Head-to-head · verified September 25, 2026
Claude vs Copilot: price comparison
Copilot is cheaper to start: Microsoft 365 Premium costs $19.99/mo against $20/mo for Claude Pro. At the standard tier it's Claude Pro ($20/mo) against Microsoft 365 Premium ($19.99/mo).
Plans tier by tier
| Claude | Microsoft Copilot | |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Claude Free Free | Copilot Free Free |
| Entry (under $15) | — | — |
| Standard (~$20) | Claude Pro $20/mo | Microsoft 365 Premium $19.99/mo |
| Premium ($90+) | Claude Max 5× $100/mo Claude Max 20× $200/mo | — |
Key numbers
| Claude | Copilot | |
|---|---|---|
| Cheapest paid plan | Claude Pro $20/mo | Microsoft 365 Premium $19.99/mo |
| Most expensive plan | Claude Max 20× $200/mo | Microsoft 365 Premium $19.99/mo |
| Plans on sale | 4 | 2 |
| Annual discount | Yes | Yes |
| Cheapest API model | Claude Haiku 4.5 $1 / $5 | No public API |
| Priciest API model | Claude Fable 5.1 $10 / $50 | No public API |
| Both standard plans | $39.99/mo together ($480/yr) | |
Pick Claude if…
Anyone who writes for a living, works with long PDFs and reports, or ships code.
- Opus 5.5 included from the $20 Pro tier
- Handles very long documents and codebases (1M-token models)
- Pro is $17/month on annual billing
Best-in-class for writing and coding. Pro is the sweet spot; Max is for people who hit Pro limits daily.
Claude plans in detail →Pick Copilot if…
Freelancers, small businesses and households that spend hours a week in Word, Excel and Outlook.
- AI where your documents already live
- M365 Premium bundles Office, storage and AI for $19.99
- Annual plan at $199.99 is shared with up to 6 people (Office + storage)
Buy the ecosystem, not the chatbot. If Office is your day, it earns its price; otherwise look elsewhere.
Microsoft Copilot plans in detail →Recent changes
- Claude Claude Opus 5.5 launched
API at $4 / $20. Included in Pro and Max (not Free). Paid 5-hour limits raised, plus a one-time reset usable until Oct 22.
- Claude Claude Fable 5.1 launched
API at $10 / $50. Not included in Pro; usable on Max for up to 50% of the weekly allowance. Sonnet 5's planned price rise to $3 / $15 was cancelled.
- Copilot Copilot Pro retired
Support ended. Premium Copilot now only via Microsoft 365 Premium ($19.99/month).
Claude vs Copilot: questions
Is Claude cheaper than Copilot?
To start, yes for Copilot: its cheapest paid plan is Microsoft 365 Premium at $19.99/mo, versus Claude Pro at $20/mo.
Do Claude and Copilot both have a free plan?
Yes. Claude Free: daily usage limit, projects and chat history. Copilot Free: copilot in windows, edge and on the web.
Should I choose Claude or Copilot?
Choose Claude if you are: anyone who writes for a living, works with long PDFs and reports, or ships code. Choose Copilot if you are: freelancers, small businesses and households that spend hours a week in Word, Excel and Outlook.
Sources
Checked against the official pages below on September 25, 2026. Prices are USD before local tax. See how we verify prices and the change log.