Microsoft Copilot vs GitHub Copilot in 2026: office assistant or coding assistant
Pick Microsoft Copilot for Office documents, email and everyday chat; pick GitHub Copilot for writing code in your editor or on GitHub. Paid entry is nearly the same, $9.99/mo for Microsoft 365 Personal against $10/mo for Copilot Pro, and both have a free option.
Built forOffice and chat · CodingMicrosoft Copilot · GitHub Copilot
We wrote this from our own profiles of both tools, verified on October 1 (Microsoft Copilot) and September 30 (GitHub Copilot); neither profile holds a benchmark result, we used no third-party tests and took no vendor payments.
Ist Microsoft Copilot besser als GitHub Copilot? Die kurze Antwort
Pick Microsoft Copilot if you want a general assistant that works with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams and you already use Microsoft 365. Pick GitHub Copilot if you write code and want completions, chat and agents inside VS Code, JetBrains, Xcode or on GitHub itself. Despite the shared name they solve different jobs, so for most people this is not a close call. Both have a free option, and on price the paid entry points are almost identical: Microsoft 365 Personal is $9.99/mo and Copilot Pro is $10/mo. Our profiles hold no benchmark result for either, so we make no claim about answer quality.
Based on our profiles of both tools: Microsoft Copilot verified on October 1 and GitHub Copilot verified on September 30. Neither profile holds a benchmark result.
Microsoft Copilot oder GitHub Copilot: Was für welche Aufgabe passt
Wenn Sie nur die Antwort wollen, ist das die Tabelle. Alles darunter sind die Belege aus den beiden dokumentierten Profilen.
Direktvergleich
Sie möchten
Verwenden
Warum
Draft a document from rough notes
Microsoft Copilot
Microsoft Copilot lists drafting in Word and uploading notes in chat; GitHub Copilot lists no document features.
Summarize an Outlook inbox
Microsoft Copilot
Microsoft Copilot lists summarizing Outlook email; availability varies by market.
Analyze spreadsheet data
Microsoft Copilot
Microsoft Copilot lists Excel integration on an eligible Microsoft 365 plan.
Ask a quick everyday question
Microsoft Copilot
Microsoft Copilot is a free chat app on web and mobile; GitHub Copilot Chat is aimed at coding questions.
Not stated: free-tier limits are not quantified; paid Microsoft 365 plans give higher usage
Metered in AI credits: Pro 1,500, Pro+ 7,000, Max 20,000 per month; 1 credit costs $0.01 beyond the allowance
Context / file size
Not stated
Not stated
Seats / team
Family covers 1 to 6 people, but AI is for the subscription owner only
Business and Enterprise are per seat, with credits pooled across the organization
Funktionsvergleich
Direktvergleich
Funktion
Microsoft Copilot
GitHub Copilot
Image generation
Yes: image creation in the free app
Not stated
Voice
Yes: voice when signed in
Not stated
File upload
Yes: when signed in
Code context from open files; file upload is not stated
Web search
Yes: the free app lists search
Not stated
Agents / tools
Yes: Cowork for multi-step tasks; Researcher and Analyst on Premium and Pro
Yes: IDE agent mode, CLI, cloud agent and MCP servers
API
Not stated
Copilot SDK exposes sessions and credit usage; no pay-per-token model API found
Mobile apps
Yes: iOS and Android
GitHub Mobile offers Copilot Chat
IDE integration
No
VS Code, Visual Studio, JetBrains, Eclipse, Xcode, Neovim
Datenschutz und Datentraining
Direktvergleich
Microsoft Copilot
GitHub Copilot
Training on your data
Not stated
Individual plans may be used for training unless you opt out; Business and Enterprise data is not used for training
Retention
Not stated
Business and Enterprise IDE chat and completions: engagement data kept two years; other details per GitHub's FAQ
Business controls
Not stated
Public code filter, content exclusion, policies, budgets, audit logs, MCP allow lists, Data Protection Agreement
Entnommen aus den veröffentlichten Richtlinienseiten des jeweiligen Anbieters zum Zeitpunkt unserer Prüfung. Richtlinien ändern sich; die Quellenlinks stehen unten.
