is $30 per month.
- Starting price
- $0
- Free plan
- Yes
- Top model on paid plan
- No subscription; API tops out at DeepSeek-V4-Pro
- Image generation
- Not listed
DeepSeek's app is free with DeepThink reasoning and web search, and its API starts at $0.15 per million input tokens off peak. It suits people leaving the free Copilot app who just want strong text reasoning.
Pros
- Chat app is free with reasoning and web search
- API pricing is among the lowest published, with off peak discounts
- 1M token context on the API
Cons
- Company is based in Hangzhou, China, which some employers restrict
- No image generation, team plan or admin controls
- App Store rating of 3.9 is the lowest in this group
Skip it if for any work data, since DeepSeek stores data in China and lists no business controls.
Price comparison
Main paid plan per person per month, from each vendor's pricing page.
| Assistant | Plan | Price per month | Annual option |
|---|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Copilot (baseline) | Microsoft 365 Premium | $19.99 | $199.99 per year |
| Mistral Vibe | Pro | $14.99 | Not listed |
| Perplexity | Pro | $17 | Price shown is annual billing |
| Gemini | Google AI Pro | $19.99 | Not listed |
| ChatGPT | Plus | $20 | Not listed for Plus |
| Claude | Pro | $20 | $200 per year |
| Grok | Premium | $30 | Not listed |
| DeepSeek | No paid plan | $0 | Not applicable |
Business seats
| Assistant | Price per seat per month | Prerequisite |
|---|---|---|
| Copilot Business add-on | $21 annually ($18 promo through December 31, 2026), $25.20 monthly | Microsoft 365 Business license |
| Business Standard with Copilot | $23.50 annually | Bundled |
| ChatGPT Business | $20 annually, $25 monthly | None |
| Claude Team | $20 annually, $25 monthly | None |
| Gemini Enterprise | From $21 | None listed |
| Mistral Vibe Team | $24.99 | None |
| Grok Teams | From $30 | None |
| Perplexity Enterprise Pro | $34 annually | None |
A 20 person company already paying for Microsoft 365 Business Standard adds $420 per month at Copilot's $21 list price, or $360 on the first year promo. The same team on ChatGPT Business or Claude Team pays $400 per month on annual billing, but keeps paying for Microsoft 365 separately.
Office support compared
- Copilot: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams.
- Claude: Microsoft 365 and Outlook on Pro and above, plus a Chrome extension.
- ChatGPT: Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace as connectors, from its own app.
- Gemini: Gmail, Docs and Drive on consumer plans; Microsoft 365 connectors on Gemini Enterprise.
- Perplexity, Mistral Vibe, Grok, DeepSeek: no in-app Office integration listed.
How to switch
- Decide what stays in Office. If you still need Word and Excel, Microsoft 365 Personal at $9.99 keeps the apps; you can pair it with another assistant.
- Connect your files. Add the Microsoft 365 connector in ChatGPT or Claude so the new assistant can read your documents.
- Recreate prompts and agents. Copy any saved Copilot prompts into custom instructions or projects.
- Run your top five tasks on the new tool's free plan for a week.
- For businesses, check admin controls and data terms before moving seats.
Red flags
- Losing Office apps by accident. Cancelling Microsoft 365 Premium removes the Office apps and storage, not just the AI.
- Promo pricing. Copilot Business's $18 rate applies to the first year only.
- Data location. DeepSeek stores data in the People's Republic of China.
- Annual only prices. Perplexity's page shows annual billing.
How we picked
We compared seven assistants against Microsoft Copilot on published facts only: price and billing basis of the main paid plan and business seats, license prerequisites, models named, Office integration, coding, image and voice features, privacy terms, and ratings on G2 and the App Store. Every fact comes from vendor pricing, help and policy pages opened in October 2026. Each pick has to beat Copilot at something specific. See how we score, the full Microsoft Copilot review and Microsoft Copilot pricing.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best alternative to Microsoft Copilot?
ChatGPT is the best all round alternative, with GPT-6 on Plus, Codex, images and connectors for Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace. Claude is the best pick for Microsoft 365 users who write or code, since it works in Outlook and includes Claude Code.
Is there a free alternative to Copilot?
ChatGPT Free, Claude Free, Gemini Free and DeepSeek all have free plans. Gemini Free includes image generation, Deep Research and voice; DeepSeek is entirely free with reasoning and search.
Can ChatGPT or Claude work with Microsoft 365?
Yes. ChatGPT connects to Microsoft 365 as a data source, and Claude's pricing page lists Microsoft 365 integration including Outlook on Pro and above. Neither covers Excel, PowerPoint and Teams the way Copilot does.
Is Copilot cheaper than ChatGPT Plus?
Microsoft 365 Premium is $19.99 per month or $199.99 per year, against $20 per month for ChatGPT Plus. Copilot's price includes the Office apps and storage. Microsoft 365 Personal at $9.99 is the cheapest Copilot in Office tier.
What is the best Copilot alternative for business?
ChatGPT Business and Claude Team both cost $20 per seat per month billed annually, need no other license and state no training on business data by default. Copilot Business only makes sense if you already pay for Microsoft 365 Business.
Why do people switch away from Copilot?
On the published facts, the main reasons are usage limits described in words rather than numbers, a business add-on that requires an existing Microsoft 365 license, no coding agent in the consumer plans, and less clarity on which model version you get.