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Glean vs Microsoft Copilot: pricing, features and which to choose

Plans, prices, deployment options, strengths and limits for Glean vs Microsoft Copilot, taken from each company's pricing page, docs and changelog. Updated October 2026.

GleanMicrosoft Copilot
Glean logo

Glean

Productivity AI Tools

Glean connects organizational information to search, AI answers, and agent workflows. It targets companies whose knowledge is spread across workplace applications and needs permission-aware retrieval. Glean does not publish a dollar entry price. Current commercial documentation describes Enterprise Flex and Core Suite structures, with negotiated seats, model usage, and credits affecting the final bill.

Full reviewWebsite
Microsoft Copilot logo

Microsoft Copilot

Productivity AI Tools

Microsoft Copilot is an AI assistant for chat, writing, analysis, research, coding, image creation, and Microsoft 365 workflows, serving general users, individuals, families, and businesses. Copilot Free costs $0, while Microsoft 365 Personal starts at $9.99 per month in the United States and adds Copilot to eligible productivity apps, with paid plans offering additional storage, usage, security, collaboration, or enterprise features.

Full reviewWebsite

Quick comparison

FeatureGleanMicrosoft Copilot
CategoryProductivity AI ToolsProductivity AI Tools
Main useEnterprise searchAI assistant
Pricing modelPaid onlyFree plan + paid tiers
Free plan No Yes
Entry paid planCustom (Enterprise Flex)$9.99/month or $99.99/year (Microsoft 365 Personal)
PlatformsWeb & APIWeb, desktop, app
Open source No No
Self-hosted No No
Public API Yes No
Profile updatedOctober 2026October 2026

Pricing plans

Every public plan, as listed on each company's pricing page.

Glean

  • Enterprise FlexCustom

    Negotiated per-user seats plus pooled FlexCredits. Premium models and selected AI features consume credits.

  • Glean Core SuiteCustom

    Seat-based commercial structure with separate Model Hub usage and negotiated commitments.

Microsoft Copilot

  • Copilot Free$0

    Limited access subject to available capacity and feature limits; Microsoft account or supported access may be required.

  • Microsoft 365 Personal$9.99/month or $99.99/year

    1 person, 5 simultaneous device sign-ins, 1 TB storage, Copilot in eligible Microsoft 365 apps, and higher usage than free.

  • Microsoft 365 Family$12.99/month or $129.99/year

    1 to 6 people, up to 6 TB shared storage, and Copilot benefits for the subscription owner only.

  • Microsoft 365 Premium$19.99/month

    Up to 6 people for Microsoft 365 benefits, higher or extensive usage, advanced agents, and 1 TB storage per person.

  • Microsoft 365 Business Standard with Copilot$23.50/user/month, paid yearly

    Up to 300 users, 1 TB storage per user, Microsoft 365 apps, Copilot, Teams, email, and business services.

  • Microsoft 365 Business Premium with Copilot$32/user/month, paid yearly

    Up to 300 users, 1 TB storage per user, Copilot, Microsoft 365 apps, identity controls, device security, and threat protection.

  • Microsoft 365 Copilot Business add-onStarting at $18/user/month, paid yearly promotional price; standard price shown as $21/user/month

    Requires an eligible Microsoft 365 Business plan; advanced AI features may incur usage-based billing.

  • Microsoft 365 Copilot EnterpriseContact Microsoft

    Enterprise licensing, work-data grounding, agents, administration, governance, and organization-specific prerequisites.

  • Copilot StudioContact Microsoft or usage-based billing

    Agent creation and advanced usage depend on the selected Copilot Studio offer and metering terms.

Strengths and limits

Glean

  • Search spans connected business applications.
  • Permissions are central to retrieval.
  • Commercial documentation describes credit-consuming features.
  • Basic search does not require premium reasoning.
  • Seat prices are not public.
  • Advanced usage can add consumption costs.
  • Deployment requires connector and identity work.

Microsoft Copilot

  • Copilot is integrated into widely used Microsoft 365 applications and services.
  • Commercial plans connect responses to permitted organizational data and administrative controls.
  • The free tier provides access without requiring a paid Copilot subscription.
  • Microsoft offers consumer, business, enterprise, and agent-building product families.
  • Feature names, limits, prices, and availability vary by plan, region, device, and account.
  • Family subscriptions limit Copilot app benefits to the subscription owner.
  • Advanced business AI features can involve usage-based billing beyond license fees.

Which should you choose?

Choose Glean if

  • Large organizations can search across connected workplace systems.
  • Teams can retrieve information with inherited permissions.
  • Administrators can manage AI access centrally.
  • Organizations can build agents around enterprise knowledge.

Look elsewhere if

  • Individuals cannot compare a public self-serve seat price.
  • Disconnected systems reduce the value of enterprise search.
  • Buyers need to plan for usage beyond seats.

Choose Microsoft Copilot if

  • Microsoft 365 users who want AI assistance inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams.
  • Organizations that need work-data grounding with identity, compliance, audit, and administrative controls.
  • Individuals who want office applications, cloud storage, security, and AI in one subscription.
  • Developers and analysts who need conversational help with coding, documents, spreadsheets, and research.