Wechsel zwischen Microsoft Copilot und GitHub Copilot: was mitgenommen wird
Microsoft Copilot → GitHub CopilotWird übernommen
Habit of describing a task in plain language and reviewing the draft before using it.
Your Microsoft, Apple or Google sign-in does not carry; GitHub needs its own account.
Sie verlieren
Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams integration.
Image creation and voice chat as documented for Microsoft Copilot.
GitHub Copilot → Microsoft CopilotWird übernommen
Chat-first way of asking questions and refining answers.
Sie verlieren
Inline completions, IDE agent mode, CLI and cloud agent for code.
GitHub pull request and code review workflow.
Vor- und Nachteile
Microsoft Copilot
Works with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams
Free app on web, Windows, Mac, iOS and Android
One-month trial on Personal, Family and Premium
File uploads, unlimited voice and memory require signing in
Higher usage limits require a paid Microsoft 365 plan
Mac app requires macOS Sonoma 14 or later
GitHub Copilot
Works inside your existing IDE and on github.com
Free plan, plus free access for verified students
Cloud agent and CLI produce commits and pull requests
Usage is metered in AI credits that vary by model and task
Individual plans may be used for training unless you opt out
Microsoft Copilot oder GitHub Copilot: So treffen Sie die Wahl
Mostly writing documents and email? Microsoft Copilot is built for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams.
Mostly writing code? GitHub Copilot works in your editor, in the terminal and on GitHub.
Want a free start? Both have one; GitHub Copilot Free caps completions at 2,000 a month, and the Microsoft Copilot app lists no figure.
Budget near $10/mo? Microsoft 365 Personal is $9.99/mo with Office and 1 TB of storage; Copilot Pro is $10/mo for code.
Care about training on your data? GitHub says Business and Enterprise data is not used for training; Microsoft's stance is not stated on the pages we fetched.
Our pick: Microsoft Copilot if your work happens in Office, GitHub Copilot if it happens in an editor; they are not substitutes.
Häufig gestellte Fragen
Are Microsoft Copilot and GitHub Copilot the same product?
No. Microsoft Copilot is a general AI assistant app that connects to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams. GitHub Copilot is a coding assistant for editors, GitHub.com and the terminal. They share a name and a corporate parent, since GitHub is a Microsoft company, but they are sold, priced and used separately.
Which is cheaper, Microsoft Copilot or GitHub Copilot?
Both have a free option. Paid entry is close: Microsoft 365 Personal is $9.99/mo and GitHub Copilot Pro is $10/mo. The Microsoft price includes Office apps and 1 TB of storage, while GitHub Pro includes 1,500 monthly AI credits and unlimited completions.
Can Microsoft Copilot write code like GitHub Copilot?
Our Microsoft Copilot profile does not list coding as a use case or feature, so we cannot say it replaces an editor tool. GitHub Copilot documents inline completions, IDE agent mode, a CLI and a cloud agent for code.
Does GitHub Copilot help with Word or Outlook?
Not according to its documentation. GitHub Copilot works in supported IDEs, on GitHub.com, in GitHub Mobile and in the CLI. Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook integration is a Microsoft Copilot feature.
Do Microsoft Copilot and GitHub Copilot use my data for training?
For GitHub Copilot, individual plans may be used for training unless you opt out, while Business and Enterprise data is not. For Microsoft Copilot, training use is not stated on the pages we fetched, so check Microsoft's privacy statement before sharing sensitive files.
Can I use both Microsoft Copilot and GitHub Copilot?
Yes, nothing in either profile prevents it, and they cover different tasks: Microsoft Copilot for documents and mail, GitHub Copilot for code. Each needs its own account and plan, and Microsoft 365 Family shares Copilot with nobody beyond the subscription owner.