In this guide · 7 sections
Short answer
Free Copilot Chat is a web-grounded assistant with enterprise data protection, plus Copilot in Outlook. The paid Copilot Business licence (US$21/user/month in SG, before GST) adds grounding in your emails, chats and files, Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Teams, and agents like Researcher.
Copilot Chat vs Copilot Business at a glance
From Microsoft's Singapore Copilot business pricing and FAQ, as of October 2026:
Copilot Chat
IncludedNo extra cost
- Web-grounded AI chat with enterprise data protection
- Works with files you upload or reference
- Copilot in Outlook and the Microsoft Copilot app
- Custom agents your organisation builds, on a metered basis
Best for: Every Microsoft 365 user, as the default.
Microsoft 365 Copilot Business
Paid add-onUS$21/user/mo (US$18 promo), before GST
- Work IQ: answers grounded in your mail, chats, meetings and files
- Copilot in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote and Teams
- Researcher, Analyst and Facilitator agents
- Assistive custom agents at no extra cost, plus adoption analytics
Best for: Staff who live in email, meetings and documents.
Copilot Business is for organisations with up to 300 users. Microsoft also sells bundles: Business Standard with Copilot at US$23.50 and Business Premium with Copilot at US$32 per user per month, paid yearly, as shown on the same page.
What the paid licence actually adds
The core difference is grounding. Copilot Chat answers from the web and from files you give it. The paid licence lets Copilot draw on your organisation's data through what Microsoft calls Work IQ: emails, Teams chats, meetings and documents you have permission to open.
| Task | Copilot Chat (free) | Copilot Business (paid) |
|---|---|---|
| Draft an email or summarise a pasted document | Yes | Yes |
| "Summarise what the client said about pricing last month" | No access to your mailbox history | Yes, from your mail, chats and files |
| Recap a Teams meeting and list action items | No | Yes (Teams licence required) |
| Copilot inside Word, Excel and PowerPoint | Agents via Chat only | Yes, in the apps |
| Researcher and Analyst agents | No | Yes |
| Cowork, Autopilot and other advanced features | No | Available, billed on usage |
Microsoft's Copilot privacy documentation says Copilot only shows content each user already has permission to see, and prompts and responses are not used to train the underlying models. That makes permissions the main risk: if everyone can open the HR folder, Copilot can summarise it for them. Read Copilot and SharePoint oversharing before you buy seats.
Price in Singapore, and the usage-based extras
Microsoft's Singapore page lists Copilot Business in US dollars: US$21 per user per month on an annual subscription, shown as US$18 under a promotion. The promotion runs for annual purchases between 1 July and 31 December 2026, for the first year only, and is limited to existing Microsoft 365 customers with an eligible Business plan. The page notes prices do not include GST.
- 3 pilot seats, annual, promo priceUS$18 x 3 x 12, first year onlyUS$648/year
- Same 3 seats at list priceUS$21 x 3 x 12US$756/year
- Copilot Chat for everyone elseIncluded with Microsoft 365 business plansUS$0
- Usage-based features (Cowork etc.)Only if an admin enables themPay per use
Pilot cost, first yearAbout US$648 to US$756 + GST
Approximate, as of October 2026. Our earlier check of Microsoft's page showed monthly billing at US$25.20 per user.
Advanced features such as Cowork and Autopilot are billed in Copilot Credits on top of the licence. From 1 December 2026, new Copilot Business licences bought through resellers have usage-based billing on by default; our guide to Copilot Business usage-based billing explains how to cap it.
A 3-seat pilot before you buy for everyone
Copilot saves time for some roles and very little for others. A short pilot with real work tells you which, for the cost of three seats.
Fix permissions first
Check who can open sensitive SharePoint sites and OneDrive folders. Remove 'Everyone' links on HR, finance and client folders.
Pick three heavy users
Choose people with full inboxes, many meetings or big spreadsheets, in different roles.
Agree five weekly tasks
For example: meeting recaps, catching up on a client thread, a first-draft proposal in Word, an Excel analysis and a weekly status summary.
Record time saved each week
Ask each person to note minutes saved and anything Copilot got wrong. Keep it to one line per task.
Compare with Copilot Chat
Have one other person try the same tasks with free Copilot Chat. If the results are close, the licence is not worth it for that role.
Decide per person
Keep or add seats only where someone saves a few hours a month. At US$21 a month, that usually pays for itself.
Who should stay on free Copilot Chat
Most small teams will end up with a mix: a few paid seats and everyone else on Copilot Chat.
Paid Copilot Business suits
- Owners and managers with heavy email and meeting loads
- Staff writing proposals, tenders or reports from company files
- Finance or operations staff analysing data in Excel
- Anyone who needs to find information across mail and Teams
Copilot Chat is enough for
- Front-desk, retail or field staff who rarely use Office
- Staff who mainly draft short emails or rewrite text
- Occasional users who can paste the document they need
- Teams that already pay for ChatGPT or Claude business seats
If you are comparing Microsoft's assistant with Google's, our Copilot vs Gemini guide covers both. For the free tiers, see Copilot Chat vs free ChatGPT at work, and to free up budget, Microsoft 365 licence optimisation.
Do it yourself or get help?
Buying Copilot seats takes minutes in the Microsoft 365 admin centre. The preparation is the important part: MFA on every account, sensible admin roles and sharing permissions that do not expose sensitive files to Copilot.
IT Sorted is a Singapore-based team of developers with over 10 years of experience. Microsoft 365 / Google Security Lockdown (S$590) enforces MFA, cleans up admin roles and tightens SharePoint and OneDrive sharing, which is the groundwork before a Copilot rollout. You buy Copilot licences from Microsoft or your reseller; we earn no commission.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Microsoft says Copilot Chat is included at no additional cost with eligible Microsoft 365 business plans for users signed in with their work account. It is web-grounded, works with files you upload or reference, and includes enterprise data protection, so prompts and responses are not used to train the underlying models.
As of October 2026, Microsoft's Singapore page lists Copilot Business at US$21 per user per month on an annual subscription, with a promotional price of US$18 for the first year on annual purchases made between 1 July and 31 December 2026. Prices are in US dollars and exclude GST. Usage-based features are billed separately.
The paid licence grounds answers in your organisation's data, such as emails, Teams chats, meetings and documents you can access, through Work IQ. It also adds Copilot inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Teams, meeting recaps, and agents such as Researcher and Analyst. Copilot Chat works from the web and the files you give it.
Copilot only shows content each user already has permission to open, according to Microsoft. The risk is that many small businesses have overly broad sharing, such as folders open to everyone. Before buying Copilot seats, review SharePoint and OneDrive permissions on HR, finance and client folders.
Usually not. Most small teams buy a few paid seats for people with heavy email, meeting or document work and leave everyone else on the free Copilot Chat. A one-month pilot with three seats, tracking time saved on real tasks, shows which roles benefit enough to justify the licence.