Microsoft’s new Copilot app puts everything in one place – but the price is ‘evolving’

Microsoft has released an upgraded version of its unified Copilot app, consolidating its previously separate consumer and enterprise clients into a single product. According to ZDNET, the rollout began last month on mobile platforms and now targets desktop environments, with the new release adding Code and Autopilot tabs.

The app's interface is the same whether users sign in with a personal or work account, though work accounts get secure, compliant access via Work IQ APIs to company data stored in Outlook, SharePoint, OneDrive for Business, and Dynamics 365. A Home tab combines functions previously split across Chat and Cowork tabs: conversational interaction and agentic task completion. Office in Copilot lets users request a launch plan in Word or a budget in Excel and receive editable documents, workbooks, or presentations. A Today view, described as a proactive command center across mail, calendar, Teams threads, meetings, and tasks, enters private preview in October and will also come to Outlook and Teams.

The Code feature is powered by the same underlying technology as GitHub Copilot and runs in a sandboxed environment hosted in the Microsoft 365 tenant, using a new platform called the Microsoft Copilot Managed Runtime. Microsoft said it plans to offer third-party tooling access and let professional developers use the platform. Code is rolling out to frontier customers shortly, with broad availability "in the coming weeks" and access for Microsoft 365 Premium and Pro subscribers later this year.

Autopilot, previously called Scout, is described as a digital teammate with its own memory, computer, and Outlook and Teams accounts, managed by IT with permissions and an audit trail.

On pricing, Microsoft said it is "evolving Copilot pricing." A user subscription license covers chat-based features, Office app integrations, and model selection at a fixed monthly price. Agents, including Cowork, Code, and Autopilot, require usage-based billing. Usage-based billing services are off by default, and administrators can define spending policies and limits. Microsoft also detailed Agent 365 tools under a FinOps for AI umbrella, providing spending reports, with end users able to monitor credit usage in Copilot. Copilot Executive VP Jacob Andreou said roughly 90 million customers pay for Microsoft 365 personally. ZDNET noted it had no hands-on experience with the new apps.