Look elsewhere if

  • Teams seeking a single predictable AI product with identical features across every account type.
  • Users who need fully transparent message, image, voice, and agent quotas before subscribing.
  • Organizations unwilling to manage Microsoft licensing, identity permissions, privacy settings, and application dependencies.

Glean logo Glean in brief

Glean is an enterprise AI company founded in 2019. Its product connects workplace information to search and assistant workflows. Unlike a standalone consumer chatbot, its value depends on integration with the organization's documents, applications, identities, and access permissions.

Deployment begins with connecting business systems and configuring identity and permissions. Employees can then search across connected information or ask questions grounded in organizational content. Agent workflows build on that foundation, making connector coverage and permission configuration part of the buying decision.

Glean competes with Guru for organizational knowledge access, Microsoft 365 Copilot for suite-centered assistance, and Atlassian Rovo for connected workplace search. Its trade-off is enterprise deployment and negotiated pricing rather than a self-serve trial price. Pick Glean when cross-application knowledge access and permissions justify an organization-wide implementation.

Read the full Glean review

Microsoft Copilot logo Microsoft Copilot in brief

Microsoft Copilot is a general-purpose AI assistant available on the web, mobile devices, Windows, macOS, Edge, and dedicated applications. Its consumer experience supports questions, brainstorming, writing, coding, image creation, voice, vision, podcasts, and research, with limits that depend on plan, region, and capacity. Microsoft 365 subscriptions add Copilot to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Teams, and related services, alongside cloud storage and security benefits. Business and enterprise offerings connect chat and agents to permitted organizational files, meetings, email, and other work data. Copilot is therefore a family of connected experiences rather than one uniform feature set. Access, limits, supported languages, and availability vary across accounts and devices, so Microsoft 365 users seeking in-app assistance should choose it.

Microsoft launched Copilot as a successor to Bing Chat in 2023 and expanded it through Microsoft 365, Windows, Edge, and dedicated applications. Microsoft introduced Copilot Pro for consumers before replacing that standalone subscription with Microsoft 365 Premium in October 2025. The company describes Microsoft 365 Premium as a bundle combining Microsoft 365 Family benefits with advanced Copilot capabilities and higher usage allowances. Microsoft is the product maker and does not publish a conventional venture funding history for Copilot as a standalone company because Copilot is a Microsoft product. Its development draws on Microsoft's broader AI investments, partnerships, cloud infrastructure, and product teams. Current company documentation describe ongoing expansion across individual, business, enterprise, and agent-building offerings.

Copilot's main limitation is fragmentation: names, prices, capabilities, model access, data boundaries, and usage limits differ among consumer, business, enterprise, and Studio products. Personal and Family Copilot benefits are limited to the subscription owner, while shared family members receive Microsoft 365 services without the owner's AI access. The free tier has capacity and usage limits, and some Premium capabilities remain limited or region-dependent. ChatGPT is a closer general-purpose alternative for standalone AI work, Google Gemini is a closer choice for Google Workspace users, and Claude is a strong writing and analysis alternative. Microsoft 365 users should choose Copilot for in-app workflow integration and governed work data; others should compare limits and total subscription value before committing.

Read the full Microsoft Copilot review

Frequently asked questions

How do Glean vs Microsoft Copilot compare on price?

Glean has no free plan, and its first paid plan (Enterprise Flex) is listed at Custom. Microsoft Copilot has a free option, and its first paid plan (Microsoft 365 Personal) is listed at $9.99/month or $99.99/year. Prices are from each company's pricing page and can change, so check before you buy.

Which has a free plan, Glean vs Microsoft Copilot?

Microsoft Copilot offers a free plan or free self-hosted use. Glean requires a paid plan.

Can I self-host or integrate Glean vs Microsoft Copilot?

None of them is open source. All of them run as hosted services only. Glean offers a public API.

How much does Glean cost?

Glean does not publish USD seat prices. Its documentation describes Enterprise Flex and Core Suite arrangements rather than a public self-serve price sheet. A useful quote needs to cover users, model usage, credits, and any commitments or overages. Treat unsourced third-party seat estimates as unsuitable substitutes for a current offer.

Does Glean have a free plan?

Glean's public pricing is sales-led rather than a published free subscription. Organizations should discuss an evaluation and deployment scope with the company. The pricing documentation focuses on enterprise seat and consumption structures, so an unlimited free consumer assistant is not an appropriate comparison for its intended use.

Does Microsoft Copilot have a free plan?

Yes. Microsoft offers a limited free Copilot experience with access subject to capacity and usage limits. When a limit is reached, Microsoft says users can wait for availability or choose a paid option. Microsoft 365 subscriptions provide deeper integration with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, and other services, along with expanded allowances that differ by plan and region.

What is the cheapest paid Microsoft Copilot option?

The cheapest paid individual option listed on Microsoft’s United States pricing page is Microsoft 365 Personal at $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year. It includes one user, 1 TB of storage, Microsoft 365 applications, and higher Copilot usage than the free tier. Microsoft also offers a free Copilot experience with fewer allowances.

Related comparisons

Glean vs GuruGlean vs Atlassian RovoGlean vs CoveoGlean vs ElasticMicrosoft Copilot vs ChatGPTMicrosoft Copilot vs ClaudeMicrosoft Copilot vs Notion AI

